The Measure Of Christ's Gift

"But the grace we receive is not grace according to how well we treat people in our lives, or grace according to how impressive we are - it comes to us "according to the measure of Christ's gift."...unconditional, overflowing love!"  - p. 25

Do you ever struggle to receive the fullness of God's grace through Christ, thinking that because of the depth of your sin, it somehow it doesn't apply to you in as full of measure as it does to someone else?  That' why we include Confession & Forgiveness so often in worship. To remind ourselves, once again, that Jesus' gift of overflowing love drowns all our sin, no matter how great. This is the gift that comes to us in baptism.

Thanks be to God!

Gifts for All

"Biblically there is not doubt that we all have spiritual gifts and that each gift is important. Second, the gifts are given for the common good, not for the benefit of the individual who received them."

Do you see how the gifts God has entrusted to you are not just for yourself but for the common good of the communities in which you live?  How does that play out in action in your life?

Bearing With One Another

"...with patience, bearing with one another in love."

The language of this passage evokes the image of carrying a burden for another, as Christ bore our burdens on the cross. 

My wife and I have found that caring for a little one - especially when she doesn't yet sleep through the night! - has required us to "bear with one another" at times.

When have you been able to bear another's burden, or bear with them in a time of disagreement, in love?

Emptying and Filling

Today's devotion talks about the need to be filled so that we can empty ourselves. Agree? Disagree? When or where are you filled?

Illumination

Today's devotion asserts that the light Christ is already present in the lives of those who do not yet believe. Does this perspective challenge you? Do you agree? If true, then what does it mean when a person does come to believe?

Connections

Today's devotion talks about unexpected connections with other people, even strangers. When have you felt an unspoken connection with others?

The Colors of Love

As we gather as the church on this first Sunday of Lent, I echo our devotion author's prayer:

Help us to be a community of love where all are welcome and hearts find healing.

How might we live even further into the reality of being a community where we "stand, shoulder to should and hand in hand, precisely with people who are very different from ourselves and, with them, here a common word, say a common creed, and offer mutual forgiveness so as...to become a common heart"?  What a beautiful vision of the church.

Signing the Cross

"In him you also...were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit."

Growing up, the only time I saw someone make the sign of the cross was when the pastor gave the benediction at the end of worship. It just wasn't a common tradition in the Lutheran church where I grew up. It is of course common in many traditions, including some Lutheran churches, for Christians to make the sign of the cross on themselves regularly - each time the name of the Trinity is invoked, for example.

In seminary I began "trying on" this practice. Each time I walked into the chapel I would walk up to the baptismal font, dip my fingers in the water and make the sign of the cross on my forehead, remembering that I am a beloved and baptized child of God. Now I encourage everyone to do so, to remember the identity - and the Spirit - we have been given in baptism.

Do you ever make the sign of the cross on yourself? What does it mean to you?

God's Great Story

"Our great sorrow and tragedy is that we so seldom see and know how profoundly we are loved and wanted, how significant our lives are, each contributing its unique texture and color to your great story."  - Grace & Peace, p.18

Do you see how your life is a part of God's great story?

Images of Abundance

At the beginning of a season in which we recognize our own scarcity - our insufficiency - today we see and read images of abundance. But not our abundance; God's abundance. 

We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.  - Ephesians 1:7-8

God doesn't skimp. He pours out his grace upon us! We never have to worry about whether God's grace is enough to cover my sin; whether I can be forgiven. God's grace is enough. As the last line of today's devotion says, we are bathed in love. Let that be an image for you. There is enough love to go around, and to cover all our sin, because God's very essence....is love. 

This is just one reflection...what's yours?  Click "comment" below. 

Ash Wednesday

God welcomes us with open hands.

The loving hands of a mother reaching for her crying baby. A hand outstretched to shake in welcome when you are a stranger in a new place. On this day when we receive the sign of the cross upon our foreheads or upon our hands to remind us of our mortality and sinfulness, I am reminded of another set of open hands.  The hands of Jesus, open to receive not first our love, but our nails.  Hands open in the ultimate act of love.

When have you experienced God's welcome - God's love - through another's open hands? How have those moments revealed the character of God?

Click "Comment" below to share your answers to these questions or any other reflections from today's devotion.