Devotional 2-5-14

David's Plea
(based on Psalm 51)

Please, father, have mercy.
I know you love me;
May you remember your love
You compassion,
And forget my sin.

I pray your love will be so large
That it will wash away my sins,
As huge as they are.
I know I have sinned.
I know I have disappointed you.
My sins are like a pile of garbage,
Impossible to miss.

I know I have disappointed you,
Done what you have told me was wrong.
You have every right to shine a light on my wrongdoings,
And to judge my faults.

I can't remember a time when I didn't sin.
My mistakes, my faults and my selfishness
Have been with me forever.

Transform me, Father.
Make me clean, from the inside out.
I have faith that you, and you alone,
Can take away the darkness in my soul.
I long to hear joy and gladness.
My crushed spirit begs to feel happiness.

Make my sins invisible,
And hide my wrongdoings.
Recreate me, God,
So that my heart beats for you,
And my spirit can fly on your wings.

Do not send me away from you,
I would die without your Holy Spirit.
Restore in me the joy of my salvation.
I have lost faith that you can save me
As I stand in the shadow of my sin.

If you can help me, Father,
I will have the courage to teach others of your glory.
I will have the means to convince others
Of your goodness.
I will sing your praises forever.

If I knew another way, dear God,
I would do it.
If forgiveness were in my power,
I would reach for it.
It lies only with you, God
I pray you will accept my repentance.
I pray you will find gladness in saving me.
My only hope is that you will forgive me.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-13-13

Inspired by Psalm 51

 

Please, father, have mercy.
I know you love me;
May you remember your love,
Your compassion,
And forget my sin.

I pray your love will be so large
That it will wash away my sins,
As huge as they are.
I know I have sinned.
I know I have disappointed you.
My sins are like a pile of garbage,
Impossible to miss.

I know I have disappointed you,
Done what you have told me was wrong.
You have every right to shine a light on my wrongdoings,
And to judge my faults.

I can't remember a time when I didn't sin.
My mistakes, my faults and my selfishness
Have been with me forever.

Transform me, Father.
Make me clean, from the inside out.
I have faith that you, and you alone,
Can take away the darkness in my soul.
I long to hear joy and gladness.
My crushed spirit begs to feel happiness.

Make my sins invisible,
And hide my wrongdoings.
Recreate me, God,
So that my heart beats for you,
And my spirit can fly on your wings.

Do not send me away from you,
I would die without your Holy Spirit.
Restore in me the joy of my salvation.
I have lost faith that you can save me
As I stand in the shadow of my sin.

If you can help me, Father,
I will have the courage to teach others of your glory.
I will have the means to convince others
Of your goodness.
I will sing your praises forever.

If I knew another way, dear God,
I would do it.
If forgiveness were in my power,
I would reach for it.
It lies only with you, God
I pray you will accept my repentance.
I pray you will find gladness in saving me.
My only hope is that you will forgive me.

 

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-2-12

³While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. (Mark 14:3)

Read the verse again. Have you ever noticed the phrase, “broke the jar”? Our Associate Pastor, Rev. Joe Hill, preached this morning. The scriptural basis of his sermon was this passage from Mark. A woman anoints Jesus with a costly perfume. Joe pointed out that once she broke the jar, there was no going back. Once she broke the jar, she couldn’t go halfway, and save some of the perfume for later. She couldn’t change her mind. She was “all in.”

There is a song from many years ago, written and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman that comes to mind. Chapman opens the song with the story of Cortez. When the Spanish explorer landed near the site of Veracruz, he ordered that the ships be burned, to prevent any idea of retreat. Cortez was “all in.”

Burn the ships, we're here to stay
There's no way we could go back
Now that we've come this far by faith
Burn the ships, we've passed the point of no return
Our life is here
So let the ships burn
When Jesus walked into Jerusalem, and crowds placed palm branches on the ground and shouted Hosanna, there was no turning back. He was “all in.” Jesus had commited everything – his love, his time, and his life to the mission God had given to him.

Do we have that kind of commitment to the task God has set before us? Do we burn the ships or do we maintain a dinghy for escape? Do we walk the tightrope without a net, or do we let fear guide our steps? Do we hold back, not daring to break the perfume jar, or do we sing, “I Surrender All” with our lives?

Do we trust God enough to follow in the footsteps of Christ and go “all in”?

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-25-12

Sign of the Covenant

 
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,…When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature in all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”  (Genesis 9:8, 16-17)

Imagine Noah standing on dry ground with his sons, having experienced the flood, hearing the Word of God spoken, and being told that God has made an everlasting covenant with him and all who will follow him.  Noah is shown what will be a sign – a reminder – of the promise God has made to his creation.  For all the days of his life, and his sons after him, the sign of that covenant must have allayed their fears and brought them comfort.  I imagine without the promise, they would have cringed at every raindrop.

Through the scriptures, we hear over and over again God’s words of steadfast loyalty, and we see signs of his covenant.  We find it in God’s conversations with Abraham, in God’s delivery of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, in his leadership of Moses, and in their arrival in the promised land.  Signs of the covenant are found as judges are raised and kings are anointed.  Believers sing about it in the psalms, and Jonah fights it as he descends to the belly of a fish.  Jesus is born, lives, dies and lives again, becoming the ultimate sign of the covenant.

My challenge to you during this period of lent is to open your hearts to the signs of the covenant around you every day.  Do you see God in the rising of the sun?  In the sight of hungry men and women eating a meal?  In the nods of understanding as you teach Sunday school? Then open your eyes and watch for God.  Do you hear God in the giggles of children?  In the hymns of praise sung on Sundays?  In the sound of righteous indignation voiced against injustice?  Then tune your listening ears for God.  Do you know God because of the strength God provides to you during times of distress?  Are you certain of God’s presence when you taste communion or touch the baptismal water?  Then remember to recognize God.

And then, when you are steeped in the certain hope of the presence of God, become a sign of the covenant.  Work to convince others of what you know – that we are all beloved children of God, precious in God’s sight.

Shine, like the light you have been created to be, a sign of the covenant.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-19-11

We say, “I could never do that; I don't know how, I would be too nervous, I would not do a good job, I am not gifted to do that.”

Paul says, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

Several years ago, I would decline when asked to pray in public. I would pray, but I wanted time to prepare. I wanted to know what I was going to say before I actually said it – and there is nothing at all wrong with praying that way. In fact, when prayers are prepared ahead of time, they can be beautiful and poetic, and they reflect time spent with God.

God has moved me from the comfortable place where I was to somewhere else. What I do now – both at church and at work – requires that I pray in public with no notice and no preparation. I fought it at first, but I finally came to realize that if God has brought me here, he will equip me. So I stepped out of the boat, and just prayed. Now I find joy in it.

God did that, not me.

We say, “I could never do that; I don't know how, I would be too nervous, I would not do a good job, I am not gifted to do that.”

Isaiah says, “Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me.” (Isaiah 49:1)

He called you before you were born. He knows every inch of you and every dark corner of me. He knows your strengths, my weaknesses; he certainly knows the gifts he has given to us. He loves us, in spite of it all; because of it all. And, knowing all of that, he calls us.

A few months ago, I asked someone to be lector. The person said no (which is fine!). A few minutes later, the person came back to me, and told me yes. God was calling, and this person listened, and said yes, even though it was out of the normal comfort zone. When the time came to answer the call, she was perfectly equipped and did a wonderful job.

God does that, not us, and we can trust him to be faithful.

The Psalmist says, “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.” (Psalm 71:5-6)

We say, “Send me,” and we lean on the Lord with faith and trust.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-8-11

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The Lord whispered my name.
I felt his hand upon me,
and I saw a valley
through his eyes.

Bones. Death. Disconnected pieces of ruined life.
Scattered across the ground.
Silent and dry.
He led me into the valley.
With my steps, I tried to avoid the white decay,
but it was everywhere.
Bone dust rising with our steps.

"Child, is there life?
Anywhere around you?"
I doubted it.
I couldn't imagine life among these bones.

"Tell them about me," God said.
"Have enough faith to just speak about me.
Tell them to listen to me.
Have that much faith.
Believe that I can bring life from death.
Believe that my breath, my spirit, can do
what is unimaginable.
Have enough faith to say it."

I lay my doubt like a dry bone
upon the ground
and believed.
I did as I had been commanded,
and spoke of life to death.

As I did, with a great noise
the bones began to move.
Click and clack, snap.
Chalk rubbed against dust
and the bones stood together.
Assembled into the ghosts of life.
The bones were covered with flesh,
dry and wrinkled, holding the skeleton of life
into the appearance of men and women.

"Pray, my child, for life.
Ask for the spirit to enter this death.
Ask for my breath to come.
Ask for me to make a difference."

I asked.
I took from God the faith to ask.
To believe.
To have enough faith that God can make a difference.
That God can breathe life into death.

Death became life
and before me stood uncountable people
Once dead, now alive.
Once bone, now breathing flesh.
Alive in God's spirit.

In the valley of death and bones
God changed everything.
Where there was no hope,
God created hope.
Where there was no life,
God breathed his spirit into death.
And bones stood and came to life.

Do we ever stand among death?
Do we ever think a church is dying?
Do we lose hope; do we see only bones?
Do we have enough faith to speak of God?
Do we believe enough in the power of God to pray?

And you will know He is Lord
when he opens the grave of death and bones
and brings forth life.
Even you. Even me. Life.
And he will put his spirit within us, and we shall live.
Not a life of dry bones, but a life lived in God.
Awakened by his breath.
God among us.
God abiding in us.
Life.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 3-15-11

God of grace, mercy and unspeakable power, draw close to your creation and hear the cry of your people. Surround the people of Japan with your grace during this time of crisis.


Rescue those who are trapped in buildings or on rooftops. Bring them to safety.

Comfort those who have lost family members and friends.

Listen to those who are crying in distress and sadness. Settle the touch of hope on them so that they can see light in the future.

Feed those who are hungry, quench the thirst of those who ache for water. Surround the homeless with the knowledge of your presence.

Heal those who have been injured, those whose spirits are aching, those who wounds are deeper than we can imagine.

Protect them from harm as aftershocks rock their homes, provide relief from fear for them.

Motivate us, dear God, to follow in your footsteps. Enable of to rescue, to comfort, to listen, to feed, to heal and to protect. We place ourselves in your service.

Kim Matthews

To give to United Methodist Committee on Relief, click on the link.

Devotional 3-26-10

The Lord Needs It

Luke 19:28-40

His footsteps were slow
As he walked his final path to Jerusalem.
The disciples had been told,
but the refused to hear.
Was he walking alone?
Isolated in their denial?
Or did he find some comfort
In the nearness of friends?

Closer, just a few miles to go.
How often had he walked this path in his mind?
The journey had been long,
And the end was just beginning.

He sent two friends ahead.
"Go, and as you enter the village,
you will find a young colt,
never ridden,
tied to a post and waiting for you."
As he said it, did he think of the future?
Tied to a post and waiting?
Nailed to a cross, barely breathing?
"Untie it, and bring him here.
If you are asked, say
'The Lord needs it.'"

They did as he said,
And found what he said.
The owners asked what they were doing.
"The Lord needs it."
So they gave it to him.
No questions; no hesitations.
Do we always answer the same?

They laid their cloaks on the back of the animal,
and then his friends lifted Jesus up to ride him.
Friends, lifting up their friend.
Face to face, heart to heart.
Would they remember this moment, later?
When he broke the bread,
or washed their feet?
When they lifted him down,
face to face, heart to quiet heart,
off the cross?

The donkey plodded along,
carrying a king,
stepping, not in the mud,
but on clothing, thrown on the ground.
Gifts.
Jesus entered Jerusalem,
as his forefather Solomon had entered Gihon,
riding his father's donkey.
Was he riding on a donkey,
Provided by his Father?

The crowd shouted praise,
"Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
As he rode, did he hear the echo
of the angels' praise
on the night that he was born?

As the crowd shouted,
the Pharisees complained.
"Teacher! Make them stop!"
These Pharisees were the ones who should have known.
Who should have recognized the son of the God they loved.
And yet they were blind to the man in front of them.

Jesus told them,
"If these are quiet,
the very stones on this ground
will cry out!"
God is changing the world,
And if you cannot see it,
If you cannot sing His praise,
The void will be filled
By those who will.

The song will not be stopped.
The Lord has need of it.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 3-14-10

Luke 15:11-32, but what happened next?

He watched his father return to the house
And he threw his staff across the yard
In disgust.
How could his father be so gullible?
How could he believe his younger son,
That he had changed?
That he was repentent?
That was nonsense.
And why was it,
when he had worked so very hard,
That his father never rewarded him
Never celebrated his return after a long day
In the fields.
Why?

It is grace,
The likes of which
We have never seen before.
It is grace,
And there is nothing
That compares to it.
It is unfair.
It is undeserved.
It is love.
And it is available for all.
Even for the younger son.
Even for the older son.
Even for you.
Even for me.

The older son
Remembering the joy on his father's face,
Decided to go into the house,
There he found his brother,
A look of astonished wonder in his eyes.
Shining through tears.
The younger son looked at the older, and said,
"How can this be?
I would eat what we feed the pigs,
I deserve nothing else,
And yet look what he has done for me.
How can this be?"

It is grace.
The likes of which
We have never seen before.
It is extravagant
It is prodigal.
It is life changing.
How can anyone stand,
Drenched in the rain of God's love,
And not notice the wetness?

It is grace,
And it will soak through our hardest layers,
And will change everything
If we let it.
The older son stood amazed at the change
in the younger one.
Where was the arrogant brother who used to be?
Where was the one who was so hard to love?
Changed.
Altered.
Never to be the same.
It is grace,
And is it available for even the older brother.

The father came into the room.
He saw the amazement on the face of his younger son,
And he saw the confusion on the face of his older son.
Walking up to the older one,
He said, "I am glad you are here, son,
The party wouldn't have been the same without you.*
I love you, my child,
More than you can imagine.
More than you can fathom.**
At that moment,
Grace went to work,
Melting the heart of the lost son.
And his brother.
Their lives were never the same
Because they were loved.

It is grace.
The likes of which
We have never seen before.
It is grace
And there is nothing that compares to it.
It is unfathomable.
It is never ending
He offers it to all of us,
And we stand amazed in the heat of its presence.
We stand changed in its fire.
We stand before the father
And nothing about us is ever the same.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-25-10

I was listening to NPR the other morning as we drove to work. One of the announcers was talking about a cone shaped nebula in an obscure constellation near Orion. The nebula is 2,500 light years away. The light astronomers see coming from the nebula today left its source 500 years before Christ was born. The huge size of the universe is unimaginable. Psalm 8 echoes through our minds as we try to grasp the grace and love of God: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” How is it possible that God loves me? As of February 24, 2010, the estimated world population is 6,804,600,000. How is it possible that God even knows I exist?

In one of the lectionary readings for this week, (Luke 13:34), Jesus laments, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Rev’d Monty Brown, pastor of St. Marks United Methodist Church is known for his odd sermon titles. This week’s title is El Loco Pollo – the crazy chicken. I wondered what he meant until I read this week’s passage from Luke, and then found this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor on the web:

"If you have ever loved someone you could not protect, then you understand the depth of Jesus' lament….This is the most vulnerable posture in the world --wings spread, breast exposed --but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand. … Jesus won't be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. She has no fangs, no claws, no rippling muscles. All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body. If the fox wants them, he will have to kill her first; which he does, as it turns out. He slides up on her one night in the yard while all the babies are asleep. When her cry wakens them, they scatter.

She dies the next day where both foxes and chickens can see her -- wings spread, breast exposed -- without a single chick beneath her feathers. It breaks her heart . . . but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand."

God loves you. He loves me. He loves each of us with an infinite, unimaginable love. He loves us, so this is how he stands, protecting us by becoming vulnerable, arms outspread as he died.

Our God is the God of amazing grace. Our God is the God who cares for the lilies of the field, who searches for a single lost sheep even when 99 sheep have been found. Our God not only knows our names and can count the number of hairs on our heads, but he created each of us in his own image. We should never doubt the infinite nature of his love. He means what he says, and he demonstrates it to us by how he stands.

Consider today what it means to your life that you are a beloved child of God.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-5-09

The Lord Needs It
Luke 19:28-40

His footsteps were slow
As he walked his final path to Jerusalem.
The disciples had been told,
but the refused to hear.
Was he walking alone?
Isolated in their denial?
Or did he find some comfort
In the nearness of friends?

Closer, just a few miles to go.
How often had he walked this path in his mind?
The journey had been long,
And the end was just beginning.

He sent two friends ahead.
"Go, and as you enter the village,
you will find a young colt,
never ridden,
tied to a post and waiting for you."
As he said it, did he think of the future?
Tied to a post and waiting?
Nailed to a cross, barely breathing?
"Untie it, and bring him here.
If you are asked, say
'The Lord needs it.'"

They did as he said,
And found what he said.
The owners asked what they were doing.
"The Lord needs it."
So they gave it to him.
No questions; no hesitations.
Do we always answer the same?

They laid their cloaks on the back of the animal,
and then his friends lifted Jesus up to ride him.
Friends, lifting up their friend.
Face to face, heart to heart.
Would they remember this moment, later?
When he broke the bread,
or washed their feet?
When they lifted him down,
face to face, heart to quiet heart,
off the cross?

The donkey plodded along,
carrying a king,
stepping, not in the mud,
but on clothing, thrown on the ground.
Gifts.
Jesus entered Jerusalem,
as his forefather Solomon had entered Gihon,
riding his father's donkey.
Was he riding on a donkey,
Provided by his Father?

The crowd shouted praise,
"Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
As he rode, did he hear the echo
of the angels' praise
on the night that he was born?
As the crowd shouted,
the Pharisees complained.
"Teacher! Make them stop!"
These Pharisees were the ones
who should have known.
Who should have recognized the son of the God they loved.
And yet they were blind to the man in front of them.

Jesus told them,
"If these are quiet,
the very stones on this ground
will cry out!"
God is changing the world,
And if you cannot see it,
If you cannot sing His praise,
The void will be filled
By those who will.T

he song will not be stopped.
The Lord has need of it.
Kim Matthews
To leave a comment for the author, go to http://www.jmlent.blogspot.com/

Mission Prayer Request:
April 5
Tyrand Cooperative Parish, Mill Creek; Belinda Toms, director
Offering emergency assistance with rent, utilities and prescriptions, they also manage Thrift and Christmas stores. Home repairs and day camps are provided. Workshops are offered to help clients achieve independence. Tyrand Parish is an approved disaster shelter.

Devotional 2-24-09

Days of Elijah

These are the days of Elijah,
Declaring the word of the Lord:
And these are the days of Your servant Moses,
Righteousness being restored.
And though these are days of great trial,
Of famine and darkness and sword,
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
'Prepare ye the way of the Lord!'*

On Ash Wednesday, my twelve-year-old son is fond of asking me, “What are you going to give up?” He likes to be in the know, and I suspect that he is hoping to catch me “cheating,” so that he can point it out. I find it hard to explain to him that I don’t think that is what Lent is all about.

A few years ago, I was struggling through a ministry task that I just didn’t want to do. I was committed to do it, but I was worried about whether it was the right thing to do or not. I think my resistance to the task was based in fear of the unknown, but I had to follow it through because it was my job. A friend said to me, “Perhaps you are here for just such a time as this.”

Do you recognize the line? It’s a paraphrase of a verse from Esther.

Where do you stand today? Have you been placed in that spot “for just such a time as this?” We face fear today – fear of unknown economic conditions, fear of loss and failure, fear of change -- and yet, God does not call us to fear. He calls us to discipleship.

Take a look around. Where is God calling you to action? Where is He calling you to use your gifts? Your talent? Perhaps you already know the answer to that question. Perhaps you, like me, have been objecting to God, sending Him all of the reasons why you believe that He has the “wrong number” when He is calling you.

Take a look around. You have been called to just such a time as this. Now is the time. Now is the time when the need is greatest. Now is the time when we can each make a difference. Now is the time that God is calling you.

There is a song, sung by many, including Twila Paris, called Days of Elijah. “These are the days of great trial, of famine and darkness and sword.” But these are the days to which you are called.
These are the days of Ezekiel,
The dry bones becoming as flesh;
And these are the days of Your servant David,
Rebuilding a temple of praise.
These are the days of the harvest,
The fields are as white in Your world,
And we are the laborers in Your vineyard,
Declaring the word of the Lord!*

Kim Matthews

Devotional 3-17-08

Scripture readings are included in the following poem, italicized.

God Walks with us Tonight
The man sat huddled in the doorway,
Wrapped in a ragged blanket,
Cold in body.
Cold in spirit.
His stomach empty
but his mind filled with regret.
He had no home but this doorway,
No friends,
No hope.
He cried out to God.

Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold
I have come into deep water,
and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying
My throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God. (Psalm 69:1-3)

The woman crouched beside her car
leaning on the fender
as if proximity to the flat tire
would bring it back to life.
She was alone, at night
She was alone, in life.
She couldn't call her husband,
because the scent of another man
hung in the car,
and she knew it.
Cold in body,
Cold in spirit,
She cried out to God.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)

The woman jerked as a hand
Cold and heavy
Landed on her shoulder.
He said, "I'll fix the tire for you."
Desperation won out over fear;
she opened the trunk,
and he set to work.
He found peace in finally making a difference
in someone else's life.
She found grace she had never experienced
because some else cared.

Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and
the God of all consolation,
who consoles us in our affliction,
so that we may be able to console
those who are in any affliction
with the consolation with which
we ourselves are consoled by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

When he was finished,
she thanked him,
and gave him a blanket
that had been stored in her trunk.
She offered him money,
which he took.
As he did,
he touched her hand,
and said, "Stop crying;
go home.
God walks with both of us tonight."

Kim Matthews

Devotional 3-7-08

The Summons

1 Corinthians 12:27-3:3:
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

The verses quoted above are one of the readings for this day during Lent. It is parts of two familiar passages, although perhaps we don’t always see them combined like this.

The idea that we all have different gifts from God is not a new one. We all, I hope, spend time trying to determine what our gifts from God are. What are your gifts? How does God want you to use them to bring about His kingdom on earth?

We all are created differently. Part of God’s creativity in the way we are designed is that we all hear God in different ways, though different means. I often hear God through music. In fact, if someone were to look back at the devotionals that I have written for our JM ministry, it would be hard to miss how this particular means of grace touches me. Almost every devotional I have written has a title which is the name of a song. God reaches me through music.

The sad fact is, however, that I have no musical talent or gifts at all. In order for God to reach me through music, someone else has to sing it. Someone else has to use his or her talents and gifts in order for me to receive this particular blessing of closeness to God through music.

I think that is amazing to consider. We are the Body of Christ, and when we share our gifts and talents, God is heard, in ways that we would never be able to experience if we were alone. I think that may be where the second part of the reading comes into play.

The greatest gift is love. Without love, all of the other gifts are nothing. To share yourself with others is to love them – it is to care so much about them that you allow yourself to be the means by which God’s grace reaches them.

Have you heard the song The Summons by John Bell? Read this verse:

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Where do you need to be the means of grace? What gift do you need to share with the Body of Christ to show God’s love? Who could God reach if you “let his love be shown” in what you do?

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-8-08

The Stand

O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! (Psalm 95:1-3, 6)

Make a joyful noise to the Lord. What does that mean, exactly? What does it mean to be joyful in life? Surely Lent, a time of reflection and repentance is not meant to be joyful. Right?

Can I share with you a few joyful moments that I have experienced lately?

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving

I was walking into work a couple of weeks ago, listening to my iPod. The song playing in my head was The Stand by Michael W. Smith. Part of the lyrics of that song say, “I'll stand … in awe of the one who gave it all.” I stood at the edge of a field near our parking lot, watching the sunrise. I was in awe and grateful to God for stopping me in my rush to work so that I could notice His glory. It was joy because it was a moment spent close to God.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Two weeks ago, our dear friend and servant of Christ, Jim Ray, died. Are you surprised that I would mention that in a list of joyful moments? The pain of the loss certainly wasn’t joyful. I miss him intensely, and I think I always will. I learned something important that week, though. God knew how painful it would be for our church to lose this man. For the week between his loss and his funeral, God drew us all close to His heart. In so many ways I saw God’s timing and God’s care for us made manifest. He did not leave us alone. Isn’t there joy in realizing that God loves us all enough to make His presence felt when we needed Him? (And maybe Jim was with God, telling Him, “I’ve got a few things I’m going to let you take care of for me….)

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

It’s Lent. It’s time to think about repentance – turning from our sinful ways and turning toward God. Doesn’t sound very joyful, does it? I don’t imagine that any one of us wants to spend much time considering what we have done wrong and the sins that we have committed, much less admit them to God. What greater joy is there, though, than to know that our sins are forgiven? All of them. No matter how horrible we think they are, God forgives them. Aren’t those words of joy?

Joy. There is joy in our repentance. There is joy in our sadness. There is joy for us because God is close; how can we help but experience joy when God is standing so close? It washes over us; it is grace.

O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

It is our blessing that God draws us close so that we can stand before Him, bathed in the grace of His joy. God give us joy, and we cannot help but worshp.

Kim Matthews