Tuesday, November 30, 2021

 Tuesday, November 30

I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. (Rev. 22: 16)

One of my more evangelical friends once said, “Jesus is the answer.” It’s that plain and simple. Jesus is the root, the descendant of David, the morning star, and before that, this text from Revelation adds “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

We might also add that Jesus is the Messiah and our salvation. Jesus is heavenly manna and the Word made flesh. Jesus is radical love embodied. Jesus is much more.

What is so comforting to me in watching this list of Jesus’s attributes unravel is that, despite their large numbers, they all express a sense of permanency. At the time of my writing of this reflection, I had just moved cross-country from my hometown in Sunbury, Pennsylvania to Berkeley, California for seminary.

This move was challenging for so many reasons. I moved far from family, said goodbye (for now) to my home congregation, and set out on an untrodden path. I never thought seminary was for me, but the pandemic created the time and space I needed to discern God’s call and realize the amazing support I had for such a bold move in my life.

The challenges of moving and being away from home haven’t fully subsided. Homesickness still sets in and the tasks pile up. Yet, passages like this one from Revelation are a comforting reminder of the permanency of Jesus. Just as I had known Jesus in my home context, in the love of my family and the grace I saw lived out in my church, so too do I see it here in a wonderful new community of faithful people. People, by the way, who are showing me new ways in which Jesus is rooted in their lives, guiding them like a bright morning star.

Lord God, open our eyes to your rootedness in our lives, that we may cast our eyes upon your guiding light. Amen.

Larry Herrold Jr. is a seminarian from the Upper Susquehanna Synod studying at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. He is pursuing an Mdiv degree and Word and Sacrament ordination in the ELCA.

Monday, November 29, 2021

 Monday, November 29, 2021

 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)

My family knows that if we are packing for a long trip that they need to get all the items we are taking to the vehicle.  Once assembled, I look at each item and put them carefully in place so everything fits. 

I have learned there are two principals to follow if I want to get the right stuff in the car.  The two principals are to determine those items that are most essential and put the big pieces in first.  With those principals in place I was even able to move my daughter and all her “essential” goods to college (including the 32 pairs of shoes). 

So often at the end of the day when I look back, I wonder why I don’t feel like I accomplished anything.  Why I don’t feel like the day was successful, why the day was so bland.  As I look at those days to try to find the cause, I usually discover that I forgot to apply the same principals to my daily schedule that I use to pack the car. I failed to identify those things that were critical, and I did not plan where all the pieces, especially the big pieces, fit in the day. 

One of the best ways to start the day well is to carve out time for GOD early in the day and not let all the other issues steal that time from me.   Spending quality time with GOD is the missing piece of the puzzle for our souls, our source of joy. Unfortunately we must be disciplined to maintain the priority, or we so easily let other good things take its place. 

Lord, help me to keep you the priority in my life, to take time to talk to you and to get to know you better every day. 

Laurin Fleming serves as the PEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison to Lutheran Disaster Response – Eastern PA and is a member of Idaville United Brethren in Christ.

Saturday/Sunday, November 27 & 28

 Saturday/Sunday, November 27 & 28

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Luke 21:33)

As I write this, Hurricane Ida’s devastation is real in my community. The rising flood waters filled apartments and houses, washing away belongings and memories, leaving a wake of wet, moldy debris. Dumpsters around town are filled and overflowing with furniture and trash. Families are struggling to figure out where to live during rebuilding, juggling children, jobs and pets in the midst of the devastation.

The flooding of a home in natural disaster is a part of life that was once known and is now passing away. In the matter of a few hours, what was is now no more. Those who experience flooding have no choice but to view the impermanence of the “stuff” of life. The gospel of Luke takes it further to note that heaven and earth will pass away. In that moment, what remains?

Simply put, God’s love remains. God’s everlasting care for humanity remains. God’s promise of new life can not be touched by any earthly or heavenly destruction. In Christ, we know that life triumphs in the face of any and all death we experience. In the words of promise, grief will slowly lift as the sun rises the next day.

In our community, even amidst the deep grief and struggle following the flooding, the words slowly turn from despair to thanksgiving for life preserved, the help of neighbors and rebuilding together after disaster. God’s word lives in the community as we remind one another that hope and love persevere beyond disaster.

God of promise, strengthen us by your words of promise. When we grieve the losses of our human lives, show us signs of love and hope through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Reverend Dr. Jennifer L. Phelps is Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Perkasie.

 

Friday, November 26, 2021

Friday, November 26, 2021 

You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst. (Nehemiah 9:20)

As you review your mailing list for Christmas/holiday cards, you probably won’t come across the name of your friend from high school who had a bitter falling out with you. You also likely won’t be out shopping for the kid who hits your child at recess. And it’s a virtual certainty that your miserable neighbor, who always scowls in your direction and parks in your spot, doesn’t have a reserved seat at the big dinner you’re hosting this season.

Today’s verse, Nehemiah 9:20, without any context, seems as though a loving God is providing for his people, as one would expect.  However, when you read the rest of the chapter, as it describes the depths of rebellion and blasphemy these ancestors had reached, verse 20 becomes even more striking. By any metric of worthiness, these people deserved to be forgotten and abandoned. Not only did God demonstrate his mercy in not deserting them, but He shows an abundance of grace throughout the verses that follow.

It’s easy to read a passage like this and critique the shortcomings and sins of others, much like we may also do with those in our lives. But do we honestly judge ourselves by those same standards? How often do we think about the ways that we fall short of God’s glory? Reflections like this may be more likely during Easter season, but easy to lose sight of in the hustle and bustle of Advent.

Take a moment today to reflect on how God has shown you grace and mercy in your life, and also how you can extend those same blessings to others.

Lord, thank you for the grace and mercy you have demonstrated to all of your people throughout history, and especially to me in my life.  Please help me to share that love and forgiveness with others this Advent season.  Amen.

Brandon Frank is the Manager of Financial Reporting for Liberty Lutheran.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Thursday, November 25

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 9:10)

From a certain lens, Paul’s message in the ninth chapter could be considered a message so nice he decided to deliver it twice. That is, Paul had already explained the importance of generous giving in the eighth chapter, and continues the point in this, the following chapter – we should not overlook this purposeful repetition.

In a similar vein, the reciprocity which Paul identifies as a result of the spirit of generous giving enables faithful reflection on how we serve our world, our God and those in our community, however small or large that community may be.  

Though the global pandemic and its attendant challenges have even further instilled in me the need to generously give and enunciated the need to continuously realize and appreciate God’s blessings, I have also realized that there is always more that I can do. And I believe that this is what Paul had in mind when he selected the words “multiply” and “increase.”

 These are verbs that theoretically come without bounds. And accordingly, as we are all in some way recipients of God’s indescribable gifts, we must share these in profusion, and by doing so multiply and increase the harvest for all.

 Please, God, allow us the courage and selflessness to honor you by sharing with others and with our world the gifts you have given to us.

 

Evan Speece is a member of the Board of Directors at Liberty Lutheran. 

Daily Advent Devotionals Posts Will Start on Thursday, November 25, 2021