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Monday, September 14, 2020

“Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” —Romans 5:11

Sometimes learning the way of Jesus means taking a concept we understand in one way and giving it a radically different (or sometimes just much bigger) meaning. This happened, for example, when Jesus talked about our “neighbors” and our “enemies.” Jesus said that, if we’re really going to experience life on his terms, we’re going to need to think differently about how we relate to people we might previously not have considered neighbors, or might previously even have considered enemies.

The good news of what Jesus has done for us means that our lives are going to be different. In the verse from today’s Daily Texts, the apostle Paul laid out what boasting means in a Jesus-is-risen world. Earlier in his letter to Christians in Rome, Paul had talked about other potential grounds for boasting. For example, a Jew might boast in the wisdom of the law given by God to his people Israel. In our own lives, we can think of boasting about our accomplishments or our character.

But Paul understood that boasting in ourselves, in our own traits, or in our own accomplishments was ultimately empty boasting. When we truly grasp what God has done for us—when we let it sink deep into our bones that God has deemed us worthy of salvation at great cost—then we truly have reason to boast.

For followers of Jesus, boasting is never about what we have done. It is always and only about what has been done for us and for every other person in the world. And that is such a more powerful and secure source of boasting. It doesn’t rely on how we’re doing on any given day. It doesn’t rely on continued success or excellence. It relies only on the firm foundation of what God has already done. And so we boast—with gratitude and humility and joy—in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have been reconciled to God and to one another.

Friday, September 11, 2020

Today’s reflection is written by Deacon Karen Katamay.

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears.” —Psalm 39:12

Do you have something that you pray for every day, waiting for God to bring an answer or relief? Something that is weighing on you and making you wonder if God is listening or even cares? For many of us right now, we are praying every day for an end to this pandemic. We are also reminded this day of the horror that happened on September 11th in 2001. When we deal with things like this that are beyond our control, we can sometimes question whether God is silent at our tears.  

When King David wrote this psalm, he was reflecting on the fleeting nature of life, and after trying to be quiet and meditate on God, he found he could not hold his tongue (or his tears) any longer. He confesses his sins and asks for forgiveness. He reflects on his own mortality and the mortality of all those around him. He feels that his trials and tribulations are a punishment from God and that God has turned away from him. Yet we know from the Bible that David was chosen by God and God never turned away from him. Just as he never turns away from us, but instead takes the trials of this life and uses them as a way to draw us closer to him, wrapping us with love and grace when we need it most.

In verse 7 of Psalm 39, David reminds us what to look for when we pray: “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” God is our hope when everything feels hopeless around us. And remembering that will carry us even through the worst of times.  

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace. Hebrews 13:9

I have always had a lot of questions about God. As I grew up I discovered that some of those questions had already been answered while others hadn’t (and may never be answered in this life).

Pursuing answers to these questions is part of a healthy faith life. We should always seek to better understand who God is and who God says we are. But as we do this, we can be tempted to reduce God from who God is to who we want God to be.

Today’s verse points out that this was, and is, a common trap. God is bigger and more complicated than we can imagine. And yet, God’s nature can be summed up in one word, love. The love that wouldn’t leave us in sin but instead would come into this world to free us from it.

In the midst of all today’s questions, may we hold on to this fundamental truth.