Lenten Devotional...March 22

James 2:14-17

“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

(James 2:17)

In reading today’s full text, my mind wandered some eight thousand miles to the small Indian villages I visited with Leena Levana and our team on a recent ServeTrust mission trip.  Every day we encountered children and adults whose needs were often overwhelming. 

Leena’s passion to share the gospel is multi-faceted, reaching to exemplify the love of Christ to the total person. “How can I tell them about the Bread of Life,” she told us, “if I don’t help feed their empty stomachs.”  I have affirmed over the years this broader perspective of reaching out in Jesus' name, but I had never seen it exemplified more powerfully.  HIV/AIDS patients, hungry children, those without good dental hygiene, those who had perhaps never had a pair of shoes of their own, those bound in the horror of the sex trade, those who had been cast aside because they were elderly or infirmed, those whose lives had been turned upside down by the devastating fire at the railroad yard…all of these people witnessed the love of Jesus not simply through a preacher who stood on the street corner and talked, but by someone who tirelessly worked to heal and feed and clothe and liberate and embrace them in the midst of their need.

The Message translates our focal passage with stunning clarity: “Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”  I didn’t have to travel 8,000 miles to find evidence of this truth, but I am surely glad I did.

Prayer: God of one, God of all, give us compassion and courage that our God-talk may be accompanied by God-acts. Amen.

Jim Abernathy

Lenten Devotional...March 21

Matthew 11:28-30

“Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

(Matthew 11:30, MSG)

Perhaps you heard your mom, a teacher, or maybe worst of all, a preacher say to you, “Be careful of the company you keep!” The implication was of course that one can easily be corrupted by the influence of others.  Surely there is truth in that warning, but might it also be said that the reverse can be true as well.  A good influence can indeed challenge one in positive ways.

The Message translation of today’s text is evidence of this.  By keeping company with Christ, one has the opportunity to learn and grow in ways that are not only beneficial to self, but others as well.  I like the outcome here of keeping company with Jesus…to learn to live freely and lightly.”  In the busyness of our lives, wouldn’t we love to live freely and lightly?  “Come to me,” Jesus said, “and I will give you rest.”  Sounds like good company to me!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, may I keep company with you, and learn to live freely and lightly.  Amen.

Jim Abernathy

Lenten Devotional...March 18

Isaiah 64:8-9

“Lord...we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

(Isaiah 64:8)

Growing up in a Baptist pastor’s home in the 1960’s, I can honestly say we were at church almost every time the doors opened…Sunday morning and evening, Wednesday nights, and usually several other times through the week.  As I reflect on those days there are some things I remember fondly and others, well…not so much.  One cherished memory, however, is the singing of hymns.  Every time we gathered, we sang, and over the years, the tunes and texts of those great hymns became ingrained within me to the point I could match hymn titles and numbers by memory long before my tenth birthday.

In reading today’s scripture, those “ancient” memories of singing hymns came quickly to mind, particularly Adelaide Potter’s compelling text, “Have Thine Own Way.”   The hymn was often sung as a invitation to faith or recommitment at the close of the service.  “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.”

As I recall, "Have Thine Own Way" was number 355 in the old 1956 Baptist Hymnal. (I may not remember a conversation I had last night, but I can remember hymn numbers from fifty years ago!) They were powerful words back then.  The words of the prophet, Isaiah, were powerful when written centuries before the birth of Jesus, and they are still a powerful part of discipleship today.  You are the potter, Lord. I am the clay.

Prayer: Mold me and make me, Lord, after your will, while I am waiting, yielded and still. Amen.

Jim Abernathy

Doubt Gives Way to Hope

A few hours into March Madness my bracket is already compromised.  Upsets have taken their toll on some favored teams and I am confident there will be more! Some folks have detailed formulas, while others are driven by their hearts to choose favorite teams, and some just close their eyes and pick.  The national champion will be crowned April 4, and while there are favorites to win it all, at this point, it's anybody's guess.

Sunday morning we will gather for worship to celebrate Palm Sunday.  It was a day in which Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem by the cheering crowd, a favorite among them. They were ready to crown him King, a sure thing.  But before the week was over, he seemingly had been defeated.  Life can change in a moment, the favored become the defeated and all seems lost.  The story of Jesus, however doesn't end in defeat.  Easter Sunday we will gather to celebrate the victory of light over darkness, hope over disappointment, and life over death.  it begins, however, with this Sunday's celebration.  I know many of our folks are out of town during spring break, but if you are in town, I look forward to sharing this great story with you Sunday.  Invite a friend to join you!

The outcome of March Madness is still very much in doubt. As Palm Sunday gives way to Good Friday and ultimately Easter, doubt gives way to hope. Looking forward to sharing this Holy Week with you.

Jim Abernathy

Lenten Devotional...March 17

Ecclesiastes 5:15

“Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.”

                                                            

“You can’t take it with you,” might be a more succinct way to convey today's text.  Of course, our life-long quest to amass some degree of wealth might make one wonder if we truly believe this. 

The writer of Ecclesiastes, not known for his warm, fuzzy outlook, has, as did Joe Friday from the old Dragnet television series, a "just the facts" mentality.  But there is something more to this discussion which he could not have fully anticipated when writing nearly four centuries before the birth of Jesus.  Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus wasn’t encouraging good works that would bring some materialistic, heavenly reward.  He was challenging his followers instead to live so they could share and build blessings that would make an eternal difference. In that context, we can take with us something that truly matters.

Like most preachers, I have a hard time being succinct, so this devotional is going on a bit longer than usual.  But I close with a few words from Annie Johnson Flint’s wonderful poem, “The World’s Bible.” 

We are the only Bible the careless world will read.

We are the sinner’s gospel, we are the scoffer’s creed.

We are the Lord’s last message given in deed and word.

What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to live in your light so others may clearly see your love. Amen.

Jim Abernathy

Lenten Devotional...March 16

Colossians 4:6

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how your ought to answer everyone.”

I may sound here like the old fogey I fear I am becoming, but it seems to me that there is something missing from many of our conversations these days.  Now, I have always been a bit suspicious of statements that communicate things aren’t like they used to be, as if they were always better in the past.  Constantly looking at life through the rear view mirror does not give one a healthy perspective for contemporary living. That said, allowing me just a moment on my nostalgic high horse, it seems to me that there is less grace in our conversations today.  We seem to make assumptions that put others at a disadvantage before the first word is ever spoken.  The benefit of the doubt is lost in the midst of such self-serving, self-absorbed discussion, and dialogue actually becomes monologue.

The Message translation perhaps communicates more positively than my curmudgeonly way.  “Be gracious in your speech.  The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.”  Young, old, yesterday, tomorrow, and certainly today, that has been, will be, and is now good advice.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Jim Abernathy

Lenten Devotional...March 15

Psalm 37:7

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

Do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

Recently, there have been recurring themes in the political discourse of our nation calling us to respond in kind to the abuses of our enemies.  The rhetoric implies that if an enemy uses cruel and inhumane measures, it is only fair that we respond in kind so our conflict is waged on level ground.  Inherent in this argument is the danger that we succumb to the very evil we say we oppose.

I cannot change the course of a nation on my own, but transformed by the love of Christ, I can help bring change in my home, school, office, church, and community.  To be still and wait before the Lord requires a discipline of faith that resists the temptations of flawed, human parity.  You see, it isn’t about keeping my eyes on the actions of others, and then emulating them. Rather, it is about keeping my eyes upon God and then emulating the actions of Jesus, the Christ. 

Perhaps the words from the chorus of Helen Lemmel’s great hymn give us perspective here: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”     

Prayer: Guide my steps, my sight, my thoughts this day, O Lord. May I see and follow Jesus.  Amen.

Jim Abernathy