Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, March 12, 2023 — Morning

By Suzanne Matheny

We Have Work to Do

Read: Luke 24:13

“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about

seven miles from Jerusalem.”

Our church history hearkens to the Civil War division in America – a division not yet healed. I have vivid memories of the Jim Crow era and my job as a nurse’s aide at the newly built UT Hospital with segregated spaces. I recoil at the memory of raw racist hatred spewed by a white male patient at the black nurse who was training me. How she could bear it is unfathomable! I later worked on third floor – designated for black patients, one of whom was teenage David, same age as I. Too soon, I mourned his death, and I wonder what his life would have been had he survived his heart illness. What if? The future held injustices for us both; however, mine would not be because of my skin color; some of his would have been.

Reflecting on racial division, the late Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, III, imagined anew the Emmaus road.

“Those disciples knew plenty about injustice, hatred and loss… I imagine not just two disciples, but two types…some black, some white…seeking a new Easter where people of both races could share each other’s lives and honor and respect each other. What would it mean if we really embraced the fact that Christ crucified and risen has broken down the dividing walls between black and white, rich and poor…Easter happens when tombs are opened, old divisions heal, when people learn to forgive and to understand each other, when a society becomes more just and hopeful.”*

Prayer

God of Creation and Easter: We are created in your image and you are Spirit. Convict and forgive our human ways that see color over spirit. We know we have work to do. Help us see how and give us courage to build a just and hopeful world. Amen.

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*Lloyd, Samuel T., III. Sermons from the National Cathedral: Soundings for the Journey, pg. 167ff

Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, March 5, 2023 — Evening

By Sarah Elliott

Fasting from Fear

Read: Psalm 27:13-14

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the

living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

In a recent study performed by Penn State*, 91.4% of worry predictions among the cohort of participants with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) did not come true.

While many of us don’t have GAD, how much of our worry is unwarranted? How does excessive worry take away from our faith in God? David had faith. In the face of his enemies, he was always confident that the Lord would be victorious. Did he worry? Absolutely. In Psalm 3, David displays his fear for the many of his foes. However, he had faith God would deliver him. He waited for the Lord and was victorious. He could have ran and hid when he was afraid, but he had faith. How was his faith so strong?

Why are we fearful? Are we not promised a bright future by God? Like David, we can anticipate victory in the land of the living. God sent his son Jesus who promised to return and take us home to be with him. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” John 1:17. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

Can I strengthen my faith by fasting from fear? This Lenten season, when I find myself full of worry of things that might happen, I will replace the word fear with faith. I will have active faith that the Lord will deliver me. Active faith is a conscious effort to retrain my brain from focusing on fear to focusing on faith. The fear is likely not to occur, but if it does, God will walk with me and make me victorious.

Prayer

Most Heavenly Father, replace our fear with faith. Hear our confessions of hope, for we know you will keep your promises. Though our walk in the land of the living is filled with anxiety, grief, and illness, we hold strong to your promise of an eternal walk with you. Guide us with grace and truth in this land of living so our faith can be strengthened and overcome our fears. Amen.

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, February 26, 2023 — Morning

By Laura Still

When Jesus Came to Jordan

Read: Matthew 3:13-17, 4:1-11, Mark 1:9-13, Luke 21-23, 4:1-13 John 1:29-34

“When Jesus came to Jordan, to be baptized by John

He did not come for pardon, but as the Sinless One.

He came to share repentance, with all who mourn their sins,

to speak the vital sentence with which good news begins.”

I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I first encountered this hymn, but I was an adult, because I was standing in the balcony of Church Street, the one on the lectern side where I still sit to this day. The memory is very clear, because the last line of the above verse lit a spark in my head. Suddenly I wasn’t just trying to follow the tune, I paid attention to the words, and the next verse:

“He came to share temptation, our utmost woe and loss,

for us and our salvation to die upon the cross.

So when the dove descended on him the Son of Man,

the hidden years had ended, the age of grace began.”

Now the spark was a flame—Jesus begins the age of grace, his ministry, after his baptism by John. The descending dove is recorded in all four of the gospels, testifying to the vision and the voice of God. Luke tells us that Jesus was about 30 years old when this happened. In the previous chapter of Luke’s gospel, Jesus is only twelve and has just frightened the life out of Mary and Joseph by disappearing in Jerusalem in three days before being found in the temple. He was taken back to Nazareth by his parents and settled down to being an obedient son. The years between twelve and thirty are a mystery to us; many scholars and writers have speculated about what Jesus was doing during that time but no one really knows. Remembering what those years were like in my own life, I wonder about Jesus, facing all the challenges of adolescence and becoming an adult. He had to have handled it better than I did—the words “he grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” are enough to tell me that. Those hidden years were spent learning, gaining self-knowledge and understanding, till he felt called to go to Jordan, to begin his ministry and his journey to the cross.

The story of Jesus and his temptation in the desert shows clearly that Jesus knows who he is, has turned his life toward God, and is determined to follow God’s plan from now on. This is our decision too, and every year during Lent we are asked to renew it: to turn our lives toward our Lord, and pray for his strength and purpose to guide us on our journey. The last verse is a good prayer for Lent, or any time we want to open our hearts to God.

Prayer

“Come Holy Spirit, aid us to keep the vows we make;

this very day invade us and every bondage break.

Come give our lives direction, the gift we covet most:

to share the Resurrection that leads to Pentecost.”

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Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023 — Evening

By Rev. Tim Best, Senior Associate Pastor

Depending on the Divine

Read Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Lent has always been a time for me to reflect upon my great need for God. I admit this has largely been a philosophical or emotional exercise. Don’t get me wrong, the “need” I have felt has been real, but has always seemed like a need that not everyone had to know about. I liked that. I like being able to honestly tell folks “I need and depend upon God” without having to tell them how exactly. I am more private than I often let on; I share all sorts of things, all types of facts about my life. But it is hard for me to share my needs or fears.

In recent months I have had obvious and public needs. I have been unable to drive and have had other limitations due to a vision condition that, at least as I write this, persists. Our lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday all contain this theme of need for God. Much of the emphasis is on need for repentance and renewal, but we can understand the call to be an invitation to recognize our dependance upon God. As we begin this Lenten season may we all honestly evaluate our needs and open ourselves to how God is seeking to care for us.

Prayer

Lord, may you renew us this lent that we may always know our need for you and trust in your grace. Amen

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