Daily Devotions and Podcasts

SCRIPTURE  Luke 1.75-79 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare God’s ways, to give the people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. WORDS OF HOPE These days, there are multiple passionate reviews, both pro and con, being exchanged about the two-part movie version of the Broadway musical, Wicked. Either way, the story takes us to a place beyond ourselves, visiting another incarnation of the marvelous Land of Oz. I think today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel does the same thing. It is classic lyric material that would be an excellent beginning of a classic Broadway musical. These intro lyrics climax with the all-time hit, the Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) as she rejoices about the Advent of her own Holy son, followed by the spectacular refrain of glory from the heavenly host (1:14), and reinforced by the Song of Simeon, that declaration of prophesy fulfilled in the infant Jesus (1:29-32). We’ve heard the Overture in the first Chapter of Luke. In his foreshadowing, the priest Zechariah’s solo praises the imminent birth of the Prophet who will introduce Mary’s son to the world. The Prophet will be Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s own miracle child: John the Baptist. The operetta’s atmospheric theme is the unconditional love the Creator is about to visit upon the earth through the coming of the Christ, the Redeemer of All. In the 1939 movie on which Wicked is based, as the Wizard of Oz is about to present the testimonial heart to the Tin Man, he defines unconditional love as the work of “Good-deed-doers” an attribute the Tin Man has consistently modeled throughout Dorothy’s perils. Luke’s opus, as do most of the greatest of musicals, teaches us a good lesson and makes us want to be like the story’s most positive characters. Like the Oz epic, do we want to be the Tin Man and his two unique companions who were willing to give their lives to save Dorothy? Are we good deed doers? If we read and meditate on today’s words of Luke, contemplating the “tender mercy of our God”, how can we resist humming Luke’s lyrics by following the example of Jesus, especially in the upcoming season? There is a capacity crowd of our neighbors out there in the real world desperate for good deeds. Our unconditional love in practice can be our joyful overture to their world. PRAYER God of Grace, may we be generous good deed doers of your tender mercy and guides along your winding road to peace. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Romans 15.14-21 I, myself, am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So, from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” WORDS OF HOPE We’ve all gotten those emails or seen a social media post where we have read some meaning or attitude into them that may not have been intended by the writer. It is sometimes hard to translate words delivered to us in a two-dimensional inanimate form into words that are being spoken from the heart and soul of a feeling human being. Sometimes when I read the words of the apostle Paul, I interpret them as being somewhat boastful …”Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again…, He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God.” Why does he think I need to be reminded? And doesn’t each of us who claims to be a Christian have the duty to proclaim the gospel of God? I often wonder how I would respond if I encountered Paul on the street today. And how would he interact with me and other people he’d meet? My trigger response to the above passage comes from my error in reading first century words from a twenty-first century mindset. Today there are all kinds of people out there proclaiming that they have been given THE priestly duty of proclaiming the Gospel and wanting us to believe them to be speaking and doing the work of Jesus while, in reality, only glorifying themselves—not God. Such behavior elicits an immediate negative reaction in me. I have to step back and remind myself that Paul was not like those today that treat their faith as a superficial accessory. He truly believed that everything he was doing was in the service of God. Paul was a successful evangelist, spreading Christianity to the Gentiles and building churches throughout the Roman Empire. He went about his mission with a rare kind of humility. Paul was genuine. Though he lived nearly two centuries ago, Paul’s words and actions are still relevant and serve as an example for us now. As an apostle, Paul was dedicated entirely to a life of service and hard work. In everything he did, Paul strived to reflect his faith through acts of humility and love. This is what we each need to do as well. We too have a duty to proclaim the gospel of Christ throughout our daily lives. When we read the words of Paul in their New Testament, it is important for us to think about the time and place in which they were written. What was their meaning and intent to the original audience? Then, we can think about what their meaning and application are to our daily life. PRAYER Gracious God, help me to see and appreciate your servants who have come before me. May I learn from them to be a faithful example of your peace, hope, joy and love. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of St. Francis and St. Clare