Thursday - October 17, 2024
Dan Peeler
SCRIPTURE
Luke 7.31-35
“To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Humanity has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
WORDS OF HOPE
I have spent many years of my adult life working with and teaching children, both in church settings and through art museum workshops and lectures. I have always admired their freshness and eagerness to learn. Jesus famously reminded us that we must have the faith of a child in order to discover the central message of his teachings, but in this passage, he is challenging the people of his generation for being stubborn and childish. He is not contradicting his usual teaching. He praises being open and childlike, but denounces adults who act childish, which is the dark side of childlike.
Childish people are never satisfied. They create their own specific rules without sharing them with others and are quick to condemn anyone they judge has broken them. They refuse to listen, learn, or change and take much pleasure in name-calling, bullying, and ridiculing.
They are impossible to please because all that brings them pleasure is criticizing those who can’t possibly live up to the standards that only they are qualified enough to follow. When they break their own standards, and they often do, they are experts at making excuses, including re-defining their own versions of the truth. They are prone to tantrums.
“Wow,” you might say, “those people in Jerusalem had some real problems.” At this point, it is helpful to identify the specific group of people Jesus was addressing in this instance. He wasn’t talking to a mixed crowd of average people on the street, nor was he condemning the usual list of thieves, women of questionable intensions, or corrupt government bureaucrats that were high on the first century’s list of undesirables. He was speaking to their religious leaders.
This short narrative is a perfect example of Jesus’ ministry. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus never wastes his time confronting or condemning admitted sinners, but a great deal of his time challenging people who were certain that they were not. Then as now, people who appoint themselves as models of doctrinal perfection inevitably fail miserably and assume the roles of those children on the marketplace, denouncing, ridiculing, and blaming everyone who will still pay them any attention.
But this passage has a happy ending. Regardless of the failings of certain self-serving groups, Jesus reflects on the Hebrew Scripture personification of Woman Wisdom, saying that overall, her children will eventually recognize and turn away from the failures of those toxic influencers. Meanwhile, as the spirit of Woman Wisdom guides us, Jesus’ faith in a humankind created in God’s own image never faulters.
PRAYER
May we have the clarity of a child’s faith as Jesus beacons us to follow as adults the mind- cleansing path of Woman Wisdom. Amen.
DEVOTION AUTHOR
Dan Peeler
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Need More Inspiration? Read our Daily Devotions
SCRIPTURE John 1:5 (NIV) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. WORDS OF HOPE I was once called a “Pollyanna” on social media for an attitude that was too optimistic and perhaps too cheerful. I quickly realized that judgment was surface level, based on a single post, and couldn’t touch what runs much deeper in me. I sent my friend a private reply, saying I could understand how she might see it that way. But I also explained some origins of my optimism. I didn’t grow up in a particularly happy household. We lived under the constant threat of my father’s unpredictable behavior. He was both an alcoholic and bipolar. At least one of those conditions wasn’t his fault and bipolar medications were a few decades away. As to the alcoholism, he came from an era when heavy drinking was accepted, even encouraged, as well as the notion of men ruling the roost with an iron fist; those days when discipline often crossed into what we would now call abuse. We never knew what mood we'd get. When someone lives that way, it’s hard to trust the rare moments of calm, or the sudden bursts of happiness that can tip into mania. Looking back at childhood photos and my grandfather’s 8mm home movies, I notice a consistent optimism on my face. I wasn’t hiding my feelings, exactly—I had found refuge in creativity and comic books. That world became my escape, and, I think, my survival. There was also something inherent in me, a defiance of the depressing household climate. Some of us are born into circumstances that force us to develop inner light early. I know I sublimated those feelings by escaping into my fantasy world of writing and art. What we create in our minds often shapes our emotions and actions. Today is Optimist Day. What stories of your own past have taught you to be optimistic today? We live in a fragile world. These are violent, unpredictable times and the actions, the hopes, of your younger self should spark the same optimism many of us had in our childhoods. It’s ok to dream, to have visions of a better world, to know that silver linings are still not out of style. I recently watched the movie Pollyanna again and better understood the word’s origin. I’m a little prouder now to wear that label— and I should remember it more often. So should all of us. Everyone needs a smile. Even our darkest moments are temporary. PRAYER My Creator, I know I find it difficult on some days to be a beacon of hope to the people I encounter, so I ask that you help me see past my own despair as a bridge for somebody else. In your name, Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Charlie C Rose Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE Luke 6:24-25 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.” WORDS OF HOPE This is from the passage in Luke often called the “Sermon on the Plain”. In it, Jesus doesn’t seem too fond of rich people, more specifically greed. Because of this I don’t hear this quoted much by folks preaching “Prosperity Gospel”. Seems to me Jesus was not a fan of transactional faith. It feels too much like a business arrangement and for me my relationship with the Divine is not a business model. I believe Jesus was encouraging us to weigh the importance of possessions in our pursuit of happiness and grace. Things hold no permanence, but faith and God’s grace are eternal if we open ourselves to that miracle. I was reminded of this recently when I saw a building that had always been a fixture in my life’s history being imploded to make way for something else. That edifice that seemed so solid and permanent was gone in seconds. What remained for me were memories of it and the people and events surrounding it. Those cannot be blown up and carted away. It is those memories that I find much more valuable than the building. Like my faith, they are contained, not in an edifice, but in my mind and to some extent my soul. PRAYER Eternal God, may we receive your grace and hold it fast to our souls for it has more value than any earthly riches. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman
SCRIPTURE Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. WORDS OF HOPE Throughout my years of teaching Bible truths to children, I used the memorization technique of acting out Scriptures with broad body motions. Of all the scriptures we learned, I hoped that the one they would take with them into the world was Jesus’ Love Commandment covering love of self, love of neighbor, and therefore love of God through practicing those virtues. The motion we used for “love your neighbor” was creating a large circle with both arms. My final question to them each Sunday was, “And who is your neighbor?” “The whole world!” they would eagerly respond. That statement still holds true and will never change. Jesus came to fulfill the complex laws of the Prophets and he fulfilled them through preaching love, the greatest power on Earth. Yet, in the course of human history, loving our neighbor seems to often take a back seat to the glorification of power. Our most foolish and egocentric leaders in every era have practiced that obsession through invasions and wars against our neighbors. Some of them, from the Crusades until now, have even identified themselves as Christians. What happened to Christian love? Cole Arthur Riley is a spiritual educator at Cornell University, best known for her book This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us . She is the creator of Black Liturgies, which integrates Black culture with spiritual practices, centering on themes such as liberation, lament, and justice. Her discernment and wisdom speak to all of us. She has this to say about love and power: “One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic.” Riley’s observations are profound. Love is not just a good feeling we talk about in Sunday School. It is an action, a spiritual practice, the most powerful gift God has ever given. How we’re going to use that gift is up to us. In our personal relationships, in our prayers, in our social media posts, we must never abandon or squander the power of love. But, who can possibly benefit from our persistence? Our neighbors; The Whole World. PRAYER God of Love, God of Divine Power, in our communicating, we are sometimes tempted to adapt the age-old rhetoric of hatred and distrust that surrounds and distracts us. Remind us of your greatest gift. Guide us on the path of love for all that Jesus paved for us. Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. READING Rev, Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. WORDS OF HOPE A Cause Worth Fighting For Today, on this first day of Black History Month, we find ourselves in an argument as old as civilization itself. This argument has been repeating itself, beginning again in every generation, every nation, every city, and in every home. But this argument isn’t happening between two opposing parties. In truth, it is rare for anyone to be as good as they appear or as wicked during a war. People tend to live according to the passions of their convictions, and in doing so, tend to feel justified. And bludgeoning someone with one’s convictions becomes a never-ending cycle–escalating over time, demanding greater costs and greater sacrifices. However, true justice has always been hard won, has always needed to be defended, and has always yielded itself to morality. We need not merely the appearance of the moral high ground, but rather the examination of what exactly the moral high ground is. When faced with a seemingly insurmountable climb, Martin Luther King Jr.’s biggest obstacle was not the opposition, however, but his own heart, and how many times must a man who was publicly shamed, shackled, beaten and berated every time he left his house… How many times must he have been tempted to give in to his wrath? How would he have been able to successfully lead a movement using only the weapon of love if he had? At the end of the day, we won the argument because we won the battle over the heart; and if we need to ask ourselves what love is or what goodness looks like, then remember that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was modeling himself after Christ. PRAYER Merciful Creator, though we are tempted to give into wrath, it is because of our sadness and despair that makes the temptation the most terrible battle for us all. But You are greater than our circumstances and Your salvation must certainly come. Fill our hearts with Your love like a healing balm and deliver us from temptation. Bless you, God, Amen DEVOTION AUTHOR Jonathon McClellan Order fo St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE John 15:15 I have called you my friends, because I've made known to you everything that I've heard from my Abba God. WORDS OF HOPE An ongoing question for early Christian leaders revolved around the influence that Jesus the Christ had on their belief in one God. Three descriptive actions came to mind. Jesus was Revealer of God, Redeemer of humankind, and their Lord. From the beginning, he became famous among the villagers for his wise and holy words which told of God's love, forgiveness, and divine welcome, as well as for words of correction and encouragement. By these words and the way he related to others, Jesus revealed much about his Abba God. Jesus revealed God's loving nature as he encountered everyone - rich or poor, powerful or outcast. He revealed God's patience and understanding of human frailty as he gently led and taught his disciples. Jesus revealed God's offer that all could enter the Kingdom of God and live under divine sovereignty. He revealed the tender, healing care of God as he reached out to heal all manner of illness. Before Jesus walked among us and called us his friends, it seemed that God was very distant from the common person, but now the Divine's presence seemed to walk with them, talk to them, and eat meals with them. Jesus' life offered the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with God. Now with the revelation of Jesus, all those who sought a true relationship with God could find divine presence in their daily life. These are several aspects of the Holy One which Jesus revealed to his followers, but his divine influence was certainly not confined to those he called his friends in the first century. That presence is still flourishing in us today. How about you? What other characteristics of God are revealed to you through the life and ministry of Jesus? PRAYER Loving Creator, as we encounter the rich, the poor, the powerful or the outcast in our own lives, may we show them your patience and understanding revealed through the tender healing care of Jesus. DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
SCRIPTURE 1 Timothy 5:17-24 New International Version The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning, you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Stop drinking only water and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. WORDS OF HOPE Honoring the Work, Finding the Joy In today’s reading, Paul offers practical wisdom for life together in community. He speaks about honoring leaders who work diligently, holding one another accountable with fairness, and living with integrity that does not hide behind appearances. At first glance, this passage may feel heavy, concerned with discipline, responsibility, and seriousness. Yet beneath it all is a profound respect for work done well and lives lived honestly. Paul understands something important: how we treat work, and the people who do it, matters deeply to God. On this Fun at Work Day, we are reminded that joy and responsibility are not opposites. The call to honor faithful labor does not mean work must be joyless or burdensome. Instead, when work is rooted in purpose, respect, and shared commitment, it becomes life-giving. Fun, laughter, and connection are not distractions from meaningful work; they are often signs that the work is healthy. Paul cautions against rushing to judgment and against ignoring harmful behavior. Integrity, he reminds us, eventually reveals itself, both the good and the bad. This is true in our workplaces, our ministries, and our daily lives. When we act with care, fairness, and humility, our work reflects God’s justice. When we allow joy to exist alongside accountability, our work reflects God’s abundance. Today, as we celebrate fun at work, we can pause to give thanks: • For colleagues who labor with integrity. • For those who serve faithfully, often unseen. • For moments of laughter that strengthen community. • For the reminder that God is present not only in solemn responsibility, but also in shared joy. May we honor one another’s work, practice fairness and grace, and allow joy to remind us why our labor matters. In doing so, we bear witness to a God who delights not only in what we do, but in who we are together. PRAYER God of purpose and joy, bless the work of our hands and the people with whom we labor. Teach us to honor one another, to act with integrity, and to find joy even in responsibility. May our work reflect your justice, and our joy reflect your love. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas Senior Pastor Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ