Thursday - September 15, 2022

SCRIPTURE  Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. - WORDS OF HOPE A few weeks ago, we commemorated the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Baptism is a pivotal moment in the life of a Christian. It is the moment when we are marked as Christ’s own, take up his armor, and become a minister of Christ’s gospel. Some big promises are made when we are baptized. We promise to renounce the evil forces in the world, affirm faith in the trinity lived out through the church, and to live a life rooted in the teachings of Christ. Just as Jesus’s baptism, at around age 30, marked the beginning of his public ministry “and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17), so too is it the beginning of our journey with Christ. If we truly live to fulfill our baptismal promises, there is much fear and trembling along the way. Following Christ is not easy and it’s not always comforting. We can find comfort in the unconditional love of God given to us through Christ, but as baptized Christians, we are called to also share and grow that love. Sharing God’s love means standing up to evil, fighting for justice, proactively caring for the marginalized, protecting God’s creation and all that inhabit it, and proclaiming the good news of Christ in all things. Taking on these responsibilities is unsettling and scary. Taking on these things can be uncomfortable. Being a Christ-follower does cause fear and trembling. But as we say when we are baptized, I will do these things that are required of me with God’s help. What we need to remember is that God is always near to help us, but we need to be willing to do the work. Much of that necessary work is done inwardly. A daily discipline of prayer and study roots us in Christ. Another helpful practice is a Daily Examination of Conscience, a time to reflect on our relationship with the Holy each and every day. There are many ways to do a daily self-examen. I have used this simple form for many years. At the end of each day, I reflect and journal on these three questions: What have I done today for God?, What have I done today with God?, and What have I done today to God? From this practice comes joy and gratitude, but it also sheds light on the places where I need to both offer and ask for forgiveness for my shortcomings. With that, I am equipped to meet the next day, listening to and working with the God who is working in and through me in order to fulfill God’s good purpose. The act of getting baptized is short and merely a beginning to the much longer and more challenging lifelong challenge of being baptized. We have the opportunity throughout the liturgical year to renew our baptismal vows. We can also revisit them ourselves anytime we are struggling with God’s call to us and our response. PRAYER Loving God, today I remember the promises I made in baptism. Wash over me again with your grace, cleanse my heart, and kindle the joy within me that comes from loving and serving you. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Kris Baker Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare

SCRIPTURE  Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. WORDS OF HOPE Many years ago , in the black and white days of the 1950’s, there was a television quiz show hosted by Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. It was called Who Do You Trust? and the premise of the show was for a married couple to be asked a question and then decide between them which could be trusted with the right answer. The show was originally called Do You Trust Your Wife? but as society was gradually becoming more enlightened, at least the veneer of sexism was beginning to be peeled away. The question the show’s title asked is still as black and white as the series. These days, Who Do You Trust? -Your spouse, your business associates, your news sources, your local and national leaders? Trust is like walking across a rope suspension bridge wiggling in the wind. You carefully eye the condition and size of the ropes, look down into the deep canyon below and gulp. Fear floods your mind; arrival at the other side seems to be a bit uncertain. A friend walking with you says: ": Go-ahead, don't worry, it's safe. I've walked across it a hundred times." Do you take the step forward and walk, or do you sit down and decompress in fear, going nowhere? Your friend may be trustworthy or may just want to get you out of the way. It all boils down, using the proper grammar, to whom will you trust? Some people go through life trusting in wrong advice, while other people put trust in no one but themselves. The decision to choose your source of trust, the compass of your life, is the most important choice you'll ever make! Who is your source of trust? Thousands of years ago, the Psalmist answered that question this way: "O Lord, my God, give light to my eyes. I trust in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because you have dealt bountifully with me." (Psalm 13-3, 5-6)a PRAYER O God, you have dealt bountifully with me every day of my life. May I sing of my trust in you like the Psalmist of old as I rejoice in your steadfast love. AMEN DEVOTION AUTHOR Donald (Luke) Day Order of St. Francis and St. Clare

SCRIPTURE Matthew 7.12 So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. WORDS OF HOPE Religious Freedom Day On this Religious Freedom Day, I pause to reflect on what it truly means to live faithfully in the 21st century—a world where belief can sometimes be a matter of life and death. Across the globe, countless people cannot worship freely. Some gather in secret, whispering prayers under the cover of night, meeting quietly in hidden homes, or seeking sacred spaces far from the eyes of authority. Their courage reminds me that the freedom to worship is both precious and fragile. Religious freedom is not just a right; it is a responsibility. A responsibility to defend those whose voices are silenced, to protect the vulnerable, and to act boldly in the pursuit of justice. I think of those who flee violence: refugees forced from their homes, immigrants seeking sanctuary. These are God’s children, carrying fear, hope, and faith with them, often leaving behind everything familiar. They remind us that freedom of worship is meaningless if it is not paired with the freedom to live, to exist safely, and to pursue life with dignity. When did the stranger become dangerous? When did hospitality become suspicion, welcome become threat, and faith become a tool of domination or exclusion? Too often, governments, institutions, and even churches have weaponized faith to control or marginalize. But God calls us to a different path: to see the stranger as sacred, to honor their journey, and to recognize the Divine in every life. Individuals are criminalized for who they are, for whom they love, and laws increasingly protect narrow definitions of faith while endangering those who do not conform. This is not the Kin-dom of God. This is not how God embraces. True faith is not about fear or domination. True faith is about radical love, justice, and standing courageously with the oppressed, even when it is inconvenient or uncomfortable. True faith calls us to act, to speak, and to resist systems that oppress others under the guise of holiness. Faith is relational. Love for God is not a checklist, a duty, or a law to obey. It is a living, breathing connection—a dynamic relationship between our hearts and the Divine. God is still speaking, still moving, still calling us into deeper love, deeper justice, and deeper solidarity with all creation. God’s voice is present in the cries of the oppressed, the silent prayers of those worshiping in secret, the resilience of those fleeing danger, and the courage of communities who rise despite injustice. God is calling us to lean into discomfort, to act when action feels risky, and to love when love feels costly. To follow God is to listen, to respond, and to act in ways that bring love, mercy, and healing into the world. PRAYER God of all peoples, on this Religious Freedom Day, we pause to honor the courage of those who worship in secret and the suffering of those who flee violence. Thank You for speaking to us still—in ways both quiet and thunderous—reminding us that You are relational and that You love us as we love You. Teach us to honor You by honoring all Your children. Help us resist coercion, defend the persecuted, and live boldly in love. Open our hearts to strangers, seeing in every face Your presence. Strengthen us to stand with those fleeing violence, to embrace those marginalized, and to embody the justice, mercy, and radical hospitality You call us to share. May our lives be living testimonies to Your ongoing voice, Your ever-present love, and Your call to build a world of freedom, justice, and radical inclusion. May we never grow complacent, never turn away, and always remember that every act of love, no matter how small, ripples into Your Kin-dom. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Reed Kirkman

SCRIPTURE  Matthew 19:13 Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” WORDS OF HOPE Today is Celebration of Life Day. This holiday of unspecified origin is a day set aside to celebrate children and grandchildren. The Bible, and Jesus in particular, mention children a lot. If you go to one of the online Bibles and do a search on the word children, you will be very surprised how often children are mentioned. As the passage above indicates how important children were to Jesus. And this is not the only place in the book of Matthew where Jesus references his children. In another verse, he says that unless you become like small children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He refers to peacemakers as the children of heaven in what has become called the Beatitudes. Too often in our world today, children suffer because of the callous disregard for the self-centered actions of adults. Famine, war, abuse and disease often affect children most since they are the least capable of doing anything about these things. Often children are disowned by their families because of their sexual orientation or their beliefs. And to be fair, many children are adopted in the loving families. Many people work with children as teachers, mentors, and spiritual guides. And these people, whether they realize it or not, are doing God‘s work. For your devotion time today, celebrate the children in your life. If possible, share the day with a child, grandchild, niece or nephew. Here are some suggestions from the National Day Calendar. • Read a book with a child. • Get on the floor and put a puzzle together. • Build something with your child. • Invite all the cousins to play board games. • Bake cookies and decorate them. Even the smallest child will learn something. • Make popcorn and watch a movie. • Tell the story of how the grandparents met. • Get out the art supplies and create. PRAYER Magnificent Creator who we look to as our parent, give us the mind and heart of children so that we may come to you through Jesus as little children, open to learning, open to loving, open to being loved. DEVOTION AUTHOR Weber Baker. Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clair

SCRIPTURE Matthew 9.14-17 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” WORDS OF HOPE Having achieved the status of being “vintage” at age 75, I sometimes feel like one of those “old wineskins”. I think sometimes it’s good to hear the words of scripture anew and look at them as though I have never seen them before. Then let them speak to me fresh. For me that means I have to put away my “little Golden Book of Bible Stories” and read the words as an adult, with all my life experience included and yet I try to read them, listening for a new message. I find I can be old and yet still have the ability to preserve the “new wine” of the Scriptures. These words speak to me and give me the hope I need to face the day. Reading them I feel like Jesus is with me, his voice a soft whisper in my ear. He lets me know I am part of that wedding party, and I am filled with gratitude that I can still find truth that resonates with me in words written millennia ago. Not the simple words of a story, but underlying truths that are eternal. PRAYER May I always find myself as a new wineskin ready to receive the new wine of God’s word. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR Hardy Haberman