[LENTEN DEVOTIONAL] Saturday, February 28

SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 28

Lamentations 3:22-23  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, God’s mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

Although this has been one of the longest and coldest winters in recent memory, it has been a season of great joy and blessing for Charlotte and me.  December and February each brought a new grandchild into our family.  As with the experience of becoming a parent, grandparenthood is filled with a sense of wonder and amazement.

How can He create something so tiny and wonderful?  Something so helpless and vulnerable, yet with such promise?  Something so dependent on love, which will be capable of loving?  Jesus came into this world as an infant.  He was tiny and helpless like our children and grandchildren.  He has experienced this life.

We all know that these are difficult economic times and that people are really hurting.  But these things pale in comparison to what God has done and continues to do for us.

Great is Thy Faithfulness
[Presbyterian Hymnal #276]

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

 

Prayer:  In the words of the hymn, I thank you for “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!”  Amen.

Carl Fischer

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[LENTEN DEVOTIONAL] Friday, February 27

FRIDAY,  FEBRUARY 27

Hebrews 13:2  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hospitality!  Just what does it imply?  Hosting a Presbytery meeting or a Dinner for Eight group?  Opening one's home to a foreign exchange student or other international visitors in an effort to break down barriers and build bridges of understanding?  Welcoming those in a new member class or a new face one sees at choir rehearsal?

What does it mean to offer RADICAL HOSPITALITY?  Father Dan Homan, a monk at the St. Benedict Monastery in Oxford MI, tells us that RADICAL HOSPITALITY is much more.  It is that part of our being that makes us available to others, to listen – really listen – to the one who needs "an ear," to be accepting even when it's a challenge, to search for and discover God's presence in everyone who crosses our path.

RADICAL HOSPITALITY demands our acceptance of those different from us, opening up to them a caring heart, offering comfort, strength, and encouragement.  According to Father Homan, "listening is the most hospitable thing we can do, and if we do nothing else, we will have taken great steps in hospitality."

We have the perfect opportunity here at FPC, March 1-8, when we host South Oakland Shelter, to demonstrate RADICAL HOSPITALITY.  Whatever way one volunteers, it will be an opening of one's heart to those temporarily without a home, relationships, friends, work, or more.  Listening to our guests' stories as they are driven to and from their days' destinations, sharing the evening meal at their table, interacting with them after dinner, showing them RADICAL HOSPITALITY.

Prayer:  Gracious and loving God, help me to open my heart to those around me, listening, respecting, accepting just as your son Jesus did.  Amen.

Patricia Lindroth

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[LENTEN DEVOTIONAL] Thursday, February 26

THURSDAY,  FEBRUARY 26

Romans 12:6-8  We have different gifts according to the grace given us … If a man’s gift is serving, let him serve, if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously.

I am blessed to be part of the PW cookbook committee that is busy collecting favorite recipes to be included in our new 175th anniversary edition.  The book also contains old photos and a history of our church.  I think of the many women and their recipes that for 175 years built this church. Some of the recipes are old family favorites that remind the cook of tastes of holidays gone by.  Some are newly used and found to be time savers yet still delicious. Some are enjoyed by the different church groups like choir, Skyline, or Wednesday Nite Live. Food brings people together in Christian love and Mission.  I realize these recipes have been shared one meal at a time in the service of our Lord.

We seem to remember these special events with great fondness. I remember helping my grandmother make Company Chicken Salad for 50, by peeling the green grapes, eating some, and tossing the rest into the bowl. My Mom was famous for her Goulash for 50, Angel Food cake, and pies. I loved rolling out the dough with her when she had to bring one of these to Couples Club. These special memories remind me of the hymn “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love” which was written 175 years ago, just as our church was forming.

Recipe directions are precise and orderly so that we may all have the same desired result. One step is no more important than another, each contributing to the whole completing a beautiful, mouth watering dish to be shared. God has left me instructions to follow as well. If I faithfully obey his commandments and follow Christ, I can expect a perfect result as well. It is his recipe for everlasting life. How delicious is that?

Prayer:  Dear Lord, I thank you for every cook, and their recipes of love – past, present, and future. Help me to use my talents and gifts bestowed on me in your mercy. Help me to follow your directions to love and serve you every day of my earthly life so I may be worthy of the perfect result; life without end. Amen. Amen.

Barbara Rubel

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ASH WEDNESDAY,  FEBRUARY 25

Psalm 71:1,3  In you, O Lord, I take refuge; Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Psalm 13:1,3  How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!

Ash Wednesday is the doorway to Lent.  We mark it with somber words and a dark slash of ashes, as if to jolt ourselves into the knowledge that this is a new season.  Ash Wednesday begins our season of repentance and preparation for Easter.  Lent is our annual spiritual housecleaning, a time to weed out the habits that keep us separated from God, to repent of the sins that we’ve let build up, to take down the curtains of our blind spots and let God’s light in again.  We’re cleaning out old habits and patterns to make new room in our souls’ closets for new gifts of God’s grace – cleaning out our spiritual junk to make room for the new on Easter. 

Cleaning is most satisfying when it’s done, but Lent allows us to do a little at a time, until the job is complete and there’s room for Easter.  Each day offers a new chance to make room in our lives, habits, calendars and souls for God.

This Lent our worship will be guided by the Psalms, which give voice to the meetings between God and the ordinary, unnamed people in the Bible.  There are Psalms of joy and anger, praise and bewilderment, and every other possible feeling about God.  This Lent, the voices of the Psalms will be our voices, as we use them for worship.

The Psalms give us the freedom to ask God “why?” or to be angry with God when things seem to go badly.  The Psalms of lament give voice to sorrow, and the sense that life is falling apart.  The Psalms speak our faith when it falters, and call us back to God. 

As we move into Lent, I invite you to get out your spiritual rakes and brooms, hoses and mops, and to clear out all that keeps us away from God.  Pile it up at the curb, and let the trash people take it away.  You’ll be thrilled at the room you can create for new things. 

Prayer:  O God, be with us this Lent, as we make room again for Easter.  Cleanse us from anxiety, worry, regret and mistakes, and prepare our hearts for you.  Amen.

Mary Austin