The Upper Room Disciplines 2018

AN OUTLINE FOR SMALL-GROUP USE OF DISCIPLINES

Here is a simple plan for a one-hour, weekly group meeting based on reading Disciplines. One person may act as convener every week, or the role can rotate among group members. You may want to light a white Christ candle each week to signal the beginning of your time together.

OPENING

Convener: Let us come into the presence of God.

Others: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for being with us. Let us hear your word to us as we speak to one another.

SCRIPTURE

Convener reads the scripture suggested for that day in Disciplines. After a one- or two-minute silence, convener asks: What did you hear God saying to you in this passage? What response does this call for? (Group members respond in turn or as led.)

REFLECTION

•    What scripture passage(s) and meditation(s) from this week was (were) particularly meaningful for you? Why? (Group members respond in turn or as led.)

•    What actions were you nudged to take in response to the week’s meditations? (Group members respond in turn or as led.)

•    Where were you challenged in your discipleship this week? How did you respond to the challenge? (Group members respond in turn or as led.)

PRAYING TOGETHER

Convener says: Based on today’s discussion, what people and situations do you want us to pray for now and in the coming week? Convener or other volunteer then prays about the concerns named.

DEPARTING

Convener says: Let us go in peace to serve God and our neighbors in all that we do.

Adapted from The Upper Room daily devotional guide, January–February 2001. © 2000 The Upper Room. Used by permission.

THE UPPER ROOM DISCIPLINES 2018

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Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations not otherwise identified are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AP are the author’s paraphrase.

Scripture quotations marked CEB are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2010 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

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Quotations marked UMH are taken from The United Methodist Hymnal, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1989.

The week of March 19–25 first appeared in The Upper Room Disciplines 2003. The week of November 5–11 first appeared in The Upper Room Disciplines 2000. Reprinted and used by permission.

Writers of various books of the Bible may be disputed in certain circles; this volume uses the names of the biblically attributed authors.

ISBN: 978-0-8358-1624-3 (print, regular edition)

ISBN: 978-0-8358-1626-7 (mobi); ISBN: 978-0-8358-1627-4 (epub)

For quick access to the scriptures recommended in this book, visit BibleGateway.com or Biblica.com

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

An Outline for Small-Group Use of Disciplines

Foreword  •  Junius B. Dotson

January 1–7  •  God Our Redeemer  •  Stephen B. Chapman

January 8–14  •  Discipleship’s Transforming Power  •  Anne Mathews-Younes

January 15–21  •  Living into Trust  •  Adrienne Sparrow Trevathan

January 22–28  •  The Word in Our Heart  •  Scot P. McClymont

January 29—February 4  •  Imagining Now  •  Judy Skeen

February 5–11  •  Waiting for the Light  •  Matthew B. Gaston

February 12–18  •  Lenten Metanoia  •  Tommie Watkins Jr.

February 19–25  •  Uncomfortable with Grace  •  Mary Lou Redding

February 26—March 4  •  God’s Pedagogy for the Faithful  •  Richard Oliphant Randolph

March 5–11  •  Behold God’s Redeeming Love  •  Willie James Jennings

March 12–18  •  Losing Life to Gain It  •  Amy Oden

March 19–25  •  Who Is This King of Glory?  •  Flora Slosson Wuellner

March 26—April 1  •  In the Leaving, Love  •  Jan Richardson

April 2–8  •  An Easter People  •  Hannah Dreitcer with Andrew Dreitcer

April 9–15  •  Questions of Identity: Who Am I?  •  Anne Broyles

April 16–22  •  Living the Resurrection  •  Magrey R. deVega

April 23–29  •  A Braided Love  •  Ann Freeman Price

April 30—May 6  •  A Wonderful World  •  J. Michael Ripski

May 7–13  •  Sent into the World  •  Anne DeLoach Nelson

May 14–20  •  Praying Our Way to Pentecost  •  Safiyah Fosua

May 21–27  •  Born Anew  •  Arianne Braithwaite Lehn

May 28—June 3  •  Serving God on the Ground  •  James Melchiorre

June 4–10  •  Who Are We Really?  •  Melissa Earley

June 11–17  •  Trusting in the Lord  •  Douglas L. Carver

June 18–24  •  The Best and Worst in Us  •  Bradford Bosworth

June 25—July 1  •  Waiting with Hope  •  Demétrio Soares

July 2–8  •  The Everyday and the Holy  •  Lynne M. Baab

July 9–15  •  Connecting with God  •  Gordon A. R. Edwards

July 16–22  •  Naming Our True Identity  •  Jennifer Copeland

July 23–29  •  Mea Culpa  •  Bob Sitze

July 30—August 5  •  Deeper Issues  •  Cintia M. Listenbee

August 6–12  •  Transitions and Transformations  •  Kathryn Haueisen

August 13–19  •  The Quest for Wisdom  •  Kyndall Rae Rothaus

August 20–26  •  Standing Firm within the Word  •  John A. Berntsen

August 27—September 2  •  Love Comes  •  Mary C. Lindberg

September 3–9  •  Love Your Neighbor as Yourself  •  Roy L. Heller

September 10–16  •  Heed the Calling  •  Stephanie Gates

September 17–23  •  The Option to Choose  •  Braulio Torres

September 24–30  •  Choosing Life: Being on God’s Side  •  Mary C. Earle

October 1–7  •  Redefining Blessing  •  Duane Alan Anders

October 8–14  •  Spotlight on the Soul  •  G. Kevin Baker

October 15–21  •  A Sense of Place  •  Allison Ruari

October 22–28  •  Seeing and Seen, through Suffering  •  Martha C. Highsmith

October 29—November 4  •  From Fear to Freedom  •  Beth Ann Estock

November 5–11  •  Circles of Blessing  •  Bill Barnes

November 12–18  •  Looking to the Lord  •  Christine Joy Martinez

November 19–25  •  Soon and Very Soon  •  James K. Karpen

November 26—December 2  •  Expecting a Loving God  •  Laceye Warner

December 3–9  •  Some Assembly Required  •  Jeremy Smith

December 10–16  •  Rejoice, Give Thanks and Sing  •  Lynne M. Deming

December 17–23  •  God’s Surprising Presence  •  Max O. Vincent

December 24–30  •  From This Time Onward  •  Pamela C. Hawkins

December 31  •  Following the Light, Being the Light  •  J. Marshall Jenkins

The Revised Common Lectionary for 2018

A Guide to Daily Prayer

FOREWORD

Ijust returned from a vital-church immersion experience in South Korea. I spent some time with the Bupyeong Methodist Church. Prayer is at the heart of the discipleship experience at the Bupyeong church. Can you picture hundreds of people gathering at 5 A . M . every day (including Sundays) to pray in a corporate worship service? Can you hear the sanctuary filled with passionate singing and vocal prayer as the sun begins to rise? If you ask those in attendance about their faithful participation, they respond that they believe the daily discipline of prayer enhances their relationship with God. Many would argue that the key to the revival movement in South Korea is the daily discipline of fervent and vibrant prayer.

You hold in your hand a key to your spiritual growth. Disciplines is a tool that allows you to attend to the reading of scripture, prayer, and devotion on a daily basis. Systematic, devotional use of scripture is essential for spiritual development and growth. It helps keep our faith alive.

All living things grow, but not all things grow constantly. Many plants grow in spring and summer, begin to go dormant in late fall, and remain dormant during the winter. We sometimes experience seasons in our life when our faith seems dormant. The good news is that some changes occur only in dormancy. Roots deepen in fall and winter. The same is true in our lives. It’s especially important to practice the daily discipline of scripture devotion in our seasons of winter. When we engage in daily spiritual formation, we deepen our roots for the next spring’s growth and fruit. We also grow our capacity to handle any season of life.

The habit of daily devotion through spiritual formation helps us grow to spiritual maturity. Eugene Peterson’s The Message captures how we do this in very practical terms.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. . . . Fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. . . . God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2)

We will always offer excuses for not having enough time for daily devotion and scripture formation. But if we are honest, we admit to making time for things that matter most to us. I have two children. My son decided he wanted to take piano lessons. My wife and I signed him up and bought the practice books. He faithfully attended lessons and practiced every day. Then his commitment to practice time started to wane. After a few months he decided he’d had enough and wanted to quit. We wouldn’t let him quit until he completed the year. My son didn’t become a concert pianist, but he learned a valuable lesson: We grow by making commitments. There is power in our commitments.

In fact, for anything that’s important in our lives, we’re going to have to make a commitment. So, why not challenge yourself to experience a more personal and intimate relationship with God through the use of this daily devotional?

I pray that this volume of daily devotions will provide you with what you need to make a fresh start in Christ, while adding value and meaning to your spiritual journey. I believe God’s highest desire for us is to be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ and for that relationship to deepen day by day.

—JUNIUS B. DOTSON

General Secretary (CEO), Discipleship Ministries

The United Methodist Church

God Our Redeemer

JANUARY 1–7, 2018 • STEPHEN B. CHAPMAN

SCRIPTURE OVERVIEW: The beginning of the New Year reminds us of God’s love for all peoples through the celebration of Epiphany. Isaiah uses imagery of a wedding and a garden to declare that the beauty arising from Israel will go to all nations. The psalmist praises the Lord on behalf of everything and everyone on the earth, including men and women from all peoples. Paul proclaims that Christ fulfills the expectations of Israel; he is the open door for all to become children of God. In Luke, Simeon and Anna speak prophetically over the infant Jesus in the Temple, declaring him the light to the Gentiles. God’s promises made in love are fulfilled in love.

QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION

•    Read Isaiah 61:10–62:3. How are you daily becoming Zion, a person of justice?

•    Read Psalm 148. How does your connection to God connect you to creation?

•    Read Galatians 4:4-7. How confident are you that God listens to your prayer?

•    Read Luke 2:22-40. When have you experienced sacrifice as gain rather than loss?

Associate Professor of Old Testament; Director of Graduate Studies, Graduate Program in Religion, Duke Divinity School.

MONDAY, JANUARY 1 ~ Read Revelation 21:1-6a

NEW YEAR’S DAY

As one year turns to the next, we naturally reflect on the passage of time. The seconds tick away and are gone. Each moment of our lives is finally temporary. The space between the future and the past is so thin that sometimes it threatens to disappear. So what is the point of another day, of today, of this new year?

Time is God’s gift to us in two ways. Time’s persistent prodding prevents us from fruitless nostalgia, from getting stuck in the past. With God’s help, we check our watches, calendars, and phones and then say to ourselves and each other, What’s next? The passage of time gives us a farther horizon and keeps our focus ahead of ourselves. Time also presents us with constant opportunities for a fresh start, a do-over, a chance to amend our ways and reconcile ourselves with those we may have hurt or offended. Time does heal wounds. Time reminds us how the mercies of the Lord are new every morning (Lam. 3:23).

But there is still more. The Bible portrays for us how God encompasses even time. God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. At the origin of all things, God was there, active and alert. (See Genesis 1:1.) At the end of time, God will still be there. God’s creation will be renewed and transformed, and death and sorrow will be gone for good. The ending to the Bible’s story of time is strikingly not about how we will finally go up to God, but how God will come down to us, to dwell (or tabernacle, as the Greek puts it) among us. And every second that passes brings us nearer to that glorious day.

O Alpha and Omega, our rock of ages past and hope for years to come, make your home with us and dwell among your people throughout this coming year. Amen.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 2 ~ Read Psalm 148

Faith sometimes leads believers to focus on spiritual realities to the neglect of earthly cares. The psalmist never does so. For the psalmist, a vital awareness of God reminds believers of the spiritual significance of their everyday lives and their kinship with every living creature. Modern people tend to think of the spiritual as one thing and the worldly as another, likewise the miraculous and the ordinary. However, the psalmist holds them both together, rejoicing in their interconnection. All life, all creation, is a single tapestry or web as seen through the psalmist’s eyes. Even the sky pours forth speech (Ps. 19:2) on a daily basis, proclaiming God’s glory.

As sensible people, we view such ideas skeptically or purely poetically. Yet the psalmist insists that the sun and the moon do offer God praise, that the living creatures of the sea and land also praise God, and that the birds and trees and hills truly praise the Lord’s name. This is more than metaphor. The psalmist understands all creation as God’s handiwork. The world is a mighty choir of voices, each one honoring its Creator in its own way but joining all the other voices in glorious harmony too. All things in creation provide holy testimony to God, both by a kind of speaking and also by doing, by fulfilling their appointed roles established by God in the beginning. Even fire and hail, snow and frost have their divinely mandated parts to play. Moreover, the gathering of a people lies at the heart of God’s work in creation. Only as part of the vast sweep of God’s cosmic drama of redemption does our human vocation become plain.

Creator God, in you all things live, move, and have their being. Raise up a horn for your people once more, that we may join in the chorus of praise being sung all around us. Amen.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3 ~ Read Isaiah 61:10–62:3

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! (Ps. 137:5). This verse recalls the importance of the city of Jerusalem within the Bible. Christians focus so much on God’s universal presence that we can struggle to consider any one place as holier than another. Yet the Bible centers on Jerusalem as the origin and goal of God’s redemptive work. Jerusalem, or Zion, is special to God, God’s own city. In verse 10, rather than the prophet or individual worshiper speaking, Zion itself speaks, looking ahead to the hour of its salvation. Like a fertile garden, Zion will one day bear the fruit of righteousness. Beginning in chapter 62, God responds by announcing that the time of vindication is at hand for Zion’s sake."

So this is a good day to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the modern city that regularly features in the news. Jerusalem’s violence is a scandal. A faithful Christian presence in Jerusalem deserves prayers of support, even as prayers of repentance acknowledge Christian complicity in the bloodshed. Jerusalem is a real place, and God cares for Jerusalem in a unique way.

However, the poetic name Zion reveals that, for Isaiah, Jerusalem is already a symbol as well as a site. The people of God are also Zion. Each believer is Zion too, not in whole but in part. Over and over, scripture witnesses to the connection between holiness and righteousness. The way to become Zion, a people capable of receiving God’s favor, is to be a community without robbery and wrongdoing. God loves justice! This affirmation is just as remarkable (and challenging) today as it was in ancient Israel. Where do you see injustice in the world? How are you prepared to intervene on behalf of justice?

O God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Grant us the courage to live justly and promote greater understanding. We know you bless peacemakers. Amen.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 ~ Read Luke 2:22-40

As we age, we can become obsessed with the past, how things used to be. But Simeon looks forward to the deliverance of Israel. His mindfulness of God’s promises and hopefulness of present fulfillment allow him to recognize God’s messiah in the baby Jesus.

Simeon takes the child in his arms and blesses him, praising God for Jesus’ true identity as a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Simeon knows the future will not be easy for this child. He does not romanticize the future any more than he romanticizes the past. Still, the fulfillment of God’s long-standing promises gives rise to thanks and praise. The eighty-four-year-old prophet Anna has never left the Temple because she too looks for a sign that God is prepared to act anew in the lives of her people. Once she sees Jesus, young as he is, she cannot stop speaking about him.

The story about Jesus’ parents presenting him at the Temple (Luke 2:22-24) sets the stage for all that follows. As was the custom, Jesus’ first Temple visit requires a sacrifice. How fitting that a sacrifice accompanies the one who will one day become Israel’s sacrifice! Indeed, the sacrifice of the two turtledoves prompts Simeon to see Jesus for who he is. Today we tend to think of a sacrifice as losing something. For the Bible and for God, sacrifice instead means giving.

Jesus’ parents give turtledoves to God as a sign of their joy. Simeon and Anna give thanks that their lives have finally brought them consolation. God gave an only begotten Son to all of us, Jew and Gentile, because God so loved the world.

We thank you, O God, for the precious gift of your Son Jesus Christ, our living sacrifice. Amen.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 5 ~ Read Galatians 4:4-7

In modern life, time has become primarily a quantitative measure. How much time is left? we ask. Yet we also talk about having a bad time or a good time, which suggests that time possesses a qualitative dimension as well. Paul writes of the fullness of time when God sent Jesus Christ, who fulfilled Jewish law and, by fulfilling it, opened up the opportunity for non-Jews to enter into the family of God, to become God’s children by adoption.

Many Christians today overlook what an incredible gift it is to be a Christian. Perhaps we take for granted our standing before God and our ready access to God’s mercy and blessings. Paul describes Gentile Christians as heirs to God’s promises. But we are heirs, he writes, by adoption. In a profound way, then, God is not our natural Father. So how much more precious is it that we too can cry out Abba and feel confident that God listens to us?

With our inclusion in God’s people, it is not only we who are redeemed but time itself. The Bible tells us that time was not simply ticktocking along throughout the many centuries prior to Jesus’ birth, nor is the time between Jesus’ day and our own lacking in significance. God has a plan for the world, and God is working it out. Even when we struggle to find signs of God’s activity or when we encounter the all-too-frequent tragedies in this fallen world, we can remain confident that God is God. Time itself is God’s own creation. One day all will be made plain to us, and, as adopted heirs of God’s promises, nothing in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:39).

Abba, thank you for making us part of your family, for making us part of your plan for the world. Amen.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6 ~ Read Ephesians 3:1-12

EPIPHANY

Tradition holds that Paul wrote Ephesians while imprisoned in Rome. His experience as a prisoner underscores the contrast between bondage and freedom found throughout his teachings. It also establishes a contrast between isolation and community, between individual believers and the church. Here in Ephesians, Paul reminds his Gentile Christian audience that they are not only heirs to God’s promises but fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise.

We often focus on the shortcomings of the church. How imperfect and all too human it appears! Many of us know people who have been terribly wounded by a church experience, which may have soured them on the Christian faith altogether. Yet this very fragile institution, Paul insists, retains cosmic importance. The church is the culmination of history and the fulfillment of creation, he writes, because it is in and through the church that God’s plan, hidden for ages, can now be revealed. The church imparts the wisdom of God’s creation. The church is the final stage of God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

For all its imperfections and faults, the church of Jesus Christ remains holy and blessed as God’s chosen vessel and best strategy for a world brimming with hostility and distrust. The church’s task is to identify God’s wisdom in all its rich variety and make it known. Yet we are unaccustomed to thinking of the church as being in the wisdom business. How can local churches be more explicit and more diligent in seeking God’s wisdom? And how can they confront the principalities and powers of our day with God’s wisdom in all its rich variety?

O God, source of all wisdom, help your church seek knowledge, that it may share your truth with the world. Amen.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 7 ~ Read Acts 19:1-7

BAPTISM OF THE LORD

As Paul travels through Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, he encounters a group of twelve disciples who know of John the Baptist but not Jesus. Because they have never heard of the Holy Spirit either, they are probably Gentiles. (Jews would have known about the Holy Spirit from Israel’s scriptures; see Psalm 51:11.) Paul explains to them how John’s baptism was preparatory, signaling repentance, but also looking ahead to Jesus, the one who was to follow after John. Paul baptizes the disciples in Jesus’ name. They receive the Holy Spirit and prophesy and speak in tongues together.

However, one of Paul’s initial questions to them is revealing. Paul does not ask In whose name were you baptized? but Into what then were you baptized? Baptism, for Paul, is not simply a symbolic act performed in Jesus’ name that hopefully yields spiritual results. Baptism is a sacred act of mystical union, in which the baptized are united with the Holy Spirit. So these willing disciples in Acts 19 are baptized into the Holy Spirit as well as in Jesus’ name. Christians sometimes wonder whether the Holy Spirit is somehow inside them or perhaps visits them in particular moments. Paul’s understanding is the reverse: Christians baptized in Jesus’ name are now in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit holds the power, not us. Our efforts to pursue God’s will and accomplish spiritual tasks do not depend for their success on our occasional appeals to the Holy Spirit for assistance. Our successful efforts depend on whether we recall our baptism and our uniting with the Holy Spirit, God’s active presence in the world. The question is not whether the Holy Spirit dwells in us, but whether we dwell in the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, help us to remember our baptism. We strive to live and work and rest within you all our days. Amen.

Discipleship’s Transforming Power

JANUARY 8–14, 2018 • ANNE MATHEWS-YOUNES

SCRIPTURE OVERVIEW: We read the stories of Samuel and the calling of Jesus’ disciples in John, and it is easy to feel jealous. God spoke so directly into their lives that they should have had, it seems to us, full and unwavering confidence in their calling. Didn’t they have an unfair spiritual advantage over us? However, the psalmist reminds us that God knows and sees us individually just as well as God knew Samuel and Jesus knew his disciples. God has plans for us, even if they are revealed in less obvious ways. The reading from Corinthians is quite different in its message. Perhaps we can at least recognize that even if we never hear God’s audible voice, through scripture God still provides guidance for our lives.

QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION

•    Read 1 Samuel 3:1-20. In what ways do you remain responsive to hearing God’s voice?

•    Read Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18. What sense of God’s involvement in your everyday life do you have?

•    Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. How do you remind yourself of the spirit–body connection?

•    Read John 1:43-51. When have you allowed prejudice to affect your decision about a person’s competency?

President, E. Stanley Jones Foundation, Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church, Washington, DC.

MONDAY, JANUARY 8 ~ Read 1 Samuel 3:1-20

We need a prophet badly. . . . The word of the L ORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. While young Samuel appears unprepared to hear from the Lord, it seems no one has heard from God lately. The challenge for young Samuel is to determine that it is God, not his mentor Eli, who is calling him. Three times the Lord calls to Samuel; each time Samuel runs to Eli. With Eli’s dulled spiritual sensitivity, he does not perceive who is calling. The third time is the charm. Eli realizes the Lord is calling Samuel. Only then does he provide the young boy with a suitable response.

Not all of us expect to hear from the Lord. We hear what we are conditioned to hear. We make mistakes at times because we fail to listen or to understand the messages we receive. Sometimes through fear or impatience we block out the messages altogether. We can recall instances of missed or garbled communications in our personal and professional lives—sometimes with painful consequences.

Though Samuel misunderstands God’s call to him, he remains responsive to the persistent voice. The elder Eli offers some sage advice to his protégé, using words to this effect: When you hear the voice again, listen carefully and engage it. Samuel follows the advice only to hear bad news for the house of Eli. Message received, message delivered. Eli acknowledges this word from the Lord. We too would do well to slow down, listen intently, and seek to hear what our initiating God is saying to us.

May I never forget that it is you, God, who takes the initiative. Teach me to slow down, listen more intently, and seek understanding before acting on what I think I have heard. May I be open and receptive to your calls to me. Amen.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 9 ~ Read 1 Samuel 3:10-20

Who wants to hear bad news? A parent finds a child standing in the kitchen next to an empty cookie jar with crumbs on his shirt. The parent asks, Who ate all the cookies? Looking bewildered, the child responds, I don’t know. Perhaps the parent responds with punishment for lying. Another parent might approach the situation differently by creating a safe place for the child to describe what happened.

Samuel receives bad news about Eli from the Lord, but he avoids interacting with his mentor, Eli. Perhaps he hopes the Lord’s message is not real and that he can forget about it. However, Samuel trusts Eli and has enough confidence and courage to deliver the bad news. He delivers all of it, leaving nothing out. Eli accepts the consequences of what he has heard, saying, It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.

These verses convey many lessons. Perhaps we learn the importance of creating safe places for people to share bad news. Perhaps we can focus on developing the internal confidence and courage necessary to deliver bad news. Maybe, like Eli, we can learn to ask for the bad news, be strengthened to receive it and gracious enough to acknowledge our identity as God’s children even in the face of such news.

Samuel models responsiveness and obedience to God’s word; Eli submits to that word. May we remain obedient to the message we have heard from the Lord and accept the consequences of acting on it.

O Holy One, who bears all news, good and bad, may we be willing to seek and to deliver bad news when necessary. Teach us to do so with compassion and care. Amen.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10 ~ Read Psalm 139:1-6

The psalmist speaks of God’s complete knowledge of him: The Lord knows what the psalmist will say before he says it, what he will do before he does it. The psalmist uses the words I , me , and my to speak of his close relationship with the great God of creation. You . . . are acquainted with all my ways. Yet, how can this sense of intimacy with God possibly be true?

How do we square those words with the dark nights of our soul? How do we take comfort from those words in our sleepless nights? Why does the Lord seem far removed when we say certain things and take certain actions?

Our challenge in understanding the psalm’s message may arise because we hear the message from a human perspective. From our point of view, this intimacy with God does not seem possible. Yet when we hear the psalmist’s words and seek to internalize them, we find ourselves drawn into the possibility of relationship with the Creator of the universe.

For all our misplaced arrogance about how no one could be worse than we, God has seen much worse—God has seen our worst. God knows us and chooses to be in relationship with us. The Hebrew Bible describes a rhythm of life between God and people in which we are and are not in relationship with God. This scripture affirms God’s persistent desire for relationship no matter what we have said, no matter what we have done. The next move is ours.

O Holy One, remind us of your presence and your willingness to understand, to accept, and to forgive us, even when we find it impossible to understand, accept, and forgive ourselves. Teach us again that the power of your love comes as a most welcome gift of your grace. Amen.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 11 ~ Read Psalm 139:13-18

The nature of relationship with God is deeply personal. This is not a relationship between a philosophical construct and humanity in general. The relationship exists between the Creator of the universe and individual humans. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

God engages in our daily lives, and we can encounter God’s presence in our everyday experiences because we belong to God. The psalmist reminds us that God knows who we are and, more importantly, God knows whose we are. We cannot begin to imagine the many ways that reinforce such a strong and enduring connection. Nor can we realize how much God cares for each person. The phrase joined at the hip does not even begin to explain this intimate connection.

Because God created us with the freedom to accept or reject relationship, we may freely choose to live beyond a connection to God. But God remains connected to us even, and especially, when we feel far removed from divine grace and mercy. Our freedom does not include our ability to deny who we are and from whence we came: We are God’s.

Since we belong to God, we can affirm that all humankind belongs as well. How comforting it is to know the extent and power of God’s love for each of us and God’s commitment to be in relationship with all of us as we both know and are known by the Divine! As we experience the reality of God’s love, we can now affirm that we do not want to escape God’s love.

Dear God, give me the grace to know, even on those days when you seem far away, that you made me with intent and love. I now want to draw on your love with grateful abandon. Amen.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12 ~ Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

What connects the body with the spirit? What happens when we drive a wedge into life between the sacred and the secular, between the spiritual and the material? Paul discovers that his brothers and sisters in Corinth hold some mistaken ideas about the material order. Their resulting behaviors are way off the mark. They live as if their spirituality can remain sacred and intact no matter how they behave. They fail to realize the sacred nature of the material side of life. As a result, they take some serious missteps. The time has come for a stern (but loving) message, and Paul offers it. I would welcome Paul giving us that same message.

God created both the material and the spiritual and affirms both as good. While I may exercise my freedom to do all things, I can choose to affirm God’s promises and conduct myself in a way that pleases God. What I do with my body, what I eat or how I act, is not separate or irrelevant to my spiritual nature. The connection between spirit and body matters: God will raise our bodies just as he raised Jesus’ body. God redeems our lives and that of creation. We are not our own but Christ’s, and we are to live fully out of our integrated selves.

Paul calls his flock to task because they do not understand or believe the powerful integration of life between the material and the spiritual. His words serve as a pertinent reminder to us as we glorify God in our bodies!

Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of an integrated life. We acknowledge that your grace affirms the material and the spiritual aspects of our lives. May we honor that gift. Amen.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13 ~ Read John 1:43-51

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nathanael gives voice to his prejudice, a prejudice that could have closed down a fruitful avenue in his future. How often have we allowed past events to influence our current assumptions, which then hinder future possibilities? How many times have we let our prejudice predict the future? Haven’t we all—in our hearts, if nowhere else—concluded that someone won’t amount to much because of background, race, family, or our own contempt?

We’ve heard a lot about implicit bias lately. For example, we might say and believe in our racial neutrality, but scientific studies show that racial bias remains pervasive and invisible to the persons who suffer from it. We all have biases; we all risk discriminating on the basis of these judgments, despite our best intentions.

Philip chooses not to argue. Instead he invites the doubter to come and see. He cleverly undercuts Nathanael’s prejudice by inviting him to see for himself. Often we, like Nathanael, simply need to see for ourselves. Jesus expands our vision, allowing us to see life and others with new eyes. Life, in all its fullness and abundance, overwhelms our prejudice.

Following Jesus changes everything. It does not matter where we have come from; it only matters where we are going. We accept the invitation to come and see. See what came out of Nazareth, the place where Jesus began his healing ministry. Jesus of Nazareth—the world’s savior and our own.

O Holy One, teach me to recognize your presence in settings and among people that surprise me. Help me remove the blinders of prejudice. I yearn to see the world as you do and to embrace life as you do—with love and compassion. Amen.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 14 ~ Read John 1:43-51

Philip has heard Jesus’ call to follow me and witnesses to Nathanael. Philip does not find Nathanael’s dismissive comment about Nazareth off-putting. Instead, he invites Nathanael to come and see. Philip turns a potential personal upset to a set up. Jesus takes over and addresses Nathanael, which may have been the biggest surprise of Nathanael’s life. Jesus already knows Nathanael, and that makes all the difference.

What does it feel like to be recognized—sought out and fully seen by God who knows our needs—at the very moment we feel inclined to go another direction? Jesus’ knowledge of Nathanael shocks him. He realizes that being known by Jesus is both undeserved and unmerited. He feels compelled to testify, You are the Son of God! His profession of faith is more extensive than Philip’s witness to him.

Imagine what happens to us when Jesus calls us to follow him. He knows us and the secrets of our hearts. He knows our weaknesses, inadequacies, and doubts. Yet he invites us