Daily Devotions

By Leonard V. Kalkwarf

The book contains a devotion for each of the 365 days of the year, including one for leap year. Each begins with a Bible verse for the day and a devotional thought and then concludes with a brief prayer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973619512

Leonard V. Kalkwarf

Leonard V. Kalkwarf is a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America, the oldest protestant denomination on the North American continent. He served as a parish minister for 50 years and continues to be active in the ministry preaching, teaching and writing. He is the author of a number of books including the book Dear Craig, a series of creative letters addressed to their grandson as though they were written in the twenty-first century by well-known and lesser known personalities who were involved with the crucifixion of Jesus. He also published the book Exploring the Libraries of the U.S. Presidents One of his hobbies is studying presidential history. He has an in-house television program regarding the presidents which he presents to the residents in the retirement community of two thousand residents where he and his wife Beverly reside in Northern Virginia. For six years he served as a White House volunteer in the Presidential Correspondence Department. Len, as he is known to his friends, received his theological education at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, N.J. He has a Masters of Education from New York University, a Masters of Sacred Theology from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, an earned doctorate from Princeton and an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Central College in Pella, Iowa. He is listed in Whos Who in America. He is an avid bowler, horseshoe player, and enjoys billiards and competing each year in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics. He and his wife Beverly, a Registered Nurse, have been married sixty four years and have three adult children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Len and Beverly live in Springfield, Virginia, and spend their summers at their cottage in Readfield, Maine..

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Copyright © 2018 Leonard V. Kalkwarf.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the 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.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1950-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1949-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1951-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018902258

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/02/2018

Contents

Preface

January 1 — New Beginnings

January 2 — Christianity Is Concerned with the Secular

January 3 — A Better Attitude

January 4 — Active or Passive?

January 5 — Too Old, Too Young for Mission—Never!

January 6 — Our Assumptions

January 7 — Message Preserved in Clay Jars

January 8 — A Change in Values

January 9 — Another Chance?

January 10 — Always Upbeat?

January 11 — Stupid Can!

January 12 — The Absurdity of Life

January 13 — All Sunshine Makes a Desert

January 14 — An Idea That Can Use You

January 15 — Faith Is Sometimes Difficult for Saint and Sinner Alike

January 16 — Cheap Grace

January 17 — Age and Place Don’t Matter

January 18 — A Rod and Staff

January 19 — A Necessary Response

January 20 — Out of the Dark Valley of Despair

January 21 — The Voice

January 22 — A Weekly Reminder

January 23 — All Isn’t Lost

January 24 — A Division of Loyalties

January 25 — Even with the Best of Intentions

January 26 — A Magnificent Growth

January 27 — A Feast in Enemy Territory

January 28 — Accentuate the Positive

January 29 — The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

January 30 — Can We Ever Become Perfect?

January 31 — A High Regard for One’s Body

February 1 — Attitude

February 2 — The Faith of a Roman Soldier

February 3 — The Patience of Jesus

February 4 — Most of What We Are We Cannot See

February 5 — Communal Touching

February 6 — Something Different

February 7 — Seven!

February 8 — A Moment of Divine Intervention

February 9 — Age Has the Advantage

February 10 — Concentrating on Our Errors

February 11 — How a Roman Helped Define Christ’s Message

February 12 — Your Net Worth

February 13 — A Vision

February 14 — A Love Story

February 15 — The Law of Proportionate Return

February 16 — What We Become Is the Result of What We Believe

February 17 — The Next Day

February 18 — A Flood

February 19 — A Rainbow

February 20 — A Story Being Written

February 21 — Crisis Intervention

February 22 — Disciples Were Bent out of Shape

February 23 — Where Are We Spiritually?

February 24 — It’s the Attitude That Counts

February 25 — Finger-Pointing

February 26 — Happy in the Midst of Tragedy

February 27 — Emphasizing the Negative

February 28 — Out of Suffering, the Good That Can Come

February 29 — Present Conduct

March 1 — Rewards and Punishment

March 2 — In Response to God’s Action

March 3 — Pointed Needed to Get into Heaven

March 4 — Purpose Is the Secret

March 5 — We Need Signs

March 6 — Why Do We Need More Signs?

March 7 — Christmas in the Spring

March 8 — A Love That Never Ends

March 9 — Only When We Are Ready

March 10 — The Triumphal Entry

March 11 — Palm Sunday and Good Friday

March 12 — Between a Rock and a Hard Place

March 13 — He Could Have Escaped

March 14 — Word from an Unbeliever

March 15 — More Than Just Flesh and Blood

March 16 — The Question Contains the Answer

March 17 — Jesus’s Question Isn’t What We Ask

March 18 — Thirsty

March 19 — We Get What We Expect

March 20 — Finished!

March 21 — A Major Change of Heart

March 22 — Freedom from Worry

March 23 — We Call This Friday Good

March 24 — Behind the Scenes

March 25 — My Name Is Dismas

March 26 — The Time Factor

March 27 — Paradise Means That Too

March 28 — God Cares for the Individual

March 29 — God’s Greatness

March 30 — A World Died in the Night

March 31 — A Bond That Must Not Be Broken

April 1 — God in Human History

April 2 — An Idea Big Enough

April 3 — Casting Lots

April 4 — Getting Off Dead Center

April 5 — God’s Beautiful Creation

April 6 — Graciousness Comes from Unity

April 7 — It May Hurt

April 8 — Facing the Issue

April 9 — We Didn’t Recognize Him

April 10 — Life before and after Death

April 11 — Life That Is Yet to Come

April 12 — Life’s Surprises

April 13 — Mary, Turn Around

April 14 — Measurement of a Life

April 15 — Need for Hard Evidence

April 16 — Our Predictable Response

April 17 — Why the Difference?

April 18 — We Must Stop Fighting Change

April 19 — Demanding the Whole Being

April 20 — Who Will Roll the Stone Away?

April 21 — A Secret Believer

April 22 — Doubting Isn’t a Sin

April 23 — Can You Trust Your Conscience?

April 24 — The Defining Moment

April 25 — Even When We Don’t Expect It, He Is Present

April 26 — Frightened

April 27 — Change for a Purpose

April 28 — Different Ways to Experience the Divine

April 29 — His Greatness Even Greater Than We Could Expect183

April 30 — Adjusting to Life Instead of Death

May 1 — Second Change Again and Again

May 2 — Relying on Our Own Efforts

May 3 — Not a Surprising Request

May 4 — Your Sainthood

May 5 — You and Your Body

May 6 — Who Is Really to Blame?

May 7 — A Deliberate Choice

May 8 — Almost Embarrassed

May 9 — Do Not Blame God

May 10 — Humility Is a Slippery Eel

May 11 — Roots of Humility

May 12 — Where Is the Face of God?

May 13 — Where Is God These Days?

May 14 — God Is Present in His People

May 15 — Theatrical Religion

May 16 — Made for TV

May 17 — Invasion of the Spirit

May 18 — A Common Bond

May 19 — The Valley of the Shadows

May 20 — It Must Have Meaning in the Now

May 21 — Let Us All Hold Hands before It Is Too Late

May 22 — Life’s Fulfillment

May 23 — A High and Holy Moment

May 24 — Those Twenty Minutes of Fame

May 25 — Death of the Spirit

May 26 — Freedom from the Past

May 27 — Errors Aplenty

May 28 — Finally, Free to Forgive

May 29 — The Danger of Success

May 30 — Accused of Being Greedy

May 31 — Getting a Warm Glow and Made to Feel Good

June 1 — We Are Remembered

June 2 — Beyond Wisdom, Pleasure, and Work

June 3 — Where Is the House of God?

June 4 — What Occurs in Those Life-Changing Experiences?

June 5 — What Do People Say about You?

June 6 — Why Didn’t They Speak Up?

June 7 — Seeing Things

June 8 — Too Busy to Come to a Party

June 9 — There Is a Difference

June 10 — We Have an Invitation

June 11 — Character

June 12 — Dealing with Our Errors

June 13 — The Still Waters

June 14 — Why Did God Allow This to Happen to Me?

June 15 — Hope

June 16 — God’s Care Is for His Sake

June 17 — Schedules

June 18 — Instant Gratification

June 19 — Two Brothers

June 20 — The Joy of Being Free

June 21 — Determining Your Net Worth

June 22 — The Power of Metaphors

June 23 — Our Thoughts Shape Us

June 24 — Making a Good Impression

June 25 — My Shoes Are Red

June 26 — The Epitome of All Good Things

June 27 — In the Midst of Pain and Suffering

June 28 — Is Wisdom the Answer?

June 29 — No Hero but One Who Deserves Respect

June 30 — Blinded by Patriotism

July 1 — Dynamite

July 2 — Aging

July 3 — Be Happy

July 4 — Freedom

July 5 — A Secular Religion

July 6 — A Triad

July 7 — An Essential First Step

July 8 — Ancient Documents Still Speak to Us

July 9 — Example Is the Only Thing

July 10 — Do You Have to Win to Be a Winner?

July 11 — Fanatics

July 12 — Failure

July 13 — Just What Is My Cross?

July 14 — First Part of an Important Message

July 15 — Second Part of an Important Message

July 16 — The Third and Final Part of the Important Message

July 17 — A Fleeting Moment

July 18 — Are We Blind?

July 19 — Call to Serve

July 20 — In the Darkness of the Night

July 21 — What Upbeat People Have in Common

July 22 — Your Sin Will Find You Out

July 23 — Freedom in Captivity

July 24 — Evil Actions Will Not Destroy God’s Plan

July 25 — Fork in the Road

July 26 — Gloomy He Became

July 27 — Due Respect

July 28 — Forgiveness in a Typical Community

July 29 — Why Were You Born?

July 30 — Happiness in Sadness

July 31 — In Which Direction Are We Moving?

August 1 — On Top of the Mountain

August 2 — It’s Not Graduate School

August 3 — A Mentor

August 4 — Under Arrest

August 5 — What Will You Leave Behind Spiritually?

August 6 — On the Go

August 7 — Take a Deep Breath

August 8 — What Is the Message We Hear?

August 9 — Life without Pain

August 10 — No Pain, No Gain

August 11 — The Hand That Was Dealt Us

August 12 — The Weight of Nothing

August 13 — If and When

August 14 — Second Place

August 15 — Lamenting Failure

August 16 — Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

August 17 — The Cross We Must Bear Isn’t Life’s Hardships

August 18 — God’s Hand

August 19 — Who Am I?

August 20 — Forgetting

August 21 — Blame Game

August 22 — Accountable

August 23 — Anxiety

August 24 — How to Share the News

August 25 — A Worm

August 26 — Following Christ in Life

August 27 — Annoyed?

August 28 — The Realism of the Bible

August 29 — Too Simple for Human Minds

August 30 — Basic Requirements for Being Saintly

August 31 — Miracles Do Happen

September 1 — Blindsided

September 2 — Lord of the Flies

September 3 — God’s Humor

September 4 — Our Way or God’s Way?

September 5 — The Messenger Is Temporary, but the Message Is Forever

September 6 — The Deception

September 7 — Breakfast Denied

September 8 — Keeping God in the Picture

September 9 — Forty

September 10 — God Loves His World

September 11 — Seeing Is Believing

September 12 — An Escape from the Hard Life

September 13 — Graduating from Ten Commandment Living

September 14 — Happiness

September 15 — Making a Difference

September 16 — Cherry Picking

September 17 — None Other Than God’s House

September 18 — How Obvious Are We?

September 19 — What Grace Is All About

September 20 — Delighting in the Misfortune of Others

September 21 — Following the Leader

September 22 — Anger

September 23 — What Do You Say to Yourself?

September 24 — Just Do It

September 25 — The Hinge of History

September 26 — The Might of a Widow

September 27 — Don’t Think about How It Will Play

September 28 — Childish

September 29 — Confronted with a Power Greater Than the Self

September 30 — A Game of Numbers

October 1 — A Picture of What Church Looks Like

October 2 — Is the World Getting Worse?

October 3 — Socialism

October 4 — In the End We Are Safe

October 5 — Our Divided Selves

October 6 — Rites and Rights

October 7 — Ours Isn’t a Pollyanna Religion

October 8 — Growth

October 9 — People Pleasers

October 10 — Blocking the Spirit

October 11 — What We Want Instead of What We Need

October 12 — Let’s Hope That People Talk about Us

October 13 — God’s Expectation

October 14 — God’s Faithfulness

October 15 — We All Seek a kingdom

October 16 — There Is Nothing More to Live For

October 17 — Jesus’s Grandfather

October 18 — The Gift of Freedom

October 19 — Praying in the Temple

October 20 — Giving What We Need

October 21 — That Awful Word

October 22 — Treated Fairly

October 23 — The Agony of Being Forgiven

October 24 — Image or Impression

October 25 — Attitude Makes the Difference

October 26 — The God of Second Chances

October 27 — Understanding

October 28 — A Go-Between

October 29 — Living in the Promised Land

October 30 — Grace

October 31 — Is Halloween Just for Tricks and Treats?

November 1 — A Splinter and a Plank, a Speck, and a Log

November 2 — See What Happens

November 3 — Civil and Religious Freedom

November 4 — Paying Taxes

November 5 — What’s the Rush?

November 6 — Coping

November 7 — There Were Nine

November 8 — Snakes

November 9 — Living in the Present

November 10 — Don’t Cut off the Buttons

November 11 — When Do We Begin?

November 12 — A New Song

November 13 — Homesick

November 14 — Gratitude Produces a Positive Lifestyle

November 15 — Fence Me in so I Will Be Free

November 16 — Mature Years, a Time to Grow

November 17 — We Have to Work at It

November 18 — Loss of Spirit

November 19 — We Don’t Have to Work Harder

November 20 — Grateful Hearts

November 21 — Thinking and Thanking Are Related

November 22 — It Is Not about Having a Lot

November 23 — Like No Other Holiday

November 24 — The Restoration of Life

November 25 — A Word for Those Who Have Helped Us

November 26 — They Got Their Reward

November 27 — A Way to Remain Free

November 28 — I Really Meant To

November 29 — The High Price of Expediency

November 30 — Is Forgiveness a Possibility with Us?

December 1 — God’s Timetable

December 2 — What Were They Expecting?

December 3 — Thy kingdom Come

December 4 — Thy Will Be Done

December 5 — The Kingdom of the World Has Become the Kingdom of Our Lord

December 6 — With All Due Respect

December 7 — The Seemingly Insignificant

December 8 — Stripping Christmas of Our Western Thought

December 9 — No Room

December 10 — Family Tree

December 11 — Silence

December 12 — Home for Christmas

December 13 — Out in the Desert

December 14 — In the Midst of Life’s Most Tragic Ordeal

December 15 — Those Who Came to See the Baby

December 16 — It Will Be Made Right

December 17 — Understanding the Message

December 18 — God Is with Us

December 19 — Flesh and Blood

December 20 — Getting to Bethlehem for Christmas

December 21 — What a Contrast

December 22 — The Christmas Spirit

December 23 — The Importance of the Star

December 24 — Jesus Also Came for the Non-Jews

December 25 — The Search Is Over

December 26 — Not Able to Return

December 27 — A Compelling Spirit

December 28 — The Same Piece of Wood

December 29 — Accepting Christmas and Rejecting Its Message

December 30 — The First to Come

December 31 — What Does It All Mean?

Notes

About the Author

This book is dedicated to the members and friends of the congregations I served during my pastoral ministry over a span of fifty years. They helped in molding and shaping me into becoming an effective pastor, teacher, preacher, and writer. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

Bellevue Reformed Church, Schenectady, New York

Levittown Community Church, Levittown, Long Island, New York

Willow Grove Reformed Church, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania

Church of Christ, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania

Greenspring Village Church, Springfield, Virginia

Preface

For sixty-five years, it has been my privilege to serve as a minister of the word and sacrament. Fifty of those years were spent as pastor of congregations, both as a member of staff in multiple staff ministries as well as a senior pastor, serving one congregation as its pastor for thirty-four years.

Entering the ninth decade of my life, I’m grateful that I able to continue my ministry by serving on the staff of an active congregation in our retirement community. There I am a parish associate, and I have two Bible study groups, preach from time to time, and conduct the early Sunday morning Eucharist service.

I count it a real honor to be called of God to proclaim the good news. During these sixty some years of active ministry, I have preached several thousand times. Now that I have proclaimed the good news from the pulpit, it is my prayer that I may further my influence through the printed word. I trust that through these brief meditations I am able to share what I have learned, experienced, and come to understand of the joy and beauty of the Christian faith.

I’m extremely grateful to my daughter, Cindy Kalkwarf, for her contribution in the writing of this book. She went over all the devotions, made suggestions, and gave me helpful hints so these would be more readable. This was a time-consuming undertaking on her part during a time when she was traveling and actively engaged in her own profession. She did the same for my previous two books. While she was generous in the giving of her time and suggestions, in the final analysis I take full responsibility for the writing and content of these devotions.

God has been good to me, and I’m grateful that my health and voice allow me to share my understanding of the mystery of the gospel through the written and spoken word.

Leonard V. Kalkwarf

Soli Deo Gloria

(To God Alone Belongs the Glory)

Dr. Len Kalkwarf is an immensely talented preacher, who thrives on challenges, including, physical, organizational, and the unexpected. While living at Greenspring, a continuing care retirement community in Springfield, Virginia, he has made enormous contributions to the community. He has produced in response to popular demand the Maundy Thursday drama for eleven years, which includes all facets of the drama, such as advertisement, recruiting, origination, management, and acting in each performance as Pilate. He and his wife, Beverly, have visited each presidential museum in the country, taken pictures, and prepared professional presentation of their visits to Greenspring residents. To emphasize the importance of physical conditioning, he has participated many times in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics, and one year he won nine gold medals out of a total fourteen won by the entire Greenspring population of approximately two thousand residents. He is greatly motivated to serve his fellow men and women and sets a wonderful example for all of us.

—Brigadier General Donald F. Packard, US Army (Retired)

Welcome to daily gems of insight accumulated throughout sixty years of ministry. Len’s images and twists on well-known biblical passages invite us to leave the familiarity of home, pause to ponder along the way, and return home again with fresh wisdom gleaned from the Good Book.

—Rev. Ruth E. Correll, EdD, Historical Pohick Church, Lorton, Virginia

This devotional feeds the mind with background on the daily text, nourishes the soul with encouragement for navigating the joys and challenges of daily living, and connects our hearts to God through the prayers that are offered.

—Pastor Darcy A. Tillman, Lutheran Church of the Covenant, Dale City, Virginia

The beauty of Len Kalkwarf’s writing is that he is able to lift a story, a phrase, a person from the biblical text and help us see something new. All of a sudden our minds are engaged from the familiar into the unfamiliar—a way of seeing God at work. And from God at work in the story to God at work in us is made to be a very small step indeed. Certainly a worthwhile way to engage oneself on a daily basis!

—Pastor Paul Van Dyken, Grace Christian Reformed Church, Burke, Virginia

JANUARY 1

New Beginnings

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true’ (Rev. 21:5).

A businessman and his wife donated $15 million to help reform the American justice system so former prisoners would no longer have to check a box on their job applications, indicating they had served prison time. They were quoted as saying, Yes, people make mistakes. But if they paid the price and now want to build a better life, why should that mistake have to carry with them the rest of their lives?¹

All of us have made mistakes, and some of them have been major, but as we begin a New Year, do the mistakes of the past need to haunt us into the New Year?

The answer is an emphatic no. Like the prisoners, the price for our mistakes has been paid. God Himself has paid it. He stands ready to forgive all those who seek His forgiveness.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far he removes our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion for his children,

so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

For he knows how we were made;

he remembers that we are dust. (Ps. 103:8–14)

The scriptures not only assure us that God is willing and ready to forgive but also remind us that unlike many of us, God has amnesia and forgets our past wrongs. I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins (Isa. 43:25).

Gracious God, we give You thanks that You are willing to forgive and forget our past wrongs. At the same time, we ask that You will help us to forgive ourselves and others. Amen.

JANUARY 2

Christianity Is Concerned with the Secular

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17).

How easy it is to think of God as being up there or out there, by which we compartmentalize life into the sacred and the secular, the spiritual and the ordinary.

God’s coming into human history is the bold reminder that Christianity is concerned with the secular, the ordinary, and the mundane.

When we consider the teachings of Jesus, it is intriguing to discover how little is said about the sacred or spiritual—such as prayer, church, and the afterlife. He said little about these things and a lot about what we regard as the ordinary or mundane things of life. These topics form the basis for the teachings of our Lord:

• Money and stewardship

• Poverty and tithing

• Anger and adultery

• Sickness and disabilities

• The lame and the blind

• Personal talents and human dignity

• Food and water

• Rulers and taxes

• Marriage and divorce

• Orphans and widows

• Children and prisoners

• Bigotry and forgiveness

Christianity is involved in the deep issues of the so-called secular life—the American foreign policy that involved us in Iraq and Syria, racial bigotry, fair housing, climate change, human rights versus property rights, development of human talents, human dignity versus machines, the conservation of soil and wildlife, income inequality, immigration, and so forth. These are the areas of concern to which Christianity speaks, and our Christian values should guide us as individuals and as a society when making hard choices.

Since the beginning of time when You saw everything You had made and proclaimed it as good, You have been concerned about Your world. Lord, help us to be good stewards in caring for that world, especially in our relationships with our fellow human beings. Amen.

JANUARY 3

A Better Attitude

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you (Eph. 4:31–32).

During World War II, a young bride followed her husband to an army camp in the California desert.

It wasn’t long before she regretted her move. The heat and dust were terrible, and her busy husband could spend precious little time with her. Before long she grew bored and lonely. Her only neighbors were Indians, who spoke very little English.

When she finally could stand it no longer, she wrote to her mother, telling her she was coming home. Her mother wrote back with these words:

Two men looked out from prison bars;

One saw mud; the other saw stars.

She knew what her mother meant. She became determined that she would look for ways she could turn her negative situation into a positive one. She began to learn the Indian language and to make friends with her neighbors. She studied desert plants until she became such an authority that she wrote a book to teach others about them. The young woman’s efforts to see stars made living in the lonely desert a joy.

The apostle Paul said he had known what it was like to be poor and rich, and he had learned to be content in either situation. Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:12–13).²

O Lord, while we aren’t always able to choose the circumstances of life in which we find ourselves, we realize that, being in Christ, we can choose our attitude. Amen.

JANUARY 4

Active or Passive?

Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).

Jesus came and established the kingdom of God, yet we are instructed to pray for its coming.

God’s kingdom will have fully arrived when all are able to come from the north and the south, the east, and the west—and be able to sit together at His banquet table. It will be when the rich and the powerful sit with the weak and poverty stricken, when the young and old learn from each other, and when the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid (Isa. 11:6).³ It will be the day when the love, compassion, and justice of God will have invaded our world.

Jesus spoke of His kingdom as being here on earth so that what is on the earth might be like heaven. It will take place when God will rule over every aspect of human life.

When will this take place? It depends.

Many years ago, I was part of a theological discussion group and was asked to lead the discussion on the topic of whether Christianity is an active or passive religion. It didn’t take long for the group to conclude that Christianity is an active religion. While many may have taken for granted that the Christian faith is the guarantee of possessing the love of God, the forgiveness of sins, the benefits of the sacraments, and the assurance of life after death, the budding theologians of my discussion group concluded that while these things are important, they are the by-products of our faith.

If the kingdom is to fully come, it will depend on God’s followers. Christ gave His followers an enormous assignment.

However, perhaps the starting point is actually simple and straightforward. The words of Ina D. Ogdon’s hymn Brighten the Corner Where You Are⁴ may be just what we need to remember.

Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,

Do not wait to shed your light afar,

To the many duties ever near you now be true,

Brighten the corner where you are.

Even as we pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth, we realize that for it to take place, we are called on to make it happen so love and peace, justice and richness, and acceptance and equality will become a reality, beginning where we are. Amen.

JANUARY 5

Too Old, Too Young for Mission—Never!

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves (James 1:22).

I love the story of the two Boy Scouts who arrived late at their troop meeting one night, disheveled, scratched, and bleeding. When the scoutmaster asked them what had happened, they explained that they had been trying to do a good deed on the way to the meeting by helping an elderly woman cross the street. But how did that result in this? the scoutmaster asked.

Because, the scouts explained, she didn’t want to go.

Many of us believe our Christian calling is fulfilled through our actions. It is by what we do for others that we believe we are doers of the word. As we identify ourselves as farmers, merchants, doctors, lawyers, carpenters, salespersons, housewives, ministers, nurses, or teachers, we trust we are involved in doing for others. It is in our work that we find meaning and through which we are able to help others.

But there are many individuals who aren’t involved in a trade, occupation, or profession for a variety of reasons, including being too young or being retired. Age often results in serious limitations. But that doesn’t mean one can no longer be a doer of the word.

Missionaries who have gone to other lands have frequently found that their most effective witness has been not in what they did or said but in what they were. When people live in a culture that believes in seeking revenge and then see a person willing to forgive and forget, they come to understand what it means to be a Christian.

Seeing faith being lived out in someone is far more effective than being told this is the way life ought to be lived.

God works through people. One’s being can be the dramatic form of doing. By what we are as people, we are able to fulfill the mandate of being doers of the word.

By word and by example we reveal to others the extent to which we are doers of the word. God, as we embark on a new year, not knowing what it will bring forth, help us to be doers of the word in all we are, say, and think. Amen.

JANUARY 6

Our Assumptions

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem (Matt. 2:1).

The story of the wise men, magi, or three kings is indeed a familiar one. We often identify it with Christmas, though it belongs to the season of Epiphany in the church year.

Matthew’s Gospel is the only one that relates this story.

Many of us received our knowledge about the magi from the hymn We Three Kings of Orient Are. However, their number is uncertain. Because the text is plural, we know there were more than two . There may have been a half a dozen.

These individuals weren’t kings but astrologers, whose interest was the stars. They noticed a new star in the heavens, which was symbolic of the birth of a king.

We don’t know where they came from. It has often been assumed they came from Persia or maybe Baghdad. More likely, they came from Arabia, which was east of the Jordan River. It was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah (Isa. 60:6)⁵ about a multitude of camels coming from Midian, Ephah, and Sheba, bringing gold and frankincense.

Matthew wrote his Gospel for a specific audience: the Jews. His first chapter is a genealogy, in which he traced the Jewish ancestry of Jesus back to Abraham. Then he gave us the story of the wise men.

The people of Israel had looked for and longed for a new king, prophet, and teacher. They had anticipated the Messiah, and when He came, the angels sang, the shepherds rejoiced, and Mary gave thanks. And while Israel may have longed for this day, Matthew made it clear that it wasn’t just for Israel. The three kings or magi were Gentiles; they were pagans, but they were attracted to Him.

Prior to this, the story of the faith had to do with the Hebrew people. Matthew, whose Gospel account was intended for those of Jewish origin, makes the point that the coming of Jesus wasn’t just for one group of people but for all people, in all times, and in all places.

If there’s one word that signifies the meaning of this event, it’s acceptance. Jesus came for all people. God accepts all people. Thanks be to Him.

O Father of us all, we give You thanks that the coming of Your Son into the world meant that He came for us all. Thanks be to You, O Lord God. Amen.

JANUARY 7

Message Preserved in Clay Jars

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us (2 Cor. 4:7–9).

During the summer months when I was in college and seminary, I did construction work. When my fellow workers found out I was a divinity student and was going to preach in a nearby church the following Sunday, one of them took me aside and gave me what he believed to be an important piece of advice. In so doing he revealed his unfortunate and misguided understanding of what the gospel is all about. He said, When you preach on Sunday, be sure and bawl them out! How very, very sad.

The word gospel means good news, not fire and brimstone. The essence of the gospel is summarized in John’s Gospel, where he wrote, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16–17).⁶

The apostle Paul pointed out in his letter to the Corinthians that this good news is a treasure preserved from one generation to the next in clay jars. It’s passed down from one human being to another. When Paul spoke about clay jars, an earthen vessel but a common storage place in his day, he realized they were temporary. So it is with human beings who preserve and make known this treasure, the good news.

All of us who have received the good news should pass it on. It isn’t meant to be kept but to be shared.

However, like the clay jars, the messenger is but for a brief moment. The precious message is forever. The emphasis must always be on the message, not on the messenger.

We have been entrusted with a rich heritage and a life-changing message. May we freely share it with others without a desire to gain from doing so. Amen.

JANUARY 8

A Change in Values

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28–30).

Jesus was speaking about our spiritual lives, and the spiritual and personal burdens we carry will become lighter when we follow Him (not our physical burdens).

Jesus used a metaphor from the agrarian economy of his day. A yoke was a wooden crosspiece laid on the shoulders of two oxen. The yoke fit well on their shoulders and made it easy for them to pull together. The yoke was then attached to a piece of equipment, such as a plow, to turn over the soil. Two oxen working in partnership had greater power than one pulling alone.

Using this metaphor, Jesus reminded His listeners that His way is lighter and easier than the rules the Pharisees had devised. For example, they had indicated there were six hundred regulations for what qualified as work on the Sabbath.

The keeping of the Pharisaic rules were meant to determine one’s relationship with God. However, with so many rules, people were never sure whether they had actually kept them all, and therefore no one was ever certain whether he or she was right with God.

Jesus gave us a lifestyle that isn’t hampered by a large number of laws, rules, or regulations. In fact, He reminded us that there is one law or principle by which we must live out our lives. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:37–40).⁷

No matter how many rules and regulations we follow, we can never earn God’s love and acceptance. Those must come from God Himself, which in Jesus He has done.

Being yoked with Christ, we now work with Him to make this a better world. We do that, not by outward conformity to a set of rules but by a life lived with an attitude of gratitude and wonderment. It’s by putting into practice our love of God, love for our fellow human beings, and respect for the amazing planet He gave us.

Ever-loving God, help us to be aware that when we try to live by rules and regulations, we never know whether we have kept them perfectly or completely. Grant instead the desire and power to live a life of love toward all people and, above all, for You. In the name and for the sake of Him who is our Savior and Lord, amen.

JANUARY 9

Another Chance?

Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil? He replied, Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down‘ (Luke 13:6–9).

Figs were an extremely important product in biblical times. Not only were they good for the economy, but they were an important source of nutrients⁸ and were used for medicinal purposes (2 Kings 20:7).⁹ Figs are mentioned in the Bible as early as the book of Genesis (3:7).¹⁰ Adam and Eve grabbed fig leaves to cover their shame after their disobedience.

In this parable Jesus referred to one lowly fig tree standing in the vineyard in the midst of many fruit-bearing trees. For three years the master had gone to this tree, and every time he was disappointed. Each year the tree failed to bear any fruit. Rather than take up space that could be put to better use with a fruit-bearing tree, he said to his servant, Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil? (Luke 13:7)

However, the servant protested. Instead of cutting it down, the servant begged the master to be allowed to fertilize the soil, care for the tree, and give it another year. Now, we don’t know how old the tree was or what the history of this garden was, but the servant said the tree ought to have another chance and another season; and perhaps next year it would bear fruit. If not, then it could be cut down. The master agreed, and the tree was spared.

So, what happened the following year? Did the extra time pay off? Did the tree bear fruit? Where is the punch line of this story? It’s like an unfinished symphony. The story just ends.

And therein lies its beauty and message. Jesus ended His story of the fig tree, leaving His listeners to ponder. It’s really not a story about a fig tree. It’s a story about God. It’s about His generosity, forgiveness, and grace in His dealings with people.

O God of second chances, again and again we have failed to live up to Your expectations. Each time You had the right to cut us down, ignore us, and forget us. But again and again, we have been given another chance. Help us by Your grace to live up to Your expectations and become the people we were meant to be. Amen.

JANUARY 10

Always Upbeat?

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice (Phil. 4:4).

When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he said to them, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

These words seem to imply that a person should be full of joy and happiness, and be upbeat all the time. Does that mean we’re to be something like the man Uriah Heep in Charles Dickens’s novel David Copperfield. Uriah was always walking about and saying, O how ‘umble I am, O how ‘umble I am. Should we say, Oh, how upbeat I am, how happy I am?

Based on the apostle Paul’s prescription, it appears this is how Christians ought to be—full of rejoicing and having no anxiety about anything.

They are great words. But who can live by them when life is such a roller coaster? It’s easy to be upbeat when things are going well; and while we have our high moments, we also have our low ones. Life produces pain, suffering, tragedy, disappointments, terminal illness, financial troubles, and children who disappoint us.

Does Paul expect us to keep a smile on our faces, a positive point of view, and an upbeat outlook during those moments? Or is this something deeper and more profound?

It may help to know that Paul wrote these words while he was imprisoned. He had no way of being certain of what tomorrow would bring.

However, he didn’t signify that we should rejoice for all circumstances of life. Rather, it was his contention that even in the midst of adversity, pain, and suffering, we should rejoice because we are aware that God is near; we are fully convinced that God is present in all circumstances of life. It was this knowledge that made it possible for him to rejoice.

So, along with the apostle Paul, we recognize that God is with us, no matter where we are or what is happening to us. Because of this fact, we rejoice because we know we are never alone in pain or suffering, in life or death.

Almighty and ever-loving God, we give You thanks for the promise of Your presence and for the knowledge that at all times,