June Devotionals

Wednesday, June 8

“There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are many ways of serving, but we serve the same Lord… To each is given a unique manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  I Corinthians 12:4-7″I’m not good at anything,” one of our youth said recently, in my hearing.  “I have no talents.”

Everyone rushed to point out to her how insanely wrong that was, of course.  But the Upper West Side is like Lake Wobegon, where ‘all the children are above average.’  It must be hard, sometimes, to find your place in a huge gaggle of over-achievers.
God has a different idea about this.  As Paul points out, everybody gets a gift.  Everybody.  And the gifts aren’t given to make us feel superior, or even to make us feel good.  Each of these gifts is given to us for the good of everybody.
What’s your gift?  How are you going to use it today?  Because it’s your gift, but it’s not yours to keep.
Blessings,
K

Tuesday, June 7

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.  And let the one who has faith in me come and drink.”  John 7:37-38
I had a lunchtime meeting yesterday downtown at General Seminary, with a guy who works there.  I rode down there to 21st Street on the bike path along the river.  Thirsty work.  “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” as Coleridge tells us.
When I arrived at 21st and 10th, and my colleague asked me what I’d like for lunch, all I could think of was, “Water!”
These are thirsty days.  After weeks of cold and rain, the sun seems like it’s here to stay.  And it means business.
But there are many ways to be thirsty.  A precious cup or bottle of water fills the bill after a long hot ride.  But what about our spiritual thirst?  That takes something more.  That takes something beyond ourselves.  And, fortunately, that takes us outside ourselves.  A good place to be.
Wishing you a spiritually thirsty day.
Blessings,
K

Monday, June 6th

“My people, I am your security.” – Isaiah

In one of yesterday’s three brilliant Youth Sunday reflections, Anna Bosco told us, “Christianity is a religion of the insecure.” We are all filled with insecurities about our abilities, our place in the world, our future.

Our pastor while we were growing up once preached about The Blessings of Insecurity.  I remember that really bugged my dad.  As a guy who grew up during the Great Depression, he wasn’t interested in insecurity.  And he certainly didn’t see it as a blessing.

But our insecurities are our pathways to God.  They remind us that, all impressions to the contrary, everything is ultimately in God’s hands.  As G. K. Chesterton puts it, “that we all depend in every detail, at every instant, upon God… is not an illusion; on the contrary, it is the fundamental fact which we cover up, as with curtains, with the illusion of everyday life.”

Take a moment this morning to draw back the curtains.  And bask in the blessings of our insecurity.

Blessings,

K

Thursday June 2,

“”Why do you stand there looking up toward heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken up, will come in the same way you saw him go.”  Acts 1:11

Happy Ascension Day!  I hope you get a chance to celebrate.  Maybe a balloon ride?  Hang-gliding lessons?  Maybe just a ride up an escalator?  Anything to mark the fact that, no matter how things may seem, there’s still a reason to look up.

Picking up my copy of the Times from the corner news guy this morning, I asked, too cheerily, “How’s the news?”  He shrugged.  Now that I’ve had a chance to read it, I agree.  But there’s still a reason to look up.

The first apostles, left alone again 40 days after Easter, had every reason to feel downtrodden.  Yet, there they were, standing on the Mount of Olives in the Jerusalem suburbs, looking up.

The two mysterious men in white robes who accost them answer their own question, don’t they?  ”Why are you looking up?  Jesus will come back the same way he left.”

Every day, those of us who follow Jesus find some glimpse of the truth of that statement.  We’re on our own, but we’re not abandoned.  We’re empowered to do the work of Jesus, but not without the power of God’s spirit.

It’s Ascension Day!  Things are looking up!

Blessings,

K

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