Author: Mark Mong

By Amber Balista

Psalm 40 1-3& 11-17 This is the Psalm for my devotional today. Its bit longer but worth taking some time with, so I am encouraging you to do that. Read it though twice, and highlight some things that stand out for you. Read it outload even to a loved one or pet.

 ¹ I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He drew me up from the desolate pit,^[a]
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

¹¹ Do not, O Lord, withhold
    your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    keep me safe forever.
¹² For evils have encompassed me
    without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
    until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
    and my heart fails me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
    O Lord, make haste to help me.
¹⁴ Let all those be put to shame and confusion
    who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who desire my hurt.
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

¹⁶ But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy,
    but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God.

I find this psalm to be a prayer for this time in the world when I cannot seem to know what to say. Maybe there are other times where it is fitting. Moments in the world or in our own lives. A few years ago, my husband and I moved out of Ohio. My martial artist husband wanted to train and open a school in Denver. That goal was disrupted with a back injury which decisively returned us to Ohio. Details aside, when we first moved everything was disorienting. We lived in a small room and shared a kitchen with 3 other housemates who were also there to train martial arts. I continued to work for Walgreens, but it was a new setting and I had very few hours those first couple months. Being there felt like I was walking around blind, unsure of what to do next for lack of seeing the path. I had more time than I once had and no family or friend near me. I was anxious about the living situation, the pressure on my husband and the thought that we had made the wrong decision to move there in the first place. I was grieving the life I once had and wondering what good God could possibly do with this situation that I found myself in. As a new pattern of life began to emerge I realized that God had never left, that God’s good plan would not be spoiled. As the psalmist says, “He inclined his ear to me and heard my cry.” God was and is present in the desolate pit and miry bog. God was there making my steps secure. Some of the pain of that adventure still stays with me and my husband, but I am confident to say that God hears me when I cry, and God hears you.

In my anxiety then, and in my unknowing now it is the steadfast love and faithfulness of God that I can trust. That we all can trust. God came all the way down into the muck of human life. Jesus Christ endured the very worst of humanities capacity for betrayal, fear and evil. There is no pain we can know that God doesn’t know. When we call for God’s help- God is not deft to our cry. God knows we are poor and needy. God knows our shame, our fear, our anxiety and all the evil that surround us. He is giving us a new song- a song of praise to our God, the Lord in who we put our trust.

In our trust let us call out O Lord, make haste to help us.

March 25, 2020

Philippians 3: 10-16

¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ if somehow, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. ¹⁶ Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

In Junior High, I ran track for one very long season of meets and tournaments.  I think our coach knew that I played soccer and knew I could do a lot of running and so I was voluntold to run the mile, the half-mile and the 400m.  Running a mile is no big deal, I had to run miles a day in soccer practice.  However, running a mile contested with other runners, and all of those that ran cross-country, was a joke on my part.  But at the end of the race, which was always between our two best runners, the two of them would occasionally come to the finish line neck and neck and each would stretch out their heads, bending down at the waist, in the hopes of winning literally “by a nose.” 

This idea of stretching out and straining to win the race is the very image Paul uses in the letter to the Philippians.  Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.  Paul himself does this very thing of stretching and straining to reach the finish line and he urges the church in Philippi to do likewise.  To forget the things that lie behind and to strain forward to what lies ahead.  While the image of that of the runner on the track, Paul is really dealing with something else by comparison.  The church in Philippi is a suffering church.  They were quite poor and under constant harassment from the community around them.  These are the things Paul asks them to leave behind and to strain forward for the heavenly call of God. 

We likewise are a suffering church.  Many of our churches are not poor, we are quite affluent.  Many of our churches are not persecuted, many have wonderful relationships with the communities around them.  Many of our churches are not in spiritual poverty, the Spirit of Jesus Christ has given many gifts to many people.  But nonetheless we are a suffering church, because we are assaulted by sickness and quarantine.  We cannot gather to worship and serve God; we must keep to ourselves and self-isolate.  We cannot encourage one another face to face, even those that are attempting to cope with grief.  We worry about our financial longevity, about how the bills are going to be paid.  We know people in hospitals, suffering and dying.  While the circumstances are quite different than the Philippians, we, like they, are a suffering church.

But just as we share in the sufferings of Christ, we will also share in the resurrection of Christ.  Since, the Spirit of Jesus Christ lives in us, we share through baptism, in the sufferings and death of Christ now, but we will also come to share in the full resurrection of Christ later.  Paul continues, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Not that I have already obtained the resurrection from the dead or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Paul wasn’t at the finish line yet, but he was still running, and not running half-hearted or lackadaisical, but pressing on, straining to reach the goal.

How are you running your race?  Have you run any steps stretching forward or are you on the verge of stopping all together?  I have no doubts, that each of us faces the daily and perhaps hourly temptation to forgo our discipleship of Jesus Christ.  Following Jesus was hard enough when we were not dealing with pandemics and quarantines, but now following Christ seems much harder.  But like the church in Philippi, we are to forget the things that lie behind and to press forward to the goal, the heavenly call of Jesus Christ.  To forget the difficulties of the past, to shrug off the present troubles, and to press forward, to strive forward, to bend at the waist and reach for the finish line.  This is not the attitude and behavior of someone looking for a participation award, this is the attitude and behavior of someone looking to win the race.  To invest in the struggle, to exhaust every source of strength to run, to train and to sweat, because the goal is worth the struggle.  How are you running your race?

My friends, our discipleship or following Jesus is never easy, and now our discipleship is harder being unable to gather face to face.  But we are not to become discouraged but to press on.  We are not to become worried about the present but strive for the future of God that lies before us.  We are not to concern ourselves with today’s trials because we are coming closer to our Goal.  My friends we are not there yet, but we are running the race, let us therefore do this one thing; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.  Amen.

Prayer

O Holy and Loving God, we thank you for your power and love that calls and equips us to run the race of our discipleship of Christ.  Give us everything necessary to finish our race, forgetting what lies behind and ignoring the things around us that we might reach our finish line and obtain our prize, the resurrection of our bodies.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

March 24, 2020

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

⁷ 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. ⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. ¹¹ For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.

¹³ But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and so we speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵ Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, ¹⁸ because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

In ninth grade science, I had to study geology with my science teacher.  I was about that excited to study rocks, and someone else’s rocks at that.  In one class, we were studying sedimentary rocks, which are rocks formed by compressing silt and sand together to form a rock layer; and the teacher held up a large piece of sandstone, which can be found just about everywhere.  We were all completely bored at this point, not only as we were studying rocks, but rocks made from dirt.  Yay (with great sarcasm).  That is until he opened the rock and showed us the inside.  Inside this enormous rock, was a hollow cavern filled with large purple crystals.  It looked like this.

On the outside it looked like a plain, ordinary piece of hard dirt, but on the inside was this profound and quite beautiful treasure.  We learned that in geology this idea of a rock having a cavern on the inside where water evaporates and leaves behind mineral crystals is called a geode.  Rock on the outside, treasure on the inside.

So too is it with us, the church.  On the outside we are clay jars, on the inside we have this treasure of the Holy Spirit.  On the outside we look and act as fragile, temporary vessels that crack and break under the slightest stress or difficulty. But on the inside, we have this Might, eternal Power that no force can crack or break or destroy.  In every appearance we look weak, breakable and feeble but on the inside, we have Power and Glory in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians we have this treasure but we have this treasure in clay jars: needy, ineffectual, and brittle.

With so much sickness and death surrounding us on all sides, we need no prompting or reminders of our being clay jars.  We are certainly afflicted on all sides by the virus.  We are certainly perplexed by the uncertainties of the future in the economy, our jobs, or whether the store will have food.  We are certainly hunted by the invisible killer, that cares little for one’s life in so much as it cares only about the voracious drive to slay.  Lastly, as we are reminded every day at 2pm by President and Governor, we are certainly struck down in disdain and malice by an nonliving virus that seeks to take our lives from us.

While you and I need no invitation to see ourselves as fragile, brittle clay jars, perhaps we do need reminded about the treasure that lies within.  We are told in the scriptures, so we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  Even though the outer fragile, nature of ours breaks and dies, our inner nature is being renewed and strengthened daily.  We do not lose heart at the falling apart of the outer pieces of us, we are instead believing that we will be held and maintained from the inside.  Even when we do not have our lives together or have a grasp over the situation; we are kept and sustained by the Power and Ability of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 

So, Paul writes that we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.  We might break as clay vessels, but the treasure keeps us within.  Pushed down by the virus, but never crushed.  Perplexed by confusion and uncertainty, but never out of God’s control that we should despair.  Hunted by the insatiable virus, but never abandoned or forsaken by God.  Thrown down in struggle and death, but never thrown out into destruction.  For you see we are God’s geode, clay vessels, weak and brittle on the outside, but treasured, sustained and held by the Spirit of Jesus Christ on the inside.

So, my friends in this moment what are you looking at?  Are you looking at the things you can see and see in abundance; at the weakness of our flesh, at the brittleness of our society, at the confusion and foolish political games played by our elected officials, at the emptiness of checking accounts or grocery shelves?  Or are you looking at the things you can’t see but instead hear, the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence.  These things you see will pass away, because they are only temporary, but the things you can’t see but instead hear, will never pass away, because they rest in the permanent and eternal Word of God.

Therefore, instead of looking at the fragility of our human lives, as we all know we are clay jars, let us instead look at through the eyes of faith and see the treasure within.  For we are a kept people.  For we are a resurrection people.  For we are God’s people.  Even though we are afflicted, we will never be crushed.  Even though we are confused we will never despair.  Even though we are hunted we will never be abandoned.  Even though we are struck down, we will never be destroyed.  Because we are God’s geode, fragile dirt on the outside, God’s Power and Glory within.  Let us not lose heart, let us gain the Spirit of Jesus Christ and at long last, learn to live.  Amen. 

Prayer

O Loving and Powerful God, we thank you for your grace and love that lives within us and keeps us through every moment of every day.  As we are reminded daily of life’s fragility and temporariness, turn the eyes of our hearts to the treasure within, the Power and Love of Jesus’ Spirit that keeps us and will raise us to eternal life.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

March 23, 2020

Romans 8:31-39

³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,
      “For your sake we are being killed all day long;
            we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Back in the day, our house was heated by a wood burning stove.  For much of the summer, my brothers, my dad and myself would sweat in the sun while cutting, splitting and drying the wood for the coming winter.  We would have some logs where the cutting was quite easy and took no time or energy to split them.  But we would also have logs so filled with knots and bumps that splitting them became quite difficult.  When we came upon a log such as this, we would have to break out the sledgehammer and the metal wedges.  We would pound the metal wedge into the log and ultimately after a few good whacks we would up with two logs, even when the logs didn’t want to be split.

Just as it is with log splitting, so too is it with the church.  We used a sledgehammer to pound a wedge into the log splitting the log into two pieces.  The world uses difficult times to pound a wedge between us and God, splitting or separating us into two pieces.  Through the various struggles, difficult moments and trying times, the world tries to force something between us and God resulting in two separate people instead of one mystically united people, in Jesus Christ.  As I sit in my home office this afternoon, I can’t help but look around me, not just on the internet news feeds, but at the empty shelves at our Giant Eagle and Walmart.  I can see at the very least a difficult moment, or at the very greatest the greatest crisis we will ever see.  I look at our world and I see the sledgehammer and wedge looking all too capable and present to separate us into quarantine zones where we must “shelter-in-place” and “self-isolate.”  We certainly look like a separated and defeated people.

But Paul writes to the Romans, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  In Paul’s mind, no thing or person or power can come in between the love of Christ and the objects of that love; us.  For that thing or person or power to be able to and to succeed in wedging themselves between Christ and us, that thing must be greater, more powerful and more sovereign than Christ.  That thing or person must be so strong they are able to overcome and break apart and undo the work that God is doing in the exact opposite.  Is there such a thing or person or power greater than or superior than or mightier than the Love of God poured out in Jesus Christ? 

What then shall we say in response to the fear and anxiety caused by the spread of the virus, the dwindling supply of resources, the encroachment into our city, and the separation and isolation into isolation zones?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all thing?  Who can thwart God’s work?  Who can pull apart what God pulls together?  Who can kill permanently what God can give life without end to?  Who can slam a wedge between the love of God and us, the ones God loves?  Who can interpose an immovable object between God and us that God cannot or will not move?

Paul doesn’t stop there in some passive, “pie-in-the-sky” hope, or a “grin and bear it” moment.  Paul draws the conclusion to the maximum level.  Since no one or no thing is stronger than God, we are not talking just about enduring said struggle or difficulty, Paul says it in the most emphatic way possible, no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  We are not called to just endure and persevere; we are called through God who loves us to overcome those things.  Not with bombs, bullets or bank accounts. but with the Love which first loves us.  We are called and given Love in Christ, to overcome the world’s problems and struggles, with and through this Love.  We are called to not be passive and fearful disciples each hiding in our upper rooms, but we are called to be more than conquerors through him who loved us; nor with force or violence or the sword, but with the Love of Christ given to us.

Perhaps like Paul we need now, in this moment and in these circumstance be convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, [neither virus nor quarantine], nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  If nothing can drive a wedge between us and God, then we should not worry nor fret over the difficult moments here and the difficult moments to come, but instead we must entrust our lives and our care into the hands of the God who loves us, even at great personal cost.  But, it also means that if God has graciously and out of God’s good pleasure chosen to love us, we must learn responsibility with that Love, by overcoming this virus and our quarantines with that Love.

My friends, I know we are bombarded daily and hourly with news and updates, but I wish only to bombard you with something else, something in my opinion which needs more of our attention and devotion.  Amid this moment of crisis, we need to tend to our faith just as much as our Facebook feeds, we need to nurture our hope just as much as nurture our pantries and we need to share the love given to us in Christ Jesus, not everyone has Jesus yet.  This is the destiny God has chosen for us, this is who we are called now to be, this is the new reality and the new narrative God is calling us into.  Let us step into that new reality, the Kingdom of God, and let us even now live as God’s Children.  Amen.

Prayer

O Loving and Mighty God, we thank you for the gracious choice to love us even in spite of us.  We ask now that as we surrender ourselves to your love, in this difficult and trying moment, you would not only help us to endure, but through your Love help us to overcome.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 

March 21. 2020

Romans 8:18-27

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷ And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

As a high school student, I participated in the marching band for four years.  Every summer, we would invade the Slippery Rock University for a week.  We lived in the dorms, two to a room and spent most of the days in various kinds of practices, training ourselves to play and march together.  We learned drill every morning from 9-12.  We practiced by sections from 1-3.  We spent every evening continuing to learn and rehearse drill until it became second nature.  Once we returned home and school began, we continued to have rehearsals outside every day and we rehearsed every Thursday evening from 6-9, we had a football game every Friday and a band competition every Saturday.  We spent quite a bit of time practicing, getting into shape, being sunburned and training ourselves to play and march as one band.  We spent much time and energy training ourselves in long hours, sweltering in the sun, sweating over drill charts with sore muscles.  But the daily struggles paid off as we achieved excellence on the football field.  After receiving awards and achievements, the temporary headaches over learning drill paled in perspective when compared to the success we enjoyed.

So too is it with us the Church.  Paul writes, I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  If anyone knew about sufferings, Paul would: beatings, lynchings, starvations, shipwrecks.   But amid such terrible trials Paul was focused not on the temporary present but instead on the permanent future, held in Jesus Christ.  He was not worried about the crucifixions of today, he was considering the eternal resurrection which waits for him.  He may have even gone so far as to consider the day-to-day struggles of this life as training himself for that eternity.  In the mind of Paul, the struggles of today are the sunburns, drills, hours toiling, preparing us to carry the weight of forever glory. 

Well, I as sit in my home office quarantined from others, hearing reports that the virus has spread into the city, I know full well, groaning inwardly from today’s struggles.  I know full well the frustrations and helplessness which myself and many others feel, waiting expectantly.  We only seem to be in total bondage to decay, as the numbers climb, the supply of resources sink, and fear and panic envelop themselves around our hearts and souls, tightening and grasping us ever closer.

But, while my eyes see the difficulty of this moment and its overwhelming circumstances, my ears hear another matter entirely.  The very Word of God become flesh reminds us that we are waiting yes, groaning inwardly yes, but we are waiting for the liberation to decay and waiting to be brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  The goal of our journey is not the temporary struggles and trials of this moment, but the permanent and eternal Glory of Jesus Christ.  While considering time without end in Jesus Christ, three weeks or six months pales in comparison.  While considering life swallowing death in Jesus Christ, death becomes not an insurmountable problem, but a temporary obstacle, which in truth is no obstacle at all.  While considering the Kingdom of God invading and overcoming the kingdom of sin and death in Jesus Christ, quarantines are minor inconveniences and annoyances, to be borne and carried and at the last discarded for the redemption of our bodies.  In Christ Jesus, temporary struggles are training for eternal Glory in Jesus Christ.

For in this hope we were saved.  This is God’s purpose for us: that being crucified with Christ, we might be raised with Christ.  Our temporary struggles and overwhelming circumstances are no obstacle to the might and love of God in Christ Jesus, but preparations for our entry into forever Glory.  So, we hope and expect God to deliver on God’s promises, because God is faithful, and God is mighty.  God wants to and God chooses to do this, why send Jesus unless this is the will of God?  Therefore, we hope for this salvation, and we wait for it patiently.

Perhaps that patience thing is the real problem.  In a world where we get things immediately, this one thing lies in God’s control and not ours.  God’s timing has always been the problem, we want it now and we don’t want to have to wait for it; and we don’t want to suffer while we are waiting.  God’s timing has always been the problem because it is God’s not ours.  But even now all things are not lost in the realm of our patience.  We are told that in our weakness the Spirit helps us.  Not only do we not know what we ought to pray for, but also we can never find the words.  But the Spirit knows the words and the content.  While we are groaning inwardly, the Spirit is groaning Godly, interceding for the saints in accordance with God’s will.  What greater comfort can the saints possess that the Spirit of Jesus Christ praying for and instead of us?  What obstacle can thwart such a prayer; what difficulty can overcome us that the Spirit’s prayer cannot overwhelm?  Forgiveness, done.  Peace, done.  Unity, done.  Health, done.  Life, done.  With the Spirit of Jesus Christ praying for us in our weaknesses, we can endure and overcome, because God is faithful and mighty.

My friends, I think we can all safely say, we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  But also, we can safely say that, our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  Like a band enduring drills and training, knowing the struggle will be worth the rewards, let us become the Church of Jesus Christ enduring quarantines and pandemics, knowing the brief struggle is preparing us for eternal Glory.  Let us wait eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our bodies.  But most importantly, let us continue to hope in God knowing that hope is unseen, even daring to wait for it patiently.  Knowing and trusting that the Spirit will help in our weakness and intercede for us.  Amen.

Prayer

O Holy and Loving God, you alone are in control of our history and our circumstances.  We remember that the destiny you have planned for us is what has already transpired in your Son.  We ask therefore for the endurance and perseverance necessary in this hour to bear today’s circumstances knowing they are training us for your Kingdom.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

From Amber Balista

For the past few weeks, I have been praying through the psalms. As a part of my field education (internship) my school requires that I practice not only skills in leadership and ministry but in self-care and soul care (spiritual disciples). At times it is these areas that are the most difficult to make the space and time to do. In other words, going to a meeting is easier for me than taking the time to exercise or to read a devotion. If you are like me than this time of partial quarantine might have you experiencing cabin-fever already. Not to mention the anxiety that comes with the unknown. If we are not anxious ourselves, we probably know at least one person who is.

I’m grateful for this practice of praying through the psalms because it is something to fall back on when so much is uncertain. The psalm for today is Psalm 33, a psalm of praise to the Lord who created everything, by speaking it into existence. Let us focus on the last few verses. Listen for the word of God:

¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
¹⁴ from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵ he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
¹⁶ The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
¹⁷ The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
¹⁹ that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
²² Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

The ruler of the universe sees and knows us. God is not removed from us, nor from all of creation. Remember Jesus came to be one of us, in all of the realness and difficulty of humanity. He was born a helpless babe, tempted in the dessert for 40 days, he was rejected and crucified. But that is not the end of the story, Jesus was raised from the dead in full victory over all pain, fear, anxiety and even death. He is enthroned for all time looking out to us, knowing our every intention, anxiety, and distraction. God also knows our powerlessness to overcome these feelings on our own. The truth is God is not powerless! God’s love is a love so big it has no end. Know this. Know that Jesus Christ is the King of the world. His is an unshakable love that holds onto us no matter what we might be feeling at this time. This is our hope. Remember, as Paul says, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I see the love of God at work in the reaching out of others. Many churches are offering not only video-recorded worship services but also prayer services, small groups, blogs, meditation gathers and phone calls. How have you experienced the steadfast love of God?

May the peace of Christ be with each of you.

Amber

Prayer: Almighty God, out of your love you have created all there is. Thank you for making us, for seeing us and for never leaving us alone. Engender in us your hope, your confidence and your peace. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us even as we hope in you. 

Isaiah 40:27-31

        ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
            and speak, O Israel,
      “My way is hidden from the Lord,
            and my right is disregarded by my God”?
        ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
            The Lord is the everlasting God,
            the Creator of the ends of the earth.
      He does not faint or grow weary;
            his understanding is unsearchable.
        ²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
            and strengthens the powerless.
        ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary,
            and the young will fall exhausted;
        ³¹ but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
            they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
      they shall run and not be weary,
            they shall walk and not faint.

As a junior high student, I had the privilege of making the soccer team.  I was a bit naïve about how much running I had to do, and I learned rather quickly that to be committed to the soccer team meant running at least two miles a day, just in conditioning alone.  I had to also run the drills and activities associated with practice.  I have never been so tired and exhausted.  After practice I had to use a muscle cream to ease the pain in my calves.  The pain and exhaustion were so strong that stairs were a complete nightmare.   I never was so tired and sore, and I was 12.

In our text from Isaiah, it says, even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted.  I could relate to being weary and exhausted and more importantly I could relate to being so at 12 years old.  The prime of my life, the strongest I will ever be and still sore, exhausted, and tired.  Well I am not 12 anymore, I won’t comment on my age.  But I certainly am tired, exhausted and sore emotionally.  We are in the 3^rd day of our quarantine and we are certainly tired of the bad news, exhausted from the constant worry and anxiety about empty grocery store shelves.  Parents are like the old Christmas carol, waiting for school to start again.  We are tired.

For the people of Israel in Isaiah’s time they also were tired.  Tired of trusting in God and seeing and experiencing not the presence of God, but at times God appeared Hidden.  The nation and people were tired of praying and pleading their case before God and at times God appeared to disregard their prayers and petitions even at times allowing the evil and wicked to prosper while punishing the innocent and righteous.  This is when Isaiah speaks. Have you not known? Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  God had not fainted or gotten tired with them.  God had not forsaken or abandoned them.  God maybe was hidden from them, but God’s hiddenness was not necessarily an unhealthy thing.  God’s hiddenness was just a reminder that God is god and they were but mere humans.  For their sake God hid in order that they might seek and wait upon God.  God is faithful towards them, but at times, particularly difficult ones, they would faint in their faithfulness towards God.

But I ask you did Jesus ever faint?  He certainly was tired and frustrated: with his disciples, with the leaders, with the evil and wickedness in the world.  But never once did he quit or lose his faithfulness to God.  In his tiredness and exhaustion he waited on God to provide; those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  When his human strength faltered, the divine strength filled and lifted him over the problems like an eagle in flight.  When his human patience tottered, the divine patience covered, and he ran without ceasing.  When his faith was tested and tried, the divine faithfulness supplied, and he walked, even to the cross and did not quit.

Will Jesus not help us do the same?  If we are in Christ, then God’s strength surrounds and penetrates our weaknesses.  If we are in Christ, then God’s patience lies behind and before us.  If we are in Christ, then God’s endurance lies under and over us.  If we are in Christ, then God’s grace lies to our left and right.  If we are in Christ, even in our tiredness and exhaustion the Divine power and grace can and does lift us over our temporary problems like an eagle over the ground.  Such is the love and power of God, that out of God’s good pleasure God would and does act to save.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, in this time of quarantine, no doubt we are tired and sore spiritually, no doubt we feel God is hidden from us and disregarding our prayers, but hear again the word of God: those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles.  God is faithful to Jesus and we are hidden in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  God will therefore be faithful to us and give us strength to rise and overcome.  Let us therefore wait on the Lord in prayer and gratitude and wait for the Lord’s promised deliverance and when God does, let us rise and fly! Amen.

Prayer

O God of Grace and Glory, you alone out of your good pleasure, choose to stoop down into our miserable circumstances to pour into us your power and your love.  Stoop now to our tired, exhausted and weak minds, souls and bodies and supply your almighty power and love.  Lift us above our anxieties and our trials and allow to soar with your Son in your Kingdom.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-26

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many members, yet one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; ²⁴ whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵ that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Having just moved into a house last November, I am still arranging things.  Whether the furniture in my basement or the dishes in my kitchen, I am still trying to figure out what pieces go well next to each other and the best place to put the baking pans.  In some cases, I can only really see how things come together by experimenting.  Does the couch go well with the bookcase?  Should the towels be next to the sink or the oven?  How does the picture look next to the hutch?  We will probably still be arranging things in our house next March.

Just as I am arranging things in our house, moving around and putting things next to each other, so too is God arranging things in the Church.  As our text from 1 Corinthians states, but as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  I can put the microwave next to the dishwater, but God is arranging people next to other people.  I can put the nightstand next to the bed, God is putting individuals in connection with other individuals.  I can hang the picture of birds next to the planter of flowers, God is attaching congregations to other congregations.  As God chooses, God is arranging God’s people into groups, individuals connected to others and congregations next to other congregations.

If God is arranging the people in God’s church, then everyone will not be the same.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  In the human body, not every piece is the same.  The foot is not the eye, the ear is not the heart.  So too with the Church, not every piece is the same, because God is the one arranging, connecting and bringing people together.  Not everyone is uniform or the same, conforming to the same circumstances and situations.  But God has brought people together in unity, made to drink of the same one Spirit of Jesus Christ. 

Perhaps the point then is that if God has and is doing the arranging, we all need each other.  No person can tell another person, no congregation can tell another congregation, I don’t need you.  If God is doing the arranging, then in God’s way I need you and you need me.  Not only is this so counter cultural that I am truly dependent on others, but in this moment, as “I” am quarantined from “thou”, separated from each other, I am tempted to sever my connections from you, in order to save myself and more importantly my family.  I think only of hoarding resources in order to survive.  Squirreling away a freezer of meat, hiding cans of Chef Boyardee, hoarding boxes of pasta and jars of sauce, “I” am consumed by thoughts and fears of self-preservation at the expense of “thou”.  Our fallen human nature reveals itself most clearly, when the strongest, shrewdest and most selfish survive and the weakest, most vulnerable and least honorable perish. 

But not so with God.  Our text continueswith on the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.  In God’s arranging, God specifically arranges things so that strong people are next to weak people, wise people are connected to foolish people, vulnerable people related to more honorable people.  But God also has said to the whole, take care of each other.  The weaker are not to be cast aside as a burden, but the stronger are to make strong the weak.  The foolish are not a source of jest and jape but are a brother or sister in need of counsel and advice.  The less honorable are not to be trampled afoot but are worthy of receiving the greater honor.  Our fellow human beings are not rivals for the same limited pool of resources, possibly even contagious, but they are fellow children in the family of God.  We need each other.

This means my brothers and sisters in Christ, that in this time of self or governmental quarantine, you and I have a responsibility towards each other.  Not just for ourselves or our small family groups, but to all the people that God has arranged together.  This is the time when everyone and everything will be tempted and driven to pull apart and be tempted to divide and split.  But if God has so arranged the body, God has done so, so that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.  Care for one another, strong empowering the weak, the haves tending the have nots, the wealthy tending the poor, the healthy curing the sick, the young compassioning the old.  The same care for one another, not the fear for myself.

If one suffers, we all suffer, because God has arranged us so.  In one prospers, we all prosper, because God has arranged us so.  If one needs, we all need, because God has arranged us so. Therefore, let us care for each other as if God has arranged us so.  Let us share the limited pool of resources with those in greatest need as fellow human beings, not misering them away as threats to our livelihood.  Let us encourage those that are down, let us call those that are alone, let us send cards or flowers to those that are isolated.  Let us act like we need every single person, because God has arranged us so.  And when we give each person out of what we have and into what they need, we will find that we have finally obtained the full measure of our purpose and existence, we will finally be humans who love… as God has arranged us so.  Amen.

Prayer

O Loving and Gracious God, we thank you for the work you have done on our behalf reconciling us to yourself and to each other through the death and resurrection of your so.  As you have arranged us, connecting us to you and each other, help us to step into that unity.  Give us everything necessary to care for each other as if we truly need each other.  Help us to share if we are strong and have and help us to ask for and receive if we are struggling and in need.  Glue us together through the work of your Holy Spirit and help us to love each other.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Psalm 46

        ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
            a very present help in trouble.
        ² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
            though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
        ³ though its waters roar and foam,
              though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

        ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
             the holy habitation of the Most High.
        ⁵ God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
             God will help it when the morning dawns.
        ⁶ The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
            he utters his voice, the earth melts.
        ⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
             the God of Jacob is our refuge.

        ⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord;
             see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
        ⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
            he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
            he burns the shields with fire.
        ¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God!
             I am exalted among the nations,
            I am exalted in the earth.”
        ¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
            the God of Jacob is our refuge.

As a young boy, I was privileged to journey with my family on a day-long canoe trip.  My uncle, aunt and cousin spent the day traveling along a local river in Pennsylvania canoeing, and fishing.  About midday, a thunderstorm quickly overcame us, and we were forced to seek shelter on the closet riverbank under the branches of an enormous pine tree.  The four of us embraced each other clinging in fear as the deluge fell upon us.  The wind and the rain battered us, with the only cover being the branches of the tree above us and the warmth of each other around us.  The storm quickly left just as it had arrived and with soaked clothes, but in good spirits, we continued our journey.

Just as a thunderstorm quickly arrived and battered us about with wind and rain, we find ourselves in a different storm that has arrived quickly and has battered us about with sickness and fear.  But just as I took shelter under the boughs of a pine tree, we too have a place of shelter, a place of hiding.  As the Psalmist sings, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  We have a place of shelter, being hidden in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  We have the branches of God over us, protecting us and deflecting both fear and worry.  We have someone to cling to in Jesus Christ, whose warmth and presence are a source of strength and help in our time of troubles.  We might have the latest and greatest threat and trial, but in Christ we have our ever-present hiding place.

Since we have such a hiding place. the Psalmist continues, we will not fear.  Because we are hidden in Christ, of what can we be afraid?  Even though the earth should shake, or the mountain end up in the sea, what power exists in the world that can threaten the very God who created all these things?  What power can threaten to overcome God, who brought into existence all things, sustains all things and will provide for all things?  We shall not fear, because what devilish power, human scheme, or natural plague can overcome the Almighty and Creator God, who brings a dead man back to life?

If God is in our midst and over us, then we shall not be moved.  For something to move something else, like say a person to move a couch, force must be applied that is greater than another force.  My muscles must be stronger than gravity and friction in order to move a couch.  Who or what has enough force or power to move God?  More specifically who has enough force or power to move the Resurrected and Ascended Jesus Christ?  He told the fever which consumed Peter’s mother-in-law to depart and it left!  He told the winds to cease blowing on the lake and it stopped!  He told Lazarus to rise and he did!  Who has a greater force or power that can move against Christ and force him to do their bidding?  None exists, because Jesus is Lord!

But it is one thing to be present, it is another entirely to be at work.  Our psalm continues, it just doesn’t say that God is in our midst and cannot be moved, it also continues into Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  Our hope is not just that God is in our midst and proverbially asleep or ignoring current historical events.  Our God is in our midst and working against them.  God is working against evil and destruction everywhere.  God is actively working to bring life and light into our world.  God is not absent from his post, or asleep at the wheel, or in the bathroom when we need God.  God is working against conflict, against destruction, and against wickedness.  If God be fighting against these things, like a virus, then I ask, who could withstand being against God?

Perhaps the whole point is then is the final phrases.  During overwhelming forces and trials, we are to be still, and know that I am God!  While things exist that threaten our very existence, those things are no threat to our Almighty God.  Therefore, we can be still and hide in Christ, and know that God is god and the covid-19 virus is not.  So, my friends, we can still do our daily tasks, work our jobs, raise our children, buy our groceries, and live our lives without fear and with hope; because through the work of the Holy Spirit we are hidden in Christ, a present help and our refuge and strength.  Let us meet this trial with faith and hope in our ever-present and ever-powerful God and never fear and despair.  Let us live our lives ever waiting on the Spirit of Jesus Christ and ever praying for the Spirit’s work among us and for us.  Let us become a people who gratefully accept God’s work done for us and amid us. Trust and Hope not Fear and Despair.  Amen. 

Prayer

O God of Love and God of Power, we thank you for your ever-present love and power which covers us with a place in which we may hide and take shelter.  We ask once again that you pour out a fresh supply of your Holy Spirit, that as we are once again threatened by forces beyond our ken that we may rest under your security and hope in your ever-loving arms wrapped around us.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

We welcome our new staff member to Trinity Presbyterian Church! 

Dorrene Turner began working here in early January as our new Operations Assistant/Bookkeeper.  Many might remember Dorrene from her time spent at Harris Memorial as well as her time spent at Trinity early in the merger.  She has taken over the daily Secretarial Responsibilities as well as the responsibilities of managing some of the church’s finances. 

She works Monday through Thursday from 8am to 1pm.  She can be reached at the church by phone as well as by email: [email protected]. 

Please join in welcoming Dorrene to Trinity as she begins her tenure with us.