Monthly Archives: February 2024

February 19
Neal Armstrong

And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you – not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21

In January 1999, 11 months before I was engaged and 5 years before our first child was born, I spent 10 days in Israel with a group from my parents’ church. It was an incredible experience and brought much of scripture to life. Some vivid memories from that trip include: climbing Masada and floating in the Dead Sea; praying at the Western Wall, staying in a kibbutz, walking through Old Jerusalem, seeing thousand-year-old olive trees at the Mount of Olives, drinking some sweet red wine in Cana, taking a boat on the Sea of Galilee, visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (believed to be the site of Jesus’ crucifixion), and walking the Via Dolorosa (believed to be the route of Jesus as he carried his cross). My brother and I also enjoyed some of the local beers on occasion, Maccabee pilsner and Taybeh golden lager.  

However, one of the most meaningful experiences during the trip was our visit to the Jordan River. The pastor was also on the trip and after reminding everyone that you are only baptized once, he facilitated a remembrance of our baptisms by touching everyone’s forehead with water from the Jordan. His comments about one baptism being sufficient resonated with me. We are forgiven and extended grace because of Christ. That forgiveness and grace are applied to us in our baptism and cannot be taken away. How wonderful to know that even in our struggles with sin and temptation, God’s forgiveness and grace remain constant. The experience was so meaningful for me that even though I was years away from having children I filled two plastic water bottles with water from the Jordan and kept them until the water was used to baptize my children, Sammy and Peter.

Just as my experience at the Jordan did, Lent helps us to focus on what Christ has done for us by dying on the cross for our sins. And because of what Christ has done, with our baptism we receive a flood of grace that washes away our sin.  

Lord, please help us to remember that with our baptism, your grace and forgiveness are stamped on us because of Christ. Amen.

February 18
Julie Hinz

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to teach Sunday School here at Grace. Working with first through fourth graders is not something I do regularly so, while fun and exciting, it took some focus as I relearned how to communicate at a different level. Most children at this age are only beginning to see the nuances of life and still defer to a more black-and-white view of the world. My biggest struggle was how to move them from the yes/no, good/evil, answer to a more nuanced understanding of mercy and grace.

I was challenged. Not because I did not know the answer or was incapable of teaching it, but because I was so caught up in my own ideas that I forgot to allow them to simply believe in God’s profound love for them. I could hear the inner monologue of my brain creating differently phrased questions to help them get to what I wanted instead of accepting their simple answer of “because God loves me.”

Our world is caught up in war and division. The argument seems to focus on “everyone should believe what I believe.” As adults, we analyze, consider, discuss, hypothesize, research, and study the opposing argument, so we can boldly claim “THIS is what should be. THIS is right.”

What if we didn’t? What if we simply believed that God loved us, that Jesus came to die and rise, saving us from our sins, and God will one day take us to heaven? What if we left behind all those elements considered adiaphora (things that are neither right nor wrong, such as church building design, eating pork, no meat on Fridays during Lent, etc.) and simply lived the faith of children? It’s easy for us to get lost in our esoteric thinking, our pride in knowing so much about the Bible, and our perfectly crafted theological responses that we forget the basics. God loves us. We sin. Jesus died and rose. We are forgiven. We go to heaven. The covenant we read here is this; we need for complex explanations or deep theological insight to know that we are God’s beloved. We are forgiven and saved. We need only rest in the reality that “Jesus loves me, this I know.”

Lord, help me to recognize daily that you love me. That knowing you is all I need in this life. Remind me that the faith of a child; simple, innocent, and trust-filled, is all you require of me. Amen.

February 17
Darlene Miskovic

Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Joel 2:13b

As I began reading this verse, I found myself singing it. Wait! How do I know this so well? I found it in the hymnal as part of the liturgy during Lent, sung just after the Second Lesson and before the Gospel for the day is read. 

Reading this verse in The Message adds relatability for me.

Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, and puts up with a lot, this most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe.

Even when we don’t deserve it, God is ready to forgive us. Like the most patient parent, God takes a deep breath, counts to 10 (or 20, or 100 or more), and extends grace and love. He’s like the father in the parable, welcoming his repentant prodigal son back with open arms and celebration.

Recently I heard a television interview with an expert about parent-child relationships. She stressed how important it is that no matter what a child may do, they know their parent loves them and will stand with them to help work things out. The expert explained that a parent should be their child’s safe space.

As children of our Heavenly Father, we can be assured that our parent loves us. We have a safe space, guaranteed for us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. 

Dear Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son to pay the price for our sins. Help us to remember that despite our sins, we can come to you and you are ready to welcome us back. You will stand by us, help us to work things out, and restore us to relationship with you. Thank you for being our safe space. Amen.

February 16
Rev. Dave Lyle

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm 51:12

Today’s verse, and the verses that precede it, were sung into my mind at an early age. Growing up, our family’s congregation celebrated Holy Communion only twice a month. On the other Sundays, we did a truncated version of the liturgy that included “Create in me” instead of “Let the vineyards” as an Offering Verse. Even so, I noticed something new while reading this verse in preparation for writing this devotion.

Heard through the lens of childhood faith, I tend to focus on what’s wrong with me. I need a “clean” heart and a “new” spirit. Certainly, this is true. But the psalmist gives voice to something else, too. The salvation we’ve been granted is certain. It’s already given and cannot be lost! What we lose sight of is joy. So, we pray not for more salvation, but for restored joy.

To restore something is to put it back into its original condition or use. I have such strong memories of God-given joy. From singing silly camp songs in my youth to welcoming my own children as a parent, God has blessed me with moments in which joy abounds. Sometimes I lose sight of this, sometimes because I am forgetful and sometimes because life can truly be joyless. There is sorrow aplenty, sadness to go around.

In the midst of it all, salvation persists. It cannot be lost, for it is grace all the way down. Today I cry out for restoration. For just a glimpse of joy to see me through to tomorrow.

God of abundant joy, draw me anew to your heart that my heart may learn from you. In the midst of today’s trouble, help me to know the depths of your joy that buoy us up in the midst of our sorrows. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

February 15
Mark Lucht

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and look — we are alive, as punished and yet not killed,as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing everything.       2 Corinthians 6:8b-10

An old friend called me last week
with tears in her voice
to tell me she is dying.

We talked of old times. Of better times. 
Of trials endured. Life experienced. Friends in common. Uncommon encounters.
I was able to make her laugh.
We spoke a fond farewell.

There will be a time to mourn, but that time is not now.
I was never really good at it anyway.
My knack has always seemed to be able to say something to lighten the load.
and I know this about myself and am glad for it
because it needs to be.

To rejoice in the midst of sorrow.
You see, all of us are dying while yet we live. It is a natural function of life.

As we commence this season of Lent, we can see why
it is so important that Jesus has joined us in our human condition. 
He knows my experience here in the middle of this mortal coil;
my pain, my temptations, my joys and my grief.
He’s been there because he’s been here. He’s here yet. 

If you have ever experienced a near-death episode, for example, while undergoing serious surgery, you might have been blessed by the knowledge that the transition is not really that difficult; indeed, it is warm and bright and welcoming and almost a shame that returning to the temporal is even necessary.

But you do return. Your loved ones are not ready for you to leave.
There remain tasks to be completed. People to be uplifted.
Forgiveness and love to be bestowed as it has been to us.
Life to be lived.

So, here’s to life and its circumstance.
We never know when that handshake, I love you, bon mot,
fist bump, conversation or hug will be the last. So, sow freely.

Lord, we praise you for life and its delicious dichotomies. We want to thank you for the people we encounter in our path because they are the very reason we are here. Amen

                                                                                                                                                                                  

Rev. Troy Medlin
February 14      

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

This passage reminds me of Martin Luther’s explanation of the first commandment. He writes in the Large Catechism, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is your God.”

In my teens, I spent a lot of time cultivating political and theological convictions. I lived in a silo of sorts, spending most of my time and energy around folks who shared the majority of those political and theological convictions. My views got reinforced much more often than they got challenged. I even remember telling someone that I was so confident in what I believed that I would never change. Fast forward to today and in certain ways, I have become the person that I used to despise.

I clung with white knuckles to those positions, my heart confident in my own attempts to justify myself, more than the God who justifies the ungodly.

There are other things I cling to these days from small possessions that I protect with outsized care or my bank account. It is so easy to let those things wrap themselves around our hearts until we find our value and worth in them. Treasuring them.  

We all cling to our life. We hold so tightly to our reputation, appearance, positions, and security, believing the lie that those are worth treasuring and protecting with everything we’ve got. Our hearts get turned ever inward.

We forget that our life and all we have come from the God who has first clung to us and who will never let us go. This mighty fortress is our only source of true security and salvation. God is the one who is always faithful to God’s covenant and promises. In baptism, this God has replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

This Lent we are invited again to let go. Fall into Christ. Die and be raised. Turned outward by faith we are free to treasure our neighbors. And step into freedom.

God of promise, you are always faithful. You hold us in your embrace. By your grace may we let go of our lives so that we may treasure you and our neighbors above all things. Amen.

Welcome to our Lenten devotion series for 2024 and thank you for joining us as we journey through this solemn time.

Our theme this season is “A Covenant of Grace.” Throughout the Old Testament, God promises again and again to be faithful to the people, despite their recurring faithlessness. During Lent, we’ll explore these promises and how they all find their fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How is God living out these promises in your life? How is the Holy Spirit calling each of us to be signs of the promise today?

Thank you for being here. And many thanks to the members of Grace who stepped forward to write these devotions. Special thanks to Mike Berg who created the cover art, Pastor Lyle for his guidance and advice, Gwen Gotsch for editing the whole, and Julie Hinz who oversaw the production of this devotional resource. And thanks be to God for the wealth of talent in this community and the mysteries of God in our lives which we explore in these pages. We are blessed to have such grace and wisdom in our midst.