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Morning Devotion for the Season of Easter
April 18, 2024
Invitatory
Out of the depths have I called to you, Oh Lord; Lord, hear my voice; let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Colossians 2: 1-7
For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself,* in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives* in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
Every week at RYG, Redeemer youth group, we start our regular meeting with high/lows and an add on question. The add on question is meant to help disclose us to one another and can be very intimate or very broad. Some weeks it is as simple as “if you were a car what kind of car would you be?” Other weeks we might ask if you could share a meal with anyone who is no longer on this earth, who would it be, and why. As you can imagine some of the kids have extraordinary answers with particular detail and explanation. Other times the answer is short and sweet, for example: Benjamin Franklin because he was a big deal. More often than not it is a grandparent who they wished they'd known better, and whose knowledge they want to explore.
Often humor is involved, and typically there are multiple follow up questions by the group, either challenging the response or demanding elaboration. It is a surprisingly reflective exercise. This past week was no different with some excellent and thoughtful responses to the question: if you could have any superpower what would it be. Many of the answers build on the ones before. For example, one person said they would like to speak multiple languages, with another going a step further exclaiming I would like to be able to understand all languages. One person said they would like to be able to fly, while another said they would like to be able to morph into any animal thereby flying, swimming, climbing and/or camouflaging.
My answer seemed simple, but got a lot of feedback and flack. I said I would like to make people happy. This was infuriating to many. How, they demanded- for long periods, for the short term? For people who didn’t know me, who never met me, or people who were in relationship with me. They believed it unfair if some people could have this happiness and not others. They demanded so much clarity. It was overwhelming.
My answer seemed simple. For anyone who is systemically sad-cup half empty-lonely-depressed-to their core melancholy; I would like to make them cup half full-hopeful-whole. This reading from Paul to the Colossians expresses that same sentiment. You can feel Paul’s desire for love and hope for these people, as he cautions them away from false gods, and false righteousness. It is not in feeling superior that we experience happiness. It is not in alternative worship. It is through Jesus Christ and his divine example. It is through gratitude.
Giving happiness feels so much easier than leading people towards God-but it is what Paul wanted for them: happiness. It is what God wants for all of us, I believe. As a persecuted apostle Paul sent letters of guidance from jail; letters explaining the path to joy. For many of us teaching and in ministry it is this same calling that drives us to try and bring the Gospel to those who might not be capturing its full meaning. We cannot give the happiness that God wants for us, that is the flip side of free will. But we hope and work towards helping people to find it-like midwives of God’s joy, delivering it to all who will work to find it. So perhaps my superpower is right there, just beyond reach. A goal worth a lifetime of love.
Psalm 130: 4-7
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy;
With him there is plenteous redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins. Amen
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