"God Pause Daily Devotionals" The Luther Seminary for Wednesday, 22 June 2016 with Scripture Galatians 5:1, 13-15

"God Pause Daily Devotionals" The Luther Seminary for Wednesday, 22 June 2016 with Scripture Galatians 5:1, 13-15
Galatians 5:1 What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.

13 For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. 14 For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbor as yourself”;[Galatians 5:14 Leviticus 19:18] 15 but if you go on snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other![Complete Jewish Bible]
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Back to the mantle (or yoke) again. Paul seems to understand the limit of human imagination. By tradition, we assume a yoke can mean only one thing: ownership, slavery, being bound to the plow. But Paul invites us to broaden our imagination. We are invited to imagine that we are no longer bound by the former things. Binding takes a new shape in Christ. We are now bound to one another--even slaves to one another. Not in submission or abuse. Rather we are bound by love, impelled by a desire to tend to the well-being of the other. Would we dare say that by leaning into our baptismal identity, love for the neighbor could in the ideal become a compulsion, something we cannot imagine NOT doing? And there is a caution, that this is not a love that consumes or subsumes the other. It is love for the sake of the other, not for our own sake.
Loving God, if love is of you, love gives life and gives it abundantly. What a joy it is to be invited into the binding freedom of uplifting the neighbor. Bless us in our efforts. Amen.
Chris Bellefeuille
Pastor, Valley of Peace Lutheran Church, Golden Valley, Minn.
Master of Divinity, 2003
Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery...
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.[New Revised Standard Version]
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"God Pause Daily Devotionals" The Luther Seminary for Tuesday, 21 June 2016 with Scripture Psalm 16
Psalm 16:(0) Mikhtam. By David:

(1) Protect me, God,

for you are my refuge.

2 I said to Adonai, “You are my Lord;

I have nothing good outside of you.”

3 The holy people in the land are the ones

who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.

4 Those who run after another god

multiply their sorrows;

To such gods I will not offer

drink offerings of blood

or take their names on my lips.

5 Adonai, my assigned portion, my cup:

you safeguard my share.

6 Pleasant places were measured out for me;

I am content with my heritage.

7 I bless Adonai, my counselor;

at night my inmost being instructs me.

8 I always set Adonai before me;

with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;

9 so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices,

and my body too rests in safety;

10 for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,

you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.

11 You make me know the path of life;

in your presence is unbounded joy,

in your right hand eternal delight.[Complete Jewish Bible]
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"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot." It's hard for a follower of Jesus to read this passage without seeing our Lord on his knees in the garden, asking God to take the cup from him. The path of discipleship is indeed fearsome--Jesus went all the way to the cross, after all. Yet the psalmist reminds us that fearsomeness is not the only thing poured forth from the cup. The cup also holds guidance and counsel, pleasant places, gladness of heart, a soul capable of rejoicing and pleasures forevermore. In God we find strength, shalom and assurance in paths of discipleship both dim and brightly lit.
Comforting God, what a gift it is to lean heavily on the promise of your portion and your desire that we find peace in your embrace. May our skin tingle for your warming touch and our hearts be calmed by the promise of a goodly heritage in your eternal presence. Amen.
Chris Bellefeuille
Pastor, Valley of Peace Lutheran Church, Golden Valley, Minn.
Master of Divinity, 2003
Psalm 16:1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.
10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.
11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.[New Revised Standard Version]
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