Lent Devotional 2021 - Pittsburg - Flipbook - Page 18
and what God had to say to them and then to act on God’s
word.
The verses before leave us shaken and unsettled, which
I suspect is their intent. They are hard-hitting. No “warm
fuzzies” here. They deliver a scathing critique of a society in
shambles, almost as devastatingly bleak as Ezekiel’s valley
of the dry bones. Jeremiah’s soul is raw with the words he
delivers, right down to his bones. To be a prophet is to find
oneself in the “foul rag and bone shop of the heart,” with
a nod to William Butler Yeats. It is a calling that exacts all.
Jeremiah spends himself. He is spent by his allegiance to that
call.
Our call leads us into the same endeavor. As I write, society
is reeling from two deadly scourges: COVID-19 and racism.
God, however, sends us into this society that we might not
only speak words of critique but also, as Jeremiah does
elsewhere, words of hope grounded in God’s yearning that
we, in listening to him, in knowing him, might know his
peace, his shalom . . . and God’s shalom means wholeness.
We could sure use some of that. Just now, the jackhammer
has gone silent, but the backup beepers are still sounding.
PRAYER
Holy and gracious God, knock some sense into us. Give us
the courage to take your word seriously. Split us open to
receive it and, with it, your purposes for us in this time. May
we accept your call as irrevocable and spend ourselves in
allegiance to you, your Son, and those to whom you send us.
Amen.
THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021
The Rev. Dr. T. Ann Daniel ’92
SCRIPTURE
Romans 5:12-21
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one
man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to
all because all have sinned—13 sin was indeed in the world
before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even
over those whose sins were not like the transgression of
Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many
died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely
have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the
one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the
free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the
judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but
the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
17 If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised
18 Lent Devotional 2021
dominion through that one, much more surely will those
who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of
righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man,
Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to
condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads
to justification and life for all. 19 For just as by the one man’s
disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one
man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 But
law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but
where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that,
just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also
exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
DEVOTIONAL
The renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle has left a legacy
for logical thinking. It has influenced many since the fourth
century BCE. There is a logic that the first century CE writer
Paul adopted in Romans 5:12-21—a logic he expects us
to follow in order that we may not miss the depth of the
argument. The argument is the power that one individual can
have over the entire world. It can be demonstrated positively
and negatively. As I write, the world is grappling over the
death trail of the pandemic novel coronavirus disease, which
no doubt originated with one individual or one group of
individuals.
Our text states that the first human creature sinned and
all humans inherited this original sin; the full context is in
Genesis 3. The New Testament speaks of the first person who
was both truly human and truly God, Jesus Christ, who broke
the power of sin so that all humans may receive salvation and
inherit eternal life. The impact of the original sin is double
death, both physically and spiritually. The impact of sin
canceled is maintaining forever our spiritual life, which begins
when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and continues eternally,
even beyond physical death. To accomplish this, Jesus gave
his life on Calvary’s cross as the purchase price for eternal
life available to the entire world. Then he conquered physical
death by rising on the first Easter day.
The dominion of physical death caused by disobedience,
trespasses, and condemnation is intercepted and interrupted
by God’s grace as a free gift, perfect peace, and endless life.
Let us accept this new status now: life with hope to live after
physical death. The Lenten season invites us to hit the pause
button, be reflective, be penitent, and remember that Jesus
died for us. All that is required from us is to seek forgiveness,
claim the gift, and die to whatever originally caused us not
to live in full recognition of the love of God for the world
generally and the salvation of our souls personally. Receive
new life—your sins are washed away!
PRAYER
Dear God, the architect of all plans, the giver of new life,
the transformer of souls, we look to you for redemption,