The Upper Room Daily Reflections of The United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Marked by Service" Sunday, 30 June 2019
The Upper Room Daily Reflections of The United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Marked by Service" Sunday, 30 June 2019
Today’s Reflection: JESUS’ LIFE is marked by his service. Jesus tells us how to proclaim the kingdom; he asks that we be a source of healing and forgiveness for others. We can see the value of service through psychological research regarding happiness. People who volunteer report that they are happier than people who do not. When we serve others, we rise above our own problems and recognize that others around us are also suffering or in need of companionship and connection. God told Catherine that when we deprive our neighbor of charity, harm is done not only to our neighbor but also to ourselves because we deprive ourselves of the grace that comes from giving. By serving others, we create space in our heart for the grace of God. (Christopher Maricle, Deeply Rooted: Knowing Self, Growing in God
From page 42 of Deeply Rooted: Knowing Self, Growing in God by Christopher Maricle. Copyright © 2016 by The Upper Room. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: What random act of kindness can you do for others this week? Share your thoughts.
Today’s Scripture: Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above… (James 1:17a, NRSV)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, help me deepen the roots of my faith. Amen. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.
Something More: Daily Reflections readers; You might also be interested in The Upper Room daily devotional guide, distributed in 100 countries and 33 languages around the world. Subscribe here.
Lectionary Readings: (Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
2 Kings 2:1-2 1 The time came for ADONAI to take Eliyahu up into heaven in a whirlwind. Eliyahu and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal, 2 when Eliyahu said to Elisha, "Please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me all the way to Beit-El." But Elisha said, "As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Beit-El.
2 Kings 2:6-14 6 Eliyahu said to him, "Please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me to the Yarden." He replied, "As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.7 Fifty of the guild prophets went and stood watching them from a distance, while they stood by the Yarden. 8 Then Eliyahu took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it; and the water divided itself to the left and to the right; so that they crossed on dry ground.9 After they had crossed, Eliyahu said to Elisha, "Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away from you." Elisha said, "Please! Let a double share of your spirit be on me!" 10He replied, "You have requested a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will get what you asked for; but if not, you won't." 11 Suddenly, as they were walking on and talking, there appeared a fiery chariot with horses of fire; and as it separated the two of them from each other, Eliyahu went up into heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra'el!" Then he lost sight of him. Seizing his clothes, he tore them in half. 13 Then he picked up Eliyahu's cloak, which had fallen off him. Standing on the bank of the Yarden, 14 he took the cloak that had fallen off Eliyahu, struck the water and said, "Where is ADONAI, the God of Eliyahu?" But when he actually did strike the water, it divided itself to the left and to the right; then Elisha crossed over.
Psalm 77:1-2 1 For the leader. For Y'dutun. A psalm of Asaf: I cry aloud to God, aloud to God; and he hears me. 2 On the day of my distress I am seeking Adonai; my hands are lifted up; my tears flow all night without ceasing; my heart refuses comfort.
Psalm 77:11-20 11 So I will remind myself of Yah's doings; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 12 I will meditate on your work and think about what you have done. 13 God, your way is in holiness. What god is as great as God? 14 You are the God who does wonders, you revealed your strength to the peoples. 15 With your arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Ya'akov and Yosef. (Selah) 16 The water saw you, God; the water saw you and writhed in anguish, agitated to its depths. 17 The clouds poured water, the skies thundered, and your arrows flashed here and there. 18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightning flashes lit up the world, the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way went through the sea, your path through the turbulent waters; but your footsteps could not be traced. 20 You led your people like a flock under the care of Moshe and Aharon.
Galatians 5:1 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.
Galatians 5:13-25 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";k15 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! 16 What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. 17 For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism. 19 And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; 20 involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue 21 and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God! 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things. 24 Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. 25 Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.
Luke 9:51-62 51 As the time approached for him to be taken up into heaven, he made his decision to set out for Yerushalayim. 52 He sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village in Shomron to make preparations for him. 53 However, the people there would not let him stay, because his destination was Yerushalayim. 54 When the talmidim Ya`akov and Yochanan saw this, they said, "Sir, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village. 57 As they were traveling on the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Yeshua answered him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds flying about have nests, but the Son of Man has no home of his own." 59 To another he said, "Follow me!" but the man replied, "Sir, first let me go away and bury my father." 60 Yeshua said, "Let the dead bury their own dead; you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God!" 61 Yet another said, "I will follow you, sir, but first let me say good-by to the people at home." 62 To him Yeshua said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and keeps looking back is fit to serve in the Kingdom of God." (Complete Jewish Bible).
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
Sponsored by The Upper Room.
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The Upper Room Daily Reflections "Marked by Service" Sunday, 30 June 2019
From page 42 of Deeply Rooted: Knowing Self, Growing in God by Christopher Maricle. Copyright © 2016 by The Upper Room. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: What random act of kindness can you do for others this week? Share your thoughts.
Today’s Scripture: Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above… (James 1:17a, NRSV)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, help me deepen the roots of my faith. Amen. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.
Something More: Daily Reflections readers; You might also be interested in The Upper Room daily devotional guide, distributed in 100 countries and 33 languages around the world. Subscribe here.
Lectionary Readings: (Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
2 Kings 2:1-2 1 The time came for ADONAI to take Eliyahu up into heaven in a whirlwind. Eliyahu and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal, 2 when Eliyahu said to Elisha, "Please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me all the way to Beit-El." But Elisha said, "As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Beit-El.
2 Kings 2:6-14 6 Eliyahu said to him, "Please wait here, because ADONAI has sent me to the Yarden." He replied, "As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.7 Fifty of the guild prophets went and stood watching them from a distance, while they stood by the Yarden. 8 Then Eliyahu took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it; and the water divided itself to the left and to the right; so that they crossed on dry ground.9 After they had crossed, Eliyahu said to Elisha, "Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away from you." Elisha said, "Please! Let a double share of your spirit be on me!" 10He replied, "You have requested a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will get what you asked for; but if not, you won't." 11 Suddenly, as they were walking on and talking, there appeared a fiery chariot with horses of fire; and as it separated the two of them from each other, Eliyahu went up into heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra'el!" Then he lost sight of him. Seizing his clothes, he tore them in half. 13 Then he picked up Eliyahu's cloak, which had fallen off him. Standing on the bank of the Yarden, 14 he took the cloak that had fallen off Eliyahu, struck the water and said, "Where is ADONAI, the God of Eliyahu?" But when he actually did strike the water, it divided itself to the left and to the right; then Elisha crossed over.
Psalm 77:1-2 1 For the leader. For Y'dutun. A psalm of Asaf: I cry aloud to God, aloud to God; and he hears me. 2 On the day of my distress I am seeking Adonai; my hands are lifted up; my tears flow all night without ceasing; my heart refuses comfort.
Psalm 77:11-20 11 So I will remind myself of Yah's doings; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 12 I will meditate on your work and think about what you have done. 13 God, your way is in holiness. What god is as great as God? 14 You are the God who does wonders, you revealed your strength to the peoples. 15 With your arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Ya'akov and Yosef. (Selah) 16 The water saw you, God; the water saw you and writhed in anguish, agitated to its depths. 17 The clouds poured water, the skies thundered, and your arrows flashed here and there. 18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightning flashes lit up the world, the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way went through the sea, your path through the turbulent waters; but your footsteps could not be traced. 20 You led your people like a flock under the care of Moshe and Aharon.
Galatians 5:1 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.
Galatians 5:13-25 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";k15 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! 16 What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. 17 For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism. 19 And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; 20 involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue 21 and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God! 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things. 24 Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. 25 Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.
Luke 9:51-62 51 As the time approached for him to be taken up into heaven, he made his decision to set out for Yerushalayim. 52 He sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village in Shomron to make preparations for him. 53 However, the people there would not let him stay, because his destination was Yerushalayim. 54 When the talmidim Ya`akov and Yochanan saw this, they said, "Sir, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village. 57 As they were traveling on the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Yeshua answered him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds flying about have nests, but the Son of Man has no home of his own." 59 To another he said, "Follow me!" but the man replied, "Sir, first let me go away and bury my father." 60 Yeshua said, "Let the dead bury their own dead; you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God!" 61 Yet another said, "I will follow you, sir, but first let me say good-by to the people at home." 62 To him Yeshua said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and keeps looking back is fit to serve in the Kingdom of God." (Complete Jewish Bible).
Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.
Sponsored by The Upper Room.
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