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As we enter the third week of Easter, we may see an ease in stay-at-home restrictions and a re-opening of businesses, but we do not know what this means for returning to our places of worship. In this season of uncertainty, let us hold fast to what we know to be true in Christ. May we continue to find encouragement through our daily prayers, spiritual discernment, and a shared reading of the Scripture.
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Thursday, Third Week of Easter
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God’s Salvation Through Jesus, (Acts 5:27-32, NRSV)
The Home Daily Bible Readings for Monday through Saturday are selected in support of the Sunday lesson in the Uniform Lessons Series, ©Spring 2020.
5:27 When [the temple police] had brought them [Peter and the apostles], they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Tempted in the Wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11 NRSV)
Today’s Gospel lesson is selected from the Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer (Louisville, KY:Westminster/John Knox, 1993).
4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
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Easter Reminders in a Pandemic Time
By Rev. Nathan Day Wilson, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
In a poignant scene in Albert Camus’ “The Plague” – which reads like it was published weeks ago, instead of in 1947 – the doctor works tirelessly to lessen the suffering of those around him. But he is no hero.
“This whole thing is not about heroism,” he says. “It may seem a ridiculous idea, but the only way to fight the plague is with decency.”
As we live in this Easter Season, I find myself wondering more than most years what new life might emerge from the tomb of much death. Whatever it is, I hope it is characterized by more decency. I hope it embraces our interdependence over our independence. I hope it embodies Bill Withers’ gospel: “Lean on me when you’re not strong” because we all know, “it won’t be long ’til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.”
I hope it is life with leaders, equal parts compassion and courage, who realize that the world must be managed, not its parts. No longer is the survival unit a single nation or a single anything. It is now the unity of the whole world – humans, other animals, and the environment – that is an urgent, pragmatic necessity. That unity is not ours to create, but rather to claim.
Micah 6:6-8
“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
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Wilson, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), is director of communications for Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. Subscribe to his blog at www.nathandaywilson.com and follow him on Twitter: @nathandaywilson
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