Devo: Mosaic - Responsibilities

March 11th, 2018

Devotional

“Mosaic: Responsibilities ” - Genesis 3: 12-13 and John 14

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Monday: “Gave and Tricked” - Genesis 3: 12-13

When referring to chapter 3 in the book of Genesis, we in the church often use the words “The Fall” and use this as the story of when sin entered in the garden and the world. Before this point God created and God placed a man, Adam, into that creation to care for it. When God saw that Adam was alone, Eve was created and they cared for the garden together.

While they tended to the garden, however, there was one stipulation - they could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here they were surrounded by all of this luxurious food, and they couldn’t follow that one rule. They had abundance but choose to seek after the one thing they couldn’t have.

But after they ate from that fruit, we find God questioning them about what happened and they started to blame one another “she gave it to me” and “the serpent tricked me.” When I was in seminary I wrote a Bible study around this passage and referred to this quarreling as child like, but the older I get, I see that adults sometime do not act much better than children. When we are caught in a lie or have something happen that is certainly our fault, we make a list of excuses of who else is to blame or why the blame certainly doesn’t lie with us. We have a problem taking responsibility. Yet, that is exactly what God was inviting Adam and Eve into - an opportunity to take responsibility. Next time that you find yourself in a situation where you have sinned, instead of making excuses to God, simply take responsibility and ask God for forgiveness. 

How do you react when you are to blame for something?

Do you find taking responsibility for your actions easy or hard? Why?

Prayer: God of grace and glory, we come before you today knowing that we have sinned. We ask that you help us to shed our human desire to make excuses and instead wrap ourselves in the cloak of responsibility. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Believe” - John 14: 1-7 

Jesus is trying to tell his disciples in no uncertain terms that his time on earth is limited. However, even as he tries to comfort them by explaining that he is going to prepare for them a place, they miss the point - again. Thomas, ever full of questions, asks how can we know the way if we don’t know the place where you are going?

Sometimes belief is hard. We have more questions than answers. I was recently at a workshop that was talking about our membership vows as United Methodists to support the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. The presenter was sharing about how some folks struggle with praying out loud because they are afraid that they are going to say the wrong thing, but other folks struggle with witnessing because they are afraid they are going to be a asked a question that they do not have an answer to. 

Thomas had more questions then answers in this piece of scripture as well, yet he was still sent out by Jesus in Matthew 28 with the responsibility to make disciples. We too, may have questions, but we still have the responsibility of that call as well. Living into our responsibilities doesn’t require that we have everything figured out, instead it simply requires that we take the first step out in belief. 

How can questions sometimes keep us from our responsibilities as disciples?

How do you respond when you have questions?

Prayer:  Lord, we know that we do not have everything figured out. We know that we are a people with more questions than answers. But Lord, we ask for your wisdom and strength, that we do not let our questions keep us from our responsibilities as your disciples. Send us out, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Do the Work I Do” - John 14: 8-14

After the questions of Thomas came the demands of Philip: “Show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Often in our faith life we may find ourselves going back and forth between questioning God and making demands that are not ours to make. This does not mean that we cannot ask God for things, but we must do so with a humble heart. 

Just as we can use questions to distract us from our responsibilities as the Church of Jesus Christ, so can we let demands get in the way as well. We can easily find ourselves saying to God, “God I’ll do x for you if you do y.” Or “Do this to prove yourself or your will to me God.” Instead of being obedient children, doing as our Heavenly Parent asks, we become caught up in the mindset of proving and bargaining for the faith. 

In what situations do you most often find yourself making demands of God?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we will often say and do things, not to strengthen our belief in you, but rather to shirk our responsibilities. We do not see the calling you have placed on our lives as a gift. Forgive us, Precious Lord, and renew us we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “Those Who Love Me” - John 14: 15-24

As I have been thinking about the theme of responsibilities over the past week, it strikes me that often we feel a sense of obligation or responsibility to those we are in relationship with. We answer to and are accountable with those folks like our families, church, and boss. And God. At the training I spoke about earlier this week, the presenter asked an interesting question - do we live our lives in a way that reflects that we are responsible to God? In other words, if we know that Matthew 28 calls us to go and make disciples, do we believe that someday God is going to ask us if we followed this command? Or do we live lives of happenstance - if we happen to share our faith, great, if we don’t, no harm, no foul?

Christ tells his disciples that those who love him will keep his word - are responsible for living out his teachings. Are we living lives that reflect this responsibility to the one who has the most important place and relationship in our lives?

How do you live your life reflecting that you are responsible to God?

How do you show your love for Christ?

Prayer: Lord, we know that sometimes we act as if our faith is all about us and not about you. We know that sometimes we act as if our faith is ours to hoard instead of yours to share. Renew in us a sense that we are responsible to you for our days, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “The Holy Spirit” - John 14: 25-31

The good news of Jesus Christ is that we are not left on our own to live into our responsibility to the Lord, which can seem daunting at times. Instead, we are given the gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will instruct us and remind us of what Jesus has taught and said. 

Sometimes responsibilities can become overwhelming. In our daily lives, there may be laundry to be folded, a meal to put on the table, a dance recital to get to, and bills to be paid. It may seem that there are not enough hours in the day for the things we feel that we need to do, so we make our responsibility to God an after thought, something that we may get to eventually. 

But we also have the Holy Spirit gentle tapping us, reminding us that our responsibility to God is not last place, but should have priority in our lives. The Holy Spirit will gift us with opportunities during our days to be fed on the Word and the ability to share our faith, if only we listen to those nudges. 

How does the Holy Spirit nudge you?

What do you do when responsibilities seem to become overwhelming?

Prayer: God, help us to listen to the Holy Spirit in our lives. Equip us to respond to the opportunities that you give us, all for your glory. Amen.  

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Mosaic: Resources” - Proverbs 3: 9-10 and Mal 3: 6-12.

Family Activity: Talk about responsibilities. What responsibilities does each member of the family have? Why do we have responsibilities to live into?