Clinton Street UMC

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Friday June 26. 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 28: 5th Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 10:40-42.

This Lectionary selection is the end of Jesus’ Missionary Discourse: His final instructions to the disciples He is sending out into the harvest field. In this context, the “little ones” given a cup of cold water are the disciples: the thirsty, and probably hungry, ones sent out without any provisions; sent out dependent upon the hospitality of others. They are sent out in His name and with His authority – as His emissaries. By the conventions of the times, emissaries were to be treated as if they were the person they represented. Therefore, welcoming the disciples was the same as welcoming Christ. The converse was also true: rejecting the disciples was rejecting Christ.

At times, we are Christ’s emissaries. Expecting welcome. Expecting hospitality. Expecting acceptance as Christ’s disciples. At least, among other followers of Christ.

At other times, we are the ones providing the welcome and hospitality. How welcoming are we? How hospitable? Do we draw the line at offering the cup of cold water? Or do we truly welcome in the stranger, the traveler, the fellow child of God? Do we ask them questions, engage in conversation, as a means of establishing relationship, of finding common ground? Or are we looking for reasons for exclusion?

Have we learned to look for Jesus in others? In all others? Or are we selective in who we will apply that precept to?

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Thursday June 25, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 28: 5th Sunday after Pentecost: Romans 6:12-23.

Paul told us in Romans 5:1 that we are justified by faith in Christ Jesus. He has been expounding on what that means. Last week’s Lectionary Epistle reading ended with: “ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:11).
Dead to sin. No longer in its power. Freed from sin and freed for obedience to God and righteousness. Freed to live differently.
Paul uses the metaphor of slavery to elucidate what he means. We are uncomfortable with the idea of slaves and slavery as unjust institutions and because of the pain and suffering caused to children of God, created in God’s image. But the images and concepts of slavery would have been part of Paul’s social context and easily understood by his initial audience. And the concept still holds: we are slaves to whatever we obey: to sin, or to God. We have been granted the freedom to choose between the two. Our choice to obey God will be observable in the way we live – what we do, and what we won’t do.
It is not enough to just talk the talk. We must also walk the walk.

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Wednesday June 24, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 28: 5th Sunday after Pentecost: Psalm 13.

The psalmist is in the midst of some great difficulty, beset by enemies, and in despair. And the worst thing about the whole situation is his/her feeling that God has forgotten him/her.
Forgotten. Not ignored. Not inattentive. Forgotten.
Forgotten by God. That is desolation indeed.
But God does not forget us. Feeling forgotten is a misperception on our part. Despite feeling forgotten, the psalmist still calls out to God, asking for God’s light; asking for a sense of God’s presence.
We may feel that it is somehow wrong to question God; wrong to accuse God; wrong to doubt God’s love and mercy. That to question, accuse, doubt somehow shows a lack of faith. But to NOT bring those questions, accusations, doubts to God is a greater demonstration of a lack of faith. God is big enough to take all of our questions, accusations, and doubts. Bringing our laments, our questions, accusations, and doubts is as much an act of worship and demonstration of faith as is bringing our praises and thanksgivings.

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Tuesday June 23, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 28: 5th Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 22:1-14.

This is a very disturbing story. Why would God command Abraham to sacrifice his son? Why would Abraham obey? Why would he obey without argument, without questioning? He argued with God about S***m and Gomorrah; why would he not argue for his son? Did the author and/or redactors just leave out that part?
The whole story is offensive. At least to our moral sensibilities. Perhaps it was perceived differently in Abraham’s time.
It is a frightening story. If God could ask Abraham to sacrifice his son, what might God ask us to sacrifice? Would we be willing to obey? And “sacrifice” in what way? Abraham was told to offer his son “as a burnt offering.” (Gen. 22:2). He was instructed to kill his son; to murder his son, as an offering to God. Where is the God of love, compassion, mercy, and grace that we have been told about? Jesus tells us: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever does not take up the cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” (Mt. 10:37-38). Is obedience to a command to kill one’s child truly an indication of how much one loves Jesus? I would doubt that such a command genuinely came from God.
There is no easy resolution to the questions and dilemmas that this story raises. But viewed with a post-resurrection lens, God did sacrifice His Son, out of love for us. God raised Jesus from the dead, but first came the sacrifice, and no happy ending, no matter how joyous, can mitigate the pain or grief of that sacrifice.

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Friday June 19, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 21: 4th Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 10:24-39.

This passage is still part of the “Missionary Discourse:” Jesus is continuing His instructions to the disciples as He sends them out into the harvest field. He is continuing to warn them of the difficulties and persecutions they will encounter, but then offers these words of encouragement: “So have no fear of them.” (Mt. 10:26a). He tells them to be bold, and to live in obedience to His commands. They can expect conflict and challenges to the kingdom message they proclaim, but they are to persevere.

Matthew, the Gospel writer, is writing to a community facing persecution and opposition from the community around them, and from their own families. For them, it was a real challenge to live as followers of Jesus. For them, conflict, even with their families, was a daily occurrence. They needed to hear Jesus encouraging them to persevere. They needed the assurance that God was aware of what they were going through and that God cared. They needed the assurance that following Jesus was the right way to live and is and will be rewarded.

What reassurance do we need that following Jesus is the right path to follow?

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Thursday June 18, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 21: 4th Sunday after Pentecost: Romans 6:1b-11.

Paul sees baptism as more than a religious rite; more than incorporation into the faith community; more than just something one does because that is what is done. He sees baptism as the death of the old, sinful self, and coming out of the waters of baptism as resurrection to new life.

It is not the eradication of sin. Baptized individuals are still capable of sinning, but the baptized have been freed from the power of sin. The baptized have the ability to choose not to sin. They are enabled to walk in newness of life.

Walk.

Not sit. Not stand. Not remain stationary.

Walk. Move. Progress on the path. Journey on toward perfection.

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Wednesday June 17, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 21: 4th Sunday after Pentecost: Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17.

I rarely understand why the Lectionary omits portions of psalms. They tend to leave out some good stuff, stuff that adds meaning and depth, as well as more of the context for what the psalmist is saying. I recommend reading the Psalm in its entirety.

The psalmist is in a situation of desperate need, lacking resources to deal with the situation. He/she turns to God, the only true and dependable source for what he/she needs. The psalmist is confident that God does hear. That God cares, and that God will act, because that is in keeping with God’s character of steadfast love.

The psalmist spends more time praising God and thanking Him for who He is and what He has done than in petition. Do we spend as much time as the psalmist does praising God and thanking Him for His actions in the past? Or do we spend more time bemoaning our current circumstances and demanding instant relief?

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Tuesday June 16, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 21: 4th Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 21:8-21.

The promised child has been born to Sarah and Abraham. He has been named Isaac, circumcised, and is now weaned, so he is probably between two and three years old. The rate of infant mortality was high in the Ancient Near East, so weaning of a child was a big deal. It meant the infant had survived into childhood, so a party to celebrate and thank God for provision and protection was in order. Abraham makes “a great feast.”

Sarah sees Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, “playing” with Isaac. The Hebrew word can mean playing in the sense that we think of it, but it can also mean laughing or mocking. Whatever type of interaction between the half-brothers this was, Sarah is displeased. She wants Ishmael, and his mother Hagar, gone. Sarah may have been acting to protect her son from a bully but the rational she gives Abraham is based on inheritance rights. Because Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham for the purpose of obtaining a child, the child was considered a legitimate heir: competition for Isaac. It was Sarah’s idea to use Hagar to get a child, but now that Sarah has a child of her own, she has no further use for that child or his mother.

Abraham is grieved about exiling Ishmael, but God – God! – tells him to do what Sarah wants. It seems strange that God would agree to this, but maybe this was God’s way of ensuring Ishmael’s protection by removing him from a dysfunctional family situation. And God does not abandon Hagar or Ishmael. God provides water for their immediate needs and continued to be with him as he grew up.

The biblical story will focus on Abraham’s descendants through Isaac because that is the line from which the nation of Israel developed. But God’s love, care, provision, and protection extends to all of God’s children, not just a select few. Something that should guide our interactions and relationships with others. All others.