Clinton Street UMC

06/04/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Thursday June 4, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 7: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost: Romans 4:13-25.

Sometimes I wonder if Paul and I have read the same Bible.
The obvious answer is no. Paul probably read the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Being a well-educated person and devout Jew, he may have read Hebrew texts as well. I trust that our English translations are substantively the same as those Paul read, though. So, when I read: “He (Abraham) did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised,” (Rom. 4:19-21), I have to wonder if Paul somehow missed the whole Abraham and Sarah taking things into their own hands episode of Hagar and Ishmael. To me, that shows impatience on the part of Abraham and Sarah. It shows wavering, and a lack of confidence in God to fulfill God’s promises.
The gist of Paul’s argument in the Lectionary reading, though, is that righteousness is imputed apart from human merit: by faith, not by works. Not by adherence to the Law. Not by anything we do. Righteousness is a gift of grace.
For me, Paul’s example of Abraham just gets in the way of what he is trying to say. It makes me work a little harder to get his point. Having to work a little harder is not necessarily a bad thing. I have faith that the Holy Spirit will show me what I need to see and help me understand what I need to understand in order to fulfill what God has called me to do.

06/03/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Wednesday June 3, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 7: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost: Psalm 33:1-12,

This Psalm is a hymn of praise to God for His faithfulness, righteousness, justice, and steadfast love. Many people would be happy to stop where the Lectionary reading ends, with: “Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.” (Ps. 33:12).
But we must ask ourselves; “Is God the Lord of our nation?” Is our allegiance to God and God alone, or are we depending upon, and worshiping, other things?
Continue reading the rest of the Psalm.
“The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind. From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.” (Ps. 33:13-15).
The Lord is watching.
Does the Lord see faithfulness, righteousness, justice, and steadfast love demonstrated by the people who claim God as Lord? Does God see people or nations aligned with His will, obeying His commands to love God and love others? Does God see people or nations actively waiting in hope as they work to build God’s kingdom here on earth?

06/02/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Tuesday June 2, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday June 7: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 12:1-9.

The story of Abram actually starts in Genesis 11:27, with his genealogy and family origins in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram’s father is the one who uproots the family with the intention of relocating to Canaan. No reason for this move is given in the text, nor for why Terah settles in Haran rather than continuing on into Canaan. What factors led Terah to migrate? What factors led him to settle in Haran? Scripture doesn’t tell us
Scripture also doesn’t tell us why God selected Abram. We are given no indication of anything special about Abram, nothing that would indicate anything that would merit God’s favor. God’s choice of Abram is shown as an act of grace on God’s part. Unmerited. Undeserved. Pure gift. Prevenient grace in Wesleyan terms.
God promises Abram progeny and land; God promises to show Abram the way, and Abram goes. Does he go because Canaan was their original destination? Does he go in obedience to God’s call to go? Or, does he go in response to the promises God has made?
Does it matter why he went?
The important thing is that he did go. Abram took the first step on the journey that would lead to God’s covenant with a specific people: a legally binding agreement, not just general promises. It was a step of faith on Abram’s part. Maybe just a small step, but it set him, and his family, on the path to relationship with God.

05/31/2026

05/29/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Friday May 29, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday May 31: Trinity Sunday: Matthew 28:16-20.

The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright 2021, includes 12,000 substantive edits, with a total of 20,000 changes to the 1989 New Revised Standard edition, reflecting ongoing scholarship and analysis of ancient documents. Matthew 28:17 includes one of these edits: “When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted.” (emphasis added). Previous translations state: “some doubted.”

“They” implies the previously referenced “eleven disciples.” (Mt. 28:16); it implies they all doubted. There is some ambiguity in the Greek words used that supports both “they doubted” and “some doubted.” The NRSVUE has chosen to interpret it as “they.” I find it difficult to accept that interpretation.

But the disparity in translations served to focus my attention on the entire verse, which juxtaposes “worship” with “doubt.”

The presence of “doubt” does not preclude “worship.”

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is not a denial of faith. Worship in the presence of doubt is a demonstration of faith. Faith that is not afraid to question.

05/28/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Thursday May 28, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday May 31: Trinity Sunday: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13.

Today’s Lection is the concluding verses of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. It is a church in conflict with itself and with Paul. His authority has been questioned and challenged. Paul writes to address problems in the church, to validate his authority, and to encourage the Corinthians to seek unity for the good of the body and for their witness to the world. Relationships within the church demonstrate the One to Whom they belong. Their conflicts and lack of unity are reflecting poorly on Christ, the One Who died to save them; the One to Whom they belong.

These verses provide a summing up of Paul’s main points in the letter: a plea for unity and peace; for restoration, and a concluding blessing: invoking the Trinity. Invoking God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Invoking grace, love, and communion. Invoking the source and means of unity and peace.

05/27/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Wednesday May 27, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday May 31: Trinity Sunday: Psalm 8.

What causes us to recognize our creature-liness? To question our significance? To ask God: “what are humans that You are mindful of them, mortals that You care for them?” (Ps. 8:4).

The psalmist places this question right after considering and marveling at the heavens – the moon and stars. There is something about gazing at the night sky that tends to make us aware of how small we are, that leads us to question our significance in relation to the vastness of the cosmos.

Maybe because that is something we do not have “dominion” over.

Maybe because that is something we have not yet learned how to exploit.

Would that we were mindful of our place in creation as creatures. More mindful of our responsibility as stewards of God’s creation. More mindful of the image of God, in ourselves and in others. More respectful, more careful, of that image. More aware of how we damage that image, in ourselves and others, by disregarding that image in others.

05/26/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Tuesday May 26, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday May 31: Trinity Sunday: Genesis 1:1-2:4a.

Genesis 1 is a story about creation. But it is first and foremost, a story about the Creator. It is a story about God. It is a story about His relationship to and with all of creation. It is a story about our Sovereign Lord. It is a story intended to proclaim His majesty. It is a story intended to convey awe, wonder, and thus lead to worship.

What preceded what or which order things were created in, is not as important as Who does the ordering; Who creates the order.

Genesis 1 describes an orderly process, with each step building on the ones that came before. First the creation of habitats and then the creation of the inhabitants. At each stage, “God saw that it was good.” The Artist evaluating His work, culminating on day six with “very good.”

We humans, in our hubris, like to think the “very good” applies to us. We think of ourselves as the pinnacle of creation: the end for which everything else was created.

We are not.

The “very good” applies to all of creation. It applies to the interrelated, interdependent, and vast diversity of creation, working together to contribute to wholeness.

We were intended to be stewards, to help tend and care for creation; to participate in the ongoing process of creation.
All too often, though, we have turned our efforts to destruction rather than creation.

05/22/2026

Clinton Street UMC
Lectionary Devotions
By Pastor Lyn Ende
Devotion for Friday May 22, 2026
Please read Lectionary text for Sunday May 24: Pentecost Sunday: John 7:37-39.

Our readings for the week began with the spring harvest festival of Pentecost and end with the fall harvest Festival of Booths (or Tabernacles), another of the three pilgrim festivals. It celebrated the fall harvest and also commemorated the deliverance of the Hebrew people from Egypt and their wanderings in the wilderness. It was a joyous, week-long festival. Part of the temple observances included a procession each morning to the Pool of Siloam, the drawing out of a pitcher of water, and then a procession back to the temple, where the water was poured out at the altar. Each day became more intense, more anticipatory. There was singing and dancing, the blowing of trumpets, and recitation of Scripture, including Isaiah 12:3: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” There would be a period of silence, while the people waited in eschatological hope for the Messiah.
It is into this moment of silence, on the last, great day of the festival, that Jesus cries out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me, and let the one who believes in Me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37b-38).
John, the Gospel writer, will go on to explain that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, “which believers in Him were to receive.” (John 7:39b). The Holy Spirit is the living water. It is that which gives life. Jesus is the source of this living water, the source of life. Those who receive this living water will themselves becomes filled to overflowing with that water. It will flow out into the world around them, quenching thirst and bringing life.
Are those waters flowing out of you? Have you drunk fully from the source so as to have water to flow out? Are you allowing the water to flow freely? Or are you building dams to hold it in? Trying to hoard it for your own use?
This living water must flow freely, or it becomes stagnant and dries up. It is only in losing one’s life for Christ’s sake that one gains one’s life. It is only by being poured out that one remains filled.