Devotion for Tuesday, March 17

Lessons from the Daily Lectionary – Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Psalms 42, 84; Jeremiah 7:21-34; Romans 4:13-25; John 7:37-52

Meditation: Former Princeton Seminary President, James I. McCord, will always be someone I hold fondly in my heart. I remember him from a distance from when I first arrived on campus back in 1981. I would see him walking to his car, to a class or perhaps to the chapel, from the Administrative offices of the school. Stocky, he had a large head – I’m sure to hold all of his smarts. I would make sure to slow my step so that I didn’t cross his paths. He had an intimidating presence.

I had gone to Princeton in order to get into the Ph.D. program in Church History. I already had a Master’s degree in Theology from Wheaton College, but not the requisite third-year of master’s work that PTS required. Alas, the latest attempt at a high score on the Graduate Records Exam wasn’t quite high enough, so at the end of this first year at Princeton I decided to return to California to begin working in the church. In my mind, even if I didn’t have the Master of Divinity degree nor had been under the care of a presbytery, I had three years of theological education and was ready for church ministry. But in order to end one’s seminary tenure, I first had to have an exit interview with President McCord.

He must have had three exterior offices, which only added to my nervousness. Another student called his office, “the holy of holies!” I remember him telling me that he liked it in New Jersey because there were four seasons, like he was wanting me to stay. I was laying out a Chamber of Commerce brochure about how wonderful the weather was in San Diego – one day out of a hundred was bad. All in all, the interview was painless, non-eventful. I exited Princeton having had a good time, but moving on – until a year later, when I found that ordination gave one a much better way of working in the church.

So, I wrote to Dr. McCord, asking if I could return to the Seminary. I thought, “He’ll pass along my letter to one of those people in the exterior offices, push me back to Admissions or the Registrar, or it will never even get to him. Instead, I received a personal letter from him, which said that he had been waiting for me to write. I didn’t think that he knew who I was, but found out that he actually cared about me quite a bit.

Our readings from Romans and the Gospel of John today, both speak of how God regards outsiders. The say that God knows the outsider, the stranger, the overlooked, and has written a special letter to them: “Welcome home.” Jesus from Galilee is God’s welcome home letter to those who thought they were strangers to God’s people. Abraham is the Father of not only those who keep the law, but those who receive the good news of Jesus by faith. Each of us is welcome by God. Let’s give thanks for that and use that welcome as a reason to welcome someone else, as well.

Prayer: God, you invite us into fellowship. You give us the Spirit like a refreshing drink. Thank you. Your love and care are good. You are full of righteousness and goodness to make us so welcome. Help us to do likewise, having received your fellowship. Bless you, Lord. Amen.