Daily Devotional • September 2
A Reading from Mark 14:66-72
66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the female servants of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. 69 And the female servant, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and you talk like one.” 71 But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” 72 At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Meditation
I do not know the man of whom you speak. (Mark 14:71b)
When one contemplates life in the Spirit—when you think about inspiration and human thriving—your mind may first go to caring for the least of these, or to personal fulfillment, or the pursuit of justice, competence, or to communion and reconciliation. But in a post-Industrial Revolution society, where planned obsolescence and global supply chains have reshaped household expectations toward immediate gratification and convenience, one has to wonder: to what extent does this new baseline now inform the pursuit of life in the Spirit?
How about it? Do you think of your life as a Christian, first and foremost, in terms of immediate gratification and convenience? Are your spiritual commitments shaped by how you’ll feel after the weekend retreat or the hour of centering prayer? Will the Sunday Liturgy fit into your schedule next weekend? Will the preacher have something for you in her sermon? Will the Bible study uncover something new? Will you write your congressman asking him to turn the other cheek? Will you have the time to help prep for the midweek soup kitchen serving? Can your household budget accommodate this week’s tithe?
Are the basic practices of the Christian faith—prayer, bible study, fasting, almsgiving, tithing, worship—now attended to only when convenient, and geared toward personal improvement or satisfaction? Is following Jesus something you choose from an armchair, remote control in hand, at the end of the day? It seems like a conditioned temptation that’s nearly impossible to resist.
Many churches include in their mission statements the desire to “know Jesus and make Him known.” Many of us are likely to measure the state of our spiritual life by the perceived “quality” of our walk with Jesus. Yet, at the moment it mattered most, Peter—the first among the Twelve—claimed not to know him.
Jesus said, “Those who are ashamed of me and my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26)
The Very Rev. Timothy Kimbrough is the director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies and the Jack and Barbara Bovender Professor of the Practice of Anglican Studies at Duke Divinity School. He was previously dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, Tennessee.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Episcopal Diocese of New York
The Diocese of Okene – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Very Rev. Timothy E. Kimbrough, dean and rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, is a seven-time deputy to General Convention. This year he will serve as vice chair of the convention’s Constitution Committee.
