Lent, Day 6: BEING COMMUNITY IN THE MESSY MIDDLE

Scripture:  I Peter 3:8-18

Focus on the Word

As we seek God in the season of lent here is a question to consider in response to I Peter 3:18.  How do we live in light of a Christ, of whom it is said,

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He 

never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you 

safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but 

he was raised to life in the Spirit. (NLT)

The apostle Peter offers counsel on the question in I Peter 3:8, 9, 11, (NLT).  He lays it out so beautifully that we have no doubts as to the way we are to be in the world.

Lent, Day 5: Seeking God in the Messy Middle

Scripture:  Psalm 77 

Focus on the Word

Once upon a time there was a man named, Asaph, and he was troubled and disturbed.  He said his spirit could find no comfort and that it felt like God wasn’t listening to him and forgotten him.  At one point he said he was “so troubled that I cannot speak” (Psalm 77: 4, NASB).  The silence of God was so powerful he said, “When I remember God, them I am disturbed” (Psalm 77:3, NASB).  Truth is, he felt rejected by God and wondered if God would ever again be favorable.  Asaph asked, “Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever?  Has God forgotten to be gracious, or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?” (Psalm 77:8-9, NASB).

Have you ever been there?  God seemed long ago and far away. You felt alone, forgotten, even rejected.  It is a lonely experience.  You prayed but your words fell silent.  You tried to listen but it seemed there was nothing to hear.  The disturbance was so great you felt trapped and exiled.

Some people experience “the silence of God” and walk away from Him.  Asaph ran toward Him.  In his pain he intentionally decided to “remember” (Psalm 77:11).  He chose to draw near God anyway, to think about the deeds of God over the years, to reflect upon the wonders of the past where God showed up and worked His might works.  In his remembering he reconnected with God and in a powerful moment of faith-filled worship he prayed, “Your way, O God, is holy.  What god is like our God?  You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.  You have by Your power redeemed Your people” (Psalm 77:13-15, NASB).     

God bless that man Asaph.  He was a very real man in a very real world, and in very real trouble but his faith, though battered and bruised, led him back to the sovereignty, grace, mercy, compassion, and faithfulness of God.  He might not have been experiencing the high of the mountaintop with God but in his heart of hearts he knew that God was still God; and, he worshipped.  Life might beat up on him but his God was the living God.  So, to the altar he went, at the altar he prayed, and on the altar he laid out his life.  He was in the hands of God and that is where he would stay.

Today’s Prayer

My Father, if it is possible, 

may this cup be taken from me.

Yet not as I will, but as you will.

My Father, if it is not possible for this cup

to be taken away unless I drink it,

may your will be done.

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane 

Matthew 26: 39,42 NIV

First Sunday in Lent: A NEW WAY OF BEING IN THE WORLD

 Scripture:  Mark 1:9-15 

Focus on the Word

Jesus entered into public life first by being baptized, secondly, by being led into the desert where He encounters Satan, thirdly, by living with the wild beasts, and then by being ministered to by angels.  He then speaks His first words, words that focus on the time being fulfilled, the kingdom of God being present, a call to repent and to believe in the Good News.  He then calls His first two disciples, fishermen, to whom He said, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”  

Mark helps us to see Jesus for the first time, and observe what His life and ministry will look like. He humbles himself in baptism, and is affirmed by the Father in the words, “You are My beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased” (Mark 1:9, NASB). The first words out of His mouth have to do with “the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:25, NASB.)  

  We are a kingdom of God people.  We are invited into a relationship with God who draws us into a new way of being in the world.  In Lent we journey forward by looking inward, by exposing our lives to the ways and means of God.  

Today’s Prayer:

God, who sees all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all  flesh, who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar people, grant to every soul that calls upon Your glorious and holy Name, faith, peace, patience, longsuffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His Name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power, and honor, both now and forevermore. AMEN. 

- Clement of Rome

Lent Day 4: The Character of Our God

Scripture:  Daniel 9:15-25a 

Focus on the Word

The captive people of Judah were in trouble and Daniel knew that it was grace the people needed.  They really had sinned against God and they really did deserve judgment.  So when he called upon God it was not on the merit of any good thing the people had done.  There were no bargaining chips and no content for negotiation.  They deserved judgment but Daniel pleaded with God any way.  He cried out for God to act, not on the basis of what the people deserved but on the basis of God’s compassion.  His prayer was, “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name” (Daniel 9:18-19,NLT).

“Not because we deserve help,” Daniel prayed.  They didn’t deserve help.  They needed help, but they didn’t deserve it.  Daniel knew what the score was, so he speaks to God and asks Him to act, not on the basis of their good merit, but because they were His people and He was their God.   He pleaded with God to act out of His great compassion.  If things were going to change it would take God acting out of the depths of His own character and goodness.  

In Lent let’s remember that our relationship with God is not on the basis of merit.  It is on the basis of God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness and patience and compassion.  Our relationship with God happens because of the character of God.  He could have written us off and nobody would have held it against Him.  Instead, he came to us in our own desolation, and received us to Himself.  We don’t sing “Amazing Merit.”  We sing, “Amazing grace.”

Today’s Prayer

Lord, be with us this day,

Within us to purify us;

Above us to draw us up;

Beneath us to sustain us;

Before us to lead us;

Behind us to restrain us;

Around us to protect us.

              (Patrick, c389-461)

Lent, Day 3: "We" In a "Me" Infested World

Scripture Reading:  Daniel 9: 1-14

Focus on the Word

Judah had rejected the Word of her God again, and she was sent into captivity in far away Babylon.  In the captivity, God raised up Daniel to speak God’s Word into their lives and to intercede for the people.  There came a moment when Daniel realized that God was on the move and drawing His people near to the time when their captivity would end.  This discovery drove Daniel to prayer.  He said, “I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes” (Daniel 9:3, NLT).

Some issues are so serious that the people of God slow down the pace, bend down before God, and plead with God for guidance, direction, and divine intervention.  This is the time for fasting, the time for “sackcloth and ashes” (NASB).  This is serious business.

In his praying and fasting Daniel identified himself with the people in the sin and rebellion.  When he spoke to God about the issue he didn’t speak about THEM.  He spoke about US.  This was a people problem and Daniel knew that it wasn’t time to divide the haves and the have-nots.  The people needed God and whereas he was one of the people he got down on his knees and prayed, “We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you… We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land…  “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame.” (Daniel 9:5-7 NLT).

Daniel was a solid rock man of God but in this action our admiration for him soars.  He was one of the folks and all the folks needed God.  Lent is like that in a way.  It isn’t a time to debate God on who is in or who is out.  It is a time for all of us to humble ourselves and confess that God's community is standing in the need of prayer. Too easily, we can drift away for the sweet sound of His voice, and get caught up in the way things are in the world.  Once in a while, though, God finds a man or a woman who will stand in the gap, get a hold of the horns of the altar, and plead with God for His patience, compassion, and forgiveness.

Today’s Prayer

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. (Episcopal Book of Common Prayer)

Lent, Day 2: A Little Honesty Never Hurt Anybody

Scripture Reading:  Psalm 25:1-10 

Focus on the Word

In the heart of David’s prayer he prays, “O Lord, forgive my many, many sins” (Psalm 25:11,NLT).  Apparently he recognized his brokenness and sinfulness, and sought to be open with God about it all.  Added to this was the reality of being the leader of Israel.  He speaks of being lonely and afflicted and how the troubles of his heart had been enlarged.  He longed for the Lord to bring him out of his distresses.  

Troubles from within his own heart and troubles from just living in his world drove him to God, asking God to guard his soul and to deliver him.  He wanted to be a man of God.  He might have lived with brokenness, and sin may have been at his heels everyday, but David longed for God to be God in his life. Finally he prayed, “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait for You” (Psalm 25:21, NASB)

Lent is a time to wait.  It is a time to slow down, to fine tune our hearts to the grace of God.  It is a time to face up to who we are and also a time to face up to who God is.   A little honesty never hurt anybody.  Bringing our lives to God, the good, the bad, and the broken, is the way we people of God express our hope and belief that God will make His ways known. This is a huge issue for us because, as David said, “All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies” Psalm 25:10, NASB)

Today’s Prayer

Look upon us, O Lord,

and let all the darkness of our souls

vanish before the beams of thy brightness.

Fill us with holy love,

and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.

All our desire is known unto thee,

therefore perfect what thou hast begun,

and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.

We seek thy face,

turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory.

Then shall our longing be satisfied,

and our peace shall be perfect.

(Augustine, 354 - 430)

Ash Wednesday: Drawing Near to God In a Broken World

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17  

Focus on the Word

The people of Israel had been unfaithful.  They had drifted away from their God.  Judgment was imminent.  Before we point our fingers at them, however, and ask, “How could you do this?” let’s remember that we, too, are human and capable of drifting. Before we reprimand them let’s remember that God’s response to them was, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning” (Joel 2:12, NASB).  

  Lent is a season to look inward, to hear what God is saying to us.  It is a time to examine our hearts to see what is in them.  It is a time of inward honesty, a time to be true to ourselves and to our God, and a time to confess that we have not arrived and that we do desperately need God daily.  In our weeping and mourning we need to remember that our God “is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and is eager to relent and not punish” (Joel 2:139, NLT).

To be out of fellowship with God is a brutal reality.  But, God is not about judgment.  He is about restoration.  Draw near to God.  It is the safest place in the entire world to be.  

Today’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be kept holy.

May your Kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us today the food we need,

and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

And don’t let us yield to temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

(Based on Matthew 6:9-13,NLT)

AN ALTAR IN THE MESSINESS OF LIFE

Each of us is the artist of our own life.

Lent is a journey.  It begins the seventh Wednesday before Easter on what the Church calls Ash Wednesday and ends in the glorious victory of Easter Sunday.

Lent is a season of examination where followers of Jesus remember from whence they come.  It is a time of entering into the desert Jesus was led into after His baptism.  It is a time of Spirit embraced reflection, solitude, listening, and self-searching, all for the purpose of seeking to be still, of quieting one’s heart, and of drawing near the cross of Christ.

Lent is an altar where followers of Jesus meet God and pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24).

In a way Lent is no different from any other season of the year because followers of Jesus live in a spirit of “Search me, O God.”  This season is simply an intentional act of devotion where we remember our brokenness and God’s restoration.  We remember that in ourselves we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but that “while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6).

Lent is our saying to God that we will never take His grace for granted and that we will live conscious of God’s eternal love for us.  It is a way to reveal that we take seriously Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow Him.  As Augustus Toplady wrote in the Eighteenth century,

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress

Helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Savior, our I die.

In these devotional thoughts for Lent 2023 we are focusing on God’s invitation to draw near to Him and to listen for His voice in the busy-ness of our lives.  This Lenten journey is one attempt to participate with God who calls us to, “Be still, cease striving, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  

Be still.  Cease striving.  These words describe the spirit of Lent.  There are times we need to slow down, catch our breath, and relax.  For some, this is what holidays and vacations are for, and we do need these times.  Lent isn’t a holiday, though.  Lent is going about the business of living, intentionally slowing down, intentionally listening, and intentionally moving forward.  It is intentionally doing the work we need to do that helps us refresh our memories as to who we are in Christ.

Elizabeth O’Connor speaks to us of these things as she shares a challenging, thrilling, and empowering thought:  

 

Each of us is the artist of his own life.  The materials we are given to work with, the conditions we work under and what happens to us, are part of the drama of what we shall do with our lives.  But materials and conditions and events are not, in themselves, the determining factors.  Whether a man arrives or does not arrive at his destiny--the place that is peculiarly his -- depends on whether or not he finds the Kingdom within and hears the call to wholeness--or holiness, as another might say.  The man who hears the call is chosen.  He does not have to scramble for a place in the scheme of things.  He knows there is a place which is his and that he can live close to the One who will show it to him (Quoted in Bob Benson, The Quest of the Shared Life (Nashville: Impact Books, 1981), page 85).

And so, we listen.  We open up our hearts, and intentionally move forward, aware that under the leadership, power, visions and dreams of God, each of us is the artist of our own lives.  And, we pray.  “Search me O God…lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24).

Each devotional reading in Lent is divided into three sections: (1) Scripture reading, (2) Focus on the Word, and (3) Today's prayer.  

The Focus on the Word is a brief devotional thought based on the Scripture reading for that day.  

The prayers are written prayers that come to us from Church history, some ancient, and some more recent.  

Whenever a Biblical text is found in quotes, there will be a reference to which translation is printed.  This is for clarity only.  Any translation you choose will be beneficial.  Three translations are used throughout: (1) New American Standard Bible, NASB, (2) New International Version, NIV, and (3) The Message, MSG.

A story before we begin our journey through Lent.  

A Russian priest who was discouraged and disappointed about his ministry took a walk one evening in the woods and wandered into a military installation.

The young, armed guard at the perimeter shouted, “Halt!  Who are you and why are you here?”

The priest perked up and asked, “What did you say?”

The solder became even more stern and said, ‘Who are you and why are you here?”

The priest asked, “How much do you get paid?”

The young man caught off guard by the questions, said, “Why does it matter to you?”

“Because,” the priest replied, “I’ll pay you that much to ask me those same two questions every day.”