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Lent Day 6

19 Feb

Dear God, when it comes to the PM Psalms from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Based on the Book of Common Prayer I keep forgetting to read them in the PM. At least I have for the last two days. So I started this morning by reading yesterday’s PM Psalm, and it was Psalm 103. The thing that struck me about it was verses 15-16: As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. What a great and humbling thought. Of course, it is true. I was thinking just this morning about a godly man who used to be a vendor or the nonprofit where I work, but he died several years ago. I don’t think he had any children. There will be some people of this generation and maybe a few for the next 30 or so years who will remember him, but when we are gone, his memory from this earth will likely be gone. As for me, the memory of my time on earth will likely be gone 100 years from now. but what won’t be gone are the butterfly effects of what I did while here on earth (both good and bad). My life has knocked over dominoes in other lives. How can I help it. I’ve helped some. I’ve harmed some. Anyway, I pray that my life is more of a help than a hurt to your plan on earth.

So here are today’s passages from Sacred Invitation book:

  • AM Psalms: 41, 52
  • PM Psalm: 44
  • Deuteronomy 8:11-18
  • John 2:1-12
  • Hebrews 2:11-18

Alright, I’ve read everything, including the commentary from Sacred invitations, and here are three things that struck me:

  • John 2:12 – [After the wedding at Cana and Jesus turns water into wine] he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. I just found it interesting that, at this point, Jesus’s mother and brothers were good with him. That wouldn’t always be the case, but so far he wasn’t doing anything that was outside of the paradigm of who they thought he should be.
  • Hebrews 2:16-18 – For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his bothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. This plays into the commentary I’m about to share, so I’ll comment after that.
  • Sacred Invitation: Monday, Day 6, Paragraph 5 – In John 12:23, in the last day or so before his crucifixion, after the Greeks request to see Jesus, he responds, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” We must not miss this: everything that happens throughout the life and ministry of Jesus leads to the cross. The cross is not an intrusion on an otherwise-planned completion of his ministry. It is the whole point. This statement makes me think about Catholic mass and how the partaking of the Eucharist is the entire point of the mass. Everything else is just a part of the service that points to that moment in the service. But Jesus came here to make atonement. To be my substitute for my guilt. That was the point. The rest of his life was to teach and be an example, but the point was his death and resurrection

Father, as I sit with this Lenten season, help me to really soak my soul in the idea of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Help me to see it anew as I spend this time with you. You are my God. I bring you my worship.

I pray all of this in Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 19, 2024 in Hebrews, John, Lent 2024

 

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Lent Day 5:

18 Feb

Dear God, as I enter the first Sunday of Lent, I come to you with a full heart. I’ll confess that I’m already getting a little tired of spending this much focused time every morning, getting up early. Normally when I do these they take about 15 minutes, but the way I am doing this take a whole 30! (Sarcasm intended, but it’s also a little true.) And I’m doing it every day! (Sarcasm again intended, but it’s also a little true.)

Here are today’s readings from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer:

  • AM Psalms: 63, 98
  • PM Psalms: 103
  • Deuteronomy 8:1-10
  • Mark 2:18-22
  • 1 Corinthians 1:17-31

As I wrote those, I just remembered that I forgot to read the PM Psalms from yesterday. I’ll do that now. Two things really quickly from yesterday’s PM Psalms: 42 and 43. First, the phrase from 42:4: These things I remember as I pour out my soul: How I used to with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Isn’t that what I was kind of saying about myself when I started this prayer? It’s only Day 5. I started with much enthusiasm and focus. Now, the newness of this has worn off and I’m disciplining myself to do this.

The next was the fact that both psalms used the phrase, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” I wonder if that was a phrase commonly known to the Israelites. A quick Google search didn’t show anything beyond these two psalms for this phrase, but it’s interesting that it was in both psalms.

As for today’s verses, let me see what we have here. After reading everything, including the commentary from the book, it is fasting mentioned in Mark 2:18-22 that comes up a few times. And I guess I started to understand what has always been kind of a weird parable to me: the old/new wineskins, and the patch on the old/new cloth. Jesus was saying that fasting is important to bring us closer to you, God, but while he (you) was literally and physically among them there was a new paradigm. No fasting required. This new situation did not fit any of the metaphorical old cloths or wineskins they knew. A new cloth and wineskin was required.

Father, through the Lenten season, help me to sink into you. Help me to emerge from this after Easter in some sort of new paradigm that will stick and help me to grow in you. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 18, 2024 in Lent 2024, Mark, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 3: Excerpts from Psalm 31,

16 Feb

Dear God, as I intentionally experience Lent this year and go through Day 3 for Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I’ve decided to do something a little different today. I want to read the passages and then call out the verses that resonate with me. But before I do, here are the passages that have for us to read today.

  • AM Psalms 31, 95
  • PM Psalms 35
  • Deuteronomy 7:12-16
  • John 1:35-42
  • Titus 2:1-15

Here we go:

Psalm 31: 6 – I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD

Idols have come to mean more to me over the last three and a half years. Ever since I heard Andy Stanley interview the couple where the pastor/husband barely survived COVID and he noted that we tend to make an idol out of “certainty,” and we find all kinds of tangible things to put our certainty in (spouse, children, economy, government, etc.) when you, God, are the only thing that is the same and never changes. It’s now easier to see the idols in my life that I must relinquish, and also see the idols others make. Right now, in election season, it feels like many people are worshipping their political party, counting on it to save them or else all will be lost. I hate those [including myself] who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.

Psalm 31:11-13 – Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends–those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

This is a psalm of David, and I cannot help but wonder if he wrote it during Absalom’s revolt. The idea that David would be the contempt of his neighbors and that those who see him would flee from him is shocking, but then again aren’t we all, as humans, shockingly fickle? Are there areas of my life where I foolishly abandon those I should support because it is the safe thing for me to do?

Psalm 95:6-7 – Come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

This is just a nice piece of worshiping you right here. Oh, Father, you are my Maker. You are my God. I am a lamb in your pasture. A lamb under your care. Thank you. I submit myself to your care.

Deuteronomy 7:12 – If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

Deuteronomy is where you are laying down the law, literally, for the Israelites. This whole passage is, frankly, a little simplistic in my mind. It says you will make good for the good and bad for the bad. All I ask right now is not for good, but that you will help me to be near to you.

John 1:37-38 – When the two disciples heard [John the Baptist] say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

What an interesting question. I wonder if they knew. I wonder if they had an idea of what they wanted but didn’t have the courage to say so they just asked where he was staying. In their heart of hearts, I would imagine they were looking for the same Messiah everyone else was looking for. They wanted to be lifted out of the mire of subjugation to Rome and restored to power. Had they known at that moment how things would play out over the next three years they might have stayed behind. What do I want from you, even this morning? Is it the right thing or is it selfish?

Titus 2:9-10 – Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teacher about God our Savior attractive

For this passage, I want to quote part of today’s reading from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer: “But reading the letter to Titus can be overwhelming. Planting and nurturing the church in Crete is not an easy matter. The culture is crude and in constant agitation. As part of the Roman Empire, it is subject to, among other things, the norms of slavery, the subjugation of women, and the abuse of alcohol. Sexual immorality is rampant, and hopelessness is widespread.\\Knowing and following Jesus, according to Paul, is the only adequate antidote to such a broken world.“

Father, I am still leaning into the word “patience” for this Lenten season. Help me to continue to die to myself and simply embrace everything Jesus was–and everything Jesus was is completely contradictory to who I am. Thank you for this amazing gesture on your part to come to earth and give us your example of how to behave and live. How to love and serve. How to give of ourselves, worship you, and love others. Help me to be that man today.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2024 in Deuteronomy, John, Lent 2024, Psalms, Titus

 

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Lent Day 2: John 1:29-34

15 Feb

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”

John 1:29-34

Dear God, as I enter into this season of Lent, the word that keeps popping up for me over the last few days (even before Lent started) is “patience.” Going back to the parable of the wheat and the weeds, the farmer encourages patience. Today’s readings from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer also mention patience.

  • AM Psalm 37:1-18
  • PM Psalm 37:19-42
  • Deuteronomy 7:6-11
  • John 1:29-34
  • Titus 1:1-16

In the commentary about these passages, the author writes, “In the scriptures for today we are reminded that we must be patient with the long, slow, sometimes imperceptible movement of God on our behalf.” (Emphasis added) Several years ago, I had a revelation that I think still holds true: We measure time in days, weeks, and months; while God measures time in years, decades, and centuries. When I get in a hurry then I try to take the power away from you and put it upon myself. I stop listening to you and waiting for you. I start to despair when things don’t move as quickly as I want them to. And then I start to sin.

Father, the “Serenity Prayer” from AA comes to mind right now. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I will amend that prayer to ask that you will not let me try to change anything without you and your power. Even as we have a staff meeting today to sort some things out, help me to lean into you for wisdom, discernment, insight, and solutions. And, of course, there are the prayer requests that are always on my heart, and for which I can sometimes have very little patience. I give you those situations, and ask that you simply bring healing and wholeness where there is suffering and strife.

A pray all of this in Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2024 in John, Lent 2024

 

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