Year B, Lent 6, Saturday

Inspired by Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:22-24

There is so much that God does or allows that is beyond our comprehension.  We throw something away as worthless, only to discover that it actually has great value in a capacity we’d never imagined.  We try to prevent something that seems terrible, only to discover that our intervention has led to far worse consequences than we were trying to prevent in the first place.

Our imaginations are limited, and therefore so are our visions for our world.  God’s vision, however, is limitless and eternal.  Rather than fighting against the wonderful creativity of the Lord of all, let us marvel at his wondrous creation, and celebrate the glory of his world.  And let us trust that God is doing wonderful things, creating new life and opportunities for healthy growth, even if we can’t see how, because he is all good, and he wills good things for his people and for his creation.

Let us pray.  Creator God, you know your plan for your creation.  Help us to trust in you, that we may work with you to bring your vision to fruition.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 6, Friday

Inspired by Philippians 2:12-18

“[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.  Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.”  Philippians 2:12b-15

The world is full of turmoil and strife.  Everyone seeks to benefit themselves, and they frequently don’t care who gets hurt in the process.  Many are convinced that the world would be a better place if everyone thought, acted, and believed as they do, and they try to force others into that mold.  Threats and accusations abound, as we blame each other for the problems in the world.

Christians are in this world, but we are not of this world.  We are called to be children of God, and as such we are to not engage in the threats and accusations that are the hallmark of this crooked and perverse generation.  Each of us is called to work out our own salvation—not anyone else’s—with fear and trembling, listening for the will of God speaking to each of us in our own contexts and circumstances.  As we discern God’s will for our lives, we’re to carry it out humbly, without calling attention to ourselves or condemning others for not being like us, and being freed from the sting of others’ condemnation of us.  For God is at work in us, enabling us to will and to work for his good pleasure, and the threats and accusations directed at us by the rest of the world have no power over us as we shine like stars.

Let us pray.  Father God, your Spirit is at work within us.  Help us to be blameless and innocent in the world’s strife, that your love and mercy may shine through us.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 6, Thursday

Inspired by Philippians 2:1-11

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.  Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.”  Philippians 2:3-6

We want to be right.  We want to be special.  We want to be recognized, and admired.  It’s hardwired into our human nature.  And as the beloved children of God, heirs with Christ to the kingdom of heaven, we do have claim to a certain status.

But Christians who claim an elevated status and try to enjoy its benefits here on earth forfeit their rights to that claim.  We are Christians because we follow Christ, and Christ, though he was God, did not claim his rightful special status over us.  Rather he humbled himself to be our servant, enduring suffering and death in order to achieve our salvation.  His actions demonstrated that he valued our lives above his own, our well-being above his own, and our interests above his own.  If we are going to claim to be followers of his, then we must treat every other sinner in this world no less than Christ treated us.  We may be heirs with him to the kingdom of heaven, and we may have a certain status because of it, but that status does not elevate us on this earth above others.  If anything, it obligates us to a life of servitude to all of God’s creation.

It was, after all, Christ’s servitude to all of God’s creation that made us heirs with him in the first place.

Let us pray.  Exalted God, through Christ’s life and death you experienced humility.  Enable us to embrace that same spirit of humility before others, that we may be of one mind with Christ Jesus and demonstrate your love to all whom we encounter.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 5, Wednesday

Inspired by Psalm 119:9-16

“Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.  With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.  I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches.”  Psalm 119:12-14

Many of us automatically equate rules with oppression and restrictions on our freedom.  In some cases that equation is justified.  Sometimes those in authority abuse their power and create statutes, ordinances, and decrees with the intention of controlling others in order to enhance their own position.  As a result, we tend to look at all statutes and ordinances as tools of control by a power-hungry dictator.

But power-hungry dictator is not an accurate description of God.  God is, as the psalmist says, blessed, and all statutes, ordinances, and decrees that come from him are equally blessed.  To follow the statutes of the Lord is to live a blessed life, one governed by love, mercy, patience, and justice.  Abandoning those statutes in order to exercise our freedom selfishly is to abandon riches for dross, gold for tin.  In order to be blessed, we must follow the ordinances of the Blessed One.  Such obedience, far from being restrictive, is the best exercise of our freedom in which we can engage.

Let us pray.  Blessed Lord, you are good, and all that comes from you is good.  Enable us to delight in your ways, that we may live the blessed lives you will for us.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 5, Tuesday

Inspired by Acts 2:14-24

“You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know—this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.  But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.”  Acts 2:22-24

Sometimes it may seem as though the powers against God are winning.  The priorities of self seem to have more support and acceptance than the priorities of God, and those working to defeat injustice and cruelty in the world seem thwarted at every turn.

But this world was created by God for us, and we were created by God for God.  Nothing is happening outside of God’s foreknowledge, and nothing can happen that will thwart God’s ultimate will for his creation.  Even the death of Jesus at the hands of ‘those outside the law’ could not thwart God’s plan for salvation, and he did the impossible and raised him up, freeing him from death’s power, because it was not God’s will for his Son to be held by that power.

No matter how much it may seem that God is losing the battle, know that it is impossible for God to lose.  Whatever happens, God will turn it around and make it his victory, just as he turned the crucifixion of his Son into his victory of life over death.

Let us pray.  Omnipotent God, you have power over all things.  Grant us the patience to wait on you, that we may trust in your goodness in the face of selfishness, apathy, and evil.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 5, Monday

Inspired by 2 Corinthians 3:4-11

“Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”  2 Corinthians 3:5-6

Ministers of the gospel, whether formally ordained or just someone proclaiming his or her own faith, are imperfect people.  Every single one of us can justifiably be accused of not living up to the high calling to which we have been called, of not completely practicing in our own lives the virtues of selfless love, humility, patience, etc. that we so consistently preach as being integral to the Christian life.

But if we are truly proclaiming the gospel, then our own failings and shortcomings demonstrate the truth of what we proclaim, rather than diminish it.  The gospel message is not a list of rules that must be perfectly obeyed in order to have life in Christ; the gospel message is a promise of life in Christ because God chooses to give us that life.  We who proclaim that gospel are not chosen because we’re better at obeying than anyone else, but because God chose us to proclaim it for his own reasons and purposes.  We all are both ministers and recipients of the new covenant, based solely on the grace of God in Christ and sustained by his life-giving Spirit.

Let us pray.  Merciful God, you alone are perfect.  Work through your people’s shortcomings to demonstrate the depth of your love, that all may recognize and experience the truth that your grace is not earned, but given freely.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Fifth Sunday in Lent

Inspired by Jeremiah 31:31-34

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”  Jeremiah 31:33-34

There are many churches and Christians who are willing and eager to describe exactly who God is and how to properly be in relationship with him.  Some describe a tender and loving God who guides us in our ways and gently corrects us when we disobey.  Some describe a harsh and judgmental God who is very difficult to please and will punish us or cut us off for the slightest infraction of his many and strict rules.  Some describe an indulgent and permissive God who delights in us no matter what we do.  Some manage to combine some of these characteristics in a truly contradictory and confusing way, making it very difficult to know who God really is and how we are supposed to relate to him.

God never intended it to be that difficult to know him.  He himself has created us with the knowledge of who he is and what he expects.  Most of us, since earliest childhood, understand that if we want to be loved then we should be loving, and that it feels good and things work well when people are nice to each other and fair to each other, so we should all be like that.  As we get older we begin to justify ourselves and create systems that put ourselves and our own interests above those of others, making ourselves better and more important.  We create rules and ideologies that put God on our side and against everyone else, and we seek to manipulate people’s understandings in order to enforce our own agendas, even at the expense of God’s will.

But God has indeed written his law on our hearts, and his is our God, and we are his people.  Seek God in prayer; seek his instruction, seek his direction, seek him.  Seek, and you shall find, because he will not abandon us to the false teaching of his creatures.  He will guide you and guard you; all you have to do is abide by the law he has put within us.

Let us pray.  Loving God, you have created all people to know you and be in relationship with you.  Help us to see through the man-made clutter that keeps us from you, that we may rest assured in your everlasting grace.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 5, Saturday

Inspired by Habakkuk 3:2-13

“O Lord, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.  In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy.”  Habakkuk 3:2

Things seem to have been so much simpler in biblical times.  God spoke his will clearly through the prophets, and backed up his promises with actual armies of angels fighting his people’s battles, or carried out his threats by bringing the exact calamity his prophets had predicted when the people acted contrary to God’s clear direction.  Miracles abounded, and it seems as though everyone knew who God was and believed in his existence; the only problem appeared to be disobedience to God’s clear will.  We look at that and we think, if only God were that clear in our lives today, we’d be so much more obedient than the Israelites were!

But it is said that hindsight is 20/20, and things seem so much clearer and more obvious when we can look back from a safe distance and remove ourselves from all culpability.  About 2600 years ago, the prophet Habakkuk prayed a prayer that many of us might pray today: that God would act now as he had in times past, clearly and boldly.

Twenty-six hundred years from now, how might people look back at us and interpret how God is working in our own time?  In what ways might they see God making his will known, and what signs of his favor or displeasure might they recognize but we ignore?  We change, but God is unchanging.  He has proclaimed his will consistently from the beginning of the ages; the details of how it applies to any given time or place may differ somewhat, and our own understanding grows and deepens as we continue to abide in him, thus changing our perspective or interpretations over time, but God himself is timeless and changeless.  Do we really need armies of angels to tell us how God wants us to treat each other and all of his creation?  Or do we already know, but find it easier and more convenient to pretend that we don’t?

Let us pray.  Timeless God, you desire us to worship you and to treat all in creation as lovingly as you created it.  Open our eyes to your signs and wonders, that we might recognize your works in our own time.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 5, Friday

Inspired by Hebrews 4:14-5:4

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:15-16

An old Negro Spiritual begins with the lines, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.  Nobody knows but Jesus.”  Simple words, but they convey a deep truth that is key to the Christian faith.

It is true that in this life we may experience many troubles and trials.  Sometimes we’re faced with seemingly impossible choices, none of our options morally pure and all of them bound to cause some pain and suffering for someone.  Sometimes the temptations we face are too much for us, and, although we do the best we can, we recognize that our best isn’t very good, and we feel like we’re distancing ourselves from God, convinced that our choices and failures are making us unacceptable to him and unlovable in his sight.

But Jesus sits on the throne of grace.  Jesus, who has faced the moral ambiguity we call earthly life, knows in his deepest being the trouble we’ve seen.  It is not with harsh judgment and moral absolutes that he addresses us, but with the compassion and mercy of one who has been there.  And where we fail, he triumphed.  But he does not hold that over us to condemn us; rather he offers his triumph to us in order to share it with us.

Our weaknesses do not distance us from the Holy One; they are the means by which we may draw closer and recognize his grace for what it is: a true gift of mercy and salvation which we can never earn on our own.  Glory hallelujah!

Let us pray.  Compassionate God, you took on human flesh and lived a mortal life.  Enable us to recognize the grace you extend to us, that we may approach you boldly in our weakness, expectant that you will sympathize with us and empower us with your mercy.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 5, Thursday

Inspired by Psalm 51:1-12

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.”  Psalm 51:3-4

The tradition behind this psalm is intriguing.  The notation at the beginning of the psalm reads, “A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.”  King David had seduced Bathsheba and then, upon learning of the pregnancy that resulted from the encounter, plotted to have her soldier-husband Uriah put where the fighting was heaviest, where he would most certainly be killed.  After all had happened according to David’s plan, God confronted him through the prophet Nathan, and accused him.  This psalm is David’s response to that accusation.

This confession by David can strike fear in one’s heart, because of its raw acknowledgement of guilt and acceptance of the inevitability of judgment by God.  David knows he’s sinned, knows exactly how he’s sinned, is constantly aware of that sin, and recognizes that he has done evil in the sight of the Lord.  It’s not a question of if he’ll be punished for his transgression, but when and how.

Yet he identifies his sin as being directly against God—not against Bathsheba or Uriah.  It’s not that they don’t matter, or that the suffering they endured at David’s hands is unimportant.  Rather, a sin against another person is a sin against God.  God takes personally any sin we commit against any of his children, and he will ensure justice, because that is his nature.

Even the guilty can take comfort in that fact.  David is the accused, and he knows his guilt.  Yet throughout this psalm his strongest request is that God will not withdraw himself from David.  He prays to be cleansed from his sin and delivered from his own unrighteousness, and depends, as do Bathsheba and Uriah, on God’s mercy and steadfast love.

Let us pray.  God of justice, you identify with all of your people.  Help us to acknowledge our sin, that we may earnestly pray to you for a clean heart and for your Holy Spirit to guide us in our ways.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 4, Wednesday

Inspired by Isaiah 60:15-22

“The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.”  Isaiah 60:19

God provides all that we need to survive and thrive, up to and including the very light we see by.  Every resource we have comes from the Lord—both the most basic elements such as light, food, water, and materials for shelter, and the ability to process and create more complex consumables.  The Lord God provides it all.

But the basic elements are much easier to see than the Lord who provides them, and it is much easier to congratulate ourselves for our own cleverness at inventing and building things than to credit the One who gave us our abilities.  Yet there will be a time when those basic elements will run dry, and our inventiveness will fail.  But the source of our being will still be there, and our needs will continue to be met by the same One who meets them now.

Let us pray.  Creator God, you are the source of all life and being.  Grant us the humility to give you thanks for all that we have, that we may continue to abide peacefully in your loving embrace.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 4, Tuesday

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 10:6-13

“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”  1 Corinthians 10:13

Sometimes it may feel as though the weight of the world is on our shoulders, and our steps are being directed by necessity alone.  There is too much we need to do, and not enough hours in the day in which to do it all.  It may feel as though we are trapped, that things will never change, will never get better.  The endless days of stress and turmoil stretch out before us, interminable, oppressive, and we begin to sink into despair.  It feels as though there is no hope.

But there is hope.  God is with us in our struggles, and he has given us options.  None of the choices before us may be easy, but we do have choices, and we can change the direction of our lives.  Everyone has the same twenty-four hours each day; how we choose to use those hours makes the difference.

Much of what traps us has no power inherent in itself; it only has the power we give it.  Turn to God, and then through the lens of his love and grace consider those things which trap you.  What will happen if you let this or that go?  Perhaps a little short-term inconvenience or discomfort, but in the long run it might make the difference between a life well-lived and a life of drudgery.

Whatever the consequences, however deep we may sink into despair, know that God is faithful, and is there with us, waiting to show us the way back to him.  He is the one who said to us, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Let him give you that rest that you need.  Turn to him, and let him show you the way.

Let us pray.  Tender Lord, you know how burdensome this earthly life can be.  Draw us toward you, that we may see the path you have set for us through all the stress and demands of daily living.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 4, Monday

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress…Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind…Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress…Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.”  Psalm 107:6,8,13,15

Psalm 107 praises God for his steadfast love, and for his faithfulness to his people when they cry out to him in distress.  But what is truly amazing is the description of those who ‘cried to the Lord in their trouble.’  They are those who wandered hungry and thirsty in desert wastes, unable to find an inhabited town for help; they are those who had rebelled against the words of God and therefore sat as prisoners in darkness and gloom.  They are those whose sinful ways made them physically ill; they are those who were doing business on the seas and were caught in a storm.  Some were simply misguided, some were caught up in circumstances beyond their control, and some were willfully disobedient to God, yet all cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

Many people today only cry to the Lord when they’re in trouble, and he’s just as likely to deliver them as he is to deliver those who are in constant relationship with him.  God’s love is greater than ours, and he does not hold a grudge when one of his beloved children is in trouble.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.  If we recognize and enjoy his steadfast love when he saves us from our troubles, imagine how much more we can recognize and enjoy his steadfast love if we remain in constant relationship with him.

Let us pray.  God of steadfast love, you will never forsake your people.  Turn our hearts to you, that we may call out to you with praise and thanksgiving, as well as when we’re in trouble, that we may always recognize your wonderful works to humankind.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Fourth Sunday in Lent

Inspired by John 3:14-21

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  John 3:14-17

John 3:16 is probably the most quoted verse of the entire bible, for good reason.  That verse provides the most vital information there is about God the Father and his Son Jesus.  God the Father’s love and concern for the world was so great that he gave his only Son, who willingly died in order for humankind to have a way to gain eternal life through him.

But while that verse is usually quoted by itself, the verses around it also provide vital information.  The story of Moses that is mentioned involves people willfully sinning against God, and then God providing a way for those sinners to look upon a bronze serpent erected on a pole in order to be spared death for their sin.  Jesus is compared to that bronze serpent, and we must understand that we are being compared to those who willfully sinned against God.  We got ourselves into this mess, and we deserve death for our sins, but God has sent us his Son to spare us from the consequences of our own actions.  Christ’s salvation is not optional; we need him.

At the same time, while Christ reveals our need for a Savior, he does not condemn us for our sin.  He did not come pointing an accusing finger at all of us who have sinned against the God of heaven and earth; he came to provide us a gateway to his Father in heaven, to cleanse us from our sin and prepare a place for us in the kingdom of God.

We are all sinners in need of a Savior.  Those of us who recognize Christ as that Savior must proclaim the good news of salvation to those who have not yet heard or accepted it.  Christ did not come to condemn the world, and neither should we, as we all need to look to the Son of Man who was lifted up for our sake.

Let us pray.  Compassionate God, you sent your Son to die for us while we were yet sinners.  Enable us to show the same compassion to the rest of humanity that you have shown to us, that we may reflect your loving intentions.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 4, Saturday

Inspired by John 3:1-13

“Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’  Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old?  Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’”  John 3:3-4

God created us as intelligent beings, and endowed us with a natural curiosity and the ability to reason logically.  However such gifts are only part of what enables us to understand the world around us.  There is much in our lives that cannot be precisely measured, analyzed, or observed, and the language we use to describe such experiences cannot be understood literally.

Nicodemus was a learned man, a Pharisee schooled in the laws of Moses and the ways of the God of Israel, and he was trying to understand who Jesus was.  But Jesus’ words and actions defied Nicodemus’ understanding, and when he tried to reason it out logically and literally, he was left with the ridiculous notion of a grown man having to somehow enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time in order to see the kingdom of God.

But the kingdom of God is not bound by the laws of physics, and therefore cannot be observed through scientific study.  The kingdom of God is one of those experiences that cannot be precisely measured or analyzed, nor can it be understood in literal terms.  But the God of heaven does not leave us to our own rational devices to understand him.  God has sent us his Son and his Spirit to reveal what is hidden, and to bridge the gap between our understanding and our acceptance.  We do not necessarily need to understand something in order to accept its truth; it just is.  And the kingdom of heaven is like that.

Nicodemus wasn’t trying to mock Jesus or trap him with logic; he was earnestly trying to understand with the gift of reasoning that God had given him.  And Jesus patiently explained that which cannot be explained, and though Nicodemus probably never did fully understand, he did eventually grow to accept the truth of Jesus enough to risk his own reputation in order to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

Let us pray.  Patient God, your kingdom transcends rational thought.  Grant us the wisdom to know when to abandon logic for faith, that we may embrace your truth.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 4, Friday

Inspired by Daniel 12:5-13

“Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly.  None of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.”  Daniel 12:10

To be a Christian is to be a member of the whole body of Christ, a part of the whole, and cannot be done in isolation.  However it is an individual choice and effort to determine how best to participate, depending on the unique gifts and abilities God has given each of us.

Attempts to ‘Christianize’ a nation or even the world by political mandate and enforcement are misguided at best and dangerous at worst.  For a person who follows the letter of the law only to avoid earthly punishment and imprisonment is not someone who is wise, being purified, cleansed, and refined by the Word of God.  Furthermore it sets up an artificial dichotomy between good and evil, Christian and unchristian, and provides incentive for the wicked to not only seek his own interests, but to fight against anything that might be part of the oppressive ruling regime—i.e. makes that person an enemy of Christ and his followers.

We who follow the Lord of Life are not called to eliminate wickedness from the world.  We are only called to resist wickedness within ourselves, to reflect the joy of grace received in our lives, and to function together as the whole body of Christ, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in our words and actions.  For Jesus came not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Let us pray.  Lord of Life, it is your place alone to judge the world.  Enable us to follow the law you have written on our hearts, that we may trust you to reveal yourself in your own time and according to your own will to all your people.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 4, Thursday

Inspired by Ephesians 1:3-6

“He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:5-6

We are chosen.  We are saved.  We are loved.  We have done nothing to deserve any of this, and there is nothing we can do to strengthen our claim on God, because we have no claim on God.  Rather, God has claimed us.

Why?  Why would God choose us for adoption as his children, as heirs with Christ?  It is because it is the very nature of God.  It was his will to freely bestow his glorious grace upon us, not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

Let us pray.  Gracious God, your Son Jesus Christ is the perfect Son, through whom you see us.  Enable us to recognize your grace through him, that we may accept our place as your adopted children and heirs.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 3, Wednesday

Inspired by Psalm 84

“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.”  Psalm 84:10

In today’s consumer culture, the generally accepted assumption is that bigger is always better.  We want bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger meal portions.  We want more toys, more choices, and more autonomy to pursue our more and bigger pleasures.

But in the midst of all those choices, all those goods, and all that gluttony, we can begin to feel small, lost, and insignificant.  We can be trapped by the sheer number of options, and have difficulty discerning what is truly the best for us amid all the noise.

Our God is the Lord of all, and knows what is best.  He calls out to us and offers us his salvation and his glory.  The psalmist understood that nothing on earth can compare to the Lord.  Without God we are in bondage, and a single day in his glory is far better than a thousand days spent in prison.  Service to the Lord will result in a richer and more blessed life than service to our own sinful desires.

The Lord God is bigger than any other goal we could seek, and obedience to him provides more freedom than any other choice we could make.

Let us pray.  Magnificent God, you offer us richness and blessings.  Grant us the will to seek you above our own sinful desires, that we may experience the joy and the glory that come only from you.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 3, Tuesday

Inspired by Hebrews 9:23-28

“For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”  Hebrews 9:24

The work of Christ was for the sake of humankind, but he did not follow a human script or human rules to accomplish his work.  Because he is fully human, we can see what he did and we can relate to him, but because he is also fully God we cannot comprehend the scope of his accomplishment.

We can only act upon what we have been told.  God gave instructions on how to build his sanctuary, but that sanctuary is only a pale imitation of his true, heavenly dwelling place.  God gave commands regarding blood sacrifices of atonement, but those sacrifices were only substitutions, and therefore of limited effect.  Jesus the Christ, son of Mary, Son of God, was able to fulfill the human requirements in the heavenly realm, because only God the Son can truly comprehend God the Father.  And because of his sacrifice, humanity and divinity have now been joined both on earth and in heaven.

Let us pray.  Majestic God, your ways are incomprehensible to us.  Grant us the humility to accept and give thanks to your Son, that while we may not understand all he has done for us, we may yet enjoy the grace he affords us.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 3, Monday

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 3:10-23

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person.  For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”  1 Corinthians 3:16-17

God created us to live in community with each other, all of us members of the whole body of Christ, but our value is not limited to what we contribute to the whole.  Each of us was lovingly and carefully crafted by the Lord of all, and called holy by the Holy One himself.

Some branches of Christianity devalue the worth of some members—often women—calling upon them to sacrifice themselves and their own well-being in the name of Christian duty or charity.  Yet the Spirit of God dwells even in those members who are considered least worthy, and therefore their bodies, minds, and souls must be treated with the respect due to the dwelling place of the Lord.  We are called to service to the Lord of course, but we are to serve by valuing what God has given us and using the gifts he has graced us with to build up the whole body of Christ.  Destroying ourselves to meet another person’s definition of Christian duty is not a part of that.

The Lord may call upon us to make sacrifices, but we can trust that God wastes no one, and throws no one away.  Those whom he does call to great sacrifice he will first grace with the gifts needed to be able to make that sacrifice willingly and joyfully, just as he graces us with the gifts to do our part willingly and joyfully, and always blessing us and honoring us as his holy temples.

Let us pray.  Holy God, your Spirit dwells within each of us.  Help us to honor your Spirit, that we may treat all your people with the love and the respect we each deserve.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Third Sunday in Lent

Inspired by John 2:13-22

“The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.  Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle.  He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here!  Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!’”  John 2:13-15

Have you ever shown up at church, looking forward to worship, only to be confronted by requests for money to support this or that cause or ministry?  Perhaps it was the youth group selling Christmas wreaths to raise money for their mission trip, or advertisements to purchase the latest book by the pastor or CD by the praise band, both conveniently available in the church bookstore.  Even though the mission trip is a valid ministry, and both the book and the CD are probably helpful in proclaiming the gospel, by the time you sit down for worship you’re thinking about commerce rather than God.

In Jesus’ day, it was expected for Jews from all over to travel to Jerusalem for Passover.  It was also expected (biblically mandated) that ritual sacrifices would be made as part of the Passover observance.  Of course, people traveling from great distances would have found it difficult to bring the animals they were to sacrifice along with them, so they would have needed to purchase them in Jerusalem.  The money changers provided the valuable service of converting the travelers’ foreign currency into local currency, which they could then use to purchase the cattle, sheep, and doves necessary for their expected ritual sacrifices.  With all of that available right there in the temple, the travelers were better able to focus on their Passover observance.

At least, that’s probably how the logic went.  Except Jesus didn’t see it that way.  He forcibly drove the animals, those selling them, and the money changers out of the temple.  While he didn’t condemn them for what they were doing, he did condemn them for where they were doing it.  A house of worship is a place to worship.  Whatever commercial transactions might be helpful or even necessary for making that worship possible must be done at another time in another place.  Does that make things a little more complicated?  Possibly.  But approaching the Lord God in prayer and devotion is not complicated, and shouldn’t be made so by the presence of financial expectations standing between the worshipper and the place of worship.

Let us pray.  Holy Lord, you desire worship and not sacrifices.  Help us to keep our worship of you unencumbered by logistical considerations, that none may ever believe that access to you is for sale.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 3, Saturday

Inspired by Exodus 19:16-25

“Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.  They took their stand at the foot of the mountain.  Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently.”  Exodus 19:17-18

When we seek God, what do we expect to find?  When we approach the holy Lord in prayer, how do we expect him to reveal his answer?

It seems as though the days of fiery mountains, pillars of smoke, and burning bushes are long past, and we must find God instead in the still, small voices, or else working in and through ordinary events and people.  But despite his current tendency toward subtlety, this is still the Lord God who descended in fire upon Mount Sinai, spoke to Moses in thunder, and warned that anyone who was not properly consecrated and attempted to break through the barriers he had established so they could get a look at God would be killed.  God has since removed many of the barriers between us and him, and we have been consecrated by his Son, but he is still not to be approached lightly.  The God who cares enough to work through ordinary events and people, and who speaks to us in a still, small voice, is also the God who is capable of shaking mountains and revealing himself through fire, smoke, and thunder.  The God who loved us enough to give his Son to die for us is the same God who conquered death itself.

Whatever we expect to find when we seek God, we can be certain that he is capable of accomplishing whatever he wills to accomplish.

Let us pray.  God of power and might, you indeed are holy and your presence is awesome.  Help us to approach you with honor and humility, that we might remember all your works and all that you are capable of as we bring our hopes and concerns to you.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 3, Friday

Inspired by Psalm 19

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.”  Psalm 19:7-10

In much of the world today, following the law of the Lord is viewed—at best—as a hindrance to worldly success, or—at worst—as a miserable, dour, severe existence devoid of any pleasure or satisfaction.  In the first case, pursuing justice, equity, charity, and mercy before one’s own personal interests tends to limit monetary gain and dilutes one’s personal power, since the needs of others are of higher concern than the bottom line, and mercy is frequently equated with weakness.  In the second case, many Christians throughout history have lost sight of God’s grace and become so concerned with personal purity and piety that they have failed to experience the joy of creation, and have sat in judgment over anyone who fell short of their definition of faithful.

But imagine a world in which you never have to worry about being cheated, or scammed, or taken advantage of.  Imagine a world in which you could trust whomever you’re dealing with to be as concerned with your welfare as their own.  Imagine a world in which all people are equal in inherent worth, where mistakes are forgiven, where the community looks out for each of its members, and where all actions are performed out of genuine love.  This is what the world would look like if the law of the Lord were universally followed.  This is the world that God created for us and desires for us.

We tend to distrust authority, because most human authorities are not worthy of absolute trust.  But God is no human authority.  God is the creator of all, the author and giver of life, and he alone is worthy of our absolute trust and devotion.  He alone is perfect, and his laws are perfect; we can do no better than to pursue life as God would have us live it.

Let us pray.  Perfect and righteous God, you desire good things for all your people.  Grant us the humility to seek your ways above our own, that our lives may reflect your love and your goodness.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Year B, Lent 3, Thursday

Inspired by Exodus 19:1-9a

“Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples.  Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.  These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”  Exodus 19:5-6

All the world, everyone and everything in it, belongs to God.  It is easy to forget that when so many people and systems seem to work against the will of the Lord, but the fact remains.  God is everywhere, with everyone, engaged with everything.

But those who keep his covenant have a special relationship with God.  First offered to the Israelites after they were rescued from their bondage in Egypt, the love of the Son later expanded that offer to those outside of Israel.  Out of the whole earth, those who obey his voice and keep his covenant are the treasured possession of the Lord, a priestly kingdom and a holy nation, transcending geographical borders, cultural identity, political ideologies, even chronological time itself.

But such a relationship is not a cause for self-righteousness.  Rather it is a call to action, a solemn responsibility.  For being a priestly kingdom and a holy nation means serving as a light to the nations, an important vehicle through which God makes his love and his will known to everyone else.  Our status as God’s treasured possession is not to set us over and against the rest of the world, but to demonstrate for all the glory and the honor that come with obeying God’s voice and keeping his covenant, a covenant that is still open to all who believe.

Let us pray.  Transcendent God, you desire all the world to know you and obey your voice.  Enable us to keep your covenant, that we may be a light to the nations and thus proclaim your holy name.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.