Friday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Lord Christ, our eternal Redeemer, grant us such fellowship in your sufferings, that, filled with your Holy Spirit, we may subdue the flesh to the spirit, and the spirit to you, and at the last attain to the glory of your resurrection; who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm           Lessons

130            Ezekiel 18:21-28  Matthew 5:20-26

 

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. Psalm 130: 1-4

 I love today’s collect. Today we ask to be granted fellowship in Christ’s suffering, so that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit and subdue our flesh to the spirit and the spirit to Christ. When I am suffering, when I am in the pit, then all I can think about is how I can be better, kinder, more spirit-filled so that I can get out of the pit and never get there again. In my suffering I pray without ceasing. In my suffering I am more sympathetic to others who may be suffering and I am kinder and more patient to them. When I am broken I let down my barriers and allow others in, and allow God to touch me through the love of others. When I am faced with all my sins, I am so grateful for the grace of Christ and thankful to my core for all that I’ve been given. When I have lost my life is when I gain it.

However, I am plagued by long-term memory loss. Just as my inability to truly remember the pain of childbirth allowed me to become pregnant over and over again, my inability to remember the pain and fear and emptiness of the pit allows me to sin over and over again. It is insanity. I repeat the same mistakes, and every time I covet, every time I show pride, every time I fail to love my neighbor as myself I dig myself deeper. Perhaps it is impossible to live open and raw and vulnerable as I am in the pit without committing the sins that throw me down there. Luckily for me our God has memory loss as well. The psalmist assures us that when we cry from the depths, the steadfast love that heals us also wipes our slate clean.

 

 

 

 

Thursday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Strengthen us, O Lord, by your grace, that in your might we may overcome all spiritual enemies, and with pure hearts serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm         Lessons

138              Esther (Apocrypha) 14:1-6,12-14  Matthew 7:7-12

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. Matthew 7: 7


One of the best qualities about one of my children is also one that causes me the most anxiety … his confidence. This child has never met a stranger. He believes that he is adored by all and is always confident that things will go his way, which leads to great anxiety on my part as a parent because I know that things don’t always work out in our favor. We don’t always make the team, or win the election and we aren’t always selected for honors. I worry that these eventual disappointments will bring his soaring spirit back down to earth.

 

Jesus reminds us to have the faith of a child. We are called on to pray with unbridled confidence. Esther faced death for revealing her faith, and prayed confidently to the Lord for deliverance. Matthew tells us there is no need to hedge our bets. God our Father, like any loving parent, will open the door when we knock. Yet we need to knock loudly. We need to knock boldly. We must knock with confidence. We should knock on God’s door with the unending pounding and faith of a child.

 
 

 

Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Bless us, O God, in this holy season, in which our hearts seek your help and healing; and so purify us by your discipline that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm          Lessons

51:11-18       Jonah 3:1-10  Luke 11:29-32

 

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” Luke 11:28

 

One of the best essays I’ve ever read was written by a remarkable young woman as part of her college application. The writer had a hearing impairment and wrote about the art of listening. Early on she had learned that to succeed in school she needed to really focus in on the person speaking and truly listen to what was being said in order to compensate for her hearing loss. It was a skill that has allowed her to achieve success not just at school, but at life.

 

What would it mean for us to listen with total focus to our spouse, our children, our friends, to God? When Jonah finally listened to God and traveled to Nineveh, he was told to proclaim God’s message that because of their actions the city should be overthrown. And the people of Nineveh listened and believed, and they repented. It must have been frustrating to Christ when those hearing him preach did not listen, instead calling for signs and miracles.

 

Hearing happens automatically for most of us. Listening takes focus. Listening takes attention. Listening takes time. Where are we spending our time and focus? To what are we attentive? The only sign we will be given is the Son of Man. Are we listening?

   

Tuesday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only true God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm                                    Lessons

34:15-22                    Isaiah 55:6-11   Matthew 6:7-15

Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:9

Names are important. How many of us, when naming our children, chose names of people we loved or admired and shied away from names of those we disliked? A person’s name can be associated with specific traits. We expect a boy named Alabama to be better at sports than one named Francis. In Great Britain the names of royals, Elizabeth and James, are linked with intelligence and success. And as our names are given to us before the formation of our personality they effect the person we become as an adult. Imagine yourself with a different name. Would you be the same person?

The Hebrew people had many names for God. There was Elohim- the strong creator God, Jehovah, the self-existing one, Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God. God was called jealous, faithful, and mighty. God was a protector. But Jesus had a new name for God. He called God “Father”, and invited us to do the same, instructing us to pray to “God, Our Father”. Think about how radical of a change that is. Instead of praying to our Lord and Protector, a distant and mighty God, we pray to Our Father. We are in a loving relationship with Our Father. Our Father will protect us and answer our prayers because we are cared for and cherished. Something as simple as a change in name transformed our relationship with the Creator.

Lent is a great time to remember our name. When Jesus invited us to call God, Our Father, were adopted into his family and given the new name, Christian. It’s time we live up to it.

Apple

As a mom of a senior who is applying to colleges this fall, I've spent a lot of time thinking about choices. I suppose that is why today my box held an apple. We usually have apples, or yogurt, or other "healthy" snacks at our house and all of our children are told that for the most part, they can have as many of the healthy snacks as they want. And even though they know they will feel better after eating something that is good for them, if there is a sweet option in sight, smart choices can fly out the window.

Making the right choice has been a stumbling block for humanity from the beginning. Male and female, Adam and Eve, were created in God's image, in that they were given the ability to choose. They could choose to obey God, or to take what was forbidden. One choice would allow them to stay in the garden, while the other would send them out into the world, to a life of hardship and eventual death. The Bible is a collection of choices. Abram chose to leave the land of his fathers to the land that God would show him. Rebekah chose to help Jacob trick his father Isaac. The disciples chose to follow Christ and Christ chose to die on the cross.

We are faced with a myriad of choices every day. Our choices may seem more important, like choosing a college, or less important, like choosing a snack. We can choose to wake up early and exercise, or grab a little more sleep. We can choose to start the day with prayer, or with the paper. We can choose to lose our temper, or keep it, speak to our neighbor, or walk on by. We can choose friends who lift us up, or those who tear us down. We can choose to be jealous of the clothes/homes/lives or others, or grateful for all we have been given. We can choose hate, or love.

God has sent the Holy Spirit to support us in all we do. We simply have to choose to receive it.

What will you choose?

 

Our Daily Bread

Any parent who has ever taken multiple children on a long road trip can imagine what the exodus must have been like for Moses. Last-minute packing is always a struggle. It can be incredible hard to get away. And once the journey has begun in earnest it starts, Moses starts hearing the refrain, "Are we there yet?".  It must have been exciting at first. The reverence of the first Passover, the drama of the parting of the sea, the celebration at the destruction of Pharaoh's chariots and chariot drivers. Yet before long, the complaining began.

"Are we there yet?" The Israelites were anxious and frightened. Freedom felt strange. In their haste they had brought no provisions other than flat bread which hadn't been given the time to rise, and thoughts of the unknown, of starvation in the wilderness, overwhelmed them. "Are we there yet?" They complained against their leaders, against Aaron and Moses. And God heard their cries and provided bread for their journey, exactly enough to meet their daily needs.

The Israelites would repeat this pattern of anxiety, fear, and complaint, throughout their forty year journey as they learned, little by little, to trust that God would provide what they needed. The development of a faith that God will "give us this day our daily bread" takes time to rise.

Today I hope you remember to enjoy the journey. The destination is worth the trip!

April Fool's

Growing up April Fool's day was a high holiday in my home. It was my grandmother's birthday. Looking back I have to feel sorry for her, although she always seemed to love the trick packages, squirting flowers, and succession of jokes played on her throughout the years. At some point I started hiding plastic spiders or snakes in her bed, not just for her birthday but whenever I visited. These pranks became more and more elaborate as I aged and I think she found enjoyment from the fact that I liked it so much. So today, in honor of April Fool's Day and my grandmother, I brought a box with a spider who jumps out when you open it.

Our story today was of poor Lazarus. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha and all three were extremely close to Jesus. While Jesus is off teaching and healing Lazarus becomes sick. The sisters sent word to Jesus , "Lord, he whom you love is ill". Several days pass and when Jesus does travel to Bethany to check on the family it is too late. Lazarus has died. The family and friends are in mourning. And you can almost hear the tone of reproach as Martha says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus weeps at the grief of Mary and Martha over their brother, and asks to be taken to the tomb. And there, he calls for Lazarus to come out. As Lazarus emerges, waiting to be unwrapped from his shroud, can't you almost here the call, "APRIL FOOL's"!In Christ all things are possible. The lame can walk! The blind can see! The dead will live! And even the crucified Lord will rise again.

My jokes on my grandmother would not have been as funny had I used real spiders, real snakes or cockroaches. They always caused a start, but she knew there was never anything to fear. And so it is with a God-filled life. We will have our ups and downs. But we have assurance that death will not claim us, but that we will have eternal life!