Both Ends of the Spectrum – March 25, The Sixth Thursday of Lent

Luke 1:26-38 NRSV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Are you confused yet?  Why on earth are we reading about the birth of Christ when we’re getting ready to celebrate his death?  I admit that this does, at first glance, seem to be an odd passage of scripture to read during Lent until you realize that today is 9 months until Christmas.  Today, is the day on the Church calendar when we celebrate the Angel Gabriel coming to Mary and announcing to her the birth of Jesus.

Today, in the midst of our Lenten fast we briefly turn our minds to celebration.  Today we remember and celebrate the day when the Gabriel came to Mary and told her the Lord’s plan and she said “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Today we get a wondrous glimpse of the full spectrum of our salvation.  Well look ahead one week and we see Good Friday and the Cross on which our Lord will be crucified.  We look beyond Good Friday with hope knowing that the Resurrection will soon be at hand and while we look forward we remember today the words of the angel and Mary’s response.  Today we recognize that Jesus Christ didn’t just pop into the earth to be crucified but he came even as a child.  He came as a child to die and rise again for us and for our salvation.

Think about this for a second.  The Lord and uncontainable maker of the Universe humbled himself so much that he allowed himself to be contained in a a womb for 9 months.  Today we rejoice in the fact that Christ our God took on every part of what it means to be human and yet was without sin.  We realize today that we worship a God who came as a baby, lived life, and knows what it means to be fully human.

Jesus knows what we are dealing with because he experienced it.  The writer of Hebrews reminds us that he was tempted in all things and was “yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).  Because he has experience all this and yet remained holy he can help us in our journeys as we strive to overcome sin.

Today we also remember something else as we look at the fullness of God’s saving work through Christ.  What we also remember is that Mary, a young teenage girl, said “yes” to God.  We are reminded that even in this great and history changing act God gave her free-will and she said “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  In a sense Mary typifies the Lenten struggle that we face.

Throughout Lent we have been learning to say “yes” to God and “no” to our self-will.  We have struggled to pray, struggled with sin, struggled with our priorities, weaknesses, and fears all in hopes of being able to more fully say “yes” to God.  In today’s gospel reading we see Mary, a young girl who quickly dismissed the shame that would become her for being pregnant outside of marriage, she dismissed the inconvenience this would cause, and all sorts of other things just to say “yes” to God.  She serves as a great model for us during our Lenten journey.

So today let us remember the whole scope of the work of Christ, that he was conceived and born that he might draw us to the Father.  Let us also learn from Mary what it means to lay everything aside so that we might truly and whole-heartedly say “yes” to God.

Glory to God in the Highest for today Christ is conceived that he may cleanse us from our sin!

Closing Prayer:

Father, we thank you for sending Jesus Christ your Son.  We thank you that he came for us and for our salvation.  We thank you Father for the complete work of Christ from birth, to death, to resurrection.  Help us to learn from Mary’s example and continue to know what it means to say “yes” to you and “no” to our self-will.  Amen.

Huh? – March 24, The Sixth Wednesday of Lent

Luke 18:31-34 NRSV

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “see, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon.  After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.”  But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Isaiah 53:5-6 NKJV

But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Easter is quickly approaching. Very soon we will be proclaiming “Christ is Risen” to all who will listen and we will be celebrating joyously the work of God.  But before we go there we have to go through Holy Week.  Not just the joy and “hosannas” of Palm Sunday, but the betrayal, bitterness, and death of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  Jesus knew that this was coming.  He knew how they treated the prophets and he knew what was ahead of him.  He knew the pain and suffering he was about to endure but he still went forward.

In today’s reading Jesus pretty much tells the disciples what is coming.  Jesus doesn’t candy-coat his language, he speaks plainly and clearly and yet the disciples “understood nothing.”  Sometimes I wonder how the disciples could be so dull.  Could they really not understand?  But just when I start to think this I wonder to myself “Am I the same way?”

Chances are the disciples didn’t really get what Jesus was saying because they had expectations.  They recognized that he was the Messiah but they all had different expectations of what that would bring.  Would he come and free Israel from Rome?  Would he overthrow the political powers?  Would he bring economic stability to the region?  Each one of them had an idea of what the Messiah would do and I bet that die on a cross was low on that list.  I think this might be the reason why they didn’t get it.  This might be the reason that Luke tells us that they “did not grasp” what Jesus was saying.

How many times do we share this same trait with the disciples.  How many times do we think God should work in one way or another and when he works in a different way we don’t see it?  How many times to I place my expectations on God as if he was here to do some sort of cosmic magic trick for me?

Sure it’s easy to look back after Easter and after Pentecost and say, “Well yeah, of course Jesus was going to do that.” but while we’re here it isn’t so easy.  Jesus clearly sees the cross that he will carry.  He clearly sees what is going to happen and yet he continues on to Jerusalem.

What about us?  Can we even see the cross which we are called to carry?  Are we truly able to follow Jesus or are we allowing the cares of this world and the stuff of this life fill us up with certain expectations so that we can’t even grasp what Jesus is saying.

Lent, and especially the upcoming Holy Week teaches us to put aside our wrong expectations.  Lent helps to teach us to say “no” to our self-will so that we may truly see and be able to carry the cross of our Lord and Savior.

What are your expectations that keep you from seeing the real mission of Jesus?  Are you willing to see the cross and carry it?

Closing Prayer:

We pray to God to know his passion, death, and resurrection – which come from the goodness of God.  We pray to God for the strength that comes from his Cross – which also come from the goodness of God.  We pray to God…for he is the goodness of everything.  Amen.

– St. Julian of Norwich *

* Julian (1342-1416?) was a very reclusive English woman who received a series of sixteen revelations in 1373.  After she spent several years meditating on them she recorded them.  Few other details are known of her life.

Identity – March 23, The Fifth Tuesday of Lent

This morning I was getting ready to get into the church elevator and I saw a line of kids from the preschool.  I noticed they had their jackets on and so I asked the first student in line if they were going outside.  He quickly replied “yeah, and I’m… I’m Spider-man” as he unzipped his jacket to reveal a Spider-man t-shirt underneath.

In reflecting on this interaction I got to thinking about us and how we identify ourselves.  This kid, in his imagination thought to himself that if he put on a Spider-man shirt then he could identify himself as Spider-man.  He didn’t excitedly tell me that he had put on a Spider-man shirt.  No, he told me very emphatically “I am Spider-man.”  Somehow in that kid’s mind putting on the shirt formed how he identified himself.  I wonder, do we ever think like this?  Look at what Paul says:

Galatians 3:26-29 TNIV

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

What this little kid said this morning reminded me of this passage.  Paul says “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  I really think this little kid gets it and somehow we overlook this all the time.  Just by the fact of wearing his Spider-man shirt he identified himself as Spider-man.  Why do we so often forget this when it comes to Christ.

In our baptism we have put on Christ and yet so often this identity is lost on us.  Instead of identifying ourselves with Christ we identify with the world.   Instead of living like we are clothed with Christ we act and prioritize our lives like we know nothing of Christ.

Sure, this little kid was acting out part of his imagination, but putting on Christ in our baptism is not imagination, it is reality in the truest sense.  What is real for us is that we are in Christ and the more we identify ourselves in this way the more we can allow the Spirit of God to work within us.  The more we learn to re-identify ourselves the more we can continue to be transformed and shaped.

During Lent we journey with Christ to the cross.  We learn, during this time, to put away our old self-identity and to realize that we are in Christ.  During this Lenten season we learn that we have put on Christ and we discipline ourselves so that we may more fully act like it.  It would be good for us to learn a lesson from this small pre-schooler so that we may live out the reality of our baptism – that those who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Closing Prayer:

O Lord and master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.  But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.  O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother or sister for blessed are you always.  Amen

– The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem

Doing or Being? – March 22, The Fifth Monday of Lent

In my office I have a white board on which I write pressing things that I have to do.  I also keep scraps of paper on my desk with other things that need to be done.  I keep my calendar open on my computer at all times for fear that I might miss something that I am supposed to do.

Sometimes it feels like I’m rushing from thing to thing, or place to place.  It seems like I am constantly doing things (contrary to the running joke in our youth group I actually do more than just play basketball and go to Bojangles).

We’ve talked about finding time in the busyness of life to be still before God (here), but I wonder if this is a bigger issue for me and for us.  Maybe just taking time isn’t enough maybe the issue continues on our theme from the past few days in how we prioritize.  Or maybe, just maybe, the issue is deeper still.  Maybe the issue is how we view ourselves.  My one college professor used to say all the time that “we are called human beings and not human doings for a reason.”  Maybe the issue is that we’ve bought into the idea that we are indeed “human doings” instead of “human beings.”

I think this is no clearer seen than in this short passage from the gospel of Luke:

Luke 10:38-42 NIV

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

This is a short Gospel lesson but I think the implications are huge for the way in which we live life right now.  Two women, Mary and Martha, are named.  Martha goes about the expected and well-intentioned task of being hospitable.  Martha is busy.  She is busy preparing things for her guests.  She is busy doing.

Mary, on the other hand, doesn’t do what is expected.  Instead of busying herself she stops and she sits at the feet of Jesus.  Instead of doing she focuses on being…being at the feet of Jesus.

I’m sure Martha wanted to sit down and rest at the feet of Jesus too, but she knew things had to get done.  She knew that the food wasn’t going to fix itself and that she needed to do the stuff in order for it to get done.  She couldn’t sit down because there were important things which she should be doing.

I think the difference between the two women is that Martha got caught up in the expectations, responsibilities, and doings of life.  She sees herself as the person who has to get things done.  But Mary, Mary is different.  She doesn’t focus on the doing, instead she wants to become a follower of Christ and so she does it…no matter what she should be doing.

What Martha does isn’t bad, but it isn’t the best. “One thing is needed” Jesus says, it isn’t to do, but rather to be.  One thing is needed – to be at the feet of Jesus.  Mary hows us what is better, the question is “do we follower her example?”

For some reason our society is focused on doing.  We move from doing one thing to going elsewhere to do another thing.  We are so influenced by this mindset that we tend to view everything in terms of doing and being has no place for us.  Doing is easy.  I can put the things I need to “do” on my white board or my scraps of paper, but I can’t put being on there.  Being is hard.   Being involves the willingness to sit at the feet of Jesus when every one else says you should be doing things.

Lent is a time when we focus on sitting at the feet of Jesus. During Lent we learn how to “be” rather than to “do” all the time.

Being is contrary to what society says, but at the same time it is indeed the “one thing” that is needed.  So how do you live your life? Are you a human being or a human doing?  Are you willing to throw everything aside and just sit at the feet of Jesus or are you so consumed by all the “doings” of life that you don’t even consider that as a possibility?

Closing Prayer:

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you O God.  Help me Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit to find my rest, my joy, and my fulfillment in your Son.  Help me to allow the cares of the world to fall away and to know that you are God.  Amen.

To Know Christ – March 21, The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Philippians 3:4b-14 TNIV

If others think they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Last time we talked about priorities.  We talked about holding things so dear to our hearts that they get in the way of truly following God.  Well today’s lectionary epistle reading speaks to this very issue again.

We all know Paul’s story.  He was a pharisee, he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, converted to Christianity and became a super awesome apostle.  Well, the Philippians probably knew his story too, but he tells them again.  Only he doesn’t stream-line it – he tells them just how awesome he was (see the first paragraph).  He wasn’t just a pharisee, but a pretty good one.  He wasn’t just a Jew, but a special one.  He didn’t just follow the commandments, he followed them all…perfectly.  Paul had it going on and then, then he met Christ and everything changed.

Paul says that he let go of all those things he had going for him.  He willingly gave up everything in life to follow Christ.  He gave up his social status, his friends, probably his family, his “job,” everything just to follow Christ.  Paul says his deepest desire is to “know Christ.”

This, my friends, is the challenge of Lent and indeed, of all of the Christian life.  Do we want to know Christ?  I mean really know him.  Paul met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, so one could say that Paul did know Christ.  But Paul isn’t content with that.  He wants more.  He has seen Christ and desire to know him so much that he’s willing to give everything up to know him more and more.

Lent continually asks us:  “Do you want to know Christ?  Really know him?”  What’s our answer?

Have we experienced Christ?  Not just nice fuzzy emotions from Pilgrimage, youth rallies, or Chrysalis but have we met the risen Christ?   Because when we truly experience God our lives are ruined just like Paul’s was.

Ruined?  Our lives are ruined because we’ll never be content with anything else except for knowing Christ.  They’re ruined because nothing will satisfy us except for Christ and we’ll desire nothing more than to know Christ – even, as Paul says, if it means participating in his sufferings.

So Lent asks us again:  “Have you met Christ, and if so, do you really want to know him?”

Do you want to know him more than soccer, football, basketball, college, success, anything that gets in the way?

This is the call of Lent.  It’s hard and it’s uncomfortable, but remember Lent is a journey to the cross with Jesus and no one ever said crucifixion was fun.

Closing Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a Sinner!

Priorities – March 19, The Fifth Friday of Lent

Jesus spends a lot of time talking about priorities throughout the gospels.  When asked what the greatest commandment is he says that it is to love God with all of our being and then to love our neighbor as ourselves (paraphrased of course).  He constantly calls people to drop what they’re doing and to follow him.  As Jesus calls people we see a lot of things get in the way of their ability to follow him.  One thing in particular gets in the way in the scripture passage below.

Matthew 19:16-26 NIV

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.'”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This young man comes and desires to follow Jesus, but as we see he is unwilling to really follow Jesus.  Jesus tells him to do something (sell all of his possessions) but he instead of immediately following this he “goes away sad.”  Why does Jesus ask him to do this?  Is being rich a sin?  Is having possessions evil?

Being rich and having possessions are not evil.  But they can quickly lead us to a place where we are unable to fully follow Christ.  The problem with these things is that so often as we get “things” we want more and more and more.  We become greedy.  As we acquire wealth and possession we begin to lose focus and our priorities become messed up.

Jesus told this man to sell everything because he knew that the man had messed up priorities.  During Lent we learn to examine our priorities to see what is getting in the way of following Jesus.  This is part of the reason we give things up and we try to give to the poor extra during Lent.  It helps us re-prioritize.  During Lent we have to ask ourselves questions and be willing to allow the Spirit of God lead us to the answers even in if they are hard for us to hear.

What am I unwilling to give up to follow Jesus?  I go to church, pray, and do the right things but am I willing to follow Christ in everything?  Is Jesus Christ valued above everything in my life – my time, my money, my talents, my will, my friends, my life?  What am I holding back from God?  What is really coming between me and following Christ – Is it school, sports, friends, or dreams of success?

These are questions we need to ask ourselves.  We need to find what is getting in the way of following Christ and get rid of it.

Are you willing to ask yourself these questions, even if you don’t like the answer?

We cannot hold anything too closely to our hearts except for Christ, especially not the wealth and possession of this world.

Let us pray this prayer of Mary Fletcher.

Closing Prayer:

Thy will be done!  Yes, my adorable Lord, strip me of every penny.  Bring me not only to poverty, but what I far more dread, to insolvency [inability to pay debts].  Yes! Strip me even of reputation.  Let me be as ‘filth and offscouring [trash] of all things.’ Only let me have thy approval, and all shall be well.  Yes, I will praise thee for all, and most for the severe.

– Mary Fletcher *

* Mary Fletcher (1739 – 1815) was a close friend of John Wesley and an early Methodist leader and preacher.  She was the beloved wife of Rev. John Fletcher, the man who Wesley chose as his successor (before John Fletcher’s early death).  Mary and her husband partnered together in ministry transcending traditional gender roles.  After John’s early death in 1785, Mary continued to preach and teach.  Throughout her life Mary placed the highest importance on her spiritual communion with God as is evidenced by the frequent mention of dreams and other mystical practices in her journal.

“I Never Had Any” – March 18, Fifth Thursday in Lent

Matthew 5:43-48 NRSV

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 6:14-15 NRSV

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

I was speaking with an old monk in Ohio about a year and a half ago and I asked him why he decided to enter the monastery he started to tell me about a woman who was like a mother to him.  He said that on her death-bed a priest came to hear her final confession.  He went through everything as normal and then asked her “Do you forgive all of your enemies and those who have sinned against you.”  She replied “no.”  The priest was taken aback by this answer because this lady was not only very holy, but she was also on her death-bed.  He asked her again “Do you forgive your enemies?” to which she again replied “No.”

After a few moments the priest began to ask her how she expected to enter into heaven if she was so unwilling to forgive her enemies since Jesus clearly calls us to forgives us our enemies.  She looked at the priest and simply said “I never had any.”

The monk looked at me and smiled.  He said “that’s why I decided to become a monk, I wanted to learn how not to have any enemies.”

Forgiving enemies is really hard.  If people wrong me I have a hard time letting go, forgiving them, and moving on.  This gets even more complicated when we put faces to the term “enemies.”  When I think of person X or Y and think of their actions forgiveness becomes even harder.  Who are your enemies?  Who are those individuals that society tells you it’s alright to hate.  Who is the person who mistreated you, embarrassed you, physically harmed you.  We could continue to life up situation after situation where society tells you that it’s completely justifiable to hate that person or group of people.  But this is not the way of Jesus.

Jesus was wronged, and yet he loved.  Jesus was harmed, and yet he forgave.  Jesus was the subject of abuse and scorn, and yet he prayed for them.  This is the way of Christians and the call of the Gospel.

The story the monk told me is a hard one to hear, but I think this what Jesus is intending.  She said she had no enemies but I can almost guarantee that she had been wronged in her life.  She had no enemies but I’m sure that she was mocked and mistreated.  The difference is that she allowed the love of Christ to transform her so much that she thought of these people in love and not hate.

Our calling as followers of Jesus is to love so much that forgiveness becomes second nature.  For when forgiveness becomes so deeply rooted as part of our being we can begin to truly say that we don’t have any.  We won’t have any enemies not because we won’t be mistreated and wronged, but because the love of Christ will lead us to forgiveness even while we are being wronged.

During this Lenten season let us focus on forgiveness.  Let us allow the love of Christ to pierce every part of our soul so that forgiveness becomes part of our being.

Closing Prayer:

O Lord and master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.  But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.  O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother or sister for blessed are you always.  Amen

– The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem

Salt and St. Patrick – March 17, The Fifth Wednesday of Lent

Matthew 5:11-16 NIV

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Living the Gospel is hard.  Being conformed to Christ is difficult because it involves change on our part.  As we change and become more Christ-like we will become more and more different from the rest of the world.  Jesus doesn’t promise that things will always go well for us if we follow him, in fact he sets forth in this passage that persecution is a very real possibility.  We will be different, so different, in fact, that Jesus calls us salt in the midst and light implying that we will stand out from the rest of the world.

The call to us as Christians in this short passage is to truly live our faith no matter what the cost.  We need to live our faith so much that it is seen by everyone around us.  We you look at a lit candle you can’t help but notice the light and when you taste salt you know it without a doubt.  This is the way it should be with us, people who spend time with us should be able to say that they can’t help but to see Jesus when they’re around us.  This is the call for our lives.

Much is made today of a man named Saint Patrick.  But what is a saint?  Sure there may be some variation to the different definitions but at the very root of it all a Christian saint is a person who when you talk about them or think about them you can’t help but think about and talk about Jesus.  A saint is a person who so much looks, acts, and lives like Christ that to merely speak their name brings thoughts of Jesus to your mind.  And so it is with St. Patrick.

Saint Patrick was born around 385 near what is modern-day Britain.  When he was sixteen years old marauders raided his village and he was taken to Ireland as a captive and made a slave.  During his captivity Patrick spent much time in prayer despite the cruelty of those whom held him as a slave.  After six years he escaped from captivity and traveled nearly 200 miles on foot in order to board a ship to take him back to Britain.

Some time later Patrick was ordained and had dreams about going back to Ireland to become a missionary.  Patrick’s mission was a great success (in part because he had learned the language during his years in slavery).  Patrick worked greatly for the Lord, founding numerous churches and monasteries all across Ireland.  His works, however wasn’t always so easy.  He faced great persecution from the Druidic tribes but persevered in his work, shining the light of Christ to all he encountered.

Patrick had a deep love God and for the people of Ireland and wanted nothing more than to show Christ to everyone he encountered.  Here are some of his words:

I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.

And if at any time I managed anything of good for the sake of my God whom I love, I beg of him that he grant it to me to shed my blood for his name with proselytes and captives, even should I be left unburied, or even were my wretched body to be torn limb from limb by dogs or savage beasts, or were it to be devoured by the birds of the air, I think, most surely, were this to have happened to me, I had saved both my soul and my body. For beyond any doubt on that day we shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as children of the living God and co-heirs of Christ, made in his image; for we shall reign through him and for him and in him.

For the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ’s will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen.

It is because of his great love for God and spreading the Gospel that St. Patrick is remembered.  Patrick was a person who was both God’s Salt and Light to the people of Ireland even though he was greatly persecuted.  Patrick was a person that causes us to think about God and desire to the salt and light of God.

Let us draw closer to God this Lenten season that we might truly be the salt and light of God all year-round.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Speech – March 16, The Fourth Tuesday of Lent

Usually I don’t even think about my ability to talk.  I take it for granted and am seldom truly thankful for God for this ability.  Sometime I use my speech for good and godly conversations and sometimes I use it for evil.  Sometimes my words are encouraging and loving and other times I speak too quickly or out of anger or without restraint and my words are not uplifting, not loving, and not holy.

Our speech and our words are truly a tricky thing.  They can build others up or  they can tear others down.  As something I read the other day said; “[our] words can be prideful or humble, judgmental or forgiving.”  We have to guard our words.  Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that we will be held accountable for “every careless word” we speak (Matthew 12:36).

The book of James spends a great deal of time talking about our speech:

James 3:2-12 TNIV

We all stumble in many ways. Those who are never at fault in what they say are perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by human beings, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

James talks about “the tongue” and by this he means the word we speak.  It is important for us to watch our speech.  We need to constantly be aware of the type of words we are speaking.

“Are my words prideful? Do I spread rumors about others? Do I gossip about people?  Am I mean and cutting with what I say?  Do I build other up or tear them down?  Are my words directed by God?”  These are the sorts of questions that we need to ask ourselves.

Lent teaches us to watch our words.  Just as we watch what we put into our bodies through fasting we also need to watch what comes out of our bodies in the form of words.

May God help us to speak words of truth and love instead of words of pride, judgement, gossip, and anger.

Closing Prayer:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

– Psalm 19:14 NIV

New Creations – March 15 – The Fourth Monday of Lent

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NIV

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is one of the lectionary readings from yesterday.  In this scripture Paul reminds us that if we are in Christ we are new creations.  Think about that for a second: a new creation.  Not just new in part, but totally new; Paul is clear in saying that “the old is gone, the new has come.”

As new creations we are being continually formed into the image of God that was messed up in the Garden of Eden.  We journey as new creations seeking God and striving to me molded more and more into Christ-likeness so that in Christ we might as Paul says “become the righteousness of God.”  We journey, but sometimes along the road we hit some bumps.  Sometimes we sin, sometimes we fall, and sometimes we don’t act like new creations.  Usually when this happens we get up, brush ourselves off, and get back on our way following Christ knowing that in his grace he hears our repentance and forgives us our sins.  But sometimes, something else happens.

Sometimes we don’t realize the sin we’re allowing in our lives or sometimes we don’t think it’s a big deal.  Sometimes some things like the pride we talked about the other day, or lust, or anger creep in and they begin to eat us away.  Sometimes these things get into our lives and they slowly begin to spiritually kill us.  This is what we see in yesterday’s reading from the Psalms.

Psalm 32 TNIV

Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

Blessed are those
whose sin the LORD does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.

For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.

You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.

Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds those who trust in him.

Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!

David describes himself as “wasting away” and he says that God’s hand was “heavy” upon him.  David was in agony because he had allowed sin to creep into his life so much that it was destroying him.  This is how it is with us as well.  Because we are new creations we cannot continue to live as everyone around us does.  Everywhere you look people in society are feeding off of pride, power, lust, anger, and the list could continue.  We are different.  These things cannot be our way of life – they cannot be what we put into ourselves. We cannot be dominated by these things because we are new creations.  We must say “no” to them and not let sin creep in and destroy us.

We are called to become the righteousness of God and one step in that is remember that as new creations everything about us is different.  Not just our identity, but the way we live and the things on which we focus.  Lent reminds us of this.  It reminds us to discipline ourselves ad focus on Christ.  It reminds us to sustain ourselves on the things of God so that sin cannot subtly creep in and cause us to waste away.

May God continually remind us all that we are new creations and let this spur us onward to saying “no” to every kind of sin which so easily entangles.

Closing Prayer:

O Lord and master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.  But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.  O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother or sister for blessed are you always.  Amen

– The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem