Revelation 10: Sweet to the Taste, Bitter Going Down.

Observation: Revelation is weird. It's meant to be. It's chock full of images that would have made sense as code language to other first century Jews, but some of it is still weird. I think one big mistake we make reading apocalyptic literature, is to assume its authors had some hobby-horse to ride, some hidden message to tuck into every verse. That may often be the case. Sometimes, however, it's entirely possible even the authors didn't have any clue exactly what they were looking at, and they made their best attempt to describe it. If it's really from God, why would we assume we can understand it all?

Application: An image that sticks with me here is of a scroll that's sweet at first, but makes you feel queasy later. That's God's word to a "T". Sure, loving one another sounds great. But after the hundredth time THIS MORNING that my son rebels against the most basic getting ready for school things that he does every day, that love doesn't always sit well. Forgiveness tastes really sweet when it's a brother or sister forgiving us, but it leaves you a bit seasick  when it's time to forgive another. God's grace is an awesome concept, but actually accepting that I'm a sinner who needs it, all the time, every day, without any hope of earning even a fraction of it...that gets my gut churning. 

God's word may be sweet sometimes, but the more reflect on what it actually means for our lives, the more it unsettles our stomachs, and our lives. Thankfully, when it gets to be too much, Jesus is right there with the Gatorade. 

Prayer: God, thanks for your word, which unsettles in us that which should not be settled. Amen. 

Matthew 9:27-34. Mercy, Mercy Me...

Observation: Two blind men flag Jesus down with the words, "Have Mercy on us, Son of David!" Jesus heals them by their faith. 

Application: "Kyrie Eleison" or "Lord have mercy" is one of the oldest prayers in the Christian tradition. One practice of prayer which I have found meaningful is to repeat the words "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me", over and over, until they continue on in my heart, almost without my prompting. 

In the Christian liturgy, the "Kyrie" at the beginning of worship is the part where the congregation repeats "Lord, have mercy" in response to various prompts from the Assisting Minister or Cantor. I once had a debate with my dad (also a Lutheran pastor) about whether it's really appropriate, given our understanding of God's grace and love, to still be constantly asking God's mercy. My dad may have been right about this: that we should not view God as constantly punishing us with disease, famine, war, and all manner of troubles, such that we would be begging God's "mercy" each week, on behalf of a suffering world. God is not the one causing all our problems, and we certainly don't need to ask God to let up from giving the poor human race a beating. If we're doing the "Kyrie" for that reason, we may as well stop now. 

But I would argue that's not what we're doing when we sing, "Lord, have mercy." Of course, we already know God is merciful. God doesn't just have  mercy, God is mercy. It's not something we have to ask for, any more than we need to ask for the earth to turn, or the grass to be green. But when we do, we call to our own minds all the mercy God has had on humankind: mercy that finds its ultimate expression in the cross of Christ. To be totally honest, if we limited our prayers to only those things that we suspect God would not remember or be inclined to do, we would never pray anything except "thy will be done," and even that would be redundant. I mean, do we expect to hear, "Oh, you want my will to be done? Well, I was kind of thinking I'd let humankind do its own thing and destroy itself, but hey, I like your idea better. Let's go with that." But we pray for mercy--and for all things--to help ourselves remember what God has done and is doing, and tune us into the places where we can join in.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner. Amen. 

Psalm 146: Oh Psalm 146, Where Have You Been All My Life?

Psalm 146. Seriously. My beat-up "Jesus Justice Jazz" Bible notes that I have read through you at least five times since 2009. It's probably more. But if someone on the street asked me what you say, I would draw a blank. And yet you are my new favorite Psalm. So without further Ado, Psalm 146, here is my list of reasons why I love you.

1. Because you say "Praise the Lord" like fifty times, which I know is the English translation of Alleluia, and it being Lent, your whole vibe is just refreshing.

2. Your "Alleluias" remind me of an outstanding performance by Michael and Lisa Gungor last night: their encore was a rocking blues chorus of "Alleluias" and they echoed through this beautiful neogothic chapel, and no joke, I could almost see the little marble angels headbanging.

3. You tell me that the Lord is concerned about people our society ignores or throws away: prisoners, people with disabilities, strangers (immigrants), orphans, and widows (the poor).

4. You remind me that the Lord made the whole universe and is faithful not just for a long time, but forever.

5. You remind me not to put my trust in princes (or legislators, or judges, or even presidents) because they are mortal and their plans pass away with them. 

6. You say "Praise the Lord, my soul", which reminds me that sometimes your mouth has to remind your soul to do something it doesn't always feel like doing, until inspiration returns.

7. You remind me that God executes justice for the oppressed.

8. You remind me that God gives food to the hungry.

9. In reminding me of these things right next to each other, you remind me that God does not think simply feeding without justice will ever cut it. 

10. Because I just want to read the whole thing over again, and I think I'm going to right now. 

Prayer: God, my soul praises you, because you are eternal, but you care about mortals. Help me care too. Amen.

Acts 9:1-20 "Who Are You, Lord?"

Observation: It's much easier for Saul to pursue and imprison Christians before he actually meets Jesus. When that happens, everything has to change. 

Application: I heard a fascinating story on "This American Life" last year. After Proposition 8 passed in California (banning same-gender marriage) a group of canvassers went door to door to engage in real, heart-felt conversations with neighborhood residents about their views on same-gender relationships. Here's the kicker: the canvassers themselves were gay, and opened up a bit about their own stories with residents. What they found was that this had a lasting, demonstrable effect on people's viewpoints in a way that marketing or other impersonal efforts did not. Actually meeting and talking to an LGBTQ person made a difference. 

I realize Christians continue to be deeply divided on this issue. My hope is that we can find ways to love one another, as well as our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. But the lesson of Saul is clear: meeting the "other" face to face is transformational. In these divided times, there is no substitute for asking the question "Who are you, Lord?" and realizing it may well be someone we least expect. 

Prayer: Lord, show us your face. Strike us blind, if need be, that in time, we may truly see you in those we fail to understand. Amen. 

Psalm 23: Surely Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me

Observation: in such a familiar Psalm, it's easy to gloss over details. Since this is attributed to David, we can only imagine the dangers and "dark valleys" he faced as king. God was with him through it all.

Application: When I was an intern in Libby, Montana, a member of our church asked me to participate in a bike tour through the Cabinet mountains. I wasn't a rider (I didn't have the right kind of bike nor, even at 25, was I in good enough shape for that!). I was a helper. I drove a car, slowly, behind the last rider, in case someone had a flat, needed a bike pump, or got exhausted or injured and needed a ride. I didn't end up needing to help many people, but I followed along just in case. 

When I read "surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life," this is the memory that pops up. A helper, just behind you all the way, who you may not remember is there until you need them. It's unfortunate that we sometimes forget about all God's goodness and mercy until the wheels fall off the cart and we need to be saved. But I'm still glad to know it's there. 

Prayer: God, thank you for your goodness and mercy. Thank you for the many people you have put in my life to remind me that I may walk through dark valleys, but I don't walk alone. Amen.

Ephesians 4:25-32 What is Useful for Building Up

Observation: Toward the end of his letter to Christians in Ephesus, Paul offers ethical advice on ow to live as Christians. He pays special attention to speech, and raises the bar: it's important that what we say not only be true, but "useful for building up."

Application: When I was six or seven years old, my dad had a very early model home computer. I don't remember the exact model, but I do remember that it was pre-windows, so if you wanted something to appear on that nice, green screen, you had to know the proper command to type in. 

Believe it or not, it was on that computer that I played a game with graphics that I've yet to see matched on any computer since. It was an adventure game called "Zork." The entire world of the game was created with words: descriptions of where you are, in simple, green text on a black computer screen. You simply told the computer what you wanted to do, and where you wanted to go, and it would create new rooms, new characters, new machines, new worlds for you, simply with words. I've played an awful lot of games since, but I can still mentally walk through the world of Zork, which I encountered first at age six, because that world was created with simple words, in my own mind. 

Words really do build worlds. Whether it's in a text-based game, or a good book, or a conversation with a friend about a wonderful vacation, we are created as story-telling creatures. The world we inhabit is heavily influenced by the words we listen to, and the words we speak. If we only speak and  only listen to words of anger and bitterness, the world around us becomes angry and bitter. If we speak and hear words of love and wonder, that's the world we will inhabit. Especially in this new era of information overload, where folks from all walks of life need to be on the watch for "alternative facts", it's essential that we pay attention to the world our words are describing, but also the world they are building. 

That's why it is so vital to heed Paul's advice, that it's not nearly enough that our words be true, but also that they be useful for building up. If a statement is true, but it will tear down the trust, confidence, or sense of wellbeing of the person you're talking to, think carefully about whether it needs to be said. We are building up Christian disciples: lives that look like the life of Jesus. Therefore, the world which our words build up needs to look like one of which Jesus is Lord. 

Prayer: God, thank you for your Word, Jesus Christ, who became flesh and walked among us.

Thank you for your Word, contained in Scripture, which challenges us, but more importantly saves us through faith. 

Thank you for your Word among us, as we proclaim your Gospel  and witness your great works to one another and to the world.

Help us in our hearing and our speaking to build the world you would have us build: a world in which your will is done on earth as in heaven. Amen.

Jeremiah 2:4-13 Where Is Your Fountain?

Observation: Jeremiah is frustrated with the people of Judah (his home country) because of their worship of Baal and other gods and idols of Canaan. God uses the language of a lawsuit against the people of Israel. The major claims are not only have the people not turned to God as "living Water", but they have tried to build their own leaky cisterns.

Application: The lesson I keep learning, and forgetting, and learning, and forgetting again, and learning again, is that my own spirit is finite, and on top of that, it's leaking pretty bad. But God's spirit is living water: it is a constantly renewing resource. Trying to depend on just my own strength, creativity, energy, enthusiasm, resiliency, and trust works out well, for maybe as couple days at a stretch. But without turning to God, I will burn out.  All the "water" my spirit holds will leak out the sides of the imperfect vessel that is me. 

We have all been to a place where it's not just our capacity to pursue our dreams, but even our ability to dream, runs dry. This is because we're human. We don't have our own well of spirit. Our spirit is replenished by God. In this season of Lent, may we find God's living water, and may it water our spirits for the sake of growth.

Prayer: Lord, help me return to your Living Water always.   

Colossians 1:15-23. Reconciliation Is About More than Just "Me".

The Cosmic Christ, by Sister Rebecca Shinas

Observation: You'd be hard-pressed to find a more sweeping vision of Jesus anywhere in the Bible. Jesus is called the "firstborn of creation," and also "firstborn of the dead," through him all things were made, in him all things hold together, and through his sacrifice on the cross God is pleased to reconcile all things to the Divine Self.

Application: WAY too much of American faith seems to be about "Me and Jesus." Much of the church in our culture holds to the central principle that each individual person is "saved" by his or her conscious decision to accept Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior. It may surprise you to know that nowhere in the New Testament--not once, from the very first genealogy of Matthew's Gospel to the final "Amen" of Revelation--does the phrase "accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior" appear. Not once.

And yet in many, many places, including this first chapter of Colossians, the early witnesses to our faith emphasize exactly how BIG and all-consuming God's salvation through the cross of Christ really is. Through Jesus, God is pleased--not disappointed or begrudging, but pleased--to reconcile all things, whether on earth of in heaven, to Godself. If they had language about solar systems and galaxies, clusters and super-clusters, dimensions and other planes of existence, they would have used that too, to emphasize that God's will to make peace with the whole creation applies to every conceivable part of that creation.

Does God want us to live into that peace? To let it affect our individual lives? To join Paul in proclaiming it "to every creature under heaven" (which, I assume, would involve caring for our fellow animals on this planet)? Yes, of course. But do I believe that this breathtaking cosmic symphony of love will come to an abrupt, awkward end and leave me behind if at the time of my death, I have doubts about some fine point of Christian doctrine? I really don't think so.

Even in Colossians, it does say faith is vital. This reconciliation will be felt more deeply in our hearts if we can reconcile our own consciousness to it; the sooner, the better. Why waste another day at war with myself and the world, when there is peace to be had in Christ? But faith or no, individual acceptance or no, there is something much, much bigger than ourselves going on in the cross of Christ than we are able to know or understand. Thanks be to God for that.

Prayer: God, thank you for making peace with me, with us, with the whole creation. Amen.     

Psalm 128: Struggling Against the Prosperity Gospel

Observation: Psalm 128 articulates what is, whether I like it or not, a view not uncommon in the Bible: For the one who fears the Lord and obeys God, life will be good and prosperous.

Application: 

Nope. Not always.

It is certainly a popular view among many people of faith, and maybe even people without faith, that it's just as simple as that: Do good things, good things will happen to you (e.g., the ludicrously simplified concept of "karma" from the show "My Name is Earl"). This is a hallmark of  the theology of many organizations that profess to be Christian. My wife tells me the story of a day as a chaplain in a state mental hospital in Columbus, Ohio, which is also home to a nationally televised prosperity mega-church.The patient was devastated because they had sent in more money than they could afford to this ministry, and had received an official letter saying "your financial blessing from God will come within the month." Sure enough, more than a month had passed. 

A fictional example of this phenomenon came in a 1996 episode of the Simpsons called "Hurricane Neddy," when everyone's favorite Christian stereotype, Ned Flanders, suffers the misfortune of being the only one in his neighborhood to have his home destroyed by a hurricane. In a climactic moment, Ned prays, 

“Why me, Lord? Where have I gone wrong? I've always been nice to people. I don't drink or dance or swear. I've even kept Kosher just to be on the safe side. I've done everything the bible says, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff. What more could I do? I feel like I'm coming apart here. I want to yell out, but I just can't dang-diddily-do-dang, do-dang-diddily-darn do it!”

There are, indeed, places in the Bible, like Psalm 128, that suggest God rewards faithfulness and obedience with prosperity. But there are many other places, including the entire Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, and most importantly, all four Gospels, that say sometimes even those we may consider "good", who have done nothing to deserve it, have bad things happen to them. God does not use a "smite" button to directly punish evildoers and reward the faithful and the kind. The chaotic reality of living in a world dominated by sin is that sometimes terrible things happen to people who don't deserve it--indeed, sometimes these things are so terrible that no one could deserve it--and when they do, God does not sit back with arms crossed, but sits with us in the pain. God did not push a button to make this happen. But God will weep with us and bear our suffering to the cross. 

I realize that simply saying "The Prosperity Gospel is against the Gospel of Jesus Christ", while satisfying for me, does not ease the grief or pain of those whose suffering seems random and unnecessary. It's an intellectual argument, when what God calls for is a compassionate heart. So that's my challenge for all of you today: whether or not you feel you can make sense of suffering, you can still sit with (and if needed STAND with) those who suffer. That is our duty as the Body of Christ.

Prayer: God, for those today whose suffering is needless, for those searching for meaning when no meaning seems forthcoming, for those deluded by simplistic notions of morality and prosperity, who follow you only because they feel it will directly benefit them, I pray for mercy and healing. Amen.    

 

Hebrews 3:1-6 Built By God

Observation: The writer of Hebrews is comparing and contrasting Moses' and Jesus' ministries. Whereas Moses was faithful in God's house (the temple) Jesus was not only faithful, but he built the house, because God builds all things.

Application: Although I have serious doubts about "Intelligent Design" as a subject in public school science classes, it is a core concept of Christian theology. It's very important to me to know that neither I, nor any person, was an accident. God dreamed, designed, and built each of us, on purpose. Though none of us is perfect and we're all distorted by this fallen world, we're each a direct product of God's hand. Mind you, my faith allows that the tool in God's hand may have been evolution. In fact, it only deepens my awe and reverence to know a tiny bit more about God's methods of creating. But ultimately, I'm grateful for the knowledge that God decided--before time began--that I would exist, and was pleased with the thought.
Prayer: God, thank you for dreaming and building me. Teach me to value myself--body, mind, spirit--as your handiwork. Amen.

Romans 3:21-31. Didn't Earn It. Don't Deserve It. Still need it. God Provides It.

Observation: After setting up a case for God's righteous judgment--that all human beings have sinned and fallen short of God's expectations--Paul announces what will be the central theme of his writing: God's Grace, offered to us as a gift, through faith in Christ.

Application: It seems too good to be true. It really does. I have now spent 36 years on this planet, I'm a cradle Lutheran--Grace is kind of a big deal for us--yet it still seems too good to be true.
Why? Two reasons.
First, because I know me. I have to be me all the time. You've seen me at my best. Maybe a few of you have seen a few of my less-than-proud moments, but I've seen it all. And I know what it feels like, at the end of the day, like Buddy the Elf, to say to God, "I'm going to come up a little short today..." Every day.
Second, because in this world, for every time we hear about God's grace (even if we hear it a lot), we hear ten more times that "there's no such thing as a free lunch", and that if we can't earn it for ourselves, we must not have wanted it or needed it anyway. If a right relationship with God is a valuable commodity, why on earth would God just stand there giving it out for free to all comers? It's bad economics. It's bad policy. It'll drive the market price way down.

You may be like me. Struggling to believe, to trust, that Jesus really did offer himself for us--for you--and God wants nothing in return. Nothing. It doesn't make sense. God's patience, God's love, must have some limit. This barrel must have a bottom. I mean, come on. And plus I may know you, but you really know you--you know the "you" that nobody else knows. And no way is Jesus dying for that...right?

Nope. Not right. He is. He did. Believe it or not, God knows you better than you know yourself, even the "you" you will become, which, spoiler alert, will not be any more worthy of God's unconditional love and mercy than the "you" you are now. All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God, but all are made right by God's grace. Free.

As. A. Gift. No strings attached.

It's completely counter-cultural, and nonsensical, and that's why we need to take every opportunity to hear this word, to be reminded of it by someone outside ourselves, not just as a motivational platitude on a post-it note on a mirror, but from another flesh-and-blood human being who took the time to show up for you. That's the power of the Gospel: God's power, for salvation for all who believe.

Prayer: God, I am indeed a cotton-headed ninnymuggins, unworthy of your love and mercy on my very best day, and I'll tell you right now, today won't be it. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your free gift of grace. I didn't earn it. I don't deserve it. I still need it. Thanks for providing it. Amen.

2 Timothy 1:3-7. The Spirit God Gave You.

Me as an intern in Libby, Montana, 2006

Observation: Paul is writing to inspire and instruct Timothy, a young pastor whom we trained and ordained for ministry, and who is now serving some of the churches Paul himself founded. What strikes me is the amazingly close relationship between Paul and Timothy, and the confidence Paul has that Timothy is indeed called to this work by God, and that God's Spirit will sustain him. 

Application: Today I'm reminded of The Rev. H. Gerard Knoche, the Bishop of the Delaware Maryland Synod who ordained me at All Saints Lutheran Church in Hartland, Michigan on June 17, 2007. No one who ever met Jerry has ever forgotten his big, booming voice, nor his spirit of hospitality, nor his zeal for evangelical outreach. I happened to be in class at Trinity Seminary as the Conference of Bishops made their synodical assignments, so my wife picked up the phone when he called to tell me Maryland would be our new home. Incidentally, she thought he might be a salesman at first--which was not entirely false--but it did make us laugh later. Jerry died last year, and I was one of many in our Synod who gathered to celebrate his life and his hope in the Resurrection life to come. 

I think of Bishop Knoche as I read about "the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands," of course, because laying on of hands is a critical part of ordination. And because I'm creeping up on my tenth anniversary of ordination. And because I'm in the call process...again...and I am so, so grateful for Paul's words, that this gift can be rekindled, even after a little extra mileage and mud from the road and a tune-up or two. I'm looking back with thanksgiving for Jerry, and for all the pastors who have inspired and encouraged me over the years. On the day after International Women's Day, I'm also reminded that, just as Timothy's mother and grandmother formed his faith in meaningful ways, I too can give thanks to God for my mother Lori, my grandmothers Lorraine and Suzy, for my youth leader Pam, and for my pastors as a young adult, Heather and Julianne, all faithful women who shared the Gospel with me.

  

It occurs to me reading this passage that if ever there was a time that I need a little "rekindle", this is it. I see the Holy Spirit shifting things around, making room in new places, and frankly, giving me a little "nudge" out of more familiar places, where I fit in so well before. The worst part is when you feel the "nudge" first, and have to trust that it means something new is happening that you don't know about yet. I'm thankful for the spirit of power, love and self-discipline God has given me--before I was ever called or ordained--at my baptism, when God called me into God's own family. Even when I'm feeling doubtful or confused or (honestly) a little sorry for myself, that Spirit sticks around, ready for a rekindle, in God's time. I pray for you today, that you would remember the same is true for us all.

Prayer: We  give you thanks, O God, that through the waters of baptism you give us new birth, cleanse us from sin, and raise us to eternal life. 

Stir up in your people the gift of your Holy Spirit:

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord,

the Spirit of joy in your presence,

both now and forever.

Amen. 

Exodus 34:1-9, 27-28. To the Thousandth Generation.

Observation: To Moses on the mountain, the Lord declares who the Lord is: merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love to the Thousandth generation, visiting iniquity on the third and fourth generation of those who sin. So, for the math majors out there, that means the Lord shows between 250 and 333 times more love than judgment. This is all poetic language of course, but if you took it literally, we'd still have several centuries left of that original steadfast love shown to Moses and the people. But in fact, God has recommitted many times. 

Application: I am pretty sure I myself am not working on a 333 to 1 Love/Judgment ratio. In fact, I'd say even 1 to 1 would be pretty good for me, and indeed for most of us. Even 2 to 1 would be nothing short of miraculous. This reminds me of Jesus' command to forgive those who sin against us "seventy times seven times." It seems almost ludicrous, naive, logistically impossible, strategically dangerous. But that's exactly what God does for us. Despite constant betrayals of trust, God has stood by us. And as we reflect on that, it empowers us to start working on that Love/Judgment ratio. Let's give up grudges for Lent.

Prayer: God, forgive us our sins, and empower us to forgive those who sin against us. Amen.  

Hebrews 4:14-5:10. Tested As We Are.

Observation: Hebrews says that Jesus is our "high priest" representing the people before God and God before the people. Jesus is uniquely positioned to do this because he has "passed through the heavens" but also has "in every respect been tested as we are". 

Application: I can't presume to know what God did and did not know before becoming flesh in Jesus. It's hard to say if God "knew" what it was like to be human before becoming one. Since God exists outside of time, even the idea of a distinct "before" or "after" doesn't quite make sense. 

What I do know is that before God took on flesh in Jesus, we as flawed, fleeting, time-bound human beings didn't have a concept of God's closeness. We thought of God as far removed from our experience, with no way of knowing how hard it is to be bound in time, in a body, in pain, and tempted by those things which we know will hurt us. If God knew what it was like to be us, we certainly didn't know God knew.

That's the power of the incarnation: the historic moment when God showed up for us in the flesh in Jesus of Nazareth. Those who walked with him saw him get hungry and thirsty, saw him get mad and frustrated, saw him get his feelings hurt by careless people, saw him be tempted by all the things--all the things--which so often hold us captive. God may have felt our pain, before, but God needed to show us. If you need to know that God is with you in your weak moments, look no further than the wilderness of Judea. If you need to know that God rejoices with you, look no further than the wedding at Cana. If you need to know God weeps with you, look no further than the tomb of Lazarus. If you need to know God hurts with you, look no further than the cross. 

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that God did and still does, in fact, feel our pain in all its intensity, even without the incarnation. I can't point to a specific verse to tell me that, but I suspect so. The great thing is, though, that in Jesus, I don't have to guess.

Prayer: God, thanks for rejoicing with us, crying with us, being tested with us, hurting with us, dying with us. Amen. 

Psalm 51: A Broken Spirit

Observation: This is a psalm of repentance, attributed to King David, in the aftermath of his affair with Bathsheba, a married woman. The poetic language of David's confession, and the passion of his plea stands out for me. 

Application: As a young adult, I was in a Bible study with a woman who would probably consider herself a fundamentalist. I remember hearing her say, "All God wants is a broken spirit." I was horrified. This sounded to me like cult language. A "broken spirit" sounds like something you have after being abused and brainwashed, emptied of all critical thought and individuality. No thank you. I'll take the strong, independent spirit God gave me, if it's all the same to you. I can't imagine God wanting to beat that out of me. 

But after reading this psalm many times, and knowing its context, I realize that "a broken spirit" is not a spirit emptied of individuality. It's a spirit brought low by its own pride. 

We humans learn by trying stuff. It would be great if we learned by listening and trusting those who have been where we are, but we don't. We learn by doing the exact thing those with experience tell us not to do, and getting hurt. But by doing so, we learn better than we could by taking someone's word for it. 

The "broken spirit" God wants is not an abused and brainwashed spirit. It's a spirit that has tried doing things its own way, failed, and is ready to trust God in a way it couldn't before. 

Read and believe:

 God is not an abuser.

God is not an abuser.

God. Is. Not. An. Abuser. 

If someone wants to make you other than what you are, and  "break your spirit", they are not of God. 

But if your Spirit has already been broken by this world, by bad relationships and unreliable people, if you have tried putting your trust in finite things and seen them crumble, come to God, who stands ready to mend your spirit.

Prayer: create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit--a spirit strengthened and healed by your spirit--within me. Amen. 

Romans 1:1-7. The End is the Beginning.

Observation: Paul doesn't waste a single word. Even in addressing his letter to the church in Rome (the part we'd just slap on the outside of an envelope) he's doing theology. He talks about himself as an apostle (one who was sent) of Jesus Christ, who was declared to be Son of God by resurrection from the dead.

Application: Typically, if I want to learn about someone, I like to start at the beginning. Where were they born? Where did they grow up? How many siblings did they have? If you're reading a book, you start with chapter one. If you're watching a movie, you want to make sure you catch the first half hour. In the life of Jesus, however, the normal flow of cause and effect, first-this-happened-then-that-happened, gets sort of jumbled up. 

It's hard to over-stress how important this next point is: The entire significance of Jesus' life, and of our faith in him, flows from the empty tomb. Despite the remarkable stories two of the four gospels tell about Jesus' birth, despite the voice from heaven at his baptism, despite the many wonders he works, Paul is right in saying it is the empty tomb--and only the empty tomb--that makes Jesus who he is. Easter is everything. Easter influenced every story told about Jesus afterward, every letter or song written about him, every gathering of people confessing his name (who, not coincidentally, started gathering on Sunday--the first day of the week). Who Jesus is, and who we are as his followers, is centered on the cross and resurrection. Without that, everything else we say and believe about him would fall apart.

There would be no Lent without Easter. We don't turn our hearts and minds to follow a great teacher or orator, a great healer of social worker or political revolutionary. We turn to follow the crucified and risen one, or none of this makes sense. Lent isn't a game of "let's pretend Jesus hasn't died for our sins yet, and let's pretend we're not sure if God forgives us." That's why I disagree with the (mostly outdated) practice of not doing confession and forgiveness during Lent worship. Jesus is risen, always. In our baptism, we have died and risen, too. Because we have already died, we no longer need to live for ourselves. Grace is a present reality, even when we are praying for changed hearts. It's out of our sense of God's grace that we can enter more fully into discipleship in this season. 

Prayer: Risen Christ, we thank you for the Easter dawn that echoes back and forth through time, drawing us into hope. May we live joyfully in it, through fasts and feasts and all the rest. Amen.