Author: tbc

Are We Too Early? Romans 10:8b-13

Lent is not the season to pretend that Jesus has not yet risen from the grave. Instead, it is the season to remember the place of suffering in the magnificent story of Jesus, of the “Christ event.” During Lent we are reminded that suffering and submission are entwined with salvation. Jesus inquired about that for us and with us in the garden when he prayed to see if there was another way.

Salvation awaits our confession that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus died. We must also believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. That’s not all, but it is the beginning. Lent prepares us for the death of the Lord, himself. This puts all other deaths and suffering into perspective. Any who would try to shame us end up reinforcing the fact that we are on the path Jesus walked. Suffering marks a step taken, a step that brings us closer to Jesus.

Lent reminds us of our deepest identification with Christ. Jesus holds one end of our pain, one end of our grief, our shame, and our fear. There is joy in nearness to Christ, of course. But there is something very personal about pain, and Jesus is appropriately present in our pain-pain of every sort. His presence is our salvation; we call out to Jesus and we feel his presence as a tug, a touch, a lifting that says, “I’m here.” Believing and knowing bow to the touch that comes in response to our call. Christ is with us and we are saved.

Prayer is an act of confession that says we believe Jesus is Lord. We may not understand all of his ways, but we believe he is there to hear us. In our hearts there is a knowing that says our prayer and confession is not in vain. Lent is there for us when we are not in a position to gladly know that Jesus is Lord.

Acknowledging our need for the Lord to save us puts all people on the same level. Our need for God does not diminish us, nor does it elevate us above anyone else. It does help us to see that we are no different from any other person. Who did we once consider “other”? Who did we once consider “less” or “lower” or “above” us? We are the same in our need of the Lord; we are the same before Jesus who is the Lord who died and lives and justifies. Lent can bring down walls, or it can keep them from going up. Lent shows haughtiness to be on the side of those who condemned Jesus; it causes us to feel the spit and the whip and the cutting words.

Returning to God is calling on the name of Jesus, the one who suffered and died, to grab hold of our pain and help us carry it. Returning to God is to call on the name of Jesus to make something out of all that is falling apart. We might not think to call in this way if we were not reminded that this is not new territory to Jesus. Jesus is our hope and our salvation, the one who returned to be our redeemer. When we turn to Jesus, he turns to death and says, “She is no longer yours, I am here for him,” and we are saved. We call upon the Lord, and an upward force, greater than the dragging down we have known, turns things around.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v 13). Are we too early in Lent to hear this? We are not. Hearing these words this early in Lent gives us the remainder of the season to consider what it meant to Jesus for the word “everyone” to include me. We may need the time.

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

 

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

The central symbol of the Christian faith is an ancient torture device.

Only employed against the most heinous criminals and those guilty of treason, the cross now enjoys a revival of epic proportions.We forge its shape into elaborate jewelry and wear it around our necks with ease. Some of us hang its likeness as decor on the walls of our homes, while others of us have it tattooed on our bodies. We are no longer unnerved by its shape, but comforted by it. It has become a symbol loaded with meaning, but what exactly does it mean?

For centuries, it has been imbued with special significance for the Christian faith, but it is no easy symbol. It represents both death and new-life, both a place of great suffering and the means of our restoration. In it, we are reminded of who it is that God sent to save all humankind… and who it was that executed him. The cross is complex, often beckoning us to accept forgiveness in the same moment that it takes us to task about how casually we have chosen to walk through God’s world.

In this 5-week series, we’ll consider the complexity of the cross as the central symbol of the Christian faith and how it not only reveals to us who God is, but also who it is that God desires for us to be!

Schedule:
Feb. 20: Where Fear Meets Hope, Dr. Phyllis Rodgerson-Pleasants
Feb. 27: The Event of Judgment and Forgiveness, Rev. Justin Joplin
Mar. 6: Both/And: The Cross as Crossroads for People Living Between the Poles, Dan Schumacher
Mar. 13: The Location of Suffering and Healing, Dr. Dan Bagby
Mar. 20: An Example to be Rejected and Emulated, Dr. Valerie Carter

God Is Our Refuge and Fortress, Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Too many of us feel that there is no light in Lent, or that ashes on the forehead mean a light switch has been turned off. But in today’s passage there is a call to return, with light for the path back. The first two verses of the ninety-first psalm give a bit of warning. This is not to frighten us, but to let us know that no one is immune from life’s difficulties and dangers. Verse 1 tells us there will be times when those “who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty” will find themselves returning to God, reassuring themselves with a prayer of affirmation. They “will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust’ “ (v 2).

This, too, is Lent-the reassurance that the Lord is our refuge and our fortress. It is good to be reminded of this before the time of crisis is upon us. We don’t know how many times divine intervention protects us, but we do know that we, like Jesus and everyone else, are susceptible to disease, injury, and disaster. What we also know, what is contained in the phrase, “My refuge and my fortress,” is that, ultimately, we are held in God’s hands. We are secure in God’s love and power. Lent slows us down and reminds us of this; it reminds us, also, of God’s acquaintance with grief and sorrow.

This passage of scripture is more subtle than most others considered in this little book. It is less harsh, but it is not too bright for Lent. To consider this aspect of Lent is to hear God’s voice in verses 14-16: “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.”

This is what it means to seek refuge in God. Lent calls us back to the name of God, calls us back to a continuing awareness of the presence of God. Those who live in that awareness will be delivered by and to God in one way or another. This is not sleight of hand or word play; it is knowing simply that God is with us and will deliver us. Lent calls us to prayer and assures us that God hears, understands, and answers our prayer (v 15). When it seems that God does not hear or care or answer, Lent reminds us that God is with us in our fears and frustrations. In those moments, the God who seems far away is actually our refuge and fortress, and is at our side. Why doesn’t God just make it right in the obvious way of making it right? We don’t know why, but the scripture assures us God understands and hears, and is with us in the pain and struggle.

In verses 9-13 we find beautiful words that we would almost rather not read. They seem to be promises for someone else, and seem to indicate that there is blessing out there for which we, for some reason, don’t qualify. But a more careful reading, from the grayness of Lent, connects us with visions of the coming peaceable kingdom, when lions shall take naps with lambs, and the young shall play with venomous snakes without harm. This passage is difficult to understand; there’s no denying that. Even the devil knew that when he used verse 12 to tempt Jesus. We must not let this passage be used against us, either. We may express our frustration, fear, and anger to God, but we are not to test God with these promises.

A day is coming when the things we don’t understand will be made clear to us. In the meantime, God is with us; God is our refuge and fortress.

Calm our anxious minds and hearts; silence the frenzied voices.

We bow in your presence.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

Generosity and Perspective, Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Lent and tithing: the connection makes sense when you think about it. Giving back to God a portion of what God has given to us is an effective way to keep both our blessings and our bounty in perspective in a world where want and need is so prevalent. This is not a call to feel guilty or ashamed. It is a call to stewardship, to responsibility, to awareness of our connection to all the people on the earth. God created them; Jesus died for them; and the Spirit nudges us toward them.
This passage in Deuteronomy takes on fresh meaning during Lent, but its teachings shape us throughout the year. What blessings do we have that God did not give us? What suffering do we bear that God, in Christ, does not experience with us? Our tithe, a returning to God, reminds us of this important relationship. The scripture clearly encourages us to accept blessings and inheritances. Just as clearly, this passage encourages us to a constant awareness that gifts from God carry with them a spiritual and a communal significance that is ours to oversee.
Read verse eleven again, ìThen you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.î The gift is bounty, more than you need or can use. The religious community is involved. Also involved are the “aliens”  (displaced and migrant people of another country), and they are to benefit from this bounty. Note that the aliens are living with the recipient, and members of the recipient’s house are to participate. That would include family, servants, and anyone associated with the one who received from God.
The Lenten message here is one of generosity. God’s gifts to us are not meant for us alone. When we receive God’s blessing, we are also commissioned to become a distributor of that blessing. The instructions for distribution push through the dividing lines and categories that may be in place. We are to share, and we are to share beyond personal, familial, economic, and national distinctions. It is in Lent that we are most pointedly called to such communal awareness. It is in Lent that we are brought face to face with our kinship to all within our reach. Christmas calls us to generosity, too. But Lent calls us to a generosity that is also identity, our identity, in God’s eyes.
We are sister and brother to the servant, the slave, and the alien. Our relationship to the gift is affected in the same way. We are not only recipient, but also steward. Lent calls us to a rejoicing for the sake of others and with others; this is a humble rejoicing that shares fully, willingly, and quickly, lest anyone think we are entertaining ungodly thoughts of hoarding. The Lenten celebration is full of gratitude and sharing, and the deep joy that brings.
The Lenten family expands to the Lenten community, and God is worshiped and celebrated in the new and humble transformation of our hearts.

Help us accept the responsibility as readily as we accept the bounty.
Help us to redefine the words brother and sister.

 

A word about the series

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

Pray, read, think and return to God.

We begin our Lenten Series on the Biblical Stations of the Cross. Today’s central passage is Luke 2:39-46, Jesus praying in the Garden. A highlight of the service includes the baptism of Wade Severns.

Misdirected Piety, Matthew 6:1-6,16-20

Lent is as important to the faithful as it is to the believer who has strayed. Lent reminds the faithful follower not to display his or her faithfulness as a badge of honor. The very idea flies in the face of humility and gratitude. Boasting negates the devotion it would have us believe it achieved. Lent has us focus on Christ, his suffering, and our yearning toward Christ-likeness. But, it is a fact that we can feign or even engage in suffering for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. Misdirected is a nice word for such piety.

I have a friend who says that he has always wished he could be a former Marine. He has never wanted to go through the rigors of becoming a Marine; he just wants to be known as a former Marine. His quip is not only a left-handed compliment to the Marine Corps, it also sheds light on the one who wants to be known as dedicated to God. Dedication that focuses the spotlight on us was never dedication to God.

So, “beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them” (v 1). That is timely advice for us during the season of Lent. The wanderer who returns to God will probably be sufficiently humbled by the process to stay humble during the process, but what of the faithful? What of those who welcome Lent even as they welcome Advent? One cannot be puffed up in their journey toward Christ-likeness, for the closer they get the more clearly they will see the one who humbled himself, taking upon himself the form of a servant, even unto death on the cross.

What glory was there in the betrayal, the mock trial, the scourging, the nakedness, the pain, the public humiliation? To boast in the glory of the cross is to see the irony of the suggestion. We are humbled by the cross, humbled all the more as we come closer to the cross and the Christ who died there. Shall we boast in that journey? Dare we draw attention to ourselves in light of Jesus’ magnificent suffering? No. Turn from us as we return to God. Our righteousness is as filthy rags.

In stark contrast Jesus says that a right understanding of fasting and giving and praying will have us engage in such acts of devotion in secret. This is the test of our devotion – done in secret, known only to God. It seems a waste at first, a waste like anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. Think what could have been gained with the perfume. Think what could have been gained by acts of devotion done in the spotlight. It was the pastor/hymn-writer Isaac Watts who gave us the great lines to sing in worship, “My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride” and “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God.”

While Lent may call us to public confession and congregational humility, it calls us equally to private devotion, to new and deeper commitments that can only remain at that depth if kept in secret. This is our personal salvation. This is our personal walk with God. This is Christ in us – the deep commitments made only to God and known only to God. They form us from within, producing a glow of which we are unaware.

All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. 

-Isaac Watts, 1707

 

Reconciled to God, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

We have a tough time sorting out faithfulness, sin, persecution, and blessing. There are some styles of worship and concepts of Christianity that see life’s difficulties as evidence of sin in the individual and weakness in their faith. The continuation of such thinking has servants of God experiencing ease, prosperity, and comfort as evidence of God’s blessing and God’s way of saying, well done.î Christianity of that sort must ignore Lent and much of St. Paul’s writings to stay in business.

Paul’s way of describing God’s call to – Return to me – is to use the phrase and the image of being reconciled to God (5:20). Now, says Paul, is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!î (6:2). With reconciliation to God addressed, Paul proceeds to describe his life as a Christ-follower. What we might expect to be a list of resultant blessings turns out to be a heads-up.

Paul lists, as personal Christ-following experiences, afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger. Some might say, ìWe have that already. Why go through the returning to God disciplines of Lent if, having turned, life isn’t noticeably better? We turn back to God for God’s sake, and for the sake of God’s kingdom and God’s desires for the people of earth. We return to God so that a reconciled people might worship God. We do not turn back to God to make our lives easier.

We observe Lent so that our Christ-following might be renewed, restored, and reoriented to its proper focus. Paul explained in 6:3, ìWe are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way. (6:4). But difficulties still come. Having turned or returned to God, we are able to face the difficulties with endurance, purity, and righteousness. All of these come from God, and everything is seen with new eyes. When we are in proper alignment with God we see the sufferings listed as what happens when we swim upstream against the wisdom of this world. We cannot be that kind of servant with a posture of having turned our back to God.

Lent reorients and emboldens us with humility and a proper understanding of the life and truth and joy that is in Jesus who is our example and whose Spirit dwells in us. Lent reacquaints us with the suffering, humiliation, and false accusations that Jesus (our model) incurred as he embodied the Good News.
Lent calls us to a returning that gives us a new basis for embracing and processing life, a new understanding of meaningful life. Lent reminds us that we may have become too accustomed to a life that seeks comfort, pays dearly for entertainment, and looks at the teachings of Christ with the same sideways glance and skepticism that the world does. Lent reminds us that our sin, as personal as it is, is not just a personal matter. We are obliged to be worshipers of God, disciples of Jesus, and a light to those around us who might otherwise stumble in the dark.

Paul warns that people will not understand our truth, our joy, or our poverty. But we must understand it, and Lent helps us to do so today, and to the glory of God.
We give thanks that through the suffering of Christ we are reconciled to God.
Let Christ be seen in us.

Psalm 51:1-17: A Clean Heart

The point of this passage is not difficult to discern. Verse 17 is the summation: ìThe sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.    The strength of our spirit is often seen as our first line of defense and the ultimate source of our victory in any sort of battle. Here the psalmist calls for our spirits to be broken. Such vulnerability as a lifestyle is difficult to imagine, but this passage imagines in us a new and right spirit (v 10), God’s holy spirit (v 11), and a willing spirit (v 12). The bases are covered. Our orientation is turned toward God, secure in God, returned to God and God’s way of seeing the world. The psalmist refers to this process as a cleansing (v 2), a purging (v 7), and a washing (v 7). All result in a clean heart (v 10).   This is a thorough cleansing in which all things are made new. Lent may be the starting point, but this change is not seasonal. It is not an experiment. In the middle of this psalm and in the middle of the process it suggests, the joy of God’s salvation is restored. For many, this would be nothing short of a miracle. For our relationship to God to be rescued from the mundane, for our Christianity to be more than a political issue, for God’s salvation to put our sin and struggle on God’s screen and off of ours, this would be joy of the deepest sort. The Lenten season exposes the darkness and heaviness of our spirit, but to what light or for what purpose?

The goal of all this is to put us into a position of praise – praise in our corporate worship and praise in our daily lives. What sacrifice would it take to move us from this darkness of struggle and stumbling to the light of joy? This season will eventually answer that question. There is sacrifice, but Jesus is the one who will make it. Our part in it is a broken spirit: a spirit broken enough to admit our helplessness; a spirit broken enough to see the darkness we have become accustomed to; a spirit broken enough to believe that Jesus’ sacrifice just might be our hope.    Our determined spirit is not our first line of defense. Our tough spirit is not the source of our ultimate victory in the battles we face. Turn it all upside down; return it all to God. It is a broken spirit, broken in the face of fear and frustration, that does the trick – broken, vulnerable, humble, given over fully to God. This is counter-intuitive. Such a turning is seen as naive and irresponsible. The concept of a broken spirit ignores our strength; it embraces rather than erases our weakness; it is the thinking of some other world.

It is the thinking of some other kingdom, one that Lent reminds us of. Turning, or re-turning, of this magnitude is a miracle. Can we really speak of miracles in the reality of our world and our time? The Lenten season can take us, in the last portion of the journey, from relying on our hardened, experienced spirit, to final release and reliance on the Spirit of God in us. It is a miracle, but our lying face down before God will make this renewed spirit look normal. It is a rational first line of defense and a reliable ultimate source of victory.   The Lenten path, even with its cross, is the Way to the joy of salvation.

Have mercy, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

 

 

Isaiah 58:1-12

Lenten Trumpets   In this passage of scripture, Isaiah is instructed to be God’s trumpet, sounded to wake the people from their half-hearted worship, half-hearted because they are doing the Sunday part of worship but not the Monday-Saturday part. Worship, God says, has become something that serves our own interests. (v 3) The accusation clouds the sun of our Sunday. The evidence brought forth to support God’s case presses us down and casts a shadow on all we would call success.    We oppress our workers, quarrel and fight, tighten the bonds of injustice, withhold our bread from the hungry, and ignore the homeless. These truths point to the other half, the missing half of our half-hearted worship. This passage of scripture calls us to sackcloth and ashes, and for a bowing of the head in shame and repentance. We cannot ignore or fail to acknowledge that the issues raised are the issues of our national politics. These issues are the issues of our congregational budgets. They shed light on our individual and family budgets, our to-do lists, and our understanding of neighbor. These are the issues that distort our Sunday songs and prayers.

 

God instructs the prophet Isaiah, ìDo not hold back!î (v 1).   But the Lenten trumpets do not seal our doom. Instead, they awaken us to the necessary points of turning. The term ìturning pointî means something to us. This list of accusations can be a list of turning points, of ìre-turningî points. The weight of Lenten grey and gloom, of Lenten honesty and guilt rightly brings us to our knees, but we do not have to be crushed by the weight.    Worship that turns us and leads us in returning to God, and Godís desire for justice and mercy for and among the poor and oppressed, is the whole-hearted worship God desires and deserves. It is the only approach to God that can confidently be termed worship. God said this through the prophet Isaiah. The season of Lent stops our self-centered rushing around and unstops our self-focused ears. We speak of the relevance of worship while God speaks of its acceptability. We speak of worshipís connection with culture, and God speaks of worshipís disconnect with justice, mercy, and human dignity. Turn. Return. Quarreling over issues of health, hunger, and poverty is not addressing those issues (v 4). Quarreling and fighting exposes our half-heartedness.

 

The turning to God that the Lenten season would facilitate changes the scene drastically. Sharing our food with the hungry, opening our houses to the homeless, covering the naked with clothes and dignityóthis turning will cause light to break forth like the dawn and the springing up of healing (V 8). God will guide us in the timing, strategy, and focus of it all. Such turning will result in the meeting of needs of parched places and the rebuilding of places ruined by warís greed and fear and cruelty. Worship that honors and reflects Godís embracing of the poor will bring about a new normalcy for generations to come.   But clouds roll inónot clouds of refreshing rain, but clouds of fear. We need the food. We need the economic and political structure that we associate with freedom. We need the security that forces us into oppressing barriers and profiling and guardedness. And our worship loses half of its heart, and the weeping that should be ours, is Godís.   Then comes Lent with its trumpets and tears, and hope of returning to God turns blackness toward grey. God, who would be worshiped, we turn our hearts to youand ask for your guidance into wholeness.

 

A Word about our Lenten Series:

The Lenten season has always inspired many people to create everything from poems, art and music to a completely new direction in their lives.  This Lenten season Tabernacle will be exploring many of those creations in the hope of inspiring you to compose in a medium that is natural for you.   The paintings in the Sanctuary are of the Biblical Stations of the Cross.  The artist, Grieg Leach, completed them in 2010.  They will help us to visualize the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  In addition to the paintings there is a Lenten devotional booklet, Return to Me, which is available in print or online.  The Stations of the Cross also inspired these devotions, written by Terry York of Baylor University.   Living with these two bodies of artistic expression based on the Biblical Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent should help us as we seek to return our lives to God by walking with Jesus though his final days.

 

Pray, read, think and return to God.