Blog – Page 113 – Tabernacle Baptist Church

March 15, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-Seven, 3.15.13

Hosanna. “Save us, we beseech you, O Lord” (v 25). This scene in the Psalm, lived out in the gospels as Jesus entered Jerusalem, has as its “sound track” the combined cries of praise and prayers for salvation. This is our experience of Lent in a nutshell. We enter the discipline of Lent with humble hearts, asking for forgiveness and restoration from the Christ who is about to be executed; yet, we remember from last year’s cycle that, indeed, salvation comes. This is not just a Lenten dichotomy; it is life itself.

Our praise pulls along some pleading, and our pleading anticipates praise in response to answered prayer. This is honest, inevitable, and human. Verse 24 tells us, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This is at the heart of our dichotomy. This day, even if it includes difficulties and darkness, is the day the Lord has made. This day, even when it calls us to examine ourselves before God and we come up short, is the day the Lord has made. In spite of our inconsistencies, the sun continues to rise, and the Lord keeps on making new days and inviting us into them. God brings the dawn even on our dark days. God’s gift is the promise of a new day in which hope rises with the sun.

Verse 28 can be used as a prayer in protest on days when such a prayer is needed. It is a simple prayer that can be prayed into our darkness. It is a prayer that can be shouted in frustration and cried in despair. It is similar to Psalm 22:1, which Jesus prayed from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Pray the determination and stubbornness of Psalm 118:28 when you are angry with God or feel alone. Lent is a time of restored honesty with God, and God can handle it.

His steadfast loves endures forever. However much we would like to channel that love into a change agent in life’s hard circumstances, we finally rely on what it is, and rest in it. His steadfast love endures forever. It endures our distraction away from God. It endures our indifference and our doubts. It suffers with us and rejoices with us, and accepts our praise and our protest. His steadfast love endures forever.

And then the worn thin church word “forever” finally gets our notice. His steadfast love endures forever. It doesn’t miss a beat, even in death, no matter what or whose death it is-our dreams, a loved one, our own, even Jesus. His steadfast love endures forever. Go ahead; enter into life “in the name of the Lord.” His steadfast love endures forever.

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (v 26a). That is Jesus; that is Jesus in us. What a blessing to know that whatever we walk into, it can be said of us, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Peace and strength come with us, even if pain rides along. Forgiveness and grace surround us, even if frustration is in the air.

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (v 29).

Thank you, Lord, for your steadfast love that endures forever.

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.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 14, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-Six, 3.14.13

Wash My Feet: John 12:1-8

“She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial” (v 7). It might seem a bit morbid to prepare for Jesus’ burial, to keep his death in mind. But here Jesus commends Mary’s focus. The popular wisdom is that congregations are built on the happy things about Christianity. “Who,” I’ve heard it asked more than once, “wants to come to church to be made sad?” “Sunday morning should be a party.”

To be mindful of the death and burial of Jesus is to stay close to the Savior’s deepest love and lessons. This is what love will do; this is the servant’s strength. This is where humility is seen in its most intense form. The death of Jesus isn’t important just to give the resurrection its backdrop. The death of Jesus gives the resurrection its message: Love cannot be defeated.

To be mindful of the death and burial of Jesus is to keep the gift of life in proper perspective. This is not a dark dampening of joy, but an enrichment of joy. To be mindful of the death and burial of Jesus is to live with an awareness of the holiness of personal sacrifice.

But it may also be that Mary’s preparation for the burial of Jesus was not a conscious preparation. It may be simply that treasuring time with Jesus was as present to her in the days of his living as it would be in the dark days of his entombment. Perhaps she wasn’t thinking of his death, but was thinking of the richness of his life. Perhaps her act of worship was of the same reverent essence as acts of mourning would soon be. Jesus knew that Mary’s anointing of his feet would take on meaning in a short while, whether or not she knew it.

Grieving at Jesus’ death and burial is connected to the resurrection joy of our current day worship in more ways than just contrast. Could it be that our grieving at Jesus’ death and burial brings an authenticity and holy decorum to our liturgies of joy? Grieving and joy live close to each other.

Jesus and the poor live close to each other as well. Perhaps Judas needs to realize that those who anoint Jesus’ feet are most likely to give tender care to the poor as well. Humbling yourself before Jesus is great rehearsal for humbling yourself before the poor. If Judas were to practice on me while I’m here, then he might really be concerned about the poor and grant them the ministry you grant me; he might even see me in them. Are you concerned about the poor? Wash my feet. Grieve for me. Then wash the feet of the poor. Then grieve for the plight of the poor. If you do this for me, you’ve done it for them; the transition is smooth.

Could it be possible that learning how to grieve and how to serve connect us more effectively to the culture that surrounds the Church than learning how to party? Could knowing the fragrance of grief and service be of more value than knowing what ministry programs 300 denarii could finance?

Mary teaches us how to love and to grieve and to worship in one act of costly humility.

Open all our senses to the presence of life and death in Christ.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 13, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-Five, 3.13.13

Love So Amazing: Philippians 3:4b-14

Isaac Watts, 1674-1748, read this passage of scripture and wrote the great hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” For him, the surrendering of “things” was a spiritual concept that could only be expressed in great poetry.

Much is written about letting go of the past when the past contains guilt and failure. Not as much is written about letting go of the past because of its success and accomplishments. We speak of averting or denouncing pride with a humble hope of hanging on to past accomplishments. Paul takes the Philippian Christians and us a step further. He suggests that, “,the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord,” (v 8) is worth the necessary disengagement from what once brought us notoriety, respect, or esteem. The call on the life of all believers is the call toward Christ-likeness. This is not something that can be grasped by one hand while the other hangs on to the glory days of the past. Letting go of the past is a “down-sizing” that results in a special kind of freedom.

Denial is not what is called for here. What is called for is surrendering all that sets us apart as unique or special in times gone by. We are called to surrender that kind of self-identification and status to an identification that can best be described as Christ in us, or Christ-likeness, that causes people to see Jesus in every aspect of our lives and worldview.

Our identity and our worldview are costly items to give up in order to follow the teachings of Jesus. We work hard to make a name for ourselves, to establish a reputation, and to gain particular influence. Give that up for the ways of Jesus? Is it really necessary in order to be a good Christian? But a careful reading of this scripture does not press us toward the goal of being a good Christian. That term has too many cultural appendices that are not biblical and are not of the gospel. We are called to Christ-likeness, and that is a much higher goal, a much more costly surrender.

From this passage we get the challenge, the image, the poetry of the phrase “press on.” This encouragement breaks us loose from the backward pull of the past. These two simple words move us beyond any thoughts of self-righteousness. By pressing on, we never fully arrive, but neither do we stop, for we push toward Christ-likeness. That is the tendency of the disciple, the prevailing wind at the Christ-follower’s back.

For Paul, to know Christ is to share in his suffering, to become like him in his death. Paul longs for resurrection as well, but he does not wish to avoid the cost of discipleship on the way. Paul’s letter, now understood to be scripture, declares that there is no commitment to Christ if there is no accompanying agreement to accept the pain of transformed living in a world that, at best, simply doesn’t understand it.

There is resurrection on this trajectory, but at this point we only long for it, lean toward it, point to it, as a poem points toward truth. Watts wrote a great and rousing hymn that never sings of resurrection. It sings of love so amazing, so divine, that it demands our all, just by its shear immensity. Watts’ poetry gives us suffering and surrender that is about to burst.

Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do.

-from another poem of Isaac Watts

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 12, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-Four, 3.12.13

Experiencing Joy: Psalm 126

Oh, to be counted again among “those who dream” (v 1). There are many who have been rendered dreamless by frustration, oppression, circumstances, health, and economic crises-setbacks of every sort. To dream and to hope are signs of spiritual and emotional health. Health can be restored.

This psalm is launched from a restoration and gives testimony to dreams and laughter. Just as with dreams, laughter is not a part of everyone’s life. You may know that all too well. This psalm also acknowledges “those who sow in tears” (v 5). For some, all energy is expended through tears. Pain is universal, and so too the tears it produces. Pain is personal; it isolates us. Some do their work every day through the tears of pain-whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, it’s still pain.

But the Lord restores the fortunes of Zion, the “nation” of those who believe. This passage has been used to hustle the poor. God is not a part of such deceit. Dreams, laughter, and joy are the fortunes of this passage and this God and these believers. Financial fortunes cannot protect dreams, laughter, or joy. This is proven over and over again.

Dreams, laughter, and joy are the signs that, “the Lord has done great things” (v 2b) for someone. But God dwells with the poor and the oppressed. Jesus came to confirm that, to teach us and show us the truth of it. God being with the poor, the depressed, and oppressed is why the psalmist can pray in verse 5 with such ease and confidence, “those who sow in tears [might] reap with shouts of joy,” and in verse 6, “those who go out weeping,shall come home with shouts of joy.” God is with them.

The rich are not connected to the poor by money handed down. The rich are connected to the poor by dreams, laughter, and joy shared as gifts from God. The poor can often minister to the rich through this connection.

Verses 5-6 tell us that those who weep bear the seeds of joy. Pause here for a moment in your reading. Those who weep bear the seeds of joy.

Those who weep do so because their hearts are still capable of caring. Those who weep are those who are still capable of dreaming. Those who weep have not forgotten joy. Indeed, one who sees God at work weeps for joy. Weeping and joy are close companions, whichever one is at the forefront at any given moment. Crying for restoration can become weeping for joy. What hope is here!

“Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” (v 6). There is a harvest for those who weep. Their hearts are soft enough to receive restored dreams and laughter and joy. They know that God is with them and that they can participate in restoration. Mercy and justice bring joy to the heart of God. They bring joy to the hearts of the oppressed and frustrated as well. God’s desires match their desires.

When those who believe are reconnected to what is in God’s heart, they will be dreamers again. They will laugh again. They will, again, experience joy.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord; restore our dreams and laughter and joy.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 11, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-Three, 3.11.13

It Is like Spring: Isaiah 43:16-21

Don’t empower the things of old. The things that are in the past are a part of our story; that cannot be denied. But, the Lord says through the prophet, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (v 19)

With those words, all the past that chases us piles up in a surprised and forced stop. It’s like a scene in a cartoon. All that is chasing us stops on a dime, crashes into each other, and piles up high under the force of inertia. And there we are to leave it, a monument to God’s power to overcome anything and everything that seems to want to devour or destroy us. Then, with that work done, God speaks with the freshness of spring, “I am about to do a new thing.”

The new thing is this-God is going to make a way through the wilderness and tell the jackals that chase us to sit, “lie down.” You know the wilderness. You know the jackals. Consider the promise. God’s way is as fierce as the wilderness and the jackals. God’s way is the cross. It is God’s Son on the cross, the One who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Our wilderness, our jackals: they may hound us, but they are no match for God.

It’s hard to believe. We would like to believe it, but when we put this little book down, we step back into our world. In verse 19 God whispers a question into the reader’s ear. “Do you not perceive it?” Don’t you sense the little seed that wants to sprout? In the reading of the scripture passage, don’t you perceive the presence of the new thing deep in you? It’s not big yet. You can’t even describe it. But something in the scripture took root when you read the words, “I am about to do a new thing.” This is the gift of Lent. Old things are put in their place, piled up, and left behind. The process is not easy; the uprooting is a bit clumsy and messy. But ground is prepared for something new to spring up, and for a moment you sensed it. It was something like a glimpse or a whisper.

God likens it to a drink of water in the desert (v 20). The drink pushes the desert back, provides a bit of refreshing, and gives hope. Did you perceive it in the passage? “The things of old” (v 18) are “of old,” aren’t they, at least for the moment of refreshing? What if the moment could be expanded, then expanded again, then a bit more? What if the “former things” (v 18) were made to run back to their cartoon junk pile again and again until they started to stay there? It sounds like the beginning of something new. Read the passage again and pray that its promise will be applied to your life. Then read it again and pray. A way is being cut through the wilderness, one promise and prayer at a time. The junk pile shrinks on the horizon behind you with each refreshing drink.

God promises “,to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise” (vv 20b-21). Praise blossoms in the wilderness when given enough water a little bit at a time. When the jackals go away and the chase ends, there is time and breath for praise. When life is perceived to be a new thing, it is like spring.

Do you not perceive it?

God, I give the old things to you. Do a new thing in me.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 10, 2013 tbc Media

Worship: Lent 4c, 3.10.13

The fourth Sunday of the Lenten Season centers on Luke 23:26, Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross for Christ. Worship leaders include Chuck Corbin, Say Wah Htoo, Mae La, Nathan Hatfield, Khan Naw, Chit Ko, Bya Wann, Hlei Iang, Jessica Corbitt and the church staff. This morning, we ordain our three newest Deacons: Kathryn Hall, Say Wah Htoo, and Chuck Corbin

March 9, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-Two, 3.9.13

The Prodigal Son: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

In his little book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, the late Henri Nouwen takes us on a soul-searching journey through the lives and lessons of the three main characters in this parable.

First we are made to see ourselves in the motivations of the self-centered prodigal son. It’s all too clear because we are there. We want all that might be coming to us, and we want it now. That-s not news; no one need report the finding to us. What might be an unsettling insight for us is that such a wish regards as disposable those who now have what we want. The father’s beating heart was an obstacle to the immediate gratification of the prodigal son’s desires. To say that he wanted his inheritance now was the same as saying that he wished his father was dead. Indeed, much of what we demand comes at great cost to others.

With Nouwen, we turn our attention to the son who stayed home. In him we see, if we will, our own self-righteousness. It-s a self-righteousness that we hope we will be able to cash in on. One of the differences between the two sons is that the son who stayed home is willing to wait; after all, blessings abound in the meantime. Furthermore, hanging around the house can appear to be devotion to the father. It’s a win-win situation. That is, until grace enters the scene. Then self-righteousness is exposed; we can’t hide it and are offended by grace imparted to others. The arguments born of our self-righteousness burst out of our mouths, and its particular form of greed distorts our face. Our charade is over.

Where Nouwen’s commentary takes us next is unexpected and a bit shocking. Nouwen hears the parable calling us to journey towards being the father. The father-isn’t the word “father” in the parable code for Our Father, the Creator? We’re not to grow toward God-likeness, we’re to grow toward Christ-likeness. Yet, it is the father in the parable who is the most vulnerable, the one who exhibits grace, the one whose love forgives and redeems. These are Christ-like characteristics. Jesus said that if we had seen him we had seen the father. Maybe we are to become like the father in the parable.

But we must be transformed by the lessons of the sons first. Lent escorts us through the parable, stopping at each character to help us see ourselves. With those lessons learned, those characteristics confessed, we approach the Christ-likeness of the father. But, even then, the father seems too much, too much above and beyond us and our realities.

Perhaps we should consider a reasonable first step. Our first step, having learned from the sons, might well be to rejoice with the father. “But we had to celebrate and rejoice,” said the father in verse 32, “because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” Can we begin by acknowledging whom our brothers and sisters are? We quickly say that those who are Christ-followers are our brothers and sisters. While this is true, the bible also clearly teaches that all people are the children of God; they are God’s creation and the focus of God’s love. Our first step toward the Christ-likeness that is a reflection of the Father is to see all people as our brothers and sisters. That’s a tough one, but it is doable. When that is accomplished, really accomplished, other Christ-like characteristics will rush in. We will rejoice with the Father when our brothers and sisters are extended grace; we will even join God in that, becoming a bit more like the Father. That’s probably enough to work on right now.

Help us to see all people as our brothers and sisters.

Help us to join God in extending to them grace.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 8, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty-One, 3.8.13

A New Creation: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Verse 17 is breathtaking. After the transformation that this verse is talking about, a new project begins-the project of reconciliation. Does all of creation change each time a new person becomes a Christ-follower? No. Each person changes, and is transformed to see the world and everything and everyone in a new way. Next comes reconciliation with and to how the world is in God’s reality.

Who can be our enemy in this new world? What is there to fear in this new world? What must be earned when all is God’s gift? What part of this new creation is to be discounted, discarded, or disrespected? When all things are made new by our transformation, we will not be able to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view”(v 16). No cultural bias, no political perspective can now determine how we relate to this new creation, this transformed way of seeing.

Reconciliation is the work of the transformed and becomes an immediate and continuous ministry (v 18). Our transformation includes our citizenship. As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are ambassadors for Christ, we project Jesus’ views and values, his grace and compassion. This could be embarrassing in some of our old circles. The cause we now stand for is the cause of reconciliation with Christ, and thus with all of creation. This passage of scripture is one of the most political statements imaginable, and it has neither red nor blue bumper stickers to promote its passion.

Could Lent call us to this? Does Christ call us to this? Yes, our new creation includes a new citizenship, a new political and social and cultural understanding unlike anything the old creation can call into being. “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view.” We read it and our world changes.

Tears flow, the tears of shame for our attachment to the old world, indeed, our enthusiasm for it. Tears flow for how we have disrespected Jesus, often in his name. Tears flow for our selfishness now realized. Tears flow for how we were energized by our blindness. Tears flow for the costly grace that covers us, and for peace sacrificed to fear and greed. Tears flow for names forsaken for labels. For those in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Lent reminds us that current realities do not negate Jesus’ teachings or transformation. Lent prepares us for accusations of naivetÈ, cowardice, and irresponsibility. With eyes made new by our passage for today, those accusations are seen as insight, courage, and the knowledge that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Enemies are not on the other side of aisles, or borders, or worldviews when seen through these new eyes, nor are they stalking among us. Sharing does not deplete our stores in this new creation-the one we can have now with our own transformation. All things, including our fears, have become new. We now die for enemies. We now risk hunger to share with the hungry. We now, sinners of the same sort as all others, in him “become the righteousness of God” (v 21).

Open our eyes to see that, in Christ, all things have been made new.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com.

March 7, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Twenty, 3.7.13

The Importance of Confession, Psalm 32

How important is confession? According to the psalmist David, it could be the difference between happiness and groaning all day long. He is speaking, of course, of our spirit. We wouldn’t walk around groaning out loud, but our spirit might groan within us when we keep silent rather than confessing our sin. The spirit with unconfessed sin is a deceitful spirit, one that clings to its own unhappiness. Confession allows truth to clean up deceit’s mess.

We know what the psalmist knows about a heaviness upon us day and night, especially at night. We know David’s psalm is not a theory, it is a testimony that we share. But now his testimony is one of a change so drastic in outlook that instead of trying to hide from God, he hides in God. Thinking back on his time of silence about his sins, David remembers them as a rush of mighty waters. But the rush and the crush can’t get to him now. The weight of it all has been handed over to God via confession.

With sin confessed, we can be instructed and taught about the way we should go throughout the day and throughout our lives. New possibilities flood our thinking. We can talk about something else now, something fresh and new. What a delight confession and forgiveness afford-the chance to talk about something new. Imagine it.

Don’t be mule-headed about this, pleads the psalmist. Replace torment with love. Don’t be haunted, but be filled with the Spirit. Be glad and rejoice; shout for joy.

This is a great psalm, with some insightful and bright moments in it, but what if we’ve become somewhat adept at living with unconfessed sin? What if the change the psalm describes sounds difficult to adjust to-a life too new? Of course, we would rather be happy than tormented, but what would have to be rearranged, renegotiated, or realigned? Some of my shortcomings have become companions. The questions arise, but they reveal the grip that sin has on us. Verse three suggests that such thinking results in our wasting away. Sin is not neutral; instead, it works toward our destruction.

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered (v 1). We are pulled by the thought of happiness and the fear of change. Lent provides a season for struggle with this decision, not just a moment. At this time of year we are not shielded from the reality of our spiritual failures and stumbles; we, instead, are invited to name them, own them, and pray them over to God. God will be with us in the transition. We are not left to wander between the present and the promised realities; we are escorted.

A freshness hovers over this psalm, waiting and wanting to land in the heart of the reader. Confession is not a word in the dark vocabulary of sin; it is a word in the bright vocabulary of forgiveness. Whether we experience our guilt as a cold winter or a hot summer (v 4), a refreshing springtime awaits those who will “confess (their) transgressions to the Lord” (v 5).

There is nothing more to put on this page. What remains is the reader’s decision about what to do with what the Spirit has placed in their heart, and in their imagination.

Lord, help me to say my sin to you so that my spirit may know joy.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO

www.MorningStarMusic.com. Day 21, March 8, 2013

March 6, 2013 tbc Media

Lenten Devotion: Day Nineteen, 3.6.13

God Provides, Joshua 5:9-12

God provides for our needs, both directly and indirectly through the earth and through sharing, through gift and sacrifice. God’s provision for God’s people often results in festivals and annual remembrances. One wouldn’t call Lent a festival, but it is an important annual occurrence that calls us back to God, who provides the reminder and the way back.

God also provides cleansing from any disgrace in our lives. Disgrace seems so permanent, like a scar, but God declares that disgrace can be removed (v 9). The removal is the result of God’s grace and forgiveness. That’s something to celebrate. Perhaps Lent is a festival, after all. Disgrace is an internal stain more than an external stain. Disgrace felt on the inside can often be hidden on the outside, but God knows our inner being. We have hidden nothing from God, and God withholds no cleansing from us.

This is the reason we keep Lent: hiding disgrace is futile and unnecessary because God sees it and cleanses it. Lent reminds us again. The ashen grey on display in our places of worship calls to the disgrace that has burrowed deep into our souls. Disgrace recognizes its color and its colorlessness. Disgrace fears discovery, but God already knows it. When confessed, disgrace can be removed by God, and the turning, the returning, has begun. Forgiveness and grace rush in to the depths where disgrace has hidden. The renewal takes place in the deepest parts. God’s kingdom expands into that depth and we know we are part of that kingdom.

Like all recurring observances, Lent is life-giving. Our souls are fed and nourished once again in this remembrance’s special way.

In our passage for today, the remembrance is Passover. The blood of the sacrifice signaled the death angel to keep moving-don’t stop here. In Lent we remember Jesus, the Lamb of God, becoming our sacrifice. Rejoicing is not the right word. But joy embraces our gratitude, now deep gratitude because of where it resides in us. Rejoicing will have its day in due time, but not yet, for Jesus bears our sins. Gratitude and love unite our hearts with each other and with God and with joy in its current humility. God’s provision of time has rolled around and come to our aid again.

The recurring remembrance of Lent reminds us that the grayness moves toward light. God provides a way through the wilderness, darkness, and fear. But we must embrace the way and experience the full story. Our whole being must be present and open to God. Time and journey and story combine during these days to bring both humility and hope. God’s provision of time is marked by cycles. Humans need cyclical reminders that tell the story of redemption. Passover, Lent-life’s darkness comes, but cannot stay.

We thank you God for your provision of grace and story, of food and time.

A word about the series

Pray, read, think and return to God.

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible.

A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO