Lent

Jan 24 2025

The True Guardian of the Galaxies Leads Us into and through Lent

Out in the woods, I turn a corner. I stop suddenly. On the leaves in front of me, a red-tailed hawk is perched on the body of a squirrel. His beak snatches at its red flesh. The hawk’s black eyes stare at me. He goes back to picking at his meat, predator eating prey.

In the desert, Jesus was meat. How did he not get eaten by wolves in the Judean wilderness? Bears and lions roamed the hills. Jackals howled at nighttime. For forty days, by Mark’s account, the son of the carpenter dwelt among them. He was weak. He was exposed. He was vulnerable. He could have been picked to pieces. In that stark space—stripped of human support—the Savior of the world started his earthly ministry.

Lent is the season of the desert. We have forty days to ponder our vulnerability; wolves and hawks could eat us as well. We could be picked to pieces by the lions outside of ourselves or ripped to shreds by the jackals of our own minds and hearts. How are we to make it through this life? Is our own strength enough? In reality, in our emptiness, exposed and vulnerable, we are as defenseless as squirrels.

The Holy Spirit thrust Jesus into the immenseness of the desert. The Holy Spirits thrusts us into this season of penitence to recognize our need for God, to find God and to seek God. The goal of Lent is to strip away anything that keeps us from belonging to God alone.

The Creator of the universe is trustworthy. In today’s Genesis story, the Almighty creates a covenant of care for all creatures. In the wilderness story, the angels tend to Jesus. In our own littleness, we too are protected. Our God is vast and good, and yet remembers us. Under the divine wings, we find shelter. We will not be eaten.

Consider/Discuss

This week, we enter into this Lenten season of repentance and self examination for conversion. Do we believe that God is our protector, that God will act on our behalf? As we look at the wild beasts of life, what makes us afraid? What happens when we turn to our own power to save?
In the saga from Genesis, God works through the faithfulness of Noah to rescue a broken world. As we trust that God has this whole world in his hands, how are we being called to be both faithful and heroic this Lent? What is our part in making this world a better place?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, Savior of the world, you know what the wilderness is like. You have been there. We also have days when we feel the hot sun beating down hard; we also fear the cries of wild animals in the night—they make us afraid. Strengthen our trust and help us to cling to you. Almighty God, show us that you are with us. Strip away our delusions of self-sufficiency and help us to be willing to serve you and you alone. Holy Spirit, grant us the courage of the desert this Lent.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

The flood in Genesis is God’s initial response the fact of human wickedness, which had filled the entire earth with corruption (Genesis 6:11–13). Afterward, God recognizes that this has not solved the problem of the human heart, whose “desires . . . are evil from youth” (8:21); a new plan will have been put in place. In the meantime, God establishes a covenant, not just with human beings but with “every living creature.” This covenant is an expression of God’s commitment to all that has been created. Even though human sin has brought corruption to the whole earth, God does not turn away, but prepares the way for a new plan that will address the problem of the human heart.

The author of First Peter refers to the time of Noah from two perspectives. The identity of the “spirits in prison” to whom Christ preached possibly refers to the spirits of those whose disobedience occasioned the flood. The point is that the account of the suffering, death, and exaltation of Christ should encourage his audience in their own sufferings (3:13–17). Peter also ties the flood narrative to baptism, suggesting that Noah and his family were “saved through water” (although actually they were saved from water). Through baptism one is renewed through the power of Christ. The “appeal” might also be translated “pledge of good conscience,” meaning that for their part humans promise to allow their lives to be renewed and to be faithful, particularly in a time of suffering.

In Mark’s account of his temptation, Jesus is in the desert “among wild beasts,” which represent the “wildness” of the desert as a place of spiritual struggle, as in the Exodus account. As in that same account, Jesus is attended by angels, agents of God’s protection. Jesus relives the experience of Israel, but unlike them he does not succumb to temptation. His proclamation is simple: The promised reign of God, in which all will be ordered according to God’s will, is coming to pass. The human response is twofold: Believe that God’s promises are being fulfilled and repent of any behaviors or attitudes that oppose the divine will.

Jan 14 2025

The Journey from Death to Life

Caravaggio painted an image of Lazarus coming forth from the tomb. Eugene O’Neil wrote a play called Lazarus Laughed. Sylvia Plath wrote a poem called “Lady Lazarus.” Poets, playwrights, and artists have been attracted to this story from John’s Gospel through the centuries. For some two millennia Lazarus has been the symbol of someone brought back from the dead, revealing the power of God at work in Jesus of Nazareth.

Over the centuries Lazarus has been a figure of hope for countless generations, especially at the time of a loved one’s death. Are there any more comforting words than those that Jesus says to Martha? “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25–26).

Death comes not only at the end of life, but sometimes within life. This is true both for individuals and whole nations. Israel in exile was like a field of dry bones, sealed up in tombs, cut off from life completely, lacking all hope. But God promised to bring Israel back to life and return the people to their home. God promised the spirit that would bring them back home and restore life.

Paul’s words to the community at Rome serve to remind us that death will not have the last word. For all the death that we see in our world from war and earthquakes, sickness and human violence and cruelty, there is a power stronger than death: the Spirit of God.

Consider/Discuss

How do you think of death, as the end or as a transition?
Are you being called to die to something in your life, so that you can live more fully in the power of the Spirit?

Responding to the Word

We pray to the Lord of the living and the dead that we might not lose hope even now in the face of so much sadness in our world. We pray for a strengthening of trust in God that removes any fear of death threatening us or those we love.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Ezekiel uses bodily resurrection as a metaphor for the reestablishment of the nation after its exile. The scene is a graveyard, the ultimate place of death and decay. Three statements of reversal are made: the sealed graves will be opened, the dead will be raised, and the exiled will return home. Both original creation and this restoration, considered a new creation, are unconditional gifts from a magnanimous God. It is clear that God controls the powers of life and death, destruction and restoration. Since the people believed that exile was punishment for sin, they viewed their restoration as yet another pure gift from God. Paul contrasts two ways of living: life in the flesh and life in the spirit. Flesh and spirit both signify the whole person, but from particular points of view. For Paul, flesh refers to human nature in all its limitations; spirit refers to that nature attuned to God. Paul insists that life in the flesh cannot please God, while life in the spirit is a form of union with God. The real point of this passage is the resurrection of those who are in union with God. Just as Christ conquered death and lives anew, so those joined to Christ share in his victory and enjoy new life.

The resurrection of Lazarus points to the future death of Jesus. The parable about day and night can be understood in at least three ways. First is the literal meaning. The second metaphorically points to an inner light that guides the person. Finally, light can refer to Jesus. All of this cryptic speech prepares for Jesus’ instruction on resurrection. With a self-revelatory exclamation, Jesus proclaims that he is the resurrection and the life, and faith in him guarantees life for others. The resurrection of Lazarus cannot be denied, but it can be misunderstood. Jesus is not merely a wonder-worker; he himself has the power of resurrection and he is the source of eternal life.

Jan 14 2025

Lent as a Journey from Darkness to Light

Most of us can recognize times when we are “in the dark” and occasions when we carry darkness in our hearts, just as there are moments when we feel enlightened and find that our vision is clear. It is quite another thing to become identified with darkness or with light. The first words of today’s reading from the Letter to the Ephesians stand out for their boldness: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8).

We get a glimpse of what it means to be light in the Lord both from Samuel, who finally sees as God sees, and in the courageous behavior of the man born blind after Jesus has healed him. Samuel anoints Israel’s greatest king, David, and the man born blind comes to faith in Jesus as Lord.

The man born blind is one of those strong figures found in John’s Gospel. Like the woman at the well, we never learn his name but we come to know his heart. His speech is straightforward, whether speaking to his neighbors, the Pharisees, or Jesus. You can hear the gradual dawning of faith as he responds to those around him, from the simple “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see” to “He is a prophet,” to his answer to Jesus’ question about having faith in the Son of man standing before him, “I do believe, Lord” (John 9:15, 17, 38).

In the beginning, God spoke. Those first words have never stopped bringing about what they said: “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

Consider/Discuss

What does it mean to be darkness? To be light?
Are you open to the light as Samuel and the man born blind were, willing to submit to it when it speaks to or touches you?
Are you part of a community that strives to live in the light?

Responding to the Word

We pray to God as the ineffable light shining forth in the darkness, ever creating anew, calling forth from the darkness of fear and prejudice and hatred a community of men and women who choose to live in the light of Christ. We pray God to remove our attraction to the darkness, replacing it with a love for the Light.