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March 13: Memories

Read: Psalm 27; Luke 9:28-43a

Memory is a tricky thing. On one hand, it can be debilitating – remembering failures, remembering hardship, remembering when things didn’t go well. It can be warped and selective and often keeps the wrong parts.

On the other hand, memory can be beautiful – remember good times, remembering people we love and cherish, remembering when things were wonderful. It can be helpful and constructive and the thing that helps us keep our faith when we are in the midst of difficult times.

We do not know when David wrote Psalm 27. In his life before and while he was king, he faced many challenges and difficulties, times he feared for his life and times he didn’t know how he would escape.

Through it all, he could declare, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall (Psalm 27:1-2).

In this psalm, we can learn at least four significant reminders from this psalm of David about the importance of memory to live faithful lives in challenging times.

1. Remember all God has done in the past.

David remembered all the times God had shown up for him. He remembered all the times God had saved him. Though armies pursued him, though he was in the mist of war and feared for his life, he believed God would not leave him. He would be confident. David doesn’t know how the situation will turn out. He cannot presume to know if he will survive or be uninjured, but he trusts in God and knows God will do what’s best.

We too can trust that God always does the best things in the best ways. We can be confident that no matter how dark or difficult our situation may be, God is able and he is enough.

2. Remember to seek intimacy with God.

David wanted one thing from God and he says it is the one thing he will seek after (verse 4), to be with the Lord always. It’s a metaphor for living in God’s presence, for developing an intimate relationship with him. More than protection from armies, David wanted God.

In verses 7-8 David cries to God, Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” David remember that God had invited him to seek him and David obeyed.

God wants us to make him our priority. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said if we would seek first his kingdom and righteousness, God would give us all we need. Remembering God wants us to seek him and delights to meet us should give us confidence to trust him in every circumstance. He wants us to seek him and when we do we know we will find him and he will always cares for us!

3. Remember God will never abandon us.

David had spent much of his life on the run. In verses 9-10, he asks God not to turn away from him; not to cast him off; and not to forsake him.

Even in his earlier confidence and his passionate seeking after God, David is afraid. He prays that God will not leave him. He says in verse 10, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” We don’t know a specific time when David’s parents abandoned him. In 1 Samuel 22:3-4, we read that he sent them to Moab for safety when he was fleeing for his life. It’s possible that he felt forsaken by them. It may also be that it is a poetic way of saying that even if they did forsake him, God would not.

We too can know with certainty that God will never leave us nor abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). Paul tells us that he will bring the work begun in our lives to completion (Philippians 1:6). Even if family and friends walk away, God never will. In those times when life is toughest and we’re tempted to think God has abandoned us, remember he promised he never has and he never will!

4. Remember God is always faithful.

David writes in verse 13-14: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Life will be full of trials. There may be days that seem hopeless. There may be times God seems to be hiding. And we know the day will come when our lives on this earth will be finished.

In that day, God is the one we can count on. As we remember all he has done in the past; as we remember his desire to be in relationship with us; as we remember he will never abandon us; we can trust that God is faithful. We know that he will not fail. He always does the best things in the best ways at the perfect time. He did it for David and he is doing it for you!

Questions for Reflection:

What are ways God has blessed you or shown up in difficult times? Take a few minutes to remember his provision. Thank him for it!

What are the ways you experience God most intimately? A walk in the woods? Worship music? Reading the Bible? Gardening? Painting? For each of us, God will relate to us in different ways. Take time today to seek God in a way that speaks most to you.

Have you ever felt abandoned? Take time to reflect on God’s faithfulness and his promise to never leave nor forsake you!

Readings this week:

March 14:        Exodus 33:1-6; Romans 4:1-12

March 15:        Numbers 14:10b-24; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

March 16:        2 Chronicles 20:1-22; Luke 13:22-30

March 17:        Daniel 3:13-30; Revelation 2:8-11

March 18:        Isaiah 55:1-9; Revelation 3:1-6

March 19:        Isaiah 5:1-7; Luke 6:43-45

March 20:        Psalm 96; Luke 13:1-9

March 6: Repent

Read Psalm 32; Romans 10:8-13

⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I have a friend who isn’t a big Lent fan. He sees Lent as an attempt to pretend that Jesus hasn’t died yet as we wait to remember his death on Good Friday and the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

He has a point. Jesus already died and has already been raised. Lent exists, in part, because we human beings have an incredible knack for complacency and for taking things for granted. If we aren’t careful, we rush past Christ’s death and resurrection and give them no more thought than who won the Blues game last night or what the weather will be like.

“Lent” comes from an Old English word that literally means “lengthening of days” or “springtime”. It is a time of preparation, a time to return to the desert and join Jesus in preparing for ministry. He allowed himself to be tested and if we take seriously our call to follow him, we will too.

Lent began in the fourth century. It is associated with penitence, fasting, charity, and prayer. There is a giving up that is balanced by a giving to those in need. It’s an opportunity, not a requirement. It’s an opportunity to join in the church’s springtime, “a time when, out of the darkness of sin’s winter, a repentant, empowered people emerges.”

Lent is a season we should be surprised by joy. We give something up, not to check a box or to make ourselves look good in the eyes of God and his people. We lay aside a right desire of our heart to pursue the One who should be our heart’s deepest longing. We seek to be closer to Jesus. In him – his suffering, his death, his resurrection, his ascension – we find our truest joy!

Recently I read that many church fathers and mothers of centuries past spoke of a sense that many of us have that something in our lives is not quite right. We feel we missed something important and have somehow been “untrue to ourselves, to others, to God.” Lent is a good time to examine that feeling. It’s a good time to let go of excuses for our failings and shortcomings. It’s a good time to ask God to help us see our selves the way he does.

Lent is a good time to repent. Repentance is the act of changing our mind, but more than that, it’s turning away from something that is outside of God’s will, confessing our error, and turning toward God’s will.

Jesus over came all our sin in his death and resurrection. We don’t need to pretend it hasn’t happened yet. In Psalm 32:1-2, David declares, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” He goes on to say that when he kept silent, his sin weighed him down. When he confessed his sin, God lifted it from him. We are forgiven. Paul wrote in Romans 10:13, For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Lent is a time to for us to repent, to recalibrate our hearts to live in the forgiveness and freedom that is ours in Christ. John the Baptist said, “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). May we discover afresh Jesus, our scarred, weak, wretched, crucified, dying Savior in the midst of the gods of this age that would lure us away.

Questions for Reflection:

What has been your experience with Lent? What do you look forward to? What do you dread?

Where do you have a sense of things not being quite right or dis-ease in your life? Where do you think that comes from? Talk to God about it and ask him to help you see yourself as he does.

If it reflects the desire of your heart, ask God to make Jesus increase and you decrease. Ask him to draw you closer to him during Lent.

Readings this week:

March 7:          Psalm 17; 1 John 2:1-6

March 8:          Zechariah 3:1-10; 2 Peter 2:4-21

March 9:          Job 1:1-22; Luke 21:34-22:6

March 10:        Genesis 13:1-7; 14-18; Philippians 3:1-12

March 11:        Genesis 14:17-24; Philippians 3:17-20

March 12:        Psalm 118:19-29; Matthew 23:37-39

March 13:        Psalm 27; Luke 9:28-43a

March 2: Ash Wednesday

Read: Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the period in the church calendar we call Lent. Lent is a period of six weeks that are set apart for drawing near to God and seeking him with greater focus and intensity. It is a time when many people abstain from food or some other activity to help them face the hold their sin has on their lives or to see where they have wandered from God and clung to something else. Disciplines of fasting and abstinence help us identify and detach from anything that is not from God.

Isaiah’s words to God’s people are a sobering reminder of what fasting is truly to be about. He sends the prophet to a people who were seeking God in their actions. They were fasting and praying. They were crying out to God and worshiping. But God wasn’t answering. They ask God, “Why have we fasted, and you do not see it?”

God’s answer is sobering. He says, “Yes, you fast, but you fight and quarrel and exploit and seek your own pleasure. How is that good? You go through the motions and think I’ll be pleased?”

It’s a good reminder to us as we prepare to being the season of Lent. If we choose to give something up, why are we doing it? What’s the purpose? Will we sacrifice for forty days and then go back to seeking our own pleasure? Will we fast but be so cranky and harsh that it blesses no one? Will either of those be acceptable to God?

Lent is a time for us to consider our lives. It’s a time to think about where our hearts have wandered from God; where our lives have drifted from what is right and best. It’s a time to invite the Holy Spirit to show us our true condition and to identify in us any sin that needs our attention. It isn’t that we dwell on how bad we are so much as we remember the depths we’ve been rescued from and hold our lives up to the light of the Holy Spirit to help us draw closer to Jesus.

The sacrifices we make in Lent help to reveal where our hearts need to be recalibrated. Our time of willingly going without invite us to live with that kind of self-control and willingness to say no to good things for the sake of Jesus all year long.

God is concerned with our hearts. He says through Isaiah that the fast he approves is the one that is more than just a box to check off; a duty done. It’s a sacrifice that isn’t from our surplus, but it costs something. It blesses someone else. It shares with those in need.

This year, we have again made “Salem on Mission” calendars. Our prayer is that they would be a tool Salem members could use to keep their time of Lent focused both on identifying things within us that God wants to change, but also to establish habits of blessing our neighbors and remembering that God blesses us, in part, so we can bless others.

When our hearts are right with God, our prayers, fasting, and sacrifice will be heard. God will revive those places in us that are dry and broken. Isaiah writes that the Lord will make us like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. ¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in (Isaiah 58:11-12).

As we begin Lent on this Ash Wednesday 2022, let us seek God, not in actions alone, but with hearts that hunger for God to reorient our hearts and lives so they reflect his presence and priorities. We know, this side of the cross, that the blood of Jesus has washed us clean. We know that we have God’s Holy Spirit to guide us and transform us.

And so we can press in and pursue him with all our hearts. We can sacrifice or fast and bless others – not to gain his approval, but because we already have it! May this season of Lent be filled with the presence, power, and person of Jesus in such a way that our lives, our church, and our community receive the blessing.

Questions for Reflection:

As you begin Lent, where in your life do you feel distant from God?

Are there any areas where you’re “going through the motions” or right activity, but your heart is not in it? Talk to God about that.

Do you sense an invitation to “give up” something in your life this Lent? How will you balance that with the invitation to be “on mission” blessing others?

Readings this week:

March 3:          Exodus 5:10-23; Acts 7:30-34

March 4:          Exodus 6:1-13; Acts 7:35-42

March 5:          Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; John 12:27-36

March 6:          Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Luke 4:1-13

April 4: Resurrection Sunday

Read: Isaiah 25:6-9; John 20:1-18

⁶ On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. ⁷ And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. ⁸ He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

⁹ It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

These days it’s easy to be discouraged and disappointed and even a bit hopeless. We’ve just come through one of the most challenging years. Racial tensions, political divisions, and the pandemic strengthen the sense of hopelessness that had already invaded many people’s hearts and minds.

We have all around us a crisis of hope. Despite our wealth; despite the advances of technology; despite all the advances we’ve seen over the years, many lack peace and not everyone enjoys prosperity. Even those who have a degree of peace and prosperity find it doesn’t really satisfy. They want something more. So many people set their hearts on something and when they achieve it or receive it, they feel as empty and disappointed with it as they did without.

The resurrection offers something different. It offers true hope. It offers a hope that doesn’t disappoint. It offers hope that is rooted in history. Jesus really lived. He was really crucified. He really rose from the dead! He was seen by hundreds of people. His life, death, and resurrection prove there really is something beyond the grave! There is something better than all the things this world offers to satisfy our deepest desires, In Jesus, there is hope rooted in history!

The four gospels record that the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were women. At that time, women were not allowed to testify in a court of law. Their testimony didn’t count. And yet, they were the first recorded witnesses to the greatest work of God ever! Why would the gospel writers record their witness first unless it was true and added weight to the historic event?

The resurrection offers hope because it is powerful. This power that raised Jesus from the dead is now available to all who believe. It is the power to transform a life; to take us from the kingdom of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of light. It is the power of love and forgiveness and a future that is secure. It is the power of hope!

The resurrection offers a hope that is personal. Scripture says God knows our name. He numbers the hairs on our head. He knows our going in and out. He knew us in our mother’s womb. He loves us! He loves you and he loves me. Jesus died for you and for me and his resurrection offers hope that will never disappoint. Revelation 2:17even says that he will give each believer a new name that only he and that person will know.

The resurrection offers a hope that is magnificent. One day every person will face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). At the cross, those who believe have already been declared forgiven and free! The empty tomb declares we are alive and will be forever! Toward the end of his life, D.L. Moody said, “Someday you will read in the papers that Dwight Moody of East Northfield, Massachusetts is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment, I will be more alive than I am now.”

You may remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed because of resistance to Hitler, Before his death, he wrote to his parents from the cell, “I’m about to experience the supreme festival on the road to freedom.”

It’s incredible to think, even back in the days of the prophet Isaiah – nearly eight hundred years before Jesus would be raised from the dead – God told his people he would swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. He told them that one day it would be said, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Our King has come! Despite whatever circumstances we find in our lives and world, he offers us a hope that is historic, personal, powerful, and magnificent! He offers us the hope that he will never leave us in this life and the one to come. He offers us the hope that he will complete the work he began in us.

Do you have such hope? That’s the hope of the resurrection! That’s the hope we have as believers in Christ! That’s the hope that changes everything!

Questions for Reflection

Over the past year, have you had moments when you’ve struggled with a sense of hopelessness? Why do you think you have (or haven’t)?

Take time to imagine being with the disciples in the upper room when the women came back from the tomb and reported it was empty. What would you think? How would you feel?

Imagine you were there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples very much alive? How would you respond? How does the resurrection bring hope to you today? Ask the Lord if there’s any way he’s inviting you to live differently in light of this magnificent hope!

April 2: Good Friday

Read: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 18:1-19:42

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Good Friday. A strange name for a day when an innocent man was condemned and crucified, yet appropriate too for its part in changing history. Today we see it as good because we know that it is through the shed blood of Jesus that we have forgiveness of sin. We know his death took the place of all who believe. It is good because without it, we have no hope.

But the “good” in Good Friday actually comes from a sense of the word we’ve lost. The American Heritage Dictionary says that the word “good” used to have a sense of “pious” or “holy”. The day was called Good Friday in the sense of it being a holy day like the Bible is the “good book” because it is a “holy book”.

In Old English Good Friday was called “Long Friday” and it is still called that in Finnish. In German-speaking countries it is “Mourning Friday” or “Silent Friday” or even “High Friday, Holy Friday”.

In Greek, Polish, Hungarian, Arabic and Romanian it is generally called “Great Friday”. In Bulgarian it is sometimes known as “Crucified Friday”.

Whatever we choose to call it, it is a day the disciples of Jesus were saddened and mourned because they did not understand that Jesus’ death was necessary and temporary.

It was a day when evil rejoiced and those who opposed Jesus’ ministry thought they’d gotten rid of the Nazarene once and for all. They did not realize it was a day God had planned from time eternal, from before the foundation of the world when God would begin to undo what Satan had done in the Garden of Eden.

It was a day when the earth trembled. Darkness reigned. Hope was lost. A ransom was paid. Chains were broken. Death’s defeat begun. Judgment finished. A glimmer of hope found in the midst of a darkness.

Perhaps a better name for that Friday so long ago would be “Grace Friday” because on that day, God did for you and I what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus took upon himself the punishment we deserved.

Centuries earlier Isaiah declared that the Messiah would be a suffering servant. He wrote, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt…by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities…he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

When we were lost in sin and unable to save ourselves, Jesus died in our place. Falsely accused, beaten, and mocked, they crucified the King of glory. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5).

No matter what you call it, Good Friday, while a time of somber reflection, is also a time of joyful anticipation. Though Jesus’ followers had no understanding when Jesus told them about his death and resurrection, Sunday is coming! A day will dawn when their tears will become joy; the tomb will stand empty; and hope will be restored!

The late pastor, S.M. Lockridge, wrote a poem called “It’s Friday But Sunday’s Coming” (You can listen to the poem read by him here: (https://youtu.be/8gx6_rGLz20). It’s a powerful reminder that God is working in ways the people could not understand. His purposes were being fulfilled. He was using their evil to bring about the greatest good.

It was Friday. The Jewish leaders, the Roman authorities, and Satan himself thought they had won. They thought they had rid themselves of Jesus. But, they too, could not see past Friday or Saturday – all the way to Sunday!

His poem finishes:

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

Questions for Reflection

Of the different alternative descriptions for “Good” Friday, which is your preference? Why?

Some people don’t think we should spend so much time reflecting on the cross because of the empty tomb. Do you agree with that? Why or why not? What can be gained by reflecting on the cross and our part in sending Jesus to it?

Is there anything you’ve felt the Holy Spirit impress on you that you want to pursue or avoid as you seek him in the future?

March 28: Palm Sunday: Cheers to Jeers

Read: Psalm 118:1-2; 19-29; Mark 11:1-11

¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. ²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. ²¹ I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. ²² The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²³ This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴ This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵ Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! ²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. ²⁷ The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! ²⁸ You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. ²⁹ Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

After World War I, President Woodrow Wilson made a visit to Europe. The United States had come to the rescue of Europe and he was greeted by large crowds everywhere he went. People viewed him as an icon of hope. He was more popular than even the greatest war heroes.

In a Vienna hospital, a Red Cross worker told the children that there would be no Christmas presents that year because of the war and the hard times. The children didn’t believe her. They said that President Wilson was coming and they knew that everything would be alright. HE would make Christmas as it should be. HE was the new Santa Claus!

A year later, things began to change. Political leaders throughout Europe were interested more in their own agendas than a lasting peace and the people slowly lost hope. On the home front, Wilson met opposition in the Senate, and his idea of a “League of Nations” was never ratified. Under tremendous stress, his health began to fail. In the next election, his party lost. Woodrow Wilson, who almost two years earlier was heralded as a hero, came to his last days as a broken and defeated man.

For Jesus, the time frame was shorter. He entered Jerusalem on a Sunday to cheers and hosannas. By the end of the week the crowd’s cheers became, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

After WW I, people had wrong and exaggerated expectations of President Wilson. They had their own agendas and their own “wants” of who he would be and what he would do and Wilson couldn’t satisfy them all.

The crowds in Jerusalem had wrong and exaggerated expectations of Jesus and of the Messiah. They had their own agendas and their own “wants” of who he would be and what he would do and Jesus wouldn’t satisfy them all – not at the expense of God’s will and God’s timetable.

Have you ever been disappointed with God? Have there been times when you expected God to show up – answer a prayer or bless a situation important to you – but he didn’t?

Perhaps it’s hard to imagine joining a mob yelling “Crucify him!” We wouldn’t have done that, right? Yet when I’m frustrated with God because he isn’t acting as quickly as I want or in the ways I want, I sometimes do my own private rebellion. If God won’t give me what I want, then I’ll….do my own thing…I’ll sin…I’ll show him!

Palm Sunday brings us to the end of Lent. We turn our hearts to the hope that the King has come – not the king we expected or wanted or deserved, but the King we need. He is the King who suffers and dies and saves and serves. He is the King who lays down his perfect life so we can find forgiveness and healing for our broken lives.

Henri Nouwen wrote, “Lent is a time of returning to God. It is a time to confess how we keep looking for joy, peace, and satisfaction in the many people and things surrounding us without really finding what we desire. Only God can give us what we want. So we must be reconciled with God.”

Palm Sunday reminds us that not only does God give us the things we need, he does so in the very best ways. We have to confess that we too often expect Jesus to be “the new Santa Claus” rather than the suffering servant who calls us to take up our cross and follow him. We expect him to be the conquering warrior who removes every obstacle in our way and keeps us free from pain and sorrow. Instead, he suffered and died and calls us to us to follow him knowing that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

May our hosannas this Palm Sunday be for the one who truly is King of kings and Lord of lords. May they be for the King who came first into the world humbly as a baby and later entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey; the King who will come again a second time in a cloud and with power and great glory (Luke 21:27).

Questions for Reflection

What expectations do you have for Jesus? When has he let you down? When has he exceeded what you expected?

How do you look for joy, peace, and satisfaction in things other than Jesus? Have you reconciled with God during this Lenten season?

Have you been “on mission” with your Salem family during Lent? Are there any relationships that you could follow up on this week?

Readings for this week:

March 29:                   Isaiah 42:1-9; Hebrews 9:11-15

March 30:                   Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

March 31:                   Isaiah 50:4-9a; John 13:21-32

April 1:                       Exodus 12:1-14; John 13:1-17; 31-35

April 2:                       Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 18:1-19:42

April 3:                       Job 14:1-14; Matthew 27:57-66

April 4:                       Isaiah 25:6-9; John 20:1-18

March 21: I Shouldn’t Have Done All That

Read: Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 12:12-33

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

In her book Amazing Grace, Kathleen Norris tells the story of working as an artist-in-residence at a parochial school. She taught children how to write poetry using the Psalms as a model. One little boy wrote a poem entitled, “The Monster Who Was Sorry.” He began by admitting that he hates when his father yells at him. His response (in the poem) was to throw his sister down the stairs, and then to wreck his room, and finally to wreck the whole town. The poem concludes, “Then I sit in my messy house and say to myself, ‘I shouldn’t have done all that.’”

“My messy house” says it all, Norris observes, “With more honesty than most adults could have mustered, the boy made a metaphor for himself that admitted the depth of his rage and gave him a way out… he was well on his way toward repentance, not a monster after all, but only human. If the house is messy, why not clean it up? Why not make it into a place where God might wish to dwell?” (from Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter)

Jeremiah ministered to the people of Judah during a time leading up to and just after they’d been taken into exile. As you may remember from our preaching series on the Minor Prophets, God had called his people again and again to repent and obey; to put off false gods and idols and to seek him with their whole hearts. He had warned them of impending exile if they refused.

Amid the doom and gloom and warnings, God often gave glimmers of hope. Sometimes it was the hope of what would happen if they turned back to Yahweh in the immediate future and sometimes it was a promise of what God would do in the farther future when he sent Messiah to the earth.

God promised judgment upon Israel and Judah because, like the little boy, they had made a mess of everything. But instead of cleaning it up, they chose to sit in their messy lives and continue in their disobedience. Instead, they kept at it until they were exiled.

Any time, but especially during Lent, we are invited to purse God in prayer, self-examination, and repentance. It is a time when we sit in our messy houses/lives and honestly speak to God about our mess recognizing the blood of Jesus washes us clean and His Holy Spirit can keep it that way.

God told Jeremiah about his people: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Through his Spirit, we have God’s Law on our hearts. It’s part of how we begin to see the disarray of our lives. We don’t like admitting our house/life is a mess. We find ways to work with and around the mess of our sins and destructive patterns. We may have a vague sense something isn’t quite right, but we need the Holy Spirit to help us stop rationalizing it and to stop defending it.

Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:16, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. It is God’s Spirit who can clean up our mess and guide us in how to live so our hearts become a place in which Jesus feels at home.

It all starts with taking time to look into our hearts and to examine our lives and to be willing to admit, “I shouldn’t have done all that.” This is the beginning of repentance and the Spirit’s cleaning up our mess!

Questions for Reflection

Set aside some time this week to ask God to show you places you have made a mess. Look at the different components of your life: family, work, church, friendships, faith. Are there places you need to confess, “I shouldn’t have done all that?” Take time to confess to God your sin and messiness.

Remember the words of 1 John 1:9, ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thank God for his forgiveness.

Sometimes our sin affects other people. If your mess has hurt someone else, ask God to give you the courage and the grace to go to them to ask forgiveness and make things right.

Readings for this week:

March 22:                   Isaiah 43:8-13; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11

March 23:                   Isaiah 44:1-8; Acts 2:14-24

March 24:                   Haggai 2:1-9; 20-23; John 12:34-50

March 25:                   Deuteronomy 16:1-8; Philippians 2:1-11

March 26:                   Jeremiah 33:1-9; Philippians 2:12-18

March 27:                   Jeremiah 33:10-16; Mark 10:32-34; 46-52

March 28:                   Psalm 118:1-2; 19-29; Mark 11:1-11

March 14: One Simple Thing

Read: Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10

⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. ⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” ⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ⁷ And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

When I taught high school Bible, I had a student who did not finish a test during class. She asked if she could come after school to complete it and we made arrangements for her to do that. I was frustrated that she never came as she had agreed and, in fact, had gone to an afterschool club instead. I graded her test as it was and put the grade into the computer. I planned, if she would come to me and explain what had happened, to let her finish the test. She never did.

Several weeks later, at a conference with her parents, I told her that despite her low grade in my class, if she would come and talk with me, we could work out a way for her to bring it up. She never did. She only needed to do one simple thing, and she could have improved her grade. Instead she just stayed mad at me.

Reading the passage in Numbers 21 this morning, I was reminded of that girl. The Israelites had escaped Egypt and were in the wilderness. As they moved on from Mt. Hor after the death of Aaron, they become impatient and grumbled (again!) against Moses and God. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

God, who provided everything the people needed; who lovingly responded to them when they called upon him in faith, did not respond so well to their ungrateful complaints. He sent fiery serpents into their camp. Anyone who was bit by a serpent would die unless he looked at the bronze snake God instructed Moses to set on a pole.

You might wonder how this would remind me of that girl. I gave her one easy way to avoid failure: Come talk to me. And yet she didn’t, and her grade reflected that. God gave the people one instruction for how to survive that snake bite – one simple thing they had to do – look at the bronze serpent and live.

We don’t know how many people refused to look at the bronze snake. We don’t know how many people perished that day. Maybe some thought they would finish what they were working on the then look. Maybe some thought they were tired and would do it after a rest. There were probably some who didn’t think the bronze serpent could save them. They may have gone to a doctor or sought out a priest to pray for them. Or perhaps they just didn’t believe God would kill them.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, Jesus told him what was needed to be born again; to eternal life. He said, ^14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Jesus tells Nicodemus, eternal life is found only by believing in the one who is lifted up. It comes by faith in Jesus who would be lifted up on a pole, a cross, for the sins of the world.

There are those who hear the message of Jesus; his perfect life; his undeserved death; his resurrection; the need for us to believe in him to be forgiven and have eternal life; and they say, “One day, just not right now. I don’t want to change.” Others say, “let me get my life right first. Jesus couldn’t accept me.” Others don’t think they’re that bad. And others just refuse to believe.

Paul makes it clear in the passage from Ephesians 2 that we all are by nature objects of God wrath. We willingly sin and deserve God’s punishment. There is only one way to experience God’s hope and forgiveness and eternal life. Look at the one lifted up. Look to Jesus. Believe. As Paul writes, ⁸ “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

Sometimes I think of my student and her unwillingness to simply come talk to me. I pray that she hasn’t taken that stubborn attitude with Jesus, refusing to come to him on his terms.

This week, as we are on mission together, there are several suggestions for ways to connect with a person who is not yet a follower of Jesus. Pray for open hearts; for God’s Spirit to move even before you talk to the person. Pray for a willingness for whoever you might share Jesus with to willingly surrender and look to the only one who can bring what our hearts desire most deeply.

Questions for Reflection

Are there any clear teachings in God’s Word you struggle to obey? Any areas you prefer to do it your own way or find yourself putting off until later?

Who is someone in your life you have been witnessing to or have a desire to share Jesus with? Have they heard the gospel already? What might be holding them back from believing? Talk to God about it!

Pray for opportunities to be “on mission” this week!

Readings for this week:

March 15:                   Exodus 15:22-27; Hebrews 3:1-6

March 16:                   Numbers 20:1-13; 1 Corinthians 10:6-13

March 17:                   Isaiah 60:15-22; John 8:12-20

March 18:                   Isaiah 30:15-18; Hebrews 4:1-13

March 19:                   Exodus 30:1-10; Hebrews 4:14-5:4

March 20:                   Habakkuk 3:2-13; John 12:1-11

March 21:                   Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 12:12-33

March 7: The Paradox of the Cross

Read: Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 18-25

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Many of you have heard me tell the story of our failure at planting a church while we were in Jordan. We had gathered three couples. They had believed and been baptized. We had Bible study with them for a long time and we were ready to begin handing off the leadership to them. Within weeks of discussing this possibility with them, the group had fallen apart. They were no longer meeting with us and we were left dazed and confused and wondering why God would let us fail so miserably.

Eventually we would form a new church planting team and with lessons we had learned from the first experience and a few more along the way, the new team saw God move in incredible ways and not only start one house church, but hundreds!

What we thought had been a failure turned out to be a blessing. It was an opportunity to learn and to grow. It was a practical example of how seemingly two opposite things can be true at the same time. An event can be both a tragedy and a blessing, a failure and an opportunity. As Joseph realized with his brothers, an event that was intended for evil can be allowed by God to accomplish his purposes (see Genesis 50:20).

Today’s two texts seem to be opposites. On the one hand there is Exodus 20 which lists the Ten Commandments. It is the heart of the Old Testament Law. It can be summarized, Jesus tells us, in two great commands: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. It’s a list of do’s and don’ts. It’s Law.

On the other hand, Paul writes to the Corinthians about grace and about how God, in his infinite wisdom, used the foolishness of the cross to shame the wisdom of the world. We couldn’t keep the Law’s requirements, so God sent Jesus who did it for us. Our sin deserved punishment, so God sent Jesus to the cross to die in our place.

We can’t love God the way we’re supposed to. We constantly put other gods before him. We may not commit adultery or kill literally, but our minds are filled with hate and anger and lust. Our inability to keep the Ten Commandments is part of why Jesus came and went to the cross. As Paul wrote in his second letter to the church at Corinth, ^21” For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).” That’s grace.

The cross is the place where Law and grace collide. The Law is fulfilled. The Law sets a perfect standard we cannot reach. Jesus lived a sinless life that is credited to us by faith. Our sinful lives deserve punishment, eternal separation from God. Jesus died in our place, taking our punishment upon himself.

But there are people who struggle with the paradox of Law and grace. They struggle with the cross as the way God solves the dilemma. They cannot conceive of something so horrendous; so evil; producing something so good. They cannot understand how powerless they are apart from the cross.

The word of the cross always produces one of two reactions. First, the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. It seems like nonsense to them. In our society that rewards self-sufficiency, the cross is folly. People want just enough Jesus to bless what they’re doing, but not so much they actually have to change. They can take care of themselves, thank you very much! To come and tell such a person that all his/her efforts and all his/her achievements are worth nothing in God’s sight, will immediately bring us to the offense of the cross.

The second reaction to the cross understands its powerlessness. It accepts its own inability to do what is needed. It sees that the word of the cross is power. It is the power of God to everyone who is being saved. To them, the cross is the center of history and life. It is the key to experiencing whatever blessing and goodness God has for us in life. It brings healing to our hearts, deliverance from the bondage of sin, and the entry into peace with God and abiding joy. The cross is God’s wisdom in meeting our deepest needs in a way only he could.

The device designed for execution of criminals became the example of unconditional, redeeming love. It became the place where lives are saved and captives set free. As people walked by and mocked Jesus as he hung on the cross, they had no idea the beauty and glory of that act. They couldn’t see the opportunity in what they called a failure.

Questions for Reflection

Has the cross been a stumbling block in your life? Why or why not?

Have you ever had a situation in your life that seemed hopeless or so bad you couldn’t imagine anything good coming from it? How did God meet you in that place? Has he brought good from those difficult circumstances?

Who is someone around you going through a difficult time? How might you encourage them to see the potential blessing in the midst of hardship?

Readings for this week:

March 8:                     1 Kings 6:1-4; 21-22; 1 Corinthians 3:10-23

March 9:                     2 Chronicles 29:1-11; Hebrews 9:23-28

March 10:                   Ezra 6:1-16; Mark 11:15-19

March 11:                   Genesis 9:8-17; Ephesians 1:3-6

March 12:                   Daniel 12:5-13; Ephesians 1:7-14

March 13:                   Numbers 20:22-29; John 3:1-13

March 14:                   Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10

February 28: The Cross Must Come First

Read: Genesis 17:1-7; 15-16; Mark 8:31-38

³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

In this passage from Mark’s gospel, he tells us how Jesus began teaching his followers about what was going to happen to him in the future. Jesus will repeat this teaching two more times in Mark’s gospel. Here, the first thing we notice is the word “must”. These things he’s talking about aren’t possibilities or probabilities; they don’t make up one potential story arc among many. They must happen.

Jesus tells the disciples he must suffer; he must be rejected by the Jewish leaders; he must be killed; and he must be raised from the dead. Verse 32 tells us that Jesus told them these things “plainly.” It wasn’t in a parable or in figurative language. He wasn’t using a metaphor or simile hoping they would get it. He told them straight out – he must die and be raised from the dead.

Then we read, “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” Peter hears the words of Jesus and he is incredulous. “This cannot happen. It will not happen. You are a prophet! You are the Messiah, the Son of God! We’ve left everything to follow you!”

Jesus answers with a rebuke of his own! “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” By setting himself against what God has said must happen, Peter is cooperating with Satan. He is resisting God’s plan. Satan doesn’t want Jesus dead; he doesn’t Jesus to die and pay the ransom that will set those who believe free.

Jesus says in verse 34, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  To be his followers and to experience the life and the forgiveness in his blood; to have his death pay the ransom my sin and your sin, we need to value Jesus more than anything. Rather than protecting our comfort or our safety or our reputations, we must die to self. We must be willing to lose everything for him. He must be our greatest treasure.

³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. If we spend our energy trying to protect our lives; trying to keep things the way we like them; treasuring the life we’ve created or the things we amassed, there will be no ransom for our sin. Though we may avoid hard times and suffering, we will ultimately lose our lives. We are wise to heed the words of the late missionary Jim Elliot, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? It’s possible to value the things of the world so much; valuing them even above Jesus; so that when it comes time for your sin to be paid for, you have nothing to offer. There is nothing you can offer for your soul if you have not trusted in the one who came to give his life as that ransom. Nothing else will ever be enough.

³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul? There is nothing you or I or anyone else can pay that will gain our souls. Jesus alone can do that.

³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” If a person is embarrassed of their connection to Jesus and the gospel; if the cross seems like foolishness to them and they don’t want people to know they believe it; then the day will come when Jesus separates the sheep and the goats and that person will be judged with the goats. Whoever values their status and reputation in the world more than the scandalous price Jesus paid to ransom them, that person will have no hope on the last day. They will have gained the whole world and lost their souls.

Questions for Reflection

Whose approval do you crave most? Whose praise are you most desperate not to lose? In whose presence do you fear most being shamed? Which relationship is most precious to you?

When you hear the call to “die to self” and to “deny” yourself, how do you respond? What feelings or thoughts come to mind? Why is it so difficult for many of us?

Take a few moments to think about how God has made something of beauty and hope out of the sufferings, rejection, murder, and resurrection of his Son. If we deny ourselves and die to self, can we believe he will make out of the torn pieces and the tangled threads of our lives something beautiful for his glory?

Readings for this week:

March 1:                     Genesis 21:1-7; Hebrews 1:8-12

March 2:                     Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:1-3; 13-19

March 3:                     Jeremiah 30:12-22; John 12:36-43

March 4:                     Exodus 19:1-9a; 1 Peter 2:4-10

March 5:                     Exodus 19:9b-15; Acts 7:30-40

March 6:                     Exodus 19:16-25; Mark 9:2-8

March 7:                     Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 18-25