Lenten Devotion for March 26

Lenten Prayer

by Melodee Kistner

It begins with ashes
and a fiery promise
to walk these forty days
with you, O Christ, as my companion.

As your journey of self discovery
began with Satan in the desert
so too am I tormented during this Lenten season
by my personal demons.

Help me to see why even you, O Christ,
had to face Satan’s temptations of
Power, Wealth, and Fame.

Did Luke leave out some of the details
of your struggles with Satan?
Were you really able to resist so easily, or is that why
Lent is a forty-day journey?

Worldliness beckons each day of my life
with fantasies that steal my vitality
leaving no energy for seeing the
Image of God within me.

As I wait for stone to be turned into bread
the world goes hungry
As I wait to be the one in power
evil prevails because I do nothing
As I wait to be rescued by angels
the miracles in the ordinary go unnoticed.

How patient you are Jesus
as I stumble along my journey
hesitating, instead of walking boldly on The Way.

O Christ,
may I learn to walk without fear
facing my own darkness.
Let my journey lead me
at last
to Easter.

Lenten Devotion for March 25

Plumb Line Prayer

by Jan Sutch Pickard

Then God said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people.” (Amos 7:8)

God of justice, mercy and truth,

we gather in your presence,

aware of it in all creation –

where the warmth of the sun, the strength of the wind,

the energy of the waves, the stability of the earth

all remind us of your constant love

and your power to change and challenge our lives.

God of justice, mercy and truth,

we gather in your presence,

aware that in our world

there is one law for the rich and one for the poor,

that the scales are weighted against many

of our sisters and brothers,

and against new nations struggling to become,

and to find a balance.

God of justice, mercy and truth,

we gather in your presence,

aware of our own lives –

individually and in community –

where they measure up,

where they fall short,

where they are out of kilter –

as your plumb line shows us what is true.

Help us to be true to ourselves,

true to our history,

true to our own story,

true to you. AMEN

Lenten Devotion for March 24

God’s Graffiti
by Ann Weems

We’ve splashed our rules
all over the sanctuary walls...
so many rules we don't have time
for dancing...
our graffiti
defiling the house of God.
God's graffiti is different:
God writes LOVE
upon our hearts.
Some night, let's sneak in the sanctuary
and paint over the rules
and write God's graffiti
all over the walls...
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

Lenten Devotion for March 23

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; 

he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."  (Luke 15:12)

From The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming 

by Henri J. M. Nouwen 

For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God.  I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself.  I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.

Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me.  The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?”  The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?”  And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?”  God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.

Looking Toward Sunday

 March 25, 2012 - Fifth Sunday in Lent

“Solutions”

We continue our Lenten worship and sermon series, "Ready for a Change".  (If you've missed any of the sermons, you can listen to the podcast here.)  Our scripture reading for the day will be John 12:1-11.  In this passage Mary, sister of Lazarus, anoints Jesus with a pound of pure nard (a very expensive perfume).  It is an unimaginably generous and shockingly lavish gift - Mary's expression of devotion, gratitude and love for the one who changed her faith, her life, her world. 

When, like Mary, our lives change as a result of our encounter with Jesus, we are compelled to offer ourselves in generous ways, following his way of self-giving love.  What difference has Jesus made in your life?  How are you responding in self-giving ways?  What is your vision of yourself as a change-agent in the world?

See you on Sunday!

Lenten Devotion for March 22

Exquisite Corpse

by Scott Dalgarno

Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they made him a supper.

—John 12:1-2

Four days dead and sipping soup, Lazarus

Sits up, grunts, asks, “What’s today?” He reeks

Of tomb, but no one blanches at this banquet.

Sister Martha feeds him, wipes his chin, reminding him

Of time and mass and the unforgiving weight of resuscitation.

There’s that late-charge he thought he was clear of,

And the pruning, and that long look a bar-maid

Once gave him, but that’s all in Lazarus’ moldy brain.

The guests merely gape; the vacuum of the tomb

Has sucked every verb from the house, but Mary

Has an idea. She produces a jar of nard, pure, priceless,

And gloppy as death. She smashes it like some Jeremiah,

Peeling the fractured alabaster, lavishing the ooze

On Jesus’ chapped knees and feet. All stand transfixed,

But Lazarus’ eyes are still on Martha’s spoon,

Hovering a bit out of reach. Slowly he searches the room

For an explanation. There’s Mary, as busy as a Martha,

And Martha, nonplussed, her heart churning envy and disgust.

What kind of household is this, Lazarus wonders,

Where the dead are fed and the living embalmed?

Nothing sealed is safe; nothing at rest left undisturbed

By the merciless provocations of the living.

Lenten Devotion for March 21

Batting

by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Toward the end of winter I came upon

the Lord on a diamond, batting.

I said, “Lord, what are you doing?”

“These are your sins,” he said,

as a shadowy figure on the mound

with a vicious arm pitched.

He had no instinct: swung at everything,

even dirtballs. And hit ‘em every time.

He had a beautiful swing,

fluid, sure, and joyful.

He hit pitch after pitch, endlessly.

I lost myself, watching.

“Out of the park” he said, his eye

on a nasty looking knuckleball,

and swung like a dancer,

gracefully unwinding. Chock!

It rose up over the fence, over the trees,

released from all earthly bonds,

floating free until it disappeared,

infinitely gone, still rising.

He watched it go, as if

he’d never seen such a beautiful thing.

“I love this game,” he grinned,

and set for another pitch.

I think he was honestly

pleased with himself.