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Read: Jeremiah 31:1-6; John 20:1-18

It’s beginning to look a lot like Easter! School children are coloring pictures of Jesus hanging on the cross. Shop owners have lights in their windows and scenes from Calvary set up. In the malls and supermarkets, we hear all the songs of the season – “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” (what do you think of the Chipmunks version?) – and car dealers have those great Empty-tomb sized discounts on the new 2023 models!

Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Easter. Or is it? We don’t make the same big deal of Holy Week that we do of Advent and Christmas. No one wishes us a holly jolly Easter or throws an office Good Friday party.

A Jewish man, named Mitch, wrote this note to his Christian friend:

Looking at the Christmas thing as a man raised in a Jewish home, the big celebration in Christianity should be Easter. No Easter, no Christianity. So all the focus on Christmas, at least to me, seems misdirected.

Why Christians don’t whoop it up more at Easter is a mystery to me. How inspirational! How joyful! That is the time to toast each other, lay on gifts, attend worship services, pack in the rich food. Something really substantial and holy to remember.

No Easter, no Christianity. Mitch has a point! If Jesus doesn’t rise from the dead, where he was born makes no difference. No cross and resurrection, no celebration of Jesus’ birth.

Sometimes we say, “Christmas is for children.” That may be, but shouldn’t Easter be even more so? Yes, the weight of sin and the weariness of life may not be things our children are thinking about, but what hope we give them when they learn that in the midst of life’s difficulties and our inability to be good enough, Jesus has triumphed. He has conquered death. He has made a way. Jesus is present to us today in ways we cannot understand or explain. In him, we find life that is full and meaningful and vibrant and without end. He is life itself!

In the fourth century, John Chrysostom wrote a sermon that is still quoted in Orthodox churches around the world for Easter. It’s called “O Death, Where is Your Sting? O Hell, Where is Your Victory?” In it he wrote:

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.

Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.

Christ is risen, and life reigns.

Lent and Easter may seem boring to children. Other than a chocolate bunny or a colorful egg, this isn’t the silliness and celebratory season Advent and Christmas offer. There isn’t the anticipation of what gifts might be found under the tree.

Yet Easter contains the one thing that every man, woman, and child needs most… Resurrection.

Jesus said in John 5, ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. ²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Easter changes everything. It is the single most important event in human history. It is the place where God, once and for all, made a way for us to be restored to all he intended for us. It is a place of hope; a place of life; a place of unconditional love.

For reflection:

• Think about how you celebrate Easter and Christmas. How can we “whoop it up” more at Easter? Should we?
• What would it look like to live your life in light of the resurrection more than you do now?

* This devotional was adapted from one written by Frederica Matthews-Green.

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

I’m an optimistic person. I usually can find a silver lining in even the worst of situations. It isn’t hard for me to see hard times as opportunities and to believe that God truly does work all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

As a result, I tend to want to skip Lent and Good Friday and simply focus on the resurrection. Yes, Jesus suffered, and I will too since I’m his follower. Yes, Jesus died on the cross, and I too must take up my cross and follow him. But the resurrection! That changes everything! Right?

It absolutely does. Yet, there is no “Christ is risen” without first “Christ has died.” The horror of Good Friday is part of what makes the empty tomb so glorious. Jesus faced death and conquered it. Jesus didn’t shy away from the cross. He asked that the cup be taken from him in the garden, yet did God’s will when the answer was, “No.”

Jesus chose the cross. He willingly took our place enduring the mocking, the beating, the scorn, the pain, the humiliation, and the suffering. Hebrews tells us that, “for the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus chose the cross out of obedience to the Father. He chose it out of love for you and me. He chose it to make a way for broken, sinful people to be restored to the life they’d been designed for. He died so we wouldn’t have to…so we could be with him for all eternity.

As I reflect on the cross and Jesus’ willingness to endure it for my sake, I think also of his call to his followers in Matthew 16, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 

I am called to take up my cross and die; to lose my life for Jesus’ sake. In dying, I live. In surrender and submission to God’s will and God’s way, I find freedom. Though I may suffer in this life – suffer because this is a fallen world filled with sickness and the consequences of sinful choices (mine and others) or suffer because I’ve chosen to follow Jesus and such a life is not popular in a world given to self – I have the hope that my suffering is not in vain. It’s a part of the process of being made into Christ’s image. It’s part of the process of God developing in me perseverance and holiness.

And so, though my flesh wants to fast forward to the empty tomb and the joy of resurrection, I pause at Calvary. I take time to remember “what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [I] may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18b-19). I remember John’s words that God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. I remember these things and I pause to give thanks; to look back on the season of Lent and all the ways God has met me in my reflection and “suffering”; to give thanks for the ways he has realigned my heart and filled me with hope; and for the truth that it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

For reflection:

• If you’ve taken time during Lent to enter into Christ’s suffering through giving something up, reflect on how that you’ve experienced that. Has it been “suffering”? Has it been easy? What are lessons you’ve learned in the process? How has Jesus met you?
• Jesus most profoundly demonstrates his incredibly love for us in dying the death we deserved. What are ways you’ve experienced his love during Lent? How does the cross communicate love to you?

Where has God “realigned” your heart this Lenten season? Give thanks for his gracious work in your life.

Read: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Matthew 21:1-11

Søren Kierkegaard once wrote that Jesus consistently called people to follow him, but never asked people to admire him. He called people to discipleship, not admiration for his teaching or fans of his philosophy. He wanted disciples. Followers. People who would become his apprentices and learn from him; imitate him; follow him.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus came into Jerusalem. Some of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. People ran before him and others came behind. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Most of those in the crowd were admirers; they were fans. They liked what Jesus taught, perhaps even claimed to believe it, but in their actions their lives weren’t impacted. They didn’t try to live like him. They heard this great teaching, they saw his miracles and healings, they heard his calls and commands and… they ignored them.

Jesus came into the world to save it, not merely to instruct it. He came to live the life each of us should have lived and he understood God’s heart and desire for us. He taught the way of God, not human tradition. He showed us what a life lived well looked like. He faced all the temptations and challenges we face in life and he never sinned. He walked in intimacy with the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Peter wrote in his first letter, ²¹ For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He is our example, the pattern, we should follow.

A follower wants to be as much like the one it admires as possible. In 1991, Gatorade released a commercial featuring Michael Jordan. As Michael was shown playing in the NBA, practicing with his teammates and with kids on a schoolyard, we heard, “Sometimes I dream, that he is me. You’ve got to see that’s how I dream to be. I dream I move; I dream I groove. Like Mike, if I could be like Mike.” Of course, in the midst of all the video of Michael playing, we see him drinking Gatorade. The impression is, if we’ll drink what Michael drinks, we can be like him!

Interspersed in the scenes of Michael were scenes of people – especially kids – trying to do the things Michael Jordan did. They were doing their best to imitate him. They, in some small sense, were followers, though what they aspired to was a bit out of reach!

An admirer, on the other hand, stays detached. He admires from a distance. He fails to see that what the person is doing is something he can or should do. A lot of us who watched that Gatorade commercial were admirers. We loved watching Michael. We loved seeing the incredible things he could do, We would have loved to have been able to do them. But we didn’t even try. There was only one Michael. We’ll root for (or against) him, but we aren’t going to try to be him.

Jesus made it clear he was uninterested in admirers. On the night he was betrayed, as his disciples gathered to celebrate the Passover, he did something unthinkable. He washed their feet. Even Judas’ feet. And when he finished, he said to them: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. “

An admirer would see Jesus’ actions and say, “That’s so cool! I love that guy!” A follower would say, “That’s so cool! I want to be like that guy!” Jesus said the ones who do what he did are the ones who are blessed. It isn’t enough to admire him or to cheer him on. He wants us to do what he did. He wants us to follow.

On that Palm Sunday some two thousand years ago, outwardly, the people responded rightly. They rejoiced. They praised. They honored their king.

Their actions as the week wore on betrayed their hearts. They were nothing more than admirers and when Jesus did not meet their expectations, they joined the masses yelling, “Crucify!” As Jesus looks over Jerusalem and weeps in Luke 19, he writes, ⁴¹ And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” They admire him, but do not believe. They do not follow. They missed the blessing God wanted to give them.

For reflection:

• As you think about your Christian experience, are you a follower or an admirer? Are you all in, doing the things Jesus did? Or are you watching from a distance, keeping him at arm’s length?
• Take a moment to think about the things Jesus did in his life – prayer, Scripture reading, time in silence and solitude, witness, teaching, etc. Which do you do now? Which do you sense him inviting you to start?

Read this week:

April 3: Isaiah 42:1-9; John 12:1-11

April 4: Isaiah 49:1-7; John 12:20-36

April 5: Isaiah 50:4-9a; John 13:21-32

April 6: Exodus 12:1-14; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

April 7: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 18:1-19:42

April 8: Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24; John 19:38-42

April 9: Jeremiah 31:1-6; John 20:1-18

Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11:1-45

In 2011, I went with my son, Joshua, as a chaperone for his senior class trip. We went to London. While there we decided to attend William Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It, at the Globe Theater. It was magnificent! My favorite part was hearing Jacque utter his famous line, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.”

His point is that people have parts they play throughout their lives like actors do in a play. For many of us, we put on a mask that looks like the person we want the world to believe we are. We create a public persona that keeps people from seeing the doubts and struggles and challenges we really face.

Through the years, many call our façade our false self. Underneath, sometimes well hidden, is our true self, the self we’re afraid to let anyone see because we just aren’t sure it measures up.

Lent, with all its reflection and prayer, is often a season in which God strips away our false self to allow our true self to emerge more fully. It sometimes feels like death – the death of that which is false in order for something truer to come to life.

One of the great paradoxes of faith is that in order for us to truly live, we must die.  Before we reign with Jesus in his glory, we must share in his sufferings. In order to become a new creation in Christ, the old self must be crucified with Christ that he might live in us. Before resurrection, there must be death. Before the crown, there is a cross.

The good news is that the only thing we stand to lose is the false self, which is a façade and not real anyway. It’s a mask. The thing that passes away was never really useful to begin with!

In Ezekiel’s passage this morning, God takes the prophet to a valley full of bones. They were very dry. God asks Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel answers, “O Lord God, you know.”

As Ezekiel obeys the Lord and prophecies as instructed, the bones come together. Then there were sinews. To those God added flesh. Over those he laid skin. And finally, Ezekiel called on the four winds and the bones were filled with breath. They lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Thomas Keating suggests the spiritual journey is a series of small humiliations of the false self that make room inside us for the Holy Spirit to come and heal. The things that prevent us from coming to God and experiencing transformation are slowly taken away. It is often suffering that God uses to do this, but even Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

During Lent, we practice dying in small ways so that when the bigger deaths come, we will know how to let go of that which we really never needed. It is a time to learn, as Jesus did, obedience through the things we suffer. It is a time to experience what it is like to have our false self, our mask, wasting away as our inner person is renewed day by day.

All the world may be a stage, however, our audience is not the world, but our creator and sustainer – the one who makes our dry bones dance and breathe and sing. When we die to self and live for Christ, God uses our suffering and trials to strip us of our masks and to teach us to truly live.

For reflection:

• What needs to die in me in order for the will of God to come forth in my life?
• What new thing is God doing in my life that requires some of the old things to pass away?
• Where do I sense God wanting to teach me obedience through the things I’m suffering?

Read this week:

March 27: 1 Kings 17:17-24; Acts 20:7-12

March 28: 2 Kings 4:18-37; Ephesians 2:1-10

March 29: Jeremiah 32:1-9; 36-41; Matthew 22:23-33

March 30: 1 Samuel 16:11-13; Philippians 1:1-11

March 31: Job 13:13-19; Philippians 1:21-30

April 1: Lamentations 3:55-66; Mark 10:32-34

April 2: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Matthew 21:1-11

Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; John 9:1-41

At first reading, this morning’s passages may not seem to have any connection. Samuel is sent to anoint David. He sees seven of Jesse’s sons pass before him. Beginning with Eliab, he sees them and thinks each one will be the next king. God rejects each. Finally David is brought and he is the one God chooses.

In verse 7, we read the lesson in God’s choice. He tells Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

In John 9, Jesus passes by a man born blind and his disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus is quick to tell them neither. Like Samuel looking at the physical appearance of Jesse’s sons was a mistake, we should not look at a person’s challenges as the measure of their spirituality.

One of the reasons we read Scripture over and over is because as we grow and mature in our faith, we grow and mature in our understanding. The simple faith we have when we are new believers faces challenges and temptations. What we thought was black and white seems to have a myriad of shades of gray. Each experience, each challenge or hardship, tests us and refines us and matures our faith.

The man healed of his blindness goes through something similar (though in a very short time!). First his neighbors debate whether he is the man born blind or just looks like him. They go back and forth until the blind man insists, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” I am him!

The neighbors take the man to the Pharisees. He answers their questions and a debate erupts among them. ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. They turn to the man and ask him: “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He answers: “He is a prophet.”

After talking to the man’s parents, we read in verse 24, For the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 

The Pharisees are angry. They want to discredit Jesus. They want to show everyone how bad he is. And though they silenced the formerly blind man’s parents with the threat of being expelled from the synagogue, no one will tell them what they want!

The blind man answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 

²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” This man’s faith is growing. He sees Jesus’ as a rabbi, a teacher. He is one worthy of being followed. He is Jesus’ disciple. Though he will be cast out of the synagogue and shunned by his people, he would rather follow Jesus the one who gave him sight.

Jesus seeks out the man who now sees. We read: ³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”

Do you believe in the Son of Man? It is he who is speaking to you. The man answers Jesus with confidence: “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 

He believed in Jesus the man; Jesus the prophet; Jesus the rabbi; and Jesus the Son of God. His healing is complete.

During Lent, Jesus meets us at our personal point of darkness. He finds us in our mess. Will we humbly confess it? Will we repent? Jesus offers us the light of life. He offers us forgiveness and sight. He offers us his loving presence and his transforming power.

For reflection:

• Where am I in this story? Am I blind and need Jesus as my savior? Have I believed but still struggling with shadows and darkness in my life?
• Take time this week to sit with Jesus in solitude and ask him to show you any current or past situation in which there is unacknowledged sin. Ask him to show you any shadows or darkness that still remain in your heart.
• As he reveals areas that need attention, confess to God first and ask for wisdom and direction about whether you need to confess to someone else.
• Ask Jesus if there is anything you need to do to make the situation right.

Read this week:

March 20: Isaiah 59:9-19; Acts 9:1-20

March 21: Isaiah 42:14-21; Colossians 1:9-14

March 22: Isaiah 60:17-22; Matthew 9:27-34

March 23: Ezekiel 1:1-3, 2:8-3:3; Revelation 10:1-11

March 24: Ezekiel 33:10-16; Revelation 11:15-19

March 25: Ezekiel 36:8-15; Luke 24:44-53

March 26: Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11:1-45

Read: Exodus 17:1-7; John 4:5-42

When I was a kid, every so often my parents would get tired of the mess in my room and instruct me to clean things up. I’d trudge up, muttering under my breath all the way, and proceed to “clean”. I say, “clean”, because I’d basically shove things into drawers and toss them in my closet. I’d wait long enough for it to seem I’d really done a good job and then have my Mom come up for inspection (praying she wouldn’t open the closet.) Usually, I’d pass. Occasionally she’d look in the closet!

During Lent, we are invited to enter more intentionally into times of prayer and self-examination that God might show us our messy, cluttered hearts that we would repent and experience his restoration and renewal. For many of us, it’s hard to admit our hearts are cluttered and messy. We’d rather toss it all in the proverbial closet so no one (especially God) would see it. And we hope and pray he won’t try to open the closet door.

I think that’s a bit like how the woman at the well felt. Here she was going out to get water at noon. It was the hottest time of the day and she was sure she wouldn’t have to interact with anyone. And yet, Jesus is waiting for her!

With each question he asks, she tries to divert his attention. It’s like she knows he wants to open the closet door, but maybe just maybe she can distract him…but no. He goes there and opens it.

And as all her junk – five husbands and not married to her current partner – come spilling out, she tries to divert Jesus one more time talking about the Messiah. ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” I can imagine the love and the compassion in Jesus’ eyes as he ²⁶ said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

This woman, who society had written off as a sinner, as unworthy, as less than, Jesus sees her and loves her and offers to clean up her mess and give her a new heart and a new start. And, whether we like it or not, Jesus opens our closet door too. He loves us too much to let us sit in our mess. His invitation is not that we clean our own mess up, we can’t do it, he wants to clean it for us. He wants us to sit in our messy house and honestly admit that we are a hot mess.

This is the first step in repentance. It’s taking time for self-examination. It’s reviewing our lives in God’s presence, asking him to bring to our awareness the places we are not like Him, we are caught in sin, and we are holding on to the wrong things. It may start as a vague sense that something is out of whack. It could be more obvious like an anger that we can’t control or an addiction we can’t overcome. Whatever our mess is, we stop rationalizing and defending ourselves and see and listen and acknowledge what Jesus shows us.

This can be a painful process, but it is evidence of God’s love and grace. He’s freeing us from the sin that holds us in bondage. He’s leading us to the freedom that is ours in Christ. As it comes to the surface and we repent and ask forgiveness, we also ask Jesus to show us the deeper reason inside us that caused our bad behavior in the first place. We ask him to root it out at the source.

When our messy lives are cleaned up, it allows us to be more the people we were created to be. It allows us to reflect the person of Christ more in our thoughts, words, and actions. It puts us in a position to recognize and respond to the Holy Spirit’s still, small voice and tiniest nudges. It fills us with a peace that surpasses understanding and a joy that is our strength.

For reflection:

• Set aside time this week to review your life in God’s presence – family, work, church, friendships, and your personal relationship with him.
• Ask God to show you places where you the messes – where you fall short of Christlikeness and need him to clean things up and to transform you.
• As he cleans up the mess, ask his forgiveness, thank him you have it in Christ, and invite him to show you the root cause that led you to this place.

Read this week:

March 13: Genesis 24:1-27; 2 John 1:1-13

March 14: Genesis 29:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4

March 15: Jeremiah 2:4-13; John 7:14-31; 37-39

March 16: 1 Samuel 15:10-21; Ephesians 4:25-32

March 17: 1 Samuel 15:22-31; Ephesians 5:1-9

March 18: 1 Samuel 15:32-34; John 1:1-9

March 19: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; John 9:1-41

Read: Genesis 12:1-4a; John 3:1-17

Our dog Luna has FOMO. You know, the “Fear Of Missing Out”. Whatever we’re doing, she wants to be in the middle of it. When we go for walks, she wants to be last so she can keep an eye on all that’s going on and quickly run up to check out anything that looks interesting.

I find it tempting not to do anything special or different for Lent. Jesus has come. I’m forgiven. My spiritual life is ok. What’s the point?

At the same time, I don’t want to miss out either. What if God is just waiting to do an incredible work in my heart? What if he wants to strip me down with a Lenten “spring cleaning” and then fill my heart and life with a deeper connection to his Spirit and the ability to discern his voice in my newly renovated heart and soul? I don’t want to miss that!

John 2 ends with John telling us about many who believed in Jesus during the Passover Feast. But lest we get excited, he quickly lets us know that Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man (John 2:23-25). As chapter 3 begins, Nicodemus stops by to talk to Jesus. Nicodemus’ somewhat earthly questions provide Jesus an opportunity to teach him about heavenly things.

It’s a familiar story. Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see God’s kingdom unless he is born again. Nicodemus thinks he’s talking about a second natural birth. Jesus is talking about a spiritual rebirth.

Nicodemus isn’t sure he quite believes it. He wants to admit Jesus is a great teacher, but this whole “born again” thing seems too crazy. Doesn’t it? Jesus sort of teases him and says, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Then he goes on to explain, ¹⁴ “And 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.” He points to his death, his being “lifted up”, as the thing people must believe to have eternal life.

John sums it all up with verses 16 and 17: ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. This is what Jesus is talking about. This is being born again. It’s believing in the one who came down from heaven and instead of dying, gains eternal life.

But, for a man like Nicodemus and for many of us, that seems too easy. We have to do something, right?. God can’t just give us eternity. We have to earn it. For Nicodemus, a Pharisee, he followed strict regimen to keep the law and avoid any of the no-no’s Jewish tradition forbade. For us, we struggle with issues of pride, of ego-drivenness. We can focus too much on work and human effort.

Lent isn’t about doing something to gain standing with God. It’s about denying ourselves good things that have taken too much control of us so we can receive the much better gifts God wants to give. Ruth Haley Barton suggests some ways we can do this:

• If we struggle with pride, we might abstain from activities that feed the ego and practice “hiddenness” – praying, giving, and serving in ways that don’t draw attention to us.
• If we struggle with our speech, we might take more time in silence and listen more to others.
• If we struggle with being tired because we’re doing too much, we might practice saying, “No,” to some activities to be more rested and take more time in God’s presence.
• If we struggle to use caffeine or some other stimulant to give us a boost or food or alcohol to numb our worry, we might give up caffeine, or alcohol, or a certain food and ask God to reveal the source of our tiredness or our anxiety.
• If we struggle with addictions to our technology, we might consider disconnecting from cell phones, computers, and tablets for certain portions of the week.

Whatever we choose, by denying ourselves things that are not bad in and of themselves, these disciplines open us for the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. When we cooperate with God to clear the clutter of compulsive behaviors from our hearts and remove the distractions from our lives, we grow more in tune with the presence of the Holy Spirit around us and experience the deep soul satisfaction that comes with it.

FOMO is not a great motivation for disciplines of fasting or abstinence. A deep desire to connect with God and not to miss the transformation he wants to do in my soul is. Join me in praying, “Father, lead me in the letting go of anything that distracts, numbs, keeps me from you. Guide me into uncluttered rooms and wide-open spaces where I can meet you. Amen.”

For reflection:

• What activities, behaviors, and relationships are most distracting to my spiritual life these days?
• Which ones keep me from seeking God with all my heart?
• During this Lenten season, what do I need to fast from in order to focus more fully on eternal things?

Readings this week:

March 6: Numbers 21:4-9; Hebrews 3:1-6

March 7: Isaiah 65:17-25; Romans 4:6-13

March 8: Ezekiel 36:22-32; John 7:53-8:11

March 9: Exodus 16:1-8; Colossians 1:15-23

March 10: Exodus 16:9-21; Ephesians 2:11-22

March 11: Exodus 16:27-35; John 4:1-6

March 12: Exodus 17:1-7; John 4:5-42

Read: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11

As Matthew 4 begins, Jesus has just been baptized. The Holy Spirit had descended upon him like a dove and the voice of the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” I always thought this would be the perfect time for Jesus to start his ministry. He just received the endorsement of one of the most popular preachers in the world. There were already crowds gathered. Strike while the iron’s hot!

Not so fast! Matthew 4:1, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The first thing Jesus does is head to the wilderness. For forty days and nights, Jesus fasts and prays and meets with God in a desolate, deserted, solitary place: The wilderness.

Traditionally, the season of Lent gets its structure and themes from Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness where he fasted, prayed, and faced Satan’s temptations. The wilderness was not punishment. Jesus was just declared God’s beloved son. Instead, God had a purpose and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Jesus goes.

² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ And the tempter came… Isn’t that just like Satan? He waits until we are weak and then attacks! He waits until Jesus is most vulnerable and then he pounces!

But I think that’s backwards. Jesus may be physically weak, but spiritually he’s at his strongest. His time in the wilderness is a time of preparation for the ministry before him. Like all who serve as ministers of the gospel, Jesus will be tempted to trust in things other than God for his security and survival. He will be tempted to seek his approval, power, and control in human things.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread…If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Richard Rohr observes, “These three…are…temptations that all humans must face…they are temptations to misuse power for purposes that are less than God’s purpose.” Jesus passes all three tests. The wilderness, the lonely place, was his place of preparation and strengthening.

During Lent, we often experience the evil one’s temptations for us to save ourselves through our own human strength and strategy instead of trusting God to be enough to meet what we need. We must ask ourselves,

• Where am I tempted to ‘turn these stones to bread’ in my life?
• Where am I tempted to use the gifts and power God has given me to bring security and control in my life?
• Where am I putting God to the test and disregarding my human limitations to try to prove something to others and then expecting God to come to my rescue again and again?
• When, where, and how am I tempted to worship the outward trappings of success rather than seeking the inner joy, peace, and authority that come from worshiping God and serving Him only?

We often think the wilderness is a harsh place. We think of it as a place God banishes us to when we fall short. Lent invites us to see it as a place of preparation; a place where we find clarity, inner strength, and salvation that comes from God alone. We find it is the place we find God’s steadfast love.

Henri Nouwen writes, “We have to fashion our own desert where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions and dwell in the gentle healing presence of the Lord. Without such a desert we will lose our own soul while preaching the gospel to others.”

For Reflection:

• In what ways am I trusting something or someone other than God for security and survival, affirmation and approval, power and control?
• During Lent, how will I fashion my own wilderness – creating space for solitude and stillness – so I can on God and experience his steadfast love as my true salvation?

Readings this week:

February 27: 1 Kings 19:1-8; Hebrews 2:10-18

February 28: Genesis 4:1-16; Hebrews 4:14-5:10

March 1: Exodus 34:1-9, 27-28; Matthew 18:10-14

March 2: Isaiah 51:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:3-7

March 3: Micah 7:18-20; Romans 3:21-31

March 4: Isaiah 51:4-8; Luke 7:1-10

March 5: Genesis 12:1-4a; John 3:1-17

Read: Isaiah 7:10-16; Romans 1:1-17; Matthew 1:18-25

This morning, Pastor Rick will present the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s perspective.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Joseph has always fascinated me. In a male-dominated, patriarchal society, he is strangely silent. Nowhere in Scripture is he quoted as having spoken. Obviously, he did, but his part to play in God’s unfolding plan is shockingly brief and kept to the shadows, not the spotlight.

Matthew 1 is the one place Joseph is at the center. Matthew goes to great lengths to make sure we know that Joseph is the father of Jesus. He begins his gospel with a genealogy that traces out the generations from Abraham through David to Joseph.

Though Jesus’ birth is clearly miraculous – a virgin becomes pregnant by the work of God’s Holy Spirit – nonetheless, Joseph is his adopted father. He is the one who names Jesus according to the command of God – thus adopting Jesus as his own – and inserting Jesus into the line of David. He is great David’s many-times-great grandson. He is in the line of the Messiah.

Joseph’s story is brief, but full of beauty. Joseph is a just man. He is a man of righteousness. He is a man of faith and obedience and ultimately a man of love. In Joseph we see the mysteries of God working in subtle yet profound ways.

In Joseph’s story we see the mystery of God working in the common people and activities of life. He works in Marys and Josephs – common people – to bring into the world the Messiah. He uses the pressures of religious traditions, law, and community. He uses the customs surrounding marriage, family, and decisions to divorce. God enters into these common areas of life with transforming power. If God comes into the common and the everyday; if he has something to say even about a common man choosing to divorce his wife-to-be, how might God work in our every day lives and decisions? How might he want to transform our common lives through the presence of this uncommon child of promise?

In Joseph’s story we see the mystery of faith and obedience. Joseph is a just man. He is a man of strength and purpose. He is devoted and faithful to his beliefs and is ready to act on those commitments. When the angel breaks into his sleep, he isn’t divided and wavering. He’s resolved. He had made his decision and knew what he would do. When the angel calls him to going through with the marriage, he doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t ask for a fleece. He doesn’t question at all. He simply obeys. Matthew emphasizes his obedience by using the exact words the angel speaks to describe Joseph’s actions. How might God demonstrate his power when we are open to his call and ready to obey what he asks? Joseph gives us an example of faithful discipleship well before his son calls us to “Go and make disciples” of all nations.

In Joseph’s story we see the mystery of what righteousness looks like. Joseph decides to divorce Mary because he is a righteous man (1:19). This was not an easy decision for Joseph. To divorce Mary or have her killed are what the Law said a righteous man would do. But God calls him to something better. God calls him to grace and to a righteousness the shows itself in mercy. Joseph risks being seen as disobedient by the world; the risk of becoming an outcast to his family and friends and community; the risk of being seen as sinful and to face suffering for the sake of obeying God’s command. It reminds us of another in this story would become sin for us that the promises of God might be realized. When law and righteousness or justice seem to collide, can we trust in the promises of God? Can we trust God when it seems he’s taking us further than we can imagine?

In Joseph’s story we see the mystery of God’s promises and the ways he fulfills them. We see this throughout the Bible, but Matthew is especially concerned that we see the myriad of ways Jesus fulfills God’s promises. The miraculous birth and name “Immanuel”, first promised in Isaiah 7, Jesus is God with us and this beautiful truth begins his story and ends is at the end too: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Even the name “Jesus” is filled with promise and meaning. The angel tells Joseph, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” What a promise! If Joseph merely pondering this incredible promise so radically changes his life and mind that he reorients his entire life to make it possible, what might its fulfillment do in our lives?

Robert Smith writes that this Jesus is “pure gift, holy surprise, a fresh act of God, a new genesis, a new creation.” And it all comes about “from the Holy Spirit.” We live with the awareness of the mystery that is Jesus and that through the Spirit, God’s power is among us and ready to lead us in ways that we can only imagine. Is that good news, or is it a bit frightening? Perhaps James Boyce is right, “If we do not anticipate the Christmas event both with hope and with just a bit of anxious fear, then we are not sufficiently tuned to the implications of God’s presence among us.”

Questions for Reflection:

• Have you ever taken time to ponder Joseph’s silent, but significant, role in Jesus’ birth?
• Which of the mysteries mentioned speaks to you most? What is it that you find intriguing?
• Does the thought that Jesus is with us, that God is near, stir up a bit of fear in your heart? How would you respond if God asked you to do something that was completely different than what you had planned?