#lenten devotion

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

“The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live for ever.” (Jn 8:21-30)

“Don’t you sense that more peace and more union await you when you have corresponded to that extraordinary grace that requires complete detachment? Struggle for him to please him, but strengthen…

Fourth Thursday of Lent

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)

“By calling you to be an apostle, our Lord has reminded you, so that you will never forget it, that you are a child of God.” (The Way, no. 919) How do you live each day as an apostle and child of God?

4th Monday of Lent

“Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the LORD will be with you.” (Am 5:14)

“You see yourself so poor and weak that you recognize you are unworthy of having God listen to you. But… aren’t you a child of God? He listens to you, ‘for he is good, and his mercy endures forever.’” (The Way, no. 93)

For the faithful Christ-follower, self-concept is inextricably connected to God-concept. We are valuable because God is Creator. We are forgiven because God is Redeemer. If God is not who we thought He was, then who are we? Many of us dare not even ask the question. Do we fear that God will fail the test? Dr. Leonard Sweet teaches that in the Jewish culture, “It’s an act of reverence to ask…

Stopping and resting in the midst of Lent is not an easy thing. Holy Week started today. Some churches will have church services Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and several next Sunday. Some will not have services all of those days, but it will be a busy week for many Christians, a week remembering Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, His Last Supper, His betrayal, His suffering, His trial, His crucifixion, His words on the cross, His death, His burial, and waiting for His resurrection.

There is a lot to consider. We don’t even spend time with Jesus cleansing the Temple, or His teachings Monday through Wednesday. This is a busy week for Jesus. More is recorded about this week than about any other time in Jesus life. 

This chunk of Exodus we’ve worked through over the past week encompasses a lot of rules, the major failure of the Israelites with the Golden Calf, and a restart of everything. It takes a long time. Much longer than a week.

And the way of the cross is like that sometimes. It can be a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. Or it can be a lot of repetition over a longer period of time. 

Taking it day by day, reading, reflecting, responding to the wandering can get tiring. It can get monotonous. It can become busy work.

Moses heads up the mountain into the cloud for 40 days all by himself. And the first words Moses records from the encounter are God’s specifications for building the ark of the covenant. These are really specific. Measurements, materials, and design are all part of God’s instructions.

This is kind of weird to us. We who live in a world where no two churches are designed the same. Some are massive cathedrals with amazing woodwork, metalwork, and architecture. Others have been converted from department stores, theatres, and warehouses. 

Some of us like the eclectic nature of these differences. Others find it confusing. It’s a common phrase that we shouldn’t put God in a box, but isn’t that exactly what God was doing in Exodus 25? Saying, put me in this box and let me tell you what that box would be like?

And I think that may make all the difference. We can’t be the ones to design and construct the boxes God dwells in, but rather God designs the boxes how He wills.

This is not to question God’s infinite attributes, but more a commentary on God saying He will be places and us believing Him when He says He will be there. 

Jesus says He will be in bread and wine. The Holy Spirit is promised to dwell within us. Jesus promises to always be with us. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We are baptized into the name of Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

God is particular. He says He will be in water, wine, and bread. He tells Moses to make the ark of the covenant with these specifications. Just like God tells Noah to make the ark with certain specifications. Just like God tells Adam and Eve to eat of certain trees but not one tree. 

When it comes to being God’s creatures we are given a lot of freedom, but when God is particular, we should take that seriously. Eat of any tree you like. So pick one. But not that one. We cannot do whatever we want without consequences.

If God says we ought to live in a certain way, ignoring that is rather unwise. There are consequences to doing whatever we want. But we live in a world that doesn’t believe in such consequences.

What’s interesting I think is that God uses these specifications, these particularities to deliver good news. They are vehicles of Gospel. We may focus on the specifications: “build the ark of the covenant this way” but lose sight of what is being crafted: a place for God to be with His people. 

Build the ark this way Noah, so that I may save you and your family and not destroy everything on earth. 

Don’t eat of this tree Adam. Eat of these trees, so that you may live forever without sin.

Eat and drink this bread and wine so that I can give you forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

In Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, he concludes with:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   But I have promises to keep,   And miles to go before I sleep,   And miles to go before I sleep.

Exodus 24 is marked by a promise, an oath, a covenant. God promises to be the God of Israel and Israel promises to do all God has instructed them to do in the previous chapters. They promise to have no other gods. They promise to not make a graven image. They promise to act in a certain way with their property and with their neighbors. 

And Moses goes up the mountain. The people are at the base it seems. Moses goes up with the elders, Aaron, Joshua etc. And people seem to be left in tiers all over the mountain.

But Moses goes up into the glory of God, into the cloud for 40 days and 40 nights. 

If Peter Jackson were making a trilogy of Exodus, he would end the second movie here. All seems well. Moses ascends into the unknown. And now what? (The first movie would have ended after the ninth plague.)

Promises are made and broken every day. Disciplining ourselves to do what is right is a weight of unbearable burden. I can’t convince myself to exercise three times a week. I can’t remember to pray before every meal, even though my family instilled it deep within me.

When I was a kid, a common request from my mom was that I turn on the oven or start the washing machine. It was on such a condition that I was allowed to leave the barn. I would run to the house, hang up my jacket, and forget my task, my one simple task, and run to play or watch TV. If I remembered 10% of the time to do what she asked, I’d be shocked.

Sin is so attached to us that even when doing good is easy, preferred, obvious, and well within our capacity to do: we still fail. When doing good is hard, sacrificial, not obvious, and a real challenge for us...well...we end up in a mess.

And yet God wants us to be His people. God desires us. While He chastises us and even punishes us, He still desires us and our good. So much so that He sent Jesus for our ultimate good.