Monday Second Week of Lent
March 17th
Daniel 9:4-10 Luke 6:36-68
Advent and Lent have several things in common. They are both seasons of preparation: one for the Lord’s coming to our home; the other for his return to His home. We tend to approach these seasons in different ways. During Advent we are full of excitement and hope for God is sending His Son to save us. During Lent we meditate on our transgressions and on the price God’s Son paid to save us. However, the actuality of both of the seasons is much the same. Jesus came knowing that his arrival would lead to the cross and in both seasons we are acutely aware of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
The prayers we use for confession of sins in our formal worship services are much like Daniel’s prayer. His confession is not of personal sins but of the collective sins of his people. It is a long list. One impact of confessing together is that it is “our” confession. “We” confess to our failure to follow Jesus perfectly. While I am not listing my personal, individual sins, I am realizing that I am just like everyone else. Even as Daniel prayed alone he expressed this connection to all his people and their disobedience of God’s laws. He listed the numerous sins of his people. Then, in the middle of the prayer (v 9) he refers to God’s mercy and forgiveness.
In Luke’s account of one of Jesus’ teaching sessions with the multitudes, Jesus tells us to be merciful, as God is. He warns us that our attitude towards others is the gauge by which we will be measured. When we confess, communally, we need to remember that we are part of the community. We cannot hold ourselves above it. Corporate confession is a reminder that in not judging or condemning we are caring for others as God has cared for us. And in our individual penitence we are not to thank God that we are not as sinful as some others. When we accept others and give freely to them Jesus says we will receive “a good measure”. What more bountiful gift could we ever receive than Jesus’ blood poured out for us? (Lk 22:20) Thus the response at the end of our public confession “We are forgiven.”
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (II Cor 9:15)
Tuesday Second Week of Lent
March 18th reflection by Stephen Fitch
Readings: Isaiah 1:10,16-20; Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus, like many prophets before him, had sharp words to say to religious folk: “They do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23: 3b-4a). Likewise, Isaiah writes “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong” (Isaiah 1:16). Our faith must not be in word only, but in deed: the religion of, not about Jesus. We must remember his peacefulness, love, grace, and shrewdness. That he comforted the poor and broken and challenged the rich and prideful, but loved all.
In these forty days leading to the Cross and Resurrection, we must remember Christ’s lonely, broken heritage. First, as a refugee baby in a war-torn land, one who escaped infanticide, oppressed under Roman imperialism, born by a questionable birth, raised in poverty in the Palestinian badlands where “nothing good comes from” (John 1:46), Jesus is called. Jesus was not middle class, rich, American, or politically advantaged, but, given his low statue, followed His Father’s austere path of love and justice. This should give us comfort and challenge, knowing that anyone, anywhere, in any number of ‘impossible situations’ can be a humble and radical servant in God’s kingdom and find rest in it, even with persecutions leading to death!
Then, the Holy Spirit brought him into the desert for forty days. Wait, into the desert?
Yes, and during lent, we realize that we too, like Jesus and Israel, are all in a desert. We are all wandering this side of life, sometimes aimlessly, sometimes stutter-stepping, wondering what is the purpose of this life, who are we, and who is God. But, like Elijah, we learn that in the silence, not noise, is His still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). Like Paul, we realize that His grace is enough, because His strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). And like Jesus, we know that the “greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12). Therefore, in silence, weakness, humility, and service, we are made strong, the greatest, and hear God. These values, which are diametrically opposed to those of our culture, are the simple values we can cultivate to follow the simple Way of dying and life, nonviolence and revolution, Cross and Resurrection.
Later, in Jesus last week of life, sweating blood and shaking with fear, Jesus went to carry His Cross. Let us carry our Cross everywhere we go. Let us remember our death we die daily, our baptism, and our thirst, hunger, and God’s providence in our deserts. Let us remember that Jesus had many disciples and friends; his mission was not individual but the restoration of all. God, let us not to be prideful, but humble, not Pharisaic, but faithful, not to judge but to serve, not to oppress but to love, and not to be violent in word, deed, or intention but peaceful, not to hate or condemn, but to even pray for our attackers and enemies, and loving them, even while suffering shame, abuse, or even torture affixed by three nails to two wooden beams. Easter is coming, Easter has come, Easter is.
Peace; Love,
Stephen Fitch
Wednesday Second Week of Lent
March 19th reflection by Dale Williams
Matthew 20:17-28
Do you ever want to cover your ears and not hear something?
In John 20, Christ clearly lays out the truth of his coming death by the hands of Gentiles. The twelve disciples wanted nothing of it. This was not in their game plan.
Next, Jesus tells his followers to be great in His kingdom they needed to serve others – to be slaves. Good grief!
The disciples must have been covering their ears. Jesus was not sharing Good News.
But as Jerusalem came near, the shroud, which has on many occasions covered the meaning of Christ’s teaching, is drawn back. The raw reality and cost of sacrificially following Christ is laid bare.
When I travel in a plane, I like to watch movies using my personal headphones. The over-the-ear cups, block out noise and amplify the movie’s sound track. With the headphones, I can be in my own little world, hearing only what I want to hear.
Towards the end and near his crucifixion, Christ’s lessons became more pointed, while the disciple’s faith and faithfulness were called into account. They needed to hear what the Lord had to say, even if it was hard to accept.
May this Lenten season be a time for us to take off our headphones to hear what the Lord Jesus has to say to us. His voice is infinitely more important than the movie we are currently watching.
Thursday Second Week of Lent
March 20th reflection by Rodney Ruke
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. (James 4:13-14, NET)
The words of James address my pride: I am but a puff of smoke. Two points of engagement come to mind. The first confrontation is explicit in James. Smoke is temporary. In but a moment, it has dissipated and vanished from sight. Like smoke, my life does not last long. I do not know if I will be here tomorrow. That thought does not frighten me. It focuses me on what matters most. It does not mean I should not make plans for the future. It means that today needs to belong to Jesus. That’s when the best plans are made. I want today to be a day in which Jesus plants a seed of the Kingdom of God through me. That’s a good reminder for me during Lent.
James’ smoke metaphor also recalls the Old Testament imagery of mist and vapor being compared to idols and idolatry. Mist, like smoke, offers no solidity. There is nothing about it on which one can depend. Such are the idols of life. God, however, is a rock, the Rock. A person should set one’s soul upon the Rock, not upon anything else. Anything else is mist, vapor. Setting one’s soul on anything else is idolatry.
That Old Testament association leads me to another humbling point of engagement. Like smoke, who I am and what I offer is not just fleeting but also immaterial. In my pride, I certainly tend to believe that I am something substantial. I want to be noticed. I want respect. But, like the mist of idolatry or a puff of smoke, I have no “substance” on my own. However, I do have eternal substance when I am “in Christ” — the One who loves me enough to humiliate himself on the Cross. I want to find my true substance in Jesus. That’s a good reminder for me during Lent.
Friday Second Week of Lent
March 21st reflection by James Lorello
Stonework of Our Lives
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. Mathew 21: 42-43
This season of lent is truly the first I have ever participated in with my whole self. What I mean by this is I am not randomly deciding to give up Facebook, or forgo meat on Friday’s. Growing up Catholic and then transitioning through a time of agnosticism/atheism left me not really understanding what lent was all about upon my return a few years ago to Christianity. I found myself either not participating in lent because I felt it became a 40 day fad, or doing something just for the purpose of saying “I did it!”
The passage of this reflection is Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46, also known as the parable of the Wicked Tenants. Jesus speaks in the passage telling a parable of what is to happen to Him. God planted a vineyard, leaves tenants to take of the vineyard, sends his Son and heir to return to the vineyard and we the tenants then kill his Son. What to me is key in this passage is “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes” (Matthew 21: 42), a reminder that Jesus, the one whom was rejected, is the cornerstone.
During this season of lent I am challenging myself to pray deeply about my life, and reflect on the fruits of my faith and works. Is Jesus the cornerstone of my life? How am I “rejecting” Him? Is God the very foundation of the stonework of who I am and what I do? How are my works producing “fruits of the kingdom”? How would our church community answer these same questions? It can be so easy to go through the motions of lent and allow our day to day to get in the way of God. Thankfully lent is the perfect time to dig a little deeper and ensure that God is our foundation.
As is usually the case asking these questions we may end up with more questions than answers, but I hope these reflections allow the Spirit to speak and work. Perhaps in our reflection we will find a few cracks, or need to replace a few stones, or maybe even rebuild from the ground up. I hope that during this season of lent we can truly reflect and let God into our homes for inspection, “whatever” the outcome may be.
Saturday Second Week of Lent
March 22nd reflection by Alex Fischer
Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 & Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
It was spring of my freshman year at App State when I took a New Testament class; about halfway through the course we did a 3-class study on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. At the time, my faith was in a lull and frankly “weird” state. I had just come to college and everything I was so sure of in high school (I’ve been very open and “active” in my faith since I was 13) just seemed like it was barely there, if at all. I didn’t turn away from God, but I had definitely spaced out from any kind of conversation we were having. I felt lost. And then, I heard my professor (Ross Blackburn) explain this parable to us and all of sudden, I had come back to my senses.
We talked about how the younger son, by asking his father for his inheritance, was essentially saying, “I wish you were dead”. We talked about how when the son finally decides to come home, his father sees him from way off and runs to him. Back in that day, men wore long garments, so if the father was running, he had to lift up his clothes a bit to keep from tripping, which essentially was embarrassing for him. Before the son can even get a word out from his mouth, the father hugs him and kisses him, and when the son finally does speak, the father doesn’t even say anything to it and throws some new clothes on him and a ring. He’s so thrilled that he’s back; he has completely forgotten what his son said and did.
And so the same is for our relationships with God. All the time, every day, in what we say, what we do, how we act, the way we live our lives…we look at God and say, “I wish you were dead.” We harm and try to break the relationship. We do wrong. But no matter what, when we realize what we’ve done and when we decide to come back home, God is always there to take us in. We don’t even have to get all the way there; He sees us from a distance and runs to us (at the cost of shaming himself) and greets us with a hug and kiss before we can even get one word out of our mouths. God loves us, and always will. It doesn’t matter what our self-righteous older brothers might say (v. 28-30)…God welcomes us with open arms, and we have the True Older Brother (who told this story) to vouch for us and welcome us home as well. So if you’re feeling lost this Lent season and if you’re feeling spent and broken and all you want to do is just come home…then come on. God is waiting with open arms. Everything He has is ours (v. 31) and we can rejoice that His love will never fail us.
Third Sunday of Lent
March 23rd
Boone United Methodist Preschool
This year a parent told me something that made everything I have done in this job worthwhile: “I believe God is using the preschool to bless my family.”
In this family, one parent is employed, and one parent has chronic health issues. The parents had called to talk about paying tuition. I assured them that because they were in special circumstances, we would not charge a late fee if they fell behind. We normally expect tuition payment each month but we would give them additional time.
Because the child, when not in preschool, is home with the parent who has health problems, the child does not receive much outdoor or active play time. Our teachers have suggested that the child would benefit from attending preschool five days a week instead of three, so I mentioned this to the parents. I told them that we offer scholarships to families with special needs. This year one family was helped with a scholarship for the amount of the difference between three-day tuition and five-day tuition. While I could not promise that our scholarship committee would approve that for this particular family, I did feel that I could say that we would help them as we were able.
We also talked about other problems that the preschool staff could help the family with related to the child’s preschool attendance and involvement. I assured them that the child’s teachers and our entire staff would work to accommodate their changing needs.
What a blessing to me to be able to offer help to this precious family! I felt so generous as I told them the multiple ways we could help them in their current circumstance! Not only is the preschool blessing this family, and all the families who participate in this program, but God is blessing us through our service. We are humbled and grateful as we represent His work in this church and this community.
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Monday Fifth Week of Lent
April 7th anonymous reflection
Psalm 23 John 8:1-11
The twenty-third Psalm and the story of the woman caught in adultery are both very familiar. What is their connection? All of God’s word in the Bible creates our rule for faith and practice but sometimes it seems like we need to apply the Six Degrees of Separation to get from one part to another.
Let’s look at the story of the adulteress. This was obviously a trap set for Jesus by the Pharisees. They cut some corners but still put Jesus in the position of having to uphold Jewish law (to stone the woman) while disobeying the Roman law (Jews can’t carry out death sentences) or vice versa which would be just as bad as if not worse. However, Jesus managed to stay within both laws by putting a condition on the stoning.
How sad that the very reason Jesus won this “contest” was because of our sinful nature. We, as the Pharisees, are not without sin. We can only be saved through God’s mercy and grace in the sacrifice of His own Son. This is the reality we spend our time facing in a most intense way during Lent. We meditate on our sinfulness, our sins, our need to be better followers of the Master.
How grateful I am that Jesus reminds me that I am not different from nor worse than any other, just as he made the Pharisees realize they were not in a position to judge the woman. During Lent, especially, I am also reminded that I am not better or in a position to judge anyone else. There is a story of one of the Desert Fathers of the early church who was asked to come to a judging of another monk. He reluctantly came but he wore an old basket which he had filled with sand on his back. When asked why he said “My sins run out behind me and I do not see them and I have come here today to judge another.” Lent is the season that reminds us to look behind us.
We reflect and meditate but we do not beat on ourselves; the ashes we wear are not those of futility. Jesus paid with great sacrifice for our salvation and that payment was needed. Not one of us could pay the cost for our own sin, much less the sins of the world. What our ashes remind us of is that we are dust and to dust we shall return. But we do not need to fear the “valley of the shadow of death” for the Lord restores our souls. Any small forfeit of our own during this season only gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ sacrifice. But thanks to His sacrifice we “shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Thanks be to God.
Tuesday Fifth Week of Lent
April 8th reflection by Vern Collins
John 8:21-30
There is a trick we use in Youth Ministry…don’t judge. Everyone does it, we have just learned to leverage it to our advantage. It is the art of conveying that you know someone, without really having any idea who that person is.
Let me give you an example.
I am at an athletic event and I see a group of our Youth approaching. A quick scan of the crowd reveals that I know 4 of the 6 students. It is thrilling when there is opportunity to connect with students. It is terrifying when there are students in the group that I know I have met, and I know that they know me, and I assume that they assume that I also know them…when in reality I can not remember their name if my life depends on it. The result is that one of two things happens. Either my hand goes up for a high-five and is accompanied by a “hey man” (gender specific, obviously), which denotes to them that I know them really well; that we are friends; that we have some connection, or I extend my hand, look them in the eye, and say, “tell me your last name again.” The hope for me is that this triggers something buried deep within the recesses of my brain and I am able to produce a first name that goes along with that last name, or at the very least communicates to them that I do in fact know them, and want to know more about them?
While for you it may not be in the context of meeting youth, how many times have you pretended to know someone out of embarrassment or fear of being “found out;” out of being uncovered as a “fraud?” This may seem harsh, but we will go to great lengths to prove that we are intentional and relational people (think about how many times have you Facebook stalked someone).
Today’s reading begs the question, do you KNOW Jesus, or do you PRETEND to know Jesus? There is a question asked in this passage, that we would do well to emulate.
“Who are you?”
Let that sink in. “Who are you?” When was the last time you asked someone that question? “Who are you?” Maybe never. It is a dangerous question in our culture. It reveals the lack of knowledge of a person that you are most likely supposed to know.
“Who are you?”
It reveals perhaps that you are too busy, that you have too much on your mind to be able to remember someone that you’ve met. It might even reveal that you are too self-concerned to be concerned with anyone else.
“Who are you?”
In this passage the validity of Jesus’ testimony is being questioned. What are these claims that He is making? Does He have the authority to make such claims? What do these claims mean for the way of life and understanding of life that these people have? The catch is that they are questioning Jesus’ testimony without entering into the life that Jesus is speaking about. They are questioning Jesus from an outside perspective.
“Who are you?”
To ask this question of Jesus invites us IN to the life that Jesus teaches about. To ask this question of Jesus leaves us vulnerable to a new understanding of Jesus. And a new understanding of Jesus draws us into deeper intimacy with Jesus and increased faith in Him as our Lord and Savior. And isn’t that the point?
In this season of Lent, may you have the courage to ask a question of Jesus, that you may never ask of anyone else. Jesus will not be offended. He is waiting for you to ask.
“Who are you?”
Wednesday Fifth Week of Lent
April 9th reflection by Blake Justice
Who are you; and whose are you?
John 8:35 “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.”
Most of the time when I meet someone new, within the first few minutes I’ve asked the generic “what do you do?” If I’m with a young person that might mean talking about school – a college major, or what college they might be interested in attending – or if they have some vocation that they’d like to pursue. With adults it is generally the “what type of work do you do?” question. People spend a lot of time at work and school, so it’s an easy way to help to describe yourself. As an adult, I have generally described myself with whatever job I was doing or whatever school I was attending or working for – are these the things I have been a slave to? Beyond job description, I’ve been quite proud to be able to describe myself as husband and father – clearly I haven’t minded to be a slave to these titles. I have begun to believe, however, that all this time I’ve been doing a disservice to my Lord. I have generally had to know someone quite a long time before I’d begin to talk with them about Christ. I honestly don’t know why that is. Christ didn’t just save me – He’s walked beside me and intervened in my life every day. I can’t name a single time that I haven’t been able to depend on Him to at the very least, listen to me. How about you?
If I had a person who was visible to the outside world who was always with me – talking to me and listening to me and advising me and offering counsel – don’t you think people would ask who He was pretty soon after meeting me/us? Don’t you think I would introduce Him pretty soon after meeting almost anyone? Why is it that we have such a difficult time introducing Jesus Christ, when He has defined us since we accepted His gift of Grace and asked Him into our hearts? I am a part of His family, and belong to it forever. I am also reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6 when I think about this. I think I tend to lean on my own understanding too much. I tend to think about what people will think of me, instead of thinking about what they might think if they could meet the Savior of all humanity and become a part of His family.
I pray that as I move toward the celebration of the single most important event in all of human history – Christ’s death and resurrection – I will continue to grow in the strength of faith that will allow me to tell others of His wonderful love right away.
Thursday Fifth Week of Lent
April 10th reflection by Adam Goodrich
Genesis 17:3-9, Psalm 105:4-9, John 8:51-59
In Genesis and again in Psalms, the Bible mentions the covenant that God made with Abraham. God promises to give Abraham and his descendants the promised land of Canaan forever. Because Abraham served God, He made Abraham and his family his chosen people. In the book of John, we find that Jesus changed everything we used to know about the old covenant with Abraham.
At the time, some of the Jews actually thought Jesus was demon-possessed because of what he was saying. Jesus said “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews focused so much on the old covenant with Abraham that they could not comprehend what God was doing for us through Jesus. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God created a new covenant of grace. The key part of what Jesus said in John was “anyone.” Because of Jesus, you don’t have to be a descendent of Abraham to be one of God’s chosen people. If you accept Christ as your savior, your sins will be forgiven and you will live forever in paradise.
As Christians we sometimes get caught up in how “religious” we are. Like the Jews in the Old Testament it can be easy for us to slip into an old covenant mindset. Like the Pharisees, we sometimes focus too heavily on rules and traditions of the church. Now this doesn’t mean that church or denominational traditions aren’t important. It is healthy to be a member of a congregation where you can grow in your faith with others and worship the Lord together. What I’m saying is that it becomes a problem when rules and traditions distract you from the real reason why we even have church: to grow in our relationship with Christ.
My parents always tell me that they will always love me no matter what. The same can be said of God. No one is perfect, and no matter how badly we might mess up, God will always love us. It doesn’t really matter to God what kind of music we play in church, as God loves a cappella just as much as he loves electric guitar and drums. It doesn’t really matter how we say liturgies or how we baptize people, or even what we wear. God knows us inside and out, and what truly matters to him is that we have a meaningful relationship with Him and try to know Him more than we do.
In Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren challenges readers to create subtle reminders in every day life that constantly remind us of God’s presence in our lives. As we continue to celebrate the season of lent, may we be constantly reminded of the new covenant God made to all of us through His Son, Jesus Christ. May we share the good news of this new covenant with all who we meet.
Friday Fifth Week of Lent
April 11th reflection by Wendy Jessen
But if I am doing them, put aside for a moment what you hear me say about myself and just take the evidence of the actions that are right before your eyes. Then perhaps things will come together for you and you’ll see not only are we doing the same thing, we are the same-Father and Son. He is in me and I am in him. John 10:37-38. The Message
Jesus was being tormented by non-believers, but was standing firm against them stating the scriptures and showing evidence of his existence. In today’s world there are examples of Christians having the opportunity to show evidence of their faith. Being a teacher in public schools put me in the middle of various social settings that, particularly in middle school, dictate a professional adult intervene. My classroom at Blowing Rock Elementary was near the middle school lockers. I could hear the clump of the large bookbags hitting the floor and the occasional disgruntled student who couldn’t get his lock to work. One Friday afternoon I heard a more than usual cry of giggles and loud voices as the students were packing up for the Friday afternoon dismissal. The bell had rung and I kept hearing the tremor of voices. Thinking they were going to miss the bus or their car pick-up I finally walked down to the hall to see what all of the noise was about and hurry them on their way. As I approached the group, in the middle of the teens, was a Young Life leader from high school who had come to gather the students for a “Wyld Life” excursion. “Wyld Life” is the middle school extension of the Christian group “Young Life.” It hit me that here in the middle of the hall in a very open arena these students were willing to show their commitment to their spiritual cause amidst their peers when being committed to Christ is not always the cool thing to do in today’s society. These students were excited for their journey with Christ.
C.S. Lewis stated that “either Jesus is a totally mad person…out of his mind…or he is telling the truth…He is the center of everything. He is the center of life, the giver of truth. Jesus of Nazareth is the center of everything. To ignore him is to grope in darkness, to live in rebellion, to miss out on joy, peace and love…”
It is reassuring in these days of the political correctness separating prayer from public schools, that these “Wyld” students believe in the authenticity of Jesus being the son of God and putting his love into practice with their works in today’s world.
My prayer for today’s students, as well as my children and grandchildren, is that they will stand firm in their faith that Jesus is the son of God and let that light of their spirit shine. “Who in the world am I? Ah, that is the great puzzle.” Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. My hope is that they will solve this great puzzle ,believing that Jesus is the son of God and stand for their beliefs, even in the face of adversity.
Saturday Fifth Week of Lent
April 12th reflection from Zoe Ministries
Ezekiel 37:1–14
Our Scripture passages move to the theme which the season of Lent is slowly building towards: resurrection. In all of the readings, we find themes of life and death, forgiveness and sin. In Christ’s body on the cross, which we partake of each time we break the bread of communion, life and death come together. We remember Christ’s physical death; yet we rejoice in his glorious resurrection. We reflect upon the death our humanity and sins bring; yet we experience new life and forgiveness in Christ.
In the passage from Ezekiel, we find a strange story, full of haunting images of dried bones being raised up out of a valley and put together with new flesh. It is difficult to discern what all of this means at first, but that is part of the nature of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Though these prophets had strange visions, often as perplexing to the people around them as they are to us today, such prophecies were a vehicle God used to bring God’s voice of justice and truth amidst a broken world.
The image of resurrection that is prophesied by Ezekiel is a vision of God’s people being restored from their place of brokenness and exile. Throughout much of the Old Testament, the Israelites cannot seem to get their act together. It seems that once things start to go well, they mess up again in a new way. But, alongside this theme of brokenness, there are also voices of redemption and restoration. Through the cries of prophets like Ezekiel, they remember who they are and the reason they had to hope. This story is our story.
Unlike the Israelites, we have not only seen the fulfillment of their covenant with God in Christ but also experienced the profound hope of Christ’s resurrection. This is an incredible gift. But, like the people of Israel, we are prone to forget who we are as children of God and how we must follow Christ’s example of living in this world. The need for prophetic voices is still very much alive, as they call out the injustices of this world and inspire us to do the same. They help us to see our blind spots and work to bring in the kingdom of God on earth, as it is in heaven.
Condensed and reproduced with permission from Zoe Ministries. http://www.zoehelps.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Year_A_Lenten_Resource_Adult.pdf
Palm Sunday
April 13th, reflection by Andy Ellis
Matthew 21:1-11 Colossians 2:13-16
On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem marking the beginning of Holy Week and Jesus’ journey to the cross. All throughout the gospels Jesus has an interesting relationship with crowds. Sometimes he looks upon them with compassion. Other times it seems that he intentionally drives them away. On Palm Sunday we see another interaction between Jesus and a crowd. Here we see Jesus entering the political power center to palm branches and shouts of “HOSANNA; SAVE NOW!!” Underlying these celebratory shouts are desperate cries of a politically oppressed people for deliverance from Roman rule. One might expect a king to ride proudly into a waiting celebratory town on the back of a mighty steed but here we see King Jesus enter riding meekly on the back of a donkey, a borrowed donkey no less. It is clear that the crowd wished to welcome Jesus to town in order to anoint him as king to overthrow Rome and liberate them politically. They had an agenda all of their own that did not end with their desired liberator martyred on an old rugged cross on the outskirts of the city. The only crown that this king would wear would be one made of thorns given to him mockingly by the very people he came to free and redeem.
Palm branches have been used throughout the course of history to celebrate political and military victory over enemies. During the season of Lent leading up to Easter we celebrate that on the cross Christ triumphed over the enemy defeating sin and destroying death. Today we find ourselves among the crowd crying out for freedom, liberation, and redemption but so often in our flesh, weakness, and failings we cry out for deliverance from all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. Colossians says that at the cross, in what looked like utter defeat King Jesus triumphed over the powers of this world, over our sin and its penalty, and over our warring flesh. He knows you better than you know you. He knows what you need better than you know what you need. The season of Lent with its self-reflection and dying to self may not be the way that we would choose for ourselves to make ourselves more holy, more sanctified, and more the people God dreamed us up to be but take heart because Jesus Christ is not the savior that we may want but he will always be the savior that we need.
Monday Fourth Week of Lent
March 31st, reflection by Jeff Lamont
Our New Normal
Isaiah 65:17-21 (New Heavens and a New Earth) / John 4:43-54 (Jesus Heals an Official’s Son)
Last summer we received news that a dear friend of ours was in a diving accident. Chris is an amazing 17 year old, at the time of the accident, when he dove into a friend’s pool and hit his head. He was paralyzed from his head down with limited movement in his thumbs. After an incredible stabilization period the family came to grips that they were entering a “New Normal.” They sold their home and moved into a home more conducive to the new life in front of them. During all of the chaos something amazing happened.
Most of us think of Lent as a time to give something up. Some give up foods, some give up lifestyles, some give up habits and others even take a vow of silence. “The real grace is when we recognize that Lent is a season in which God wants to give us something. God wants to help us transform our lives and make us more free as people — not just freer with God, but in the way we live our lives and love our families. ” (from the Creighton University site)
Chris had no choice in what he gave up last summer. When tragedies strike we often ask for God’s healing. We ask for him to make things normal. In John 4:43-54, the official asks for his son to be healed. Jesus’s response was: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” Jesus did heal his son, but the point here is “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Chris and his family came to this crossroad, they prayed, they asked for healing and God did heal them. God did not heal them physically in the way they anticipated, he gave them the ultimate gift – he transformed their lives. This February, Chris, his Mother and Father were all baptized and dedicated their lives to Christ. Isaiah 65: 17-18 “The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create…”.
Chris made the choice to accept God’s gift. He did not blame God, he rejoiced in what God is giving him. During Lent instead of looking at what we are giving up maybe we should focus on asking God to give us “Our New Normal”. . . accept his gift and look at all we are getting.
Tuesday Fourth Week of Lent
April 1st reflection by Sandra Ammons
Consumed by Fear
John 17:25-33 and 18:15-18
We all read the gospels and enjoy hearing of the marvelous miracles and sermons that Jesus delivered to his disciples and those who followed him as he traveled about. Jesus spoke in parables often in order for the people to understand his messages better. However, in these passages there is no parable, just plain facts.
Two important points can be gleaned from these passages of scripture. The first one is that we just need to believe, and then we need to trust. Peter believed that Jesus was the Son of God, but he was a little short on trust. Peter had been with Jesus throughout Jesus’s ministry, witnessing the miracles, listening to His words of wisdom, and eating with Him. He believed the he would always be there for Jesus. However, after Jesus was arrested, he found it difficult to stand up for Jesus and be there for him. He just didn’t trust that all would be well if he acknowledged that he knew Jesus.
How often we are like Peter in our lack of trust! We find ourselves doubting that all will be well.
This reminds me of our children as Gene made his commitment to the ministry. As we were preparing to make our way to Kentucky where he would be attending seminary, we found our two oldest children afraid of moving away to a new state, leaving grandparents and friends behind. They cried, “But we won’t have any friends there.” We assured them that God would provide for us; and there would be children around, and they would soon find themselves surrounded with lots of friends. The trip to Kentucky from Myrtle Beach, SC, was long and tiring. The children couldn’t get excited about the move for the fears that consumed them of the unknown place and lack of friends. However, as God promises us, he provided. When we arrived in the new neighborhood, our truck was surrounded by many children. And during our stay in Kentucky, our yard was always full of children.
Just like our children, we all need to believe that God will never leave us and will provide our every needs.
Thought: Hold fast to God’s promises!
Wednesday Fourth Week of Lent
April 2nd reflection by Bobby Sharp
John 5:17-30
In today’s New Testament verses, John 5:17-30, Jesus turned conventional wisdom and accepted practice upside down. Here’s what happened earlier in Chapter 5: Jesus healed an invalid, someone who could not walk, on a Sabbath. The man, following Jesus’ directive, picked up his mat and walked away with it. People who knew Jewish laws saw the man carrying his mat and took issue because carrying the mat violated Sabbath rules. Eventually, the Jewish leaders found out that it was Jesus who had healed the man and had told him to pick up his mat and walk, and these legal experts confronted Jesus about it.
Jesus’ response? 17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” (NRSV) Then, two verses later, Jesus goes on: 19Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”
Profound truth is contained in Jesus’ response, truth that turns one of our prevailing tendencies upon its head. You’ve seen it; I’ve seen it; I’ve done it. That tendency is to look around, see a need, decide it’s a worthy cause, head toward it, and then ask God to support our efforts and make them succeed. We tend to call in God for reinforcement as though God is the cavalry.
In today’s scripture, Jesus teaches us how backward that “reinforcement thinking” is. Instead, look at what Jesus did: he saw where God already was working, and he joined God there. That bears repeating: Jesus saw where God already was working, and he joined God there. Jesus said he simply looked and saw God working on this Sabbath occasion, and pitched in. The NIV puts it this way: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” The order of the action seems pretty clear.
So, we can assume that God already is at work in the vicinity of our going and coming. During Lent, what if we seek to let go of our human tendency to adopt worthy causes out of a mixture of human motivations, and what if we ask God for the capacity to see where God already is working? What if we look for where we can join in God’s work that already is underway? What if?
Where might that be, that place along our paths where God already is at work? Perhaps a Lenten prayer can be to have the eyes to see where God is at work around us and to have the will to join in, just like Jesus did that day long ago. Amen.
Thursday Fourth Week of Lent
April 3rd reflection by Charles Stanley
God’s will is perfect for his children –us. Unfortunately, we are imperfect and fall far short of being faithful to God. In Exodus Chapter 32, God instructs Moses to go back to his people “so that my anger may burn against them.” Moses knows that his brother Aaron is one of those who helped forge the golden calf that has so upset our Lord. He humbly asks God to spare these people and reminds Him of his covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Israel. God’s mercy knows no limits and he relents.
Showing mercy is so important and yet we live in a society that seems to believe “I’ve got mine, you get yours”. There’s no mercy or grace in doing what’s only best for you when others are left to go without. Those folks without food need our help. Those without love need our concern. Those without hope need a helping hand to be reunited with Christ. Those who are sick and hurting need a gracious hand from the disciples Christ left behind to do his work–us.
Jesus spent his entire life reaching out to those who were scorned by “proper society”. When he asks Zacchaeus to come down from the tree so that he could have dinner with him, Jesus did not weigh the attitude of those around him to see if this was a popular idea. Would he be held accountable by the Pharisees? Jesus chose the path of doing the RIGHT action regardless of the consequences. We should not worry what others think when we stop to help a homeless person–rather; we should praise God for the opportunity to serve.
Please pray with me:
Father, you have shown mercy when we have failed. You have loved us when we worship our earthly idols. You have forgiven us of our sins and taken the sins of the world on your shoulders. Lead us to do our part in making this earthly place one in which love overcomes all obstacles which keep us from a lasting peace. Amen.
Friday Fourth Week of Lent
April 4th reflection by Rev. George Thompson, former BUMC Senior Pastor
A Lakeshore Lesson for Lent
Luke 5: 1-16
The gospel is all about abundance. Great crowds had begun to follow Jesus as he taught the multitudes along the lake of Gennesaret. His teachings were so popular that he presumed to climb aboard a boat owned by a wealthy fisherman named Simon in order to claim some space for effective communication. Upon finishing his lesson and dismissing the crowd, Jesus ordered the unsuspecting Simon to sail his boat into deeper waters in order to continue fishing. This seasoned fisherman skeptically obeyed even though he had labored intensely the entire previous night and arrived at lakeshore empty handed. To his consternation, when Jesus directed the operation, Simon’s nets became so full of fish that the threads began to break under the stress. Simon, who considered his failure to be punishment for the condition of sin within him, confessed at the feet of Jesus. Feeling the sincerity of Simon’s plea and the trust implied by his posture, Jesus called this experienced seaman to a new vocation with the admonition, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching people.”
We United Methodists have been better at the shepherd’s vocation to which we have been called (tending, caring, protecting) than the fisherman’s task (evangelism). Thus, we have shrunk in numbers and impact as a denomination. But, in Luke’s story, Jesus’ presence and power within that boat (the Church) was the impetus for an abundant catch. When we assume that there is only scarcity of resources (diminishing financial strength, the United Methodist economic tsunami, static population, or an aging congregation), reading this story is a reminder of our central calling–namely, to make disciples and to catch, nurture, and sustain other human beings for the Kingdom.
It is no accident that this incident is quickly followed by Luke’s account of Jesus’ healing an outcasted leper. Perhaps we have done all our fishing in shallow waters that are clean and pure, near the fellowship of familiar faces, and in the circle of “me and my kind.” Perhaps our most compelling evangelical calling is really among the outcaste of this town and community. According to recently acquired statistics, over 21% (one in five citizens) of Watauga County live below the poverty level. We can meet these children of God through the Hunger and Health Coalition or our participation in Circles of the High Country that meets at the Hospitality House. Faithfulness to Christ requires more than an item in the budget or check in the mail. These people need to know that they are welcome in this fellowship of compassion–Boone UMC. Perhaps our most urgent evangelical calling is to be more readily among those who are not like us in appearance or sophistication.
Prayer: Jesus of the lakeside, empower your church here in Boone with a new eagerness to share the abundant grace of your love and forgiveness among multitudes of the lonely, the lost, and the lowly. Amen.
Saturday Fourth Week of Lent
April 5th reflection by Dale Williams
John 7:40-53
As we come to the final days of Jesus’ life, a whirlwind of controversy surrounds the Son of God as it has even before his birth.
He was the buzz of Jerusalem. Would Jesus come to the Passover feast? Everyone was asking.
When Jesus did make his way towards Jerusalem, crowds, who had heard about the raising of Lazarus, greeted him with shouts of praise and worship. They adorned the road with palm branches, a tradition reserved for the mighty and revered. The mob was united in praise for the Rabbi from Galilee.
The religious and political leaders saw it differently. “The multitude is accursed,” they fumed. Pharisees considered Jesus a social vexation, a spiritual heretic, and a threat to their authority.
As they met to discuss the issue, divisions over the Holy One of Israel created a hullabaloo in their closed door meetings. Determining the true identity of this person Jesus split the chamber.
Finally, they took a vote – kill him. The vote was not unanimous, but, nevertheless, the motion passed. It was a precarious time for the Son of Man.
Jesus is still controversial, still the buzz. His claims are still questioned, his very person still divisive.
Two thousand years later, we too must decide. Will we shout “Hosanna” and lay branches at his feet, or will we reject the King of Kings as he rides by on a donkey?
It is sobering to recall, the mob that lavished praise on Jesus was the same mob that shouted crucify him just a few days later. Is there a little bit of Judas in all of us? Paul warns, “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.”
There is, however, Good News. Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. The first two are accomplished. The Church anticipates and longs for the third.
Until then, in Christ, God establishes his Church, forgives us, anoints us, seals us, and gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Good News indeed.
Sixth Sunday of Lent
April 6th
Black Forest Academy
In the Melting Pot – By Elise De Ruiter
I remember the first time someone asked me what state I was from in America. I gave her a blank stare and said, “I have never been to America. I’m Dutch…but I lived in China for most of my life.” She looked at me with utter confusion, and now that I think about it, I was confused too.
I lived in China for fourteen years—not because I wanted to, but because my parents were missionaries there. So growing up, China was all I knew: the pollution, the trash bags flying around, the stares I got as I walked down the street, people pointing at me and crying out “Foreigner! Foreigner”, the dry heat, the ice cold winters, the language, the people…It all seemed normal to me, yet I could never call it my home. I remember going to Chinese preschool and being the only white kid in the school. You can imagine it is hard to fit in when you have blue eyes, blond hair, and white skin and everyone else is Asian.
When I was six, I was excited to hear that we would be moving to the Netherlands for our home assignment. Of course it was a big adjustment…I still remember trying to find the filter for drinking water in our new house, until I finally realized I could just drink water from the faucet. The Netherlands seemed like a luxury. I mean, the heating worked the whole winter, and the electricity never shut down at unexpected times. I loved Holland. It was great to be near relatives, to go to a nice school, and to be in a culture that I felt at home in.
I had just made myself comfortable when my parents decided to go back to China again. Before I knew it, I was hugging relatives and friends at the airport with tears running down my cheeks. Back in China, I attended a tiny school that consisted of about twelve students of all ages. I was the only Dutch girl among all the Americans. So at age seven I was speaking English at school, Dutch at home, and Chinese out on the streets.
Time soon brought me to freshman year, when I was the only high schooler at my school. By then, I really wanted to leave China more than anything else. I didn’t want to be the only foreigner anymore.
So my sophomore year my family moved to Germany, so that I could attend BFA. This was another period of adjustment, but it didn’t take long for me to feel at home in this new country, school, and environment. It was amazing to be surrounded by other MK’s and to learn the value of friendship. It was a blessing to have so many teachers that were deeply interested in me, and that respected the different cultures represented in the school. They openly shared their experiences with me and taught me so much in all areas of life. I got to participate in so many fun activities that I had never done before. All in all, my sophomore year ended on a happy note, but I also found out that my parents would be moving to the Netherlands. Junior year I moved into the dorm so that I could stay at BFA. I can’t say it was easy to live without my family, but I definitely developed my character and found the value of honesty. I learned to show respect to dorm staff and other adults, discovered the importance of clear communication, and learned how to live with twenty other girls in a patient, loving way. BFA has taught me many things, but above everything else it has taught me to make the most of every moment and to pour out love daily.
Not only has BFA meant a lot to me, it has also made it possible for my parents to do what they are doing now. Because they know that I am surrounded by a loving community, they could leave me at BFA while they work to further the Kindgdom in China. My mother is a midwife, and she had done a lot to improve the education of Chinese nurses. While she was giving lessons in various hospitals, she found out that many Chinese women face problems with breast feeding. Consequently, she studied for a year in the Netherlands to become a lactation consultant. Presently, she has been helping many Chinese women with problems in breast feeding. Besides that, she also translated a Bible study into Chinese, and has been meeting with a group of Chinese Christians to go through this study with them. My dad is the regional director of our organization, and has been overseeing many different projects. He has been helping set up a children’s camp that will run during the summer. He also works a lot within the Chinese church that was started a few years ago. Because he is an
agriculturalist, he has built many relationships with the farmers in our area and helps them improve their farming techniques. In these ways, my parents hope that the Chinese people will experience God’s love and understand what the Gospel is truly about.
Monday First Week of Lent
March 10th reflection by Jason Byassee
Lev. 19:1-2 & 11-18; Mt 25:31-46
John Wesley had the gall to suggest that when scripture tells us to do something, we should do it. No evasion, no excuses, no reason to do otherwise. You’ve seen the bumper stickers, “God says it, I believe it, that settles it?” Usually those stickers are thinking about science vs. theology, or why somebody else is sinning (not us, of course). Wesley believed (with the bumper sticker) in verses like our Leviticus 19:2, “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” He read Matthew 25, where Jesus identifies with the poor, the stranger, the sick, the imprisoned, and equates the good we do to them with the good we do to Jesus. And Wesley said, yes, that’s right, we should meet Jesus in our most vulnerable neighbors.
And that makes me a little nervous.
Wesley actually taught we could be made wholly perfect in this life. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be enabled to love God and neighbor fully right now. This is Wesley’s most distinctive teaching, the place where other Christian churches get off the train we’re on. But he had his reasons. Jesus quotes Lev. 19:2 and seems to think we can do it (Mt. 5:48). This is not confidence in our abilities, a can-do spirit, ignorance of human frailty and sin. It is a confidence in the power of God to do what he says he’ll do: fill us with the Holy Spirit and make us fully alive, entirely like Jesus.
I love this teaching. Give me the weird stuff any day. Christianity takes a dead man rising from the grave to work.
The problem is, in our aggressive, striving, ever-upwardly mobile society, the doctrine of Christian perfection can sound like another achievement. Get a degree. Check. Ideal spouse. Check. Climb the career ladder. Check. Become perfect. Check.
But becoming perfect isn’t climbing the ladder. Unless it’s climbing down. It’s more like becoming less than becoming greater. With my back injury this spring, I’ve been attentive to how I can do less. And I’m impressed that many of you facing older years struggle with this every day. Like it or not, if we become older we’ll become less, physically-speaking.
I was amazed when our SPRC recently listened to Brandon Wrencher, an intern at the Blackburn House who will replace Lindsey Long as pastor of Blackburn’s Chapel on Boone Methodist’s staff. He and his wife Erica gave us a six-figure lifestyle in Chicago to make . . . wait for it . . . $600 per month as interns at Blackburn’s. Why? Because they think Jesus asks more of us. Or less, depending on how you do your figures.
Paul describes Jesus’ life as a becoming less (Philippians 2:6-11). So this Lent let’s put away striving up, and strive down instead. In God’s upside-down kingdom, with a king who reigns from a cross, the way to perfection is a way into dust.
Wendell Berry puts it perfectly, poetically, this way,
If there are a “chosen few”
then I am not one of them,
if an “elect,” well then
I have not been elected. ҬI am one who is knocking
at the door. I am one whose foot
is on the bottom rung.
But I know that Heaven’s
bottom rung is Heaven
though the ladder is standing
on the earth where I work
by day and at night sleep
with my head on a stone.
Tuesday First Week of Lent
March 11th reflection by Elizabeth Clark Carpenton
Isaiah 55:10-11, Psalm 34, Matthew 6:7-15
When people ask me how my first year of seminary is going, I half-jokingly say, “I’ve become much more Christian since being here.” Because Union Theological Seminary is an inter-faith seminary, there are many people here who do not identify as Christians. This has made me all the more aware of my Christian beliefs and how important they are to me. The birth, life and teachings, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus are more important to me now than they ever have been.
Psalm 34 offers so much comfort to me. It is so easy to feel as if God doesn’t hear us, doesn’t answer us. It is these times that I am angry with God for not being there when I need God most. But God is there, God does hear us, and God does answer us. These are not empty words. Since being in seminary, I have heard the voice of God more than ever. I have heard it and felt God’s safe embrace through my professors and peers here at Union. We have so much to learn from those around us. There is always a new way to think about a situation, relationship, worship, etc. For me, new ways of thinking have calmed my fears and made me realize that I don’t need to be afraid. God does hear me, and will use those around me for my good, and will use me for the good of those around me.
Isaiah 55 echoes these sentiments. It is so easy for me–particularly in seminary, but really all the time–to make promises I can’t keep. It is easy for my words to set out to do good, but the rest of me falls short, especially when it comes to serving others. Words can also be dangerous, and cause more harm than good to those around us. As we live lives of service, and as we are in relationship with one another, let us pray that our words, chosen carefully and intentionally, are like the rain in Isaiah–that they serve their purpose and do good in the world.
Though I am rarely at a loss for words in my everyday life, it is a different story when it comes to prayer. So many times I come up empty, not even knowing where to begin. It is times like this that the Lord’s Prayer comes to me (Mt. 6:7-15). These words are so rooted in tradition that they are never empty for me. While I love saying the Lord’s prayer in community with others in church on Sundays, there is something about saying it alone that brings a sense of peace and calm to me that other prayers do not. May it bring you the same peace during this season of Lent.
Elizabeth Clark Carpenton was a volunteer in our youth ministry at Boone Methodist while she was a student at Appalachian State. She is now studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Wednesday First Week of Lent
March 12th reflection from Seeds of the Kingdom
Learning a Lesson from Jonah
Reading the story of Jonah recently struck me forcibly of the possibility that we could develop Jonah’s attitude toward others.
The opening verses tell how God spoke to Jonah the message He wanted declared to the Ninevites. But Jonah was not prepared to go. We aren’t told what it was that Jonah had against the Ninevites. He obviously considered they were worthy of God’s punishment and didn’t want to see them escape. He didn’t want to give them the opportunity to repent, so he determined to go to Spain instead of Nineveh.
When we’ve come into the blessing of God’s grace and mercy through receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we’ve also come under His commission to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’ (Matthew 28:19-20).
Have there been times when we’ve acted like Jonah? Have we felt smugness and comfort with our experience of God? Maybe we’ve been aware of the wickedness of others but we’ve considered they deserve God’s judgment for their sinful ways? If that was in Jonah’s thinking, didn’t he need to understand something of the grace of God? God doesn’t wish the death of any sinner, but longs for their repentance? God longs for sinners to turn to Him for forgiveness.
How about those who’ve experienced God’s grace and mercy, and been brought to repentance and forgiveness? Aren’t they the ones God wants to take the Gospel to others needing salvation? The lesson from Jonah to us is that when God has blessed us with His Salvation He’s given that saving message for us to take to others. He wants us to tell others what God has saved us from and what He’s given to us. He wants us to be His witnesses, taking the Gospel to others.
God, in grace and mercy, didn’t let Jonah escape from His commission. The experience in the stomach of a big fish brought Jonah to repentance. Then he witnessed the salvation of the Ninevites.
Let’s learn from the lesson of Jonah, and seek God’s forgiveness for the times we’ve failed to share the Gospel with others. Then let’s go and tell them what God has provided for them in Jesus.
Prayer: O Lord God, thank You for Your grace and mercy in saving me. Thank You that this is good news for others too. Help me to be faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus, and help others to come to know Him as their Saviour too. Amen.
Used with permission from Seeds of the Kingdom: www.seedsofthekingdom.com/devotionals/0395/learning-a-lesson-from-jonah.php
Thursday First Week of Lent
March 13th reflection by Jeff McClain
Esther
The book of Esther is a beautiful and interesting story, even if slightly controversial. It’s the only book in the bible that doesn’t mention God directly, which caused Martin Luther to say he wished the book had never been written! But Esther does provide us with a model for leadership and spiritual discipline, and it’s a good text for Lenten reflection.
As the book progresses, Esther moves from a somewhat passive figure to a bold and strong leader. In the beginning it’s her good looks that catch the king’s eye and allow her to become the new queen. But even as queen she’s only allowed to approach the king if the king requests her presence. Violation of this law was punishable by death. When Mordecai learns of a plot to destroy the Jewish people, he challenges Esther to entreat the king on behalf of her people. “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (4:14). Esther accepts the challenge and eventually saves her people, but first she orders all Jews to fast on her behalf.
Fasting is a longstanding spiritual discipline. Intentionally skipping a meal is one way of making ourselves more open to hearing from God. From the Israelites (Judges 20:26) to Esther (4:16) to Jesus himself (Matthew 4:2), God’s people have engaged in the practice in order to draw nearer to God and more fully understand their own participation in God’s mission.
Recently our Stephen Ministry team and our Prayer team began the practice of First Friday Fasting. On the first Friday of the month, we’ve been forgoing one meal. During the time we would have eaten (and every time we feel hunger pains), we spend time in prayer lifting up our life and ministry together, our church, and our community. I challenged our Disciple bible study to engage the practice throughout Lent as well. They upped the ante at Pastor Jason’s suggestion and decided not only to fast and pray but also save the money they would have spent on food and donate it to a local nonprofit.
I wonder what God might reveal to us if our entire church became more intentional about seeking God’s wisdom and guidance? How might we more powerfully live out the vision God has already given us? At Boone UMC we’re about “Loving our community and inviting all to discover life in Christ.” What’s your role in that vision? Who knows? Perhaps God has brought you to this church for such a time as this! Together let’s pray, fast, listen, and respond to God’s direction this Lenten season and always.
Friday First Week of Lent
March 14th reflection by Ralph Jacobs
Forty
“Immediately the Holy Spirit urged Jesus into the desert. There, for forty days, alone except for desert animals, he was subjected to Satan’s temptations to sin. And afterwards, the angels came and cared for him.” (Mark 1: 12 & 13 – the Living Bible)
Forty Days. In the Old Testament God spoke to Noah and told him to build an Ark to save his family and lots of animals because God had become disgusted with the way His world had degenerated into its sinfulness. As God does, He kept His word and flooded the earth and killed all its inhabitants except for Noah and his “ark mates”. If you remember the story, it rained for forty days and forty nights and the earth was flooded.
Forty Years. God heard the cries of His people when they were in slavery in Egypt and He empowered His servant Moses to perform the Exodus that took them eventually to Canaan, “the Promised Land” in keeping with God’s Covenant with Abraham many years before. However, God’s people were not ready, not properly prepared to enter the land of Canaan so they wandered in the desert for forty years; a time of preparation and drawing closer to God.
Forty Days. In the New Testament, in Mark as in the Scripture reference above, after Jesus was Baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus went into the wilderness for a preparation time prior to beginning His three year ministry here on earth. How long did Jesus take for His preparation? Yes, forty days.
Our Christian Lenten tradition starts a devotional time of reflection, fasting, prayer & penance on Ash Wednesday and continues to Easter Sunday. This space of time is forty days not counting Sundays. This time of preparation is not unlike the previously mentioned time periods where forty is noted. We all know that possibly the actual time that elapsed might not have actually been exactly forty days/years but it was the exact length of time for the necessary preparation to take place to fulfill God’s plan.
No matter how we arrived at the forty days for Lent, that is the length of time (plus Sundays) we now have as our preparation time. Easter Sunday is April 20th, the day we remember and celebrate the miracle of all miracles, Jesus’ Resurrection from the Dead, a very basic tenant of our Christian Faith. If we really do prepare our hearts, minds and spirits when Easter comes we will be able to see and hopefully understand just how much God loves us.
Saturday First Week of Lent
March 15th reflection by Ed Brewer
Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. — Matthew 7:1-5
A number of years ago, in a house we were living in, we had a fly problem. There were hundreds . . . no thousands of them in our living room! I couldn’t seem to get rid of them. There was also an odor I couldn’t seem to eliminate, though I could mask it temporarily with various air fresheners. We thought there might have been something in the flower box outside of the bay window that was drawing them, but I couldn’t find anything. It was months before we finally discovered the source of the flies. Shortly before winter began, we had our chimney swept. The chimney sweep found a dead raccoon stuck in the chimney!
The season of lent is an excellent opportunity for us to examine our lives to see if there is any old, decaying baggage we are holding onto that is attracting flies. It is so easy to see the flaws in other people, but we sometimes have difficulty identifying our own faults. We can hide them, and sometimes even convince ourselves that we have gotten rid of them. We can deny their existence, but denial doesn’t mean they aren’t there. What are “they?” They could be wrongs we have done to others, hatred we are holding onto, self-doubt, anger, an addiction, or an unforgiving heart. It is so easy to convince ourselves that we are justified in our responses to others and to life in general . . . and sometimes maybe we are. However, holding onto grudges, hurting others or ourselves never makes things better. Usually it just eats us up inside.
Lent offers us an opportunity to focus on growing in our relationship with God and to reflect on the patterns and experiences of our lives. It is so easy to see what others are doing wrong. Perhaps taking time to sincerely examine our own lives, we will find some unnecessary baggage that has gotten stuck in the recesses of our being. Perhaps we will then be motivated to get rid of some of the “stuff” that has been making us spiritually sick (kind of like a mild cold we just can’t seem to get rid of) . . . and, perhaps, we will be able to better see the good in those around us.
Prayer: Gracious and loving God, help me to examine my life and identify those areas that need attention, that need to be cleaned up. Heal me and help me to accept your unconditional and unfailing love so that I can better love others. Amen.
Second Sunday of Lent
March 16th
Boone Area Missions
Lynn is an elderly Christian woman that was referred to us from WAMY Community Action. She had a branch come through her roof and some con men charged her to fix it, but they did an awful job and it was leaking just as bad. Their cell phone was deactivated and they were gone. Our first interactions will Lynn were awkward and almost painful. She was the stereotypical cranky lady. She was short in conversation, had no trust in us and was difficult to get a hold of. There were many times when I was ready to give up on the relationship. However, every time I wanted to quit I received encouragement to continue to love her. We finally got the roof fixed and the leak stopped. She was grateful. It would have been really easy to say that our work was done and wish her luck, but she still had needs. Lynn was bitter and cranky because she felt forgotten by the world, her family visits her twice a year, her kids forget to call, her neighbors think she is mean, she feels scared and alone. For her own protection she resorts to being cranky, keeping people at a distance so that they too wont forget about her. How can she be forgotten if she is never known.
Well instead of leaving her, we now visit her once a week and bring her a meal, spending time with her, remembering her, loving her. One day we sat with her for over two hours, just talking. As we motioned to leave, she asked as if it was the most important question in the world, “Why are you doing this? Why are you nice to me? Why?” I was floored by the question, but I managed to say. “Lynn we come here and spend time with you because we care about you. We want you to know that you are not alone. We want you to know that the church is here for you just like it should be.” She responded, “Well thank you so much, I am so grateful.”
I heard from one of our volunteers that Lynn told her that she loved her. Imagine that, the cranky woman, melted by sacrificial love.
