Lent devotional

Dirty Feet

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever participated in a foot washing? It can be a lovely and symbolic event or an uncomfortable experience, depending on your perspective. When you know it is part of the program you are attending, you are likely to think about the condition of your feet as you get ready for the event. Footwear, clean socks, pedicures, or even a quick soap and water rinsing before you leave might be part of your preparation. If a foot washing is a “surprise” part of a spiritual event, you may have experienced some anxiety in the moment. I remember attending a clergy retreat back in the day where the male leader excitedly announced that we would end our session by washing each other’s feet, causing much consternation to the women in the room who were wearing pantyhose. But in any case, the ritual foot washing we may experience in a church or retreat setting is not like the foot washing we read about the 13th chapter of John.

Of course the most striking difference is the position that our Lord took in the foot washing ritual:

John 13 (Common English Bible)

2 Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

In that time, it was common for a house servant to provide a foot washing as soon as the guests arrived. This did not happen at this dinner, and so the disciples gathered around the low table and began the meal. Mind you, feet were extremely dirty in those days. Everyone walked everywhere in open toed sandals. The roads and passageways were less than hygienic, and it was likely that feet encountered all manner of refuse, mud, animal droppings … well, you get the picture. We also know that this meal was served at table a known as a triclinium. This was a low U-shaped table, about the height of a coffee table. Because the table was low, they didn’t sit on chairs. They leaned on pillows, with their feet behind them. Their unwashed feet were easily seen and perhaps easily smelled as well.

And so in the midst of this, Jesus quietly got up, left the room, and returned clad only in a towel. Then he went around the table and washed the grime, dirt, and unmentionable gunk from his disciples’ feet.

His actions confused the disciples and Peter objected for a while. But Jesus then gave them one of the greatest lessons of all time, which is an important lesson to us as well. It was intended to settle their previous argument about who among them was the greatest: 24 An argument broke out among the disciples over which one of them should be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24). Jesus showed them in no uncertain terms what “greatness” was really all about.

12 After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am.14 If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do.”

The Master washing the feet of the servants who wash the feet of each other. This lesson in humility is one that we seemed to have missed. The “my theology is purer than your theology” crowd would do well to read this again. Surely we grieve God with all of our denominational posturing and our holier-than-thou attitudes. You think you’re great? Try getting on your knees and washing the unwashed for a season. Then we’ll talk about greatness.

Where is Jesus calling you to humble yourself before him? Is there an act of ministry that makes you squirm, even as you recognize its vital importance to the kingdom? Have you been on a high horse about the righteousness of your beliefs?

Remember the one who truly was the greatest and how he abased himself in order to teach us how to serve and love one another. That humility enabled the Son of God to submit to his arrest, beating, torture, and death on a cross for you.

Thanks be to God. 

The Father Has Given Everything by Hannah Cornish

Imitation Game

Posted on by Betsy

It is said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I suppose that is true, as it means you have something so appealing, others want to emulate it and have it for themselves. In second grade, I liked my friend’s cat-eye glasses so much, I insisted to my mother that I needed glasses, too. My mild astigmatism allowed an eager eye doctor to fulfill my request, and I was thrilled. I looked sharp and I knew it! Now, when I see the school picture from that year, I wonder what in the world I was thinking!

We are going to look at 1 Thessalonians 1 again today, this time from The Message:

1 Thessalonians 1 (The Message)

2-5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

Paul’s comment that the church had become “imitators” of his work is not Paul arrogantly patting himself on the back. Indeed, their imitation of him to accept the joy that came along with suffering is a direct compliment to their work on behalf of the message they had all received and accepted. Thus his praising them for imitating him was simply a nod from teacher to students that they had learned well and aced their exams. Their actions were praise-worthy as they stood in direct opposition to the people of Thessalonica, who worshipped national and local gods. To be a people who stand against a strong cultural norm is a difficult thing.

The modern church experiences this when it calls out the idol worship of politicians, political agendas that contradict Scripture, celebrity infatuation, and social media vitriol. Is there suffering when we stand up for what’s right? Yes. Do our actions imitate our forefathers and foremothers who also stood against injustice and evil? Yes. We, like the church of Thessalonica, are invited to become imitators, not imitations. Look again at our verse 6: “You became imitators of us and of the Lord when you accepted the message that came from the Holy Spirit with joy in spite of great suffering.” Can there be any better calling than to imitate a great apostle and the Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit? I think not.

Paul invites us to “imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The Thessalonians then went on to become examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia (verse 7) and thus the imitation game continued. Thessalonica was a metropolitan trading center, giving them the opportunity to effectively sound forth the good news to every region.

Lent is a season of imitation. We wake up every morning and ponder what Jesus would do with the day. How are you imitating Christ in your life? If it were a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you? May we imitate him so effectively, people know to Whom we belong just by watching.

Day and Night by David Jones

I Am the Life

Posted on by Betsy

We finish our study of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse today as we focus on his statement, “I am the life.” We will read it in the Amplified Bible:

John 14 (Amplified Bible)

“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe[confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.4 And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.”

 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

I very much appreciate this translation’s use of “the [real} life.” What does “real life” mean to you? Are there different ways of living, and should we be seeking the real life that God offers? Is there a difference between earthly life and eternal life?

Consider this passage from John 17:  “This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent” (John 17:3). Notice that John says, “This IS,” not “this will be.” For John, eternal life was a quality of life lived in the here and now. Eternal life began with the advent of Christ’s birth on earth and continues to the very end of time. Jesus’ self-revelation of “I am the life” harkens back to the Lazarus story and claims God’s life-giving powers for Jesus. Thus it is Jesus who brings God’s gift of life to the world.

In the Greek language, there are several words used for life. One is “bios,” referring to “existence,” and another is “zoe,” referring to a special quality of life, a zestful life of hope and abundance that only Christ can bring. It is an eternal life that is in the present reality of living. Guess which Greek word Jesus used in this scripture? Zoe.

 Let me ask you this. Are you living a zoe life, or a bios life? Is your life a joyful expression of one who is living an exuberant life, or are you merely existing? 

 I think many of us live a bios life because we think that this is all there is. We hold earthly life so dear and precious that we forget that eternity is a lot longer than the average 83.5 years of life on earth that you get. If you think about it, earthly life is just a blink of an eye compared to living forever, yet we let so many things defeat us every day: sin, selfishness, petty jealousies, habits we can’t seem to break, addictive behaviors, social media nonsense, gossip, bitterness, arguing, needing to be right all the time, needing to control everything …. there is no zoe in that, just mere existence.

 Friends, Jesus died on the cross so that you could have Zoe here and now. In John 10:10, he stated that he has come so that you may have zoe and have zoe abundantly. He died on the cross so that you could have zoe for eternity. One life blended into the other, with just a thin veil separating the two. Praise God!

Waters of Life by Hannah Cornish

I Am the Truth

Posted on by Betsy


Today’s Scripture is a continuation of our study this week of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse,” which runs through John 16:33. Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension were imminent, and he explained the significance of the events that were about to unfold and tried to direct his disciples to the life they would soon be living without him. If the first verses of John 14 sounds familiar to you, it is because they come from one of the preferred readings in our United Methodist funeral liturgy. If you’ve been to funerals in your church, you most likely have heard this passage read.

In a very real sense, Jesus was preaching his own funeral.

John 14 (The Message)

1-4 “Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

We struggle today with finding and knowing the truth about many things. Biased news reporting, social media substituting for “truth,” bent politicians who habitually lie to keep their power … what is truth, and where can we find it? John would point us back to the only absolute truth, which happened when the Father was revealed in the Son. It is an everlasting truth, and the only truth we can count on.

The epiphany Jesus hoped to reveal in that moment was that he was the incarnate God, the Word of God made flesh, and in him all truth could be known. The word “truth” in this passage is taken from the Hebrew understanding of truth, which implies an intentional commitment and connection to God’s righteousness and the absolute guarantee of God’s promises. God’s steadfast love was fulfilled in Jesus on the cross, where the truth of God’s plan of salvation was finally revealed. Thus nobody gets to the Father without Jesus, as it took knowing the son to understand the father.

The mystery of the incarnation confused the disciples and may be confusing to us as well. We can see by Thomas and Philip’s questions that the truth of Jesus’ relationship with his father was still troublesome. John 3:16 assures us that God loved the world so much that God sent his only son. But in the moment of standing in front of this man named Jesus who had been their friend and had led them for three years, the disciples still couldn’t receive or process the truth.

So Jesus asked them simply to trust him. To trust what they could not see; to trust what they could not know; to trust what they could not understand. God-made-flesh is a beautiful mystery that requires faith and an unencumbered belief, because seeing it is not possible. Perhaps that is the best kind of epiphany: One we see with our heart, not our eyes.
Do you believe Jesus is the only way to the Father? Do you trust him with all your heart?

God’s Beauty by Michelle Robertson

I Am the Way

Posted on by Betsy

This week we are going to study Jesus’ Farewell Discourse from John 14. As we move though Lent to Easter, we want to be focused on Jesus’ last weeks, activities, and words. Today we will consider what Jesus meant when he told his disciples that he was “the way” to the Father:

John 14 (Common English Bible)

14 “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? 3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too.4 You know the way to the place I’m going.”

5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have really known me, you will also know the Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.”

  Jesus is the way to the Father just as surely as the front door is the way into the house. Because of that one, single, profound action of taking the sins of the world upon himself, Jesus is the only way. Without that moment, our sins would never be forgiven. In its essence, sin is separation from God. Without Jesus, there is no entryway of repentance/forgiveness/grace. All who believe in him will be saved.

We can see in this passage that even toward the end of his ministry, Jesus still struggled with his disciples for understanding and acceptance. He was not the Messiah they had been looking for, and so they still were unsure about exactly who Jesus was. The mystery of the incarnation was still confusing to them. How could Jesus really be the Son of God?

The disciples didn’t yet know the end of the story, but we do. We see all the promises of God, the foretelling of the prophets, and the works of Jesus himself come together in this passage and we know without a doubt that Jesus made good on his word. He returned to the Father to get the house ready for our arrival. And because he lives, we shall live also.

We can glean a deeper meaning from “way” by studying John’s use of the word “hodos.” Hodos is more than just finding a route to a location, but rather a way of living that leads to eternity. In the Psalms, the word “way” is used as a metaphor to describe a life lived in accordance to doing the will and desire of God. Thus the “way” describes a person of faith’s connection to God.1 Jesus is not just the path, but the lifestyle that must be adopted in order to reach the Father. Jesus’ proclamation that he is going before us to prepare things is a direct invitation to follow him in all of his “ways” by following his teachings and example.

In John 15, Jesus makes the way crystal clear: “This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you” (John 15:12). When we love each other in the way that Jesus loves us, we know our feet are on the right path.What is God asking you to do in order to follow his way? Is there someone you need to forgive? Is there a task yet undone, or some loose end to tie up?

 I hope this brings you a moment of joy today. Even when things seem very dark in this world, knowing that Jesus is holding the front door of heaven open gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Jesus reminds us that he is in the Father and the Father is in him: This is the way. Is God asking you to prepare yourself for the home Jesus has prepared for you? Best get to it. You know the way.

The Way by Kathy Schumacher

Self-Denial

Posted on by Betsy

One of our Lenten disciplines is self-denial. Other than fasting (!), this may be one of the hardest of all the practices to adopt. It is the one comprehensive discipline that really forces a change. To deny oneself means to stem all the urges we experience that lead us down the road of temptation, laziness, distraction for distraction’s sake, and greediness. What in your life has you so consumed that you neglect your personal discipleship? Is it food? Substance abuse? Social media? Hours of Netflix?

I spoke to a women’s group two weeks ago on the subject of Lent. I asked them to thoughtfully commit to three Lenten practices this year that would make a permanent difference in their walk with Christ. We talked not only about giving something up, but adding something in. One very thoughtful person told us that she knew she needed to give up her Amazon shopping habit, which had become a daily activity for her. She was almost afraid to say it out loud but she trusted her friends around her to receive this without judgement and to hold her accountable for the next six weeks. Dang, I admire this woman! I suggested she calculate the money that she would have spent and do something positive with it after Easter. I can’t wait to see how this turns out for her.

In our Scripture today, Jesus explained the upcoming crucifixion to his hard-of-hearing disciples. The most tone deaf among them was Peter, who shoved his fingers in his ears and “la-la-la’d” away the reality of what was about to happen:

Mark 8 (Common English Bible)

31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Human One must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts, and be killed, and then, after three days, rise from the dead.” 32 He said this plainly. But Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him. 33 Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, then sternly corrected Peter: “Get behind me, Satan. You are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”

What a rebuke! In a self-serving manner, Peter thought he could talk Jesus out of doing what Jesus knew he had to do. Jesus called him Satan and shoved away any thought that the story might have a different ending. Peter didn’t want to lose his friend and possibly face the jeers and condemnation that this “failed mission” would bring to those who remained behind. In short, Peter didn’t get it.

34 After calling the crowd together with his disciples, Jesus said to them, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 

Following Jesus is a process of self-denial. We are called to do God’s will at the expense of just having things our own way. We are taught to follow the commandments and to serve the Lord with gladness. We are expected to love, give, and put others first in the same way that Jesus did. We are led to deny our own desires and put Jesus’s cross on our shoulder.

35 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them.36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? 37 What will people give in exchange for their lives? 38 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Human One will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Self-denial requires the courage of my retail addicted friend. Self-denial is an eye-opening experience that helps you balance your life and put your feet on the path of righteousness. Self-denial is challenging, but the reward is gaining back your life. Isn’t that worth a try?

The Father’s Glory by Hannah Cornish

Forsaken, Yet …

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever felt betrayed or forsaken? Life can be full of little rejections and large betrayals that leave us feeling adrift and unloved. Abandonment by family or friends is a terrible blow that can leave you so far down, you can’t even imagine getting up again. Have you ever experienced that? I have.

King David certainly felt this way, as his life was filled with strife and trials, mostly of his own making. In our Psalm today, he cried out to God about his plight, and began with the terrible cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1) It is one thing to be forgotten by a friend or undermined by a colleague, but to feel that God has abandoned you is a soul-shattering thing. Yet these very words were uttered by our Lord on the cross in his moment of agony.

But in the second half of this psalm, David has come around to the reality that God never leaves us or forsakes us. He gives us permission to feel this way for a time, but strongly asserts that God never despises or abhors us in our times of sin and trial: God will never hide his face from us, and always hears us.

Psalm 22 (New King James Version)

I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.

I think this says a lot about doubt. Some people believe that doubting God is a sin. David says otherwise. This psalm assures us that there will be times when we are unsure of God’s activity in our mess, but we are never forsaken. Everyone who seeks God will find God. The poor and the prosperous alike will eat and be satisfied:

25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!

27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the [nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

In the end, God is God. Jesus promised us at his own leaving that he is with us always, even to the very ends of the earth. So if you are struggling with your faith today, take heart! God is here. God is with you. God is working things out for you.

30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

So while you wait in your trial, take time to remember God’s righteousness. Bow before him and worship his name. You are precious to him, and he will never abandon you.

God With Us by Michelle Robertson

Walk With Me

Posted on by Betsy

About a hundred years ago (!) I walked down a church aisle toward a much-too-young Navy Ensign as he stood waiting for me at the altar of the little chapel at the Philadelphia Navy Base. He was nervous, I was nervous, but we said our vows with integrity and hope, and we’ve been walking together for all these (100+) years. Walking with someone “til death do you part” is a high and holy privilege and blessing, one which I have never taken for granted. Marriage is fragile. Marriage is holy. Marriage is filled with challenges and triumphs. If you’re married and you still like your spouse, give me an “Amen!”

Life can be a series of walking with people through wilderness times. I have a dear friend with whom I have walked for over a decade through extreme life challenges. I walked through cancer with my oldest daughter. I have walked with family members who were caught up in sudden storms. Numerous people have walked the way of suffering with me over the years, and I’m sure it is the same with you. God intentionally calls us to walk beside others as we make our way through every valley and high mountain.

Today’s lectionary passage describes a time when God chose Abram to walk a new path with him. This startling invitation set into motion the beginnings of the nation of Israel and the journey of promises that led them through the Promised Land all the way to the Messiah. Notice that God first identifies himself, and then immediately issues the invitation to covenant:

Genesis 17 (Common English Bible)

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk with me and be trustworthy. 2 I will make a covenant between us and I will give you many, many descendants.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, 4 “But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations. 

There were many times when I felt that God invited me to walk with him into a new facet of ministry, but this call to Abram is mind-blowing. I can’t even imagine how he felt, and how confusing it must have been. No wonder he fell on his face!

5 And because I have made you the ancestor of many nations, your name will no longer be Abram but Abraham. 6 I will make you very fertile. I will produce nations from you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you.

A change of name was in order and was significant. God identifies himself as El Shaddai and almost immediately changes Abram’s identity to Abraham. Sarai becomes Sarah, and it signified to the world that their role and purpose changed. Much like the moment of marriage where I took my husband’s last name, the old identity was severed, and a new relationship took over. While I never ceased being Fred and Nancy’s daughter, I now was marked as a member of the Haas clan and the wife of the nervous Ensign. Indeed, I made a covenant agreement to take on my new family and was identified as such.

15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will now be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and even give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will become nations, and kings of peoples will come from her.”

Is God calling you to walk alongside someone who needs your love and support? Are you being invited to take on a new identity and be known in a new way? Is he inviting you to a covenant agreement with him?

Say yes. Walking with God wherever he leads you is a sure pathway to peace.

You’ll Never Walk Alone by Michelle Robertson

VaLENTine

Posted on by Betsy

The confluence of Ash Wednesday falling on Valentine’s Day is an interesting thing for believers. I have seen pictures of foreheads decorated with ash hearts rather than the traditional ash crosses as a way to merge the two. Churches have had to consider the timing of an evening Ash Wednesday service that now falls on one of the busiest restaurant nights of the year. Can romance and repentance fill the same spot? For me, the clash of two unlikely events is more practical. What if my husband decides to give me a heart-shaped box filled with chocolates, and I have decided to give up chocolate for Lent? Do I eat the entire box on the way to church? If you know me, you know I’m up for it!

Yet both events focus our attention on love, and that’s never a bad thing.

Our reading on this Ash Wednesday is the traditional call to repentance that Lent emphasizes. Remember the Lent is the 40 day period of preparation for the celebration of Easter. (There are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. We are invited to cease our Lenten practices on the Sundays, as Sunday is always a celebration of the resurrection. Thus, I could conceivably eat my chocolates on those six Sundays.)

Lent invites us to fast, pray, read Scripture, meditate, serve, give, worship, repent, and go through a process of self-examination. These Lenten disciplines, if practiced with dedication, will deepen our spiritual understanding and appreciation of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf on the cross.

Joel 2 (Common English Bible)

 Blow the horn in Zion;
    give a shout on my holy mountain!
Let all the people of the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is near—
2     a day of darkness and no light,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread out upon the mountains,
    a great and powerful army comes,
        unlike any that has ever come before them,
        or will come after them in centuries ahead.

Immediately we feel the dark intensity of the season falling upon us. Lent is serious. Lent is somber. Lent is sacred.

12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your hearts,
        with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow;
13 tear your hearts
        and not your clothing.
    Return to the Lord your God,
        for he is merciful and compassionate,
        very patient, full of faithful love,
            and ready to forgive.

And yet, we are invited to return with all our hearts. If Lent is a process of asking God to do “heart surgery” on us, it is also a time to realize that his great Surgeon’s hands will also repair and restore.

14 Who knows whether he will have a change of heart
    and leave a blessing behind him,
    a grain offering and a drink offering
            for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the horn in Zion;
        demand a fast;
        request a special assembly.
16 Gather the people;
        prepare a holy meeting;
        assemble the elders;
        gather the children,
            even nursing infants.
Let the groom leave his room
        and the bride her chamber.

I pray that you will join a gathering of people tonight in a church that is having an Ash Wednesday service. I promise you, there is no better way to begin Lent.

17 Between the porch and the altar
        let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep.
    Let them say, “Have mercy, Lord, on your people,
        and don’t make your inheritance a disgrace,
        an example of failure among the nations.
    Why should they say among the peoples,
        ‘Where is their God?’”

We will find God together every day in this season. May we practice a holy Lent together.

Return to Me by Hannah Cornish

Eternal Covenant

Posted on by Betsy

Think for a moment about your deepest loyalty. Is it a person, place, or thing? Is the connection so strong, absolutely nothing could make you betray or walk away from it? People feel loyal to many things: institutions, marriages, family, ideals, their country, their church … what is it for you?

Today we are stepping into the “Way-back Machine” and traveling all the way back to the time of Noah and the great flood. There are many lessons in this passage, but I want to focus on our understanding of the word “covenant.” At its core, a covenant relationship expresses a connection so powerful, nothing could break it. It is a reciprocal promise, an unbreakable trust, an iron-clad commitment, and a loyalty so concrete, both parties can count on it indefinately .

Genesis 9 (Common English Bible)

8-11 Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.”

12-16 God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.”

17 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.”

After making the violent but necessary correction of flooding his creation, God starts humanity over again on the basis of a covenant. He makes an indelible promise that no matter how bad things get, he won’t destroy all life again. People might argue that we are living in bad times right now and deserve punishment, but our covenant God has promised not to destroy his creation, but to redeem it. Indeed, he went on to send his only Son for that very purpose. His rock-solid promises are just that: rock solid.

We don’t have anything in life that is as immovable as our God. Institutions will fail. People will let you down. Relationships change. Ideals waver and fade under pressure. Everything is dust in the wind … except God.

I hope that brings you comfort today. Our covenant God will never leave us or forsake us. There is nothing we can do that would separate us from his great love through Jesus Christ.

Romans 8 (Common English Bible)

35 Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?36 As it is written,

We are being put to death all day long for your sake.
    We are treated like sheep for slaughter.

37 But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. 38 I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers 39 or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.

Nothing.

Even when we break the covenant with him, we can always return and come back. This is the way of repentance. True repentance restores the covenant, through the forgiveness of sins.

Have you walked away from your covenant God? Come home, rebel.

The Way Back by Hannah Cornish