Lent Readings

[Tuo]

In previous years I've posted a prayer a day for Lent. This year I thought I'd try to do the same thing but with Bible readings. I'll be using the Anglican lectionary for this year, but will choose just one passage, and may only post part of it - just to keep the length manageable. Come and join in (add thoughts, comments, prayers, whatever) if you'd like to.

Day 1: 10th February - Psalm 103, 8-14

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
He will not always accuse us,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.
As a father cares for his children,
so does the Lord care for those who fear him.
For he himself knows whereof we are made;
he remembers that we are but dust.

'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return'. The psalmist reminds us of our weakness and frailty, but only in order to remind us that God's love for us is always greater than our ability to mess up; that just as a parent loves her or his children - not despite their vulnerability but because of it - God loves us and forgives our mistakes, and that whenever the fragile edifices of our lives and our selves seem to be about to crumble to nothingness, God can rebuild us and make us whole again. May this Lent be a time of rebuilding. And, in refashioning ourselves from the dust, may we also try to find ways to support those around us as they too work to reshape themselves anew.

Love Rev, niminy. I wish I'd watched it all!

Tuo, I like the 'obvious' ones most for the simple reason that none of it is cliched to me. When you are trying to catch up in a short time with decades of missed bible readings and sermons, it helps to come across the best known passages sooner rather than later!

10th March: Psalm 27: 1, 9-10, 16-17

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?
Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call;
have mercy upon me and answer me.
My heart tells of your word, ‘Seek my face.’
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and he shall comfort your heart;
wait patiently for the Lord.

Lovely Oma, I know exactly what you mean when you say that you needed to see yesterday's passage. I have had a stressful day juggling multiple work things and feeling a bit overwhelmed and worried, and I needed tonight to hear that if I let God be my strength I don't need to be worried, and that if I wait and try to be strong I will be comforted. I particularly like the idea that my heart my prompt me to seek God out and that I might follow the promptings of my heart. This mirrors my experience of being prompted by something that I didn't understand, or even want to listen to at first, to look for God, to call to God, and - slowly slowly, but over time - to trust in God to respond and to give me strength and comfort. Thanks be to God for both the prompting to seek him out and the response... in my life and in those of others.

11th March: Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not raised in haughty looks.
I do not occupy myself with great matters,
with things that are too high for me.
But I have quieted and stilled my soul,
like a weaned child on its mother’s breast;
so my soul is quieted within me.
O Israel, trust in the Lord,
from this time forth for evermore.

I have chosen this psalm for one image - the image of a child quiet and still on its mother's breast. This is more an aspirational image for me than one that I feel I manage to achieve very often in my own life, but as an aspirational image it is one that it feels right and good to hold onto. I know that I am often driven by selfish motivations and that my aspirations bring me stress and dissatisfaction rather than the ability to be still and quiet and fulfilled and happy. And I pray for the capacity to trust God so that I seek fulfilment in him and not in my own abilities.

Such a lovely image, isn't it and yes, not often achieved. Not in reality and not in our relationship with God. But one to strive for.

^I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.^

Seeing God in others... That is one of the most powerful ways that I started to hear God calling me. Does that even make sense? Anyway I know what I mean...
Talking of comfort, did you know that 'Do not be afraid' is the most common phrase spoken in the Bible?

Yes, I did know Edith and so often it is followed by 'for I will be with you'. And that is most often in the shape of another human being.
'You are an angel', is often more true than we realise.

You two (Edith, Oma) are lovely! Both angels for sure!

12th March: John 11, 17-27

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

Martha's faith here is so striking: 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world'. Jesus is talking obliquely and it's not clear (to me, at least) whether or not she completely understands what he's getting it when he says that Lazarus will rise again, and that he himself is the resurrection and the life. But she answers 'Yes, Lord, I believe...', and this is enough. There is a parallel here between Jesus's promise that anyone who believes in him will never die, and his promise to the Samaritan woman at the well that whoever drinks the water that he can offer will never get thirsty again. Both Martha and the Samaritan woman seem to know instinctively that this is something that they want and need. In another of the passages for today (Hebrews 11), faith is defined (famously) as 'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen'. Martha has this faith in spades. May we also have the faith and the courage to say 'Yes, Lord, I believe...'.

13th March: John 12, 1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

Mary and Martha. We are used to thinking of these two as contrasting characters: active, distracted Martha; contemplative, focused Mary. But here (in yesterday's reading and today's) they seem to me to be two sides of the same coin - almost like two aspects of the same personality. Martha's faith - 'I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world' - leads us on to Mary's devotion - her extravagant gesture of love; and Martha's confidence in Jesus's ability to raise her brother from the dead somehow looks forward to the hints, in today's passage, at Jesus's own death (and resurrection - though this is prefigured in the conversation with Martha, not that with Mary - again, it feels as if the two conversations need to be taken together somehow in order to make sense). Meanwhile Mary's over-the-top outpouring of love reminds us of Jesus's own love for us, out of all proportion to what we deserve.

14th March: Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;
therefore can I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
and leads me beside still waters.
He shall refresh my soul
and guide me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me
in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil
and my cup shall be full.
Surely goodness and loving mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

I am very tired and slightly stressed about work stuff, and tonight it feels as if God has sent me these words very specifically to reassure me that he will refresh me andguide me, that he will be with me and comfort me, that he will nourish me in the here and now, and bring me to him. I don't have words tonight to describe my reaction to this text; I can only post it and say thank you.

Amen to that.

15th March: John 11, 38-45

Haha! The text would be nice, wouldn't it? Let me try that again! I hit 'post' by mistake.

15th March: John 11, 38-45

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

There is a closeness to death in many of ther readings for today and the coming days: a clear sense that the closer Jesus gets to Jerusalem, the more inevitable his death becomes. The account of the raising of Lazarus prefigures in so many ways the death of Jesus himself, but one of the striking things here is the emphasis on how really dead Lazarus is... the body has been there for four days (in a hot climate) and already stinks. This is not a sanitised account of death. And yet, like Jesus himself, Lazarus is raised. We are prepared for the pain that is to come (Jesus almost seems to be preparing himself: he's deepluy disturbed at the start of the passage), but we also see its ending. The faith of Martha (seen in the earlier passage) and the deep love of Mary (ditto) are repaid with the restoration of their brother. And they are repaid too in the instilling of faith and love (and hope too - may as well complete the group!) in the others who witness what has happened.

16th March: John 14, 1-7

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

'I just want to go home!' It has been a busy week and I've probably said or thought this any number of times in the last couple of days... Ditto: 'I don't know where I'm going' - literally and metaphorically, and sometimes both at the same time. It is so easy to feel lost and directionless, cast adrift and scared or confused. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. He is the way out of our lostness and confusion. In him we can find a place, the place where we belong, our rightful place. This passage is often read at funerals, but it gives me hope also in the here-and-now: Jesus is not only there at the end of our journey, he is the journey, the way, and even one step in the right direction is a step closer to the place where we belong.

17th March: Psalm 42, 1-7

As the deer longs for the water brooks,
so longs my soul for you, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God;
when shall I come before the presence of God?
My tears have been my bread day and night,
while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’
Now when I think on these things, I pour out my soul:
how I went with the multitude
and led the procession to the house of God,
With the voice of praise and thanksgiving,
among those who kept holy day.
Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul,
and why are you so disquieted within me?
O put your trust in God;
for I will yet give him thanks,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Feeling very tired again tonight... dragging myself to the end of a long week. The metaphor of thirst feels very apposite: craving refreshment, needing energy. Yet I know that tomorrow is another day and that I will yet give thanks to the God in whom I trust.

18th March: John 12, 35-36

Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

I went for a walk at about 5.30 this evening. It was light when I set out and almost dark by the time I got back an hour later. Here Jesus is talking about his own imminent arrest and death, of course, but his words remind me to hold onto his example and to (try to) walk in its light always.

I also want to share this poem by the medieval Persian poet, Hafiz:

Even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with
a love like that,
it lights the whole sky.

That's lovely :)

Lovely post tuo thanks

Thank you, both. I liked that too.

Saturday 19th March: Isaiah 11, 1-19

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This image, this whole prophecy, gives us an image of a perfect world - a world at one with itself, a world at peace and in harmony - which feels infinitely far off, forever out of reach. And I am guessing that, rhetorically, that's what the prophet was aiming at here: a description of something that feels 'too good to be true', something that must be godly or heavenly because it certainly isn't anything we can recognise.... But might it be that in the first part of the passage, even though it's ostensibly describing the promised Messiah, there is also a lesson for us? If I do not judge at first sight, or believe everything I hear; if I judge fairly, and try to make equitable decisions; if righteousness and faithfulness are the qualities that I take with me everywhere; if I try to work towards wisdom and understanding in all things; if I try to do all these things in the limited way that I can in my own life, do I then help to create not a perfect world, but at least a better one? Should I, at least, try...?

I think we may be coming back to the perfection that you spoke about at the beginning of these readings: we are 'on our way' to the Kingdomn, a little bit of heaven on earth. Every time we try for justice, for forgiveness, for the things Jesus asks of us, the Kingdom does come a bit nearer. And yes, we are asked to try, knowing that we shall only be 'made perfect'' through the One Who is perfect: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank you, Oma. That's lovely.

20th March - Palm Sunday: Luke 19, 29-40

When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

‘Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!’

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

And so we arrive at Holy Week, perhaps (certainly, in my case) with a mixture of emotions: so much to do before the holidays, stress, tiredness, but also anticipation of rest and joy ahead: not long now, Lent is nearly over. I have been thinking, reading this passage, about what the disciples must have been feeling on this day. They knew, by now, how dangerous it would be to enter Jerusalem with Jesus. They must have been frightened. Yet even in their fear they must also have had a thrill of anticipation. What next? Where now? And in that anticipation is also joy: they praise God joyfully as Jesus enters the city and can't help but cry out - their joy is stronger than them. Did they think about the incongruity of their acclaiming Jesus as king and Lord while he sits not on some noble steed but a humble donkey? And what of Jesus, knowing, on some level at least, what lay ahead? Did he engage with the crowd and welcome their acclamations? It may be fanciful, but I imagine him riding through it all in a sort of a bubble - part of it, yet detached from it, focused now on the end of the story...

21st March - Monday of Holy Week: Luke 22, 1-23

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.

Yesterday was all hosannas and acclamations. Today it's all about betrayal. It all goes so wrong so fast. But I'm also struck by the parallels between today's passage and yesterday's. Jesus sends two disciples ahead of him to get what he needs for the next stage of his journey to the Cross, whether that's a donkey colt or a Passover meal. In both cases the disciples are instructed to tell those who will provide these things that 'the Lord needs it...' or 'the teacher asks you...' and in both cases that simple statement is enough. Everything is happening as it is meant to happen, and that includes Judas's betrayal. Yet it's not only about betrayal today; it's also - and far more importantly - about giving, sharing, remembering, sacrifice. The words of the last paragraph are so familiar, and yet reading them today, with the rest of the week still to come, is a bit like hearing them for the first time - a bit like being in the room with the disciples, then. Everything is happening as it's meant to happen, but there's still anticipation, tension, a bit excitement, a bit of fear, a bit of hope.

22nd March: Tuesday of Holy Week - Luke 22, 24-27

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors.But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves'.

Long day, lots of travelling, and typing on phone so forgive brevity tonight. I chose this snippet from today's lectionary reading because it picks up some of the contradictions we felt on Sunday: the king who rides a donkey is also the servant of his subjects, and the inscription, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews", that we will see placed above the cross on Friday is intended to be ironic but actually doesn't go anywhere near far enough in expressing the extent of Jesus' kingdom. When we (when I) get caught up in petty power struggles at home or at work may we (I!) remember his example and remember that it's about being where we can do the most good, not where we can garner the greatest glory.

Power struggles at home . That's never me.

23rd March: Wednesday of Holy Week - Luke 22, 54-62

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, ‘This man also was with him.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter, ah Peter.... I chose this passage, although it's uncomfortable, because Peter's denial of Christ feels so much like something I would do: not cynically, sure, but out of fear or discomfort or a desire not to draw attention to myself. It's a reminder of the importance of speaking honestly about my faith: one of the ways in which Peter is recognised is by the way he speaks, his Galilean accent, and this prompts the question of how far what I say (and do) would identify me as a Christian. But I also take heart from the knowledge that Peter is forgiven, and given another chance to get this right, not least when the risen Christ asks him three times to reiterate his love, and tells him to feed his sheep. Tonight, then, I pray for the courage and faith to express my love for God (and to translate that love into good actions) and never to turn my back on Him.

Amen to that TUO