A Daily Lent

The Pattern Includes Resurrection Resurrection Sunday – April 12, 2020 Resurrection follows death. Every time. It is the immutable, God-given pattern for all of life. Death is not the end. Life is the end. In John 11, Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, goes through a litany of titles for Jesus. Jesus tells her straight-out that he is the resurrection and the life. Then he asks, “Do you believe this ?” He is not asking if she believes in resurrection as an idea or as a theological proposition. He is asking if she believes that resurrection and life are God’s established pattern for the world. Affirming Jesus’ resurrection is not enough. Rather are you willing to enter into this rhythm of birth, life, death, and new life for yourself? This is not only new life. It is also real love. English mystic Evelyn Underhill wrote a great deal about spirituality in the last century. She taught both significant religious leaders and ordinary lay persons with a simplicity that I find c...

Finding a Way in the Desert Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent – April 4, 2020 Cummings’ words below are hard to accept. Western Christians, including contemplatives, are more often than not shaped more by culture and prevailing norms than we are by scripture and our mystical/contemplative Christian tradition. Even my labeling, this week in these blog posts, of the current COVID-19 crisis as a “ desert experience ” to some extent adopts a cultural understanding of the situation. After all, we are fond of naming things, and most every name for something, someone, or some experience carries with it some inherent judgements. And the words “desert experience” suggest something harsh or to be avoided, at least for most of us. This is not to deny that the threat around us currently is real, nor am I suggesting that we not approach it with sobriety. Most certainly we should treat these days seriously. But I sense that much of our anxiety and desert feelings stem not only from the ...

Is God Absent? Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent – April 3, 2020 During the current moment’s COVID-19-induced alteration of rhythms and life-practices, with the onset of fear and uncertainty, I’m hearing people talk about God’s apparent absence. “ Where is God now? ” “ How could God allow this pandemic? ” “ Why doesn’t God do something? ” All are legitimate questions, probably ones that have crossed all our minds at some point, a quick, fleeting thought. Perhaps those expressions are healthy in a time like this. I know they certainly don’t shake God. In fact, I’m confident they say more about us than they say about God. You’ve heard people say, perhaps, “God showed up in this situation or in that event!” We have our own notions of how God is present, sometimes measured by some external results that come from the event, or sometimes by our own goose-bumpy feelings about the situation. Not to completely discredit any of that, but God is bigger than all those feelings or ta...

Trusting God in the Desert Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent – April 2, 2020 In exploring the desert experience this week, we have drawn parallels between the desert and where we find ourselves in dealing with COVID-19 . . . physical distanced and separated from others, with altered routines, and with many of our usual coping strategies no longer available to us. We’ve talked about our tendency to seek an escape from the difficulty that is right before us. The fight or flight syndrome is real . . . right now, flight is not an option . . . while our best fight against this enemy is to stay home and do nothing that feels productive. Psychologists talks about escapism as a desire or behavior to ignore, evade, or avoid reality. Some of our escapism takes the form of some physical action . . . we go on a shopping spree, we travel, we drink excessively . . . we actually DO something to ignore, evade, or avoid reality. Some of our escapism is mental or emotional . . . we withdra...

Embodying Jesus Wednesday of the First Week of Lent – March 4, 2020 Following Jesus does not mean holding the right beliefs or advocating for the proper doctrines. Following Jesus is not a matter of becoming more moral. Following Jesus is not about joining a church or pledging allegiance to a religious institution. To follow Jesus, we go where Jesus goes . . . engage those Jesus engages . . . love as Jesus loves . . . live compassionately as Jesus lived compassionately. In short, following Jesus means that we embody the life and spirit of Jesus in our world. This is no simplistic what-would-Jesus-do, but rather an actual engagement with the world in the spirit of Jesus. With Jesus as our source and center, we allow him to live in and through us. The Apostle Paul called this being “in Christ.” And in Christ, we embody God in the world. In the paragraphs below, Henri Nouwen says we are destined to become like the life of Jesus. We are invited into his life, here and now in ...

Resurrection Sunday Daily Reading : John 20:1 – 9 Focus Passage : So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) (Jn. 20:3 – 9) In the two verses before this reading, we are given an important piece of information about the burial place of Jesus. John 19:41 – 42 says this: At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one ha...

Holy Saturday Daily Reading : Luke 23:50 – 56 Focus Passage : Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (Lk. 23:50 – 56) Holy Saturday rests silently, darkly between Good Friday and Easter. Nestled between the crucifixion of Christ and the Resurrection, it is a somber day which remembers the hours Jesus spent in the tomb. ...

Maundy Thursday Daily Reading : John 13:1 – 15 Focus Passage : It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (Jn. 13:1 – 5) All of Jesus’ actions, both on this night and through the last days of his life, are framed by these words: “ Jesus knew that he had come from God and was returning to God .” In other words, Jesus knew who he was. He knew his identi...

Wednesday of Holy Week Daily Reading : Matthew 26:14 – 25 Focus Passage : When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?" Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me." (Matt. 26:20 – 23) The daily readings walking us through Holy Week give us a glimpse of the events which shape these difficult days in Jesus’ life. We cannot dismiss the intensity of their “passion” by simply saying, “Jesus was the Son of God, so none of this trial actually touched him.” Jesus was also the Son of Humanity (Son of Man in most translations), fully alive and a complete human. Yes, Jesus was touched by the defections and betrayals and accusations of the week. The Gospel writers knew what those sitting around the ta...

Tuesday of Holy Week Daily Reading : John 13:21 – 38 Focus Passage : After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me." His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish. . . ." “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn. 13:21 – 26, 34 – 35) Today’s longer reading begins with a disciple about to betray Jesus and ends foretelling that the disciple called “the Rock” will disown Jesus. Betr...

Monday of Holy Week Daily Reading : John 12:1 – 11 Focus Passage : Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (Jn. 12:1 – 3) As a young man in the ministry, I was convinced that I could save the world, and that I would do so single-handedly. I worked tirelessly, spending myself and doing for others in both official and unofficial capacities. I noticed early on, though, that when someone showed me kindness, gave a gift of appreciation to me, or paid me a compliment, I didn’t receive it well. I would say things like, “I don’t really deserve this,” or “It wasn’t really me.” Sometimes I would think, “I...

Palm Sunday Daily Reading : Luke 19:28 – 40 Focus Passage : After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.' " Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. (Lk. 19:28 – 32) In Mark 14:12 – 16, Jesus prepared to eat the Passover with his disciples. When they inquired about a place in which to eat the meal, Jesus instructed them to go into the city and follow a man carrying a jar of water. When the man entered a house, they were to find the owner of the house and simply say, “The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”...

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 11:45 – 56 Focus Passage : Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life. (Jn. 11:49 – 53) This passage follows Jesus raising Lazarus from death. The dialogue and deliberations you read here are brought about by Jesus stretching his hand of life into Lazarus’ tomb, a precursor to his own death, burial, and Resurrection. The first half of John’s Gospel is given to the breadth of Jesus’ ministry. The second half of his Gospel is devoted to the last week of Jesus’ life...

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 10:31 – 42 Focus Passage : Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any good work," they replied, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." (Jn. 10:31 – 33) The persons who wanted to stone Jesus appraised him as “a mere man.” We may find those words hard to fathom, knowing from hindsight what we do about Jesus. But we make similar appraisals about persons every day. We misjudge. We label. We categorize using all sorts of criteria and prejudice. Those standing with stones in their hands, feeling threatened by Jesus, considered him a “mere man.” We pigeon-hole those we see on street corners, in grocery stores, and sitting on park benches in all sorts of ways. Our characterizations over-generalize and fail to notice...

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 8:51 – 59 Focus Passage : “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," they said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "Very truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (Jn. 8:56 – 59) “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” Jesus used the words, “I Am,” to refer to himself. The words are especially prominent in John’s Gospel. Jesus is the fulfillment of the “I AM” of the Hebrew Scriptures. At the burning bush in Exodus 3, Moses stood before God and inquired about the identity of the One sending him. The God-voice from the bush said, “I AM that I AM” (Ex. 3:14). God was revealed as pure Being, complete Essence. I A...

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 8:31 – 42 Focus Passage : To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Jn. 8:31) Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in pre-war Nazi Germany, came up with the phrase “cheap grace” for a Christian faith which wants to receive God’s goodness without radically reordering life as Christ advocated. So today I’ll use the phrase “cheap truth” for the way these words of Jesus (Jn. 8:31 – 42) have been misrepresented. These verses have been watered down (cheapened) to suggest that spiritual freedom is possible without a radical reorientation of life. Verse 31 has been used, misused, and badly abused for a long time. It gets co-opted by those who think they repres...

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 8:21 – 30 Focus Passage : But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world." (Jn. 8:23) Jesus said to those pressing him, “You are of this world; I am not of this world.” The tone sounds harsh, especially given the context of the passage; however, I believe he implies no condemnation to being “of this world.” We are each “of this world.” Our humanity plants us in “this world.” Being “of this world” simply means that we are shaped by the structures of the “world,” that the society in which we live exerts tremendous influence on us, that our culture provides us a framework with which we do life. In a sense, you might think of this framework as a lens through which we see the world and life. Those who lived in Jesus’ first century world had a structure in which they lived, just as those of us who live today have a framework or paradigm with which we l...

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 8:12-20 Focus Passage : When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (Jn. 8:12) The vocabulary of “light” and “darkness” can get confusing on the spiritual journey. At one level, we read Jesus’ pronouncements about the light he gives, the light which brings a person out of the darkness forever. This light illumines the lives of women and men in order to bring us out of spiritual darkness and bondage. At this level of understanding, spiritual darkness is equated with life opposed to God, set against the movement of God. Darkness is a force for destruction and evil that stands against the well-being, healing, and goodness God brings into the world. This spiritual darkness is real and should not be diminished. Jesus’ light, then, becomes a new way of seeing in the world, a fresh way of orienting o...

The Fifth Sunday of Lent Daily Reading : John 8:1 – 11 Focus Passage : Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. (Jn. 8:1 – 6) We each have our ways of making people pay for their sins. We may give them the cold shoulder. We may deal with them out of our learned passive-aggressive tendencies. We may broadcast their failings not-too-subtly to others. We may withhold the gift of our friendship. We may find ways to exclude them from our lives. We may humiliate them at a public function. The teacher...

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 7:40 – 53 Focus Passage : Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards replied. "You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them." Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, "Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?" They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee." Then they all went home. (Jn. 7:45 – 53) I spent many years engaging in debate about Jesus. It was a fairly satisfying way to...