I have more kids now. I am teaching physician assistant and physical therapy students, and I am excited about this generation of medical providers. They are intelligent, passionate, and deeply concerned about their communities.
A blessing for clinical students of anatomy
May the beauty and intricacy Of the human body fill you With wonder
May its complexity, The care with which it is formed, Point you to the creator Who cares for you with the Same close attention
When you encounter disease and dysfunction, May you honor the soul that carries this burden In that moment, your work Joins with the healing work Of the Creator.
In the moment of creation, God declared the human- in form and in spirit- to be Very good
May your work, your words, and your life Humbly and powerfully Honor God’s workmanship As you join Him In His presence here on earth.
Today is not a day for good news. It’s not the day to look at the silver lining, or even the promise of what is coming. Traditionally, it’s a day of fasting, silence, and mourning.
Well that’s just not ok, is it? We don’t do well, as a culture, with unmitigated sorrow.
Until we find ourselves, as individuals or families, in the middle of the suffering. Then we don’t want to hear about how there is a silver lining. We don’t want to look for the bright side. We don’t want to hear about God’s plan for good. Those things hold truth, but the time is not right.
You know why? It’s because our souls know we need to walk the road of sorrow. We just need to be sad, sorrowful, mournful and honest for a while. It’s the “and” we are always looking for- yes, we will hear about silver linings and blessings and promises. Yes, we will not grieve as those who have no hope. But we will grieve, and many in our community know this well.
Today is a day for walking the road of sorrow with Christ. Not because there is no hope of coming joy.
We walk this road because Christ walked it, and he suffered. He needed his friends, and his friends betrayed him. He asked the Father to take away the coming events “if it is your will”, and his Father said no. He knew there was no other way, and he agreed “for the joy set before him.” The crowd who welcomed him as a king now chanted “Crucify him!” Lied about, spit on, brutally beaten, burdened with the instrument of his own torture.
If we want to call ourselves friends of God, we walk this path with him, for he walked this path for us.
We cannot know the value of the friendship he offers if we insulate ourselves from the cost he willingly paid.
Jesus has been disappointing people for a long time.
It’s not surprising once you hear him say he is the image of the Father God, who has been disappointing people since the earliest days of his interactions with man. And today is no different. It’s a day lots of people call “Palm Sunday,” and in our area at least, we are marking three weeks since schools closed, four online Sunday services, and the beginning of a whole new daily life for many. Some of us have a lot of disappointment- maybe even anger. Very understandable, in many cases justifiable anger.
The people surrounding Jesus during this last week of his life- well, their disappointment and anger were understandable too.
The crowds were so excited. They had been waiting for this day, when a Messiah would come and free them from the cruel oppression of Rome. And now- here he is! Finally, they will be freed from unjust taxes, unfair burdens, unwarranted executions. They wanted to be rescued, and we would all agree that’s understandable, even justifiable.
Judas was mad. We cannot be certain why, but one historical source says there is evidence that Judas worked on behalf of the poor and the vulnerable. He could not believe that Jesus would allow a bottle of perfume to be poured all over his feet- not when that bottle would have kept people from starving. In this scenario, he wanted to feed the hungry, and that is understandable, even justifiable.
Mary was sad. Her precious son, her first-born, was putting himself at risk, making himself a target for the power hungry, ruthless leaders. She just wanted him to be safe, so that he could continue his good work of teaching, and that is understandable, even justifiable.
The closest of the disciples were confused. They had joined a movement that was bringing healing and life back into their people’s lives. They had sacrificed so much- maybe everything- and now…now what? They just wanted good to prevail over evil, and that is understandable, even justifiable.
What is your disappointment? What is mine? Can we dare to speak it? Is it ok to be disappointed, even angry with God?
I think it is.
Look at these people again. After the events of the week were over, these groups that all started from a similar place of crushed expectations- what happened to them? They ended up in two groups with very, very different outcomes.
Judas couldn’t get past what he saw as the betrayal of Jesus, so he found another way to get the money for the hungry people he wanted so desperately to care for. He could not see his way back, so he ended his life in guilt and shame.
The crowd’s disappointment was easily manipulated by the very people they needed to be freed from, so many found themselves just days later yelling “Crucify him!” in a Roman courtyard.
But on the other hand, Mary and the faithful disciples found themselves welcoming a resurrected Jesus back into their midst, and listening for the first time as he explained the mystery of the ages to them. Gone was any disappointment, and no anger remained.
What made the difference? It wasn’t the presence of doubt, fear, anger or disappointment in one group and not the other.
The difference was found in what they did with their very understandable, even justifiable emotions. Did they stay focused on the ways that God, Jesus had let them down?
Judas and the crowds did.
Or did they keep their hearts fixed on God in the middle of their confusion, remaining together as a community of faith as they waited on him?
And that is the question for us today. Where do we go when we feel that Jesus has disappointed us? Will we show up in our faith communities? In our commitment to remaining in the presence of God?
It’s time to close the book of Jeremiah. Can’t say I’m sad- there is a lot of destruction and death in that book, all because of rebellion and sin. Kings and their people chose to trust anyone but God. Babylon, Egypt, foreign gods.
As a reading for Lent, though, it is a true and necessary message. We see the power, wealth, success, glamor of the world, and it looks so right, so real. We forget it’s just a snow globe constructed around us, filled with trickery and illusion. What is real and true is God, in all his loving kindness.
God sent Jeremiah to the Israelites, and, in his loving mercy, to us as well. It is God’s message of love, of his parent’s heart for us, his children. “How I long to make you my sons…you will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away.”
But it is also God’s message of lament for our rebellion. For the death and destruction that comes when we choose false power and deceitful promises. Let’s not skip that part as we look toward the hope. That is what Lent is all about. Love and hope, and our repentance of what would separate us from God.
We will be his people, called by his name, covenanters with him.
Remember back when we started Lent and the world was carrying on like normal? Take a minute to look back at your thoughts about Lent. I’m no fortune teller or mind reader, but I am 100% sure you did not expect it to be the way it is today.
You might need a minute. So much has been lost- for most of us, it’s just for a season, but it’s still a loss. And some losses are profound- lost senior years, the last year of playing a sport or the last opportunity to star in a play. Jobs. Death of a loved one.
Some losses are just simple pleasures- coffee with friends, larger family gatherings, physical church attendance. One of my favorite IG art posts reminds us we can be disappointed AND grateful, we can feel like everything is falling apart AND hopeful. So if you need a minute to mourn, take it. I did.
OK back to Lent. It’s a time of self-reflection and repentance; has it brought you the same new opportunities it has me? This morning I had a new opportunity to see my pride. I realized that I like to call it a work ethic, or diligence. But that’s just me lying to myself, and this time of surreal isolation made me realize that.
In the spirit of finding the “and”, I have added a prayer to my lent journey. Join me if it resonates with you.
Not on my own. The words we need today, aren’t they?
Because aren’t we each feeling a little alone? A little isolated? Overwhelmed? My word for how I am feeling is discombobulated. I’m an introvert, but the separation still feels surreal.
Some of my community focused on these words, “not on my own” from Proverbs 3:5 recently at a women’s retreat, and I feel that theme had to have been God ordained. We were thinking of sisterhood, and how we all need each other even in the different roles, life stages, personalities and jobs that might divide us. Never did we think of being separated in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones from a virus.
And yet here we are. Each of us doing our part to keep the numbers low enough that our dear sisters and brothers in the medical field can do their jobs well.
And yet, none of us is on her own.
We have our phones to text each other, our screens to worship together, and our imagination to think up new, safe ways to communicate our sisterhood. While that is all good, it would never be enough without the unbreakable cord of faith, the ever-present Spirit of God that binds us all together no matter our circumstances today.
So we are taking a break from prayers from Jeremiah until I get to the other side of this section where God’s people are rebellious and stubborn. Because our community- we refuse to buy Satan’s lies that God is turning his face away, or that we are alone and unseen or unwanted.
Our community is coming together to pray in online churches and at the ends of our driveways. In Facebook groups and text chats. We are looking for and finding ways to meet the needs of those around us, and we are praising God for his good faithfulness.
Let’s continue to pray that our eyes would be open to the ways we can love and support each other, so that each can say… I am not on my own. We have our sisters, and God has us.
The people were plain crazy. They came to Jeremiah saying they wanted to hear what God said. Jeremiah said sure, but I’m going to tell you everything he says, so are you sure you want to hear it? Yes, yes, tell us what God says, the people beg. So Jeremiah spends ten days seeking God, comes back to tell them the message, and can you even guess how the people responded? They called Jeremiah a liar and did the opposite of what God said.
That’s just crazy! Who would do something like that?
Reading these old stories of the people of Israel, it is so easy to see their foolishness and rebellion. I try to reflect that back on myself though- in what way have I been foolish and rebellious? Would I be the one who would do something like that?
In today’s installment, the people disobeyed using the excuse “that’s not really what God says.”
Do I ever do that? Do we as a people of God? Do we make excuses, or rationalize our behavior or lack of action?
In the days when a large part of the Christian world was Catholic, Fridays were a traditional day of prayer and fasting. Every week, Christians spent time examining their lives, attitudes, behaviors. These rhythms could become rote, or they could become guide rails ushering us to a place of confident vulnerability, where we trust God’s love enough to vulnerably confess all.
So when I look into my heart and soul, and I see there the same foolishness and rebellion I see in the people of this story, I am not afraid of God’s wrath. I am relieved to confess and repent, trusting the restoration he offers through Christ.
Today, this Friday, nothing is as it’s supposed to be. Well, that’s how it seems though it’s not actually true. One thing that can bring comfort is a sense of community, and so today I invite you into a community of saints who have used this day throughout the centuries to examine their lives and repent. And the thing that brings much more than the comfort of community is the truth that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. So today, standing on that foundation, join me in prayer of repentance. (full text of prayer below)
#prayersformychildren #JeremiahforLent #Lent2020
From The Book of Common Prayer as adapted in Divine Hours
Most holy and merciful Father: I confess to you and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what I have done, and by what I have left undone.
I have not loved you with my whole heart, and mind, and strength. I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I have not forgiven others, as I have been forgiven.
Have mercy on me, Lord. I have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. I have not been true to the mind of Christ. I have grieved your holy spirit.
Have mercy on me, Lord. I confess to you, Lord, all my past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of my life.
I confess to you, Lord. My self-indulgent appetites and ways, and my exploitation of other people,
I confess to you, Lord. My anger at my own frustration, and my envy of those more fortunate than I,
I confess to you, Lord. My intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and my dishonesty in daily life and work,
I confess to you, Lord. My negligence in prayer and worship, and my failure to commend the faith that is in me,
I confess to you, Lord. Accept my repentance, Lord, for the wrongs I have done: for my blindness to human need and suffering, and my indifference to indulgence and cruelty,
Accept my repentance, Lord. For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward my neighbors, and for my prejudice and contempt towards those who differ from me,
Accept my repentance, Lord. For my waste and pollution of your creation, and my lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept my repentance, Lord.
Restore me, good Lord, and let your anger depart from me,
Favorably hear me for your mercy is great.
Accomplish in me and all of your church the work of your salvation,
That I may show forth all your glory in the world. By the cross and passion of your Son, our Lord,
Bring me with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
Jeremiah had it rough. All he wanted was for the people of God to act like it, but usually when he passed God’s message along he got thrown into prison or worse. Once, he ended up at the bottom of a muddy well in the middle of a long siege on Jerusalem. His nation was headed for captivity, there was hunger and despair all around.
I don’t know how the current uncertainty of our situation is hitting you, but it’s not an easy time. Not to be melodramatic and say we are under siege or facing captivity, but just to acknowledge- this is hard. We have never faced anything remotely like this. Thinking back three weeks, we had no inkling how much everything would change, or how quickly.
But Jeremiah never quit, and neither will we.
He never quit listening to God, and neither will we.
He never quit praying, and neither will we.
He never quit proclaiming God’s words, and neither will we.
He never quit obeying God’s call, and neither will we.
We have a beautiful, faithful, vocal community of the people of God; unlike in Jeremiah’s day, a lot of us are acting like it. We hear words of hope, songs of joy, messages of faith.
Things may get easier soon, or they may get harder. Either way, we are God’s people. We will continue listening, praying, proclaiming and obeying. Not because we are strong or wise in our own power, but because we are God’s people, living by the power of his Spirit. #prayersformychildren #Lent2020 #JeremiahforLent #prayersinpandemic
You know what God loves? He loves obedience. Today’s story out of Jeremiah tells of a family God promises good things to because of their obedience. Not even their obedience to him- their obedience through many generations to an ancestor. It’s interesting- you can find it in Jeremiah 35.
The other story for today is one of defiant disobedience. God gives Jeremiah a message. Jehoiakim, king of Judah, has kicked Jeremiah out of the temple, so Jeremiah dictates a message to be written on a scroll. Eventually Jehoiakim has the opportunity he needs- the opportunity all of Judah needs. It’s a chance to hear the words of God, repent, and avert the coming disaster. God, through Jeremiah, has been warning and pleading with his people to repent; “perhaps…each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
The day comes, and Jehoiakim hears the words of opportunity. The words that would bring freedom and forgiveness. Do you know what he does? It’s so defiantly arrogant! Picture the scene- Jehoiakim, surrounded by sycophants and luxury. A roaring fire, as the king is in his winter quarters. The scribe starts reading. Jehoiakim, after a few minutes of listening, stops him.
Good, right? He is listening, and he wants to consider the words and repent.
But no.
As soon as he hears three or four columns read, “Jehoiakim would cut the scroll with a scribe’s knife and throw the columns into the fire in the hearth until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the hearth. As they heard all these words, the king and all of his servants did not become terrified or tear their clothes.”
Tragic disobedience.
We have the gift of these Old Testament stories at least in part so that we can see God’s heart. He longs to shower us with good things- forgiveness, protection, love. But we position ourselves to receive his beautiful gifts only through obedience. May we, and all our children, be a people who obey. #prayersformychildren #JeremiahforLent #Lent2020
The situation was unimaginable. The parallels to our time are not perfect, but they are striking.
Just a generation before, God miraculously delivered the Israelites from the Assyrians, and now Jeremiah is predicting that Israel will not be delivered- that captivity is coming. Yet even in the stark, harsh prophecy of defeat God delivers a message of hope. Soon, God says, you (Jeremiah) will have the opportunity to buy land. Make the purchase and publicize it, then bury the deed where it can be found in the future. This matters because God is telling Jeremiah to spread the message; the Israelites’ land will be taken from them, the people will be taken into exile, and all will be destroyed. What is the point of buying land?
The point is, God is the giver of hope. Yes, there will be suffering and defeat for Israel. But on the other side is restoration and victory.
Today, we are not looking at defeat, but we are looking at a time of massive upheaval. No one needs me to rehash all the ways our situation would have found unimaginable three weeks ago.
The question for today is, what are the signs of hope that God is sending? Can we acknowledge the losses and discomforts, the emotional upheaval all the uncertainties cause, while also acknowledging the hope we see? I think we can, because we are people of faith. One of my favorite descriptions of faith states “when circumstances dictate fear, we choose faith.” (The whole quote from Walter Brueggemann is below).
Hope does not ignore the dark- it looks past the dark to the light. It joins Jeremiah, who just purchased land that is he will never possess, in saying,
“O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!”
Jeremiah 32:17
And through the difficult, uncertain days hope also hangs onto the promise of God, allowing his work to be complete in our hearts.
“They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.”
Jeremiah 32:38-41
#prayersformychildren #Lent202 #JeremahforLent #prayersinpandemic
“Faith is not a matter of intellectual content or cognitive belief. It is rather a matter of quite practical reliance upon the assurance of God in a context of risk where one’s own resources are not adequate.” Walter Bruggeman, Isaiah
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