LENT
“And it was night....”
Daily Reflections for Lent 2015
First Baptist Church
Regina, Saskatchewan
Introduction
For centuries, Christians have used the forty days1 prior to Easter as an annual opportunity for
self-examination, repentance, sustained prayer, fasting and reflection. The forty days2 call to
mind the length of time which, according to Scripture, Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting
before being tempted by the devil. This period came to be called “Lent,” derived from an Old
English term referring to spring and the lengthening of daylight hours at this time of year in the
northern hemisphere.
Although Lent is not mentioned in the Bible, the practice of setting aside times to focus more
intently than usual on spiritual matters certainly does appear in Scripture. Prayer, fasting, selfexamination, repentance, reflection – all these are tools which we have been given to help us
grow in and deepen our relationship with God, whom we have come to know best in Jesus, who
was, of course, God come among us.
The Big Picture Story
For many people there is little sense of the “big picture” story of the Bible and God’s ongoing
work to restore and renew a fallen, disordered, hurting, broken creation. Many have a confused
mental picture of this story – Adam and Eve, people wandering around the desert in housecoats,
pyramids, battles, some kings, and then Jesus. But if we miss the grand sweep of the story it is
hard to see what part we have in it or where we fit in. Even worse, the story no longer shapes
and forms us, directs our lives or allows us to understand reality as it really is – from God’s
perspective. Lent 2015 will be an opportunity to “get a handle” on that big picture story. The
tool which has been chosen to help us is this: every Sunday the Scripture lessons will have
something to do with night, which is often associated with dark deeds, betrayal, judgement, sin,
and spiritual darkness. The theme for Lent 2015 is taken from the chilling words in John’s
gospel as Judas goes out to betray Jesus: “And it was night....”3
1
The forty days do not include Sundays. This is because Sunday is always a “feast” day in the church’s calendar. Every Sunday is a
“mini-celebration” of the resurrection.
2
The number forty was often used in biblical times as an expression to mean “a lot” rather than exactly the number forty.
3
John 13.30 (NRSV)
1
How to Use This Booklet
These reflections may be used by individuals, groups or families.
• Before you begin, pray that God, who is the author of all Scripture, will help you
understand what you read and apply it to your life. Here is a prayer you might use:
Prepare our hearts and minds, O God, to accept your Word. Silence in us any voice but
your own. By your Spirit tell us what we need to hear, and show us what we ought to do,
to obey Jesus Christ our Savior. We ask in his name. Amen.
• Each day has a Scripture reading listed. (These are the same Scripture lessons which
will be preached on week by week.) Read that first. If you are using these reflections as
an individual, I suggest you read the text over twice, slowly, and perhaps once out loud.
If you are using this booklet with your entire family, you might perhaps have two
different people read the lesson.
• Now read the reflection for the day.
• Ask these questions of yourself or the group: “What is the main point of this passage?”
“What do I learn about God?" "What does Christ require of me today?"
• Conclude with prayer – perhaps with the Lord’s Prayer.
Thanks
The reflections in this booklet have all been written by members and adherents of First Baptist
Church, Regina. These are people you know and worship with week by week. I express thanks
to each of these authors, and also to Norma Holtslander who very kindly volunteered to do the
preliminary editing.
“And it was night....”
Rev. Dr. Mark G. McKim
Senior Minister
2
The Authors
February 18 -19
Timothy Long
February 20 -21
Brenda Beckman-Long
February 22 -25
Norma Holtslander
February 26
John Hillmer
February 27
Jean Hillmer
February 28
Norma Holtslander
March 1
Loreen Snook
March 2
Marilyn Phillips
March 3
Val Quick
March 4
Fran Purvis
March 5
Mavis Olesen
March 6
Mark McKim
March 7
Esther Weins
March 8 – 14
Mark, Cheryl, Adam and Dustin Johnson
March 15 – 21
Reade, Jennifer, Adoniram and Angeline Holtslander
March 22-23
Heather Holtslander
March 24
Mark McKim
March 25
Heather Holtslander
March 26
Barry Holtslander
March 27
Barry Holtslander
March 28
Heather Holtslander
3
Wednesday, February 18 (Ash Wednesday)
Genesis 3.19b, c
One of my favorite places to sit and think is the Dairy Queen at Elphinstone Street and
Saskatchewan Drive. From the glass atrium, I love to watch the trains go by, carrying grain,
potash and a multitude of containers on their way from one end of the country to the other. It
reminds me that our city is not isolated, but is connected to a much wider world. It also reminds
me that the global economy is as real and as powerful as the one hundred car train thundering
by.
In many ways, the Book of Genesis is like the lead engine of one of those trains. Its powerful
narrative sets in motion a train of events that extends from end one of history to the other. It
reminds me that our little lifespan is connected to a much larger story that unites all people of
all times. It also reminds me that formidable spiritual forces are at work in our lives and that
these constitute our ultimate reality.
One of those spiritual forces is death, as we are reminded in the sobering lines, “you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” Lent offers us a chance to reflect on this truth, which, like a
locomotive, approaches nearer every day. If we ever become too comfortable in our lives, the
deep rumble of these verses should shake us out of our complacency. Without this knowledge,
the story of salvation that follows makes no sense.
This Lenten season, I invite you to go to Dairy Queen, or wherever you do your best thinking,
and listen to the mighty train of God’s story and feel its throbbing power.
ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP SERVICE TONIGHT: 7.00 p.m.
4
Thursday, February 19
Genesis 3.8, Revelation 22.1-5
Human history lies suspended between Genesis and Revelation, between the Garden of Eden
and the new Jerusalem. Connecting the two is the story of God’s relationship to humanity, a
story rooted in His goodness and epitomized by the simple act of “seeing face to face.” This is
the “big picture story” we’re looking at during Lent this year.
In Genesis 3, we see the initial intimacy of being created in God’s image shattered by an act of
disobedience. When we question God’s abundance, his desire to give us everything we need
and more, and reach out to grasp what is not ours, we fall. The mirror is broken and God’s face
is no longer reflected in our own. In verse 8, God approaches Adam and Eve in the garden, but
they turn away, naked and ashamed.
The last chapter of the Bible could not be more different in tone and image. The Garden of
Eden was wonderful, but it pales beside the description of the new Jerusalem! A great river
flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the central street of the city. The
tree of life, for millennia protected by the flaming sword of the Cherubim, is now found on both
sides of the river where its fruit and leaves bring nourishment and healing to all. And, most
incredibly, “his servants will worship him, they will see his face, and his name will be on their
foreheads.” In Exodus, only Moses spoke to God face to face, and only the high priest Aaron
bore on his turban the diadem inscribed “Holy to the Lord.” Here all God’s servants both see
God and bear His name on their forehead. It is the perfect image of God’s abundance and
intimacy restored.
In the coming weeks, as we fill out our Income Tax forms, let us be reminded that we are called
by God’s name (not a Social Insurance Number), and that he has truly given us more than we
need!
5
Friday, February 20
John 1.1-5
Jesus is the light of the world and the darkness will not overcome it (v. 5). The centre of the
biblical and historical stories—our stories—is found in the opening lines of the gospel of John.
At Briercrest College and Seminary, my English students and I have been searching plays,
stories, and poems for images of light and darkness and the related ideas of blindness and
vision. In John 9, we read the story of Jesus healing a blind beggar. I find it strange that here,
with his hands, Jesus applies mud and spittle to the man’s eyes to heal him. Is the mixture a
type of mud plaster? But a closer look at the story reveals Jesus making clay to restore sight. By
this gesture, he shows that he is our Maker, the one who is both the Creator and Redeemer of
the world. He gives life and he heals it. The blind man sees Jesus in this way, unlike the
religious teachers, who claim to see but dismiss Jesus outright. Their denial makes them more
blind than the man who was born blind.
By the end of the biblical story, in the Revelation to John on the island of Patmos, Jesus appears
on the throne of God, from which flows the river of life. It is the place where we too will “see
his face” (Rev. 22.4). He is the life and the light that overcomes the darkness, for all
generations and in every age.
Where do you fit in the big picture story of the Bible?
6
Saturday, February 21
Revelation 22.1-5
In The Book of Negroes, an American slave named Aminata hopes that her escape to Canada
will be her Exodus, and that Nova Scotia will be her promised land. Sadly, she finds that, even
in Canada, slavery exists among Loyalists who fled with their slaves from the Thirteen
Colonies during the American Revolution. Not until her golden years would she see the end of
the institution of slavery and its cruel trafficking in human lives.
An African-Canadian, Lawrence Hill, wrote this book in 2007 to commemorate the
bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire and, eventually, in
the United States.
The book of Revelation shows us that, unlike Aminata’s initial journey to Canada, our journey
through history will end in perfect freedom. The promise of freedom will reach all of God’s
“servants” (Rev. 22.4). We may be surprised to learn that in Greek the word for “servants”
means “slaves.”
The apostle Paul redefines the term “slave” when, after his conversion on the road to
Damascus, he calls himself a “slave of Christ” (Rom. 1.1). His encounter with the living Christ
transforms him from an enemy of Christ to a willing servant. He intended to bring Christians
“bound” to Jerusalem (Acts 9.2); instead, he joins them. Paul changes from a persecutor of the
church to its messenger after seeing the light of Christ’s face.
Instead of harsh masters, we serve a loving God. We too will see the One whose face shines
“like the sun” (Rev. 1.1). He is our Maker, who created all to be equal and free. According to
the Bible’s “big picture” story of human history, we will exchange bondage for freedom,
darkness for light, and death for life.
This is where the “big picture story” is going.
7
Sunday, February 22 (First Sunday in Lent)
Genesis 2:7
In the garden of Eden, God breathed the breath of life into Adam and he became a living spirit;
a person, created in the image of God (Genesis1:26). Here is the beginning of the human
involvement in the “big picture story.” Of all the animals God created, it was only Adam into
whose nostrils God breathed that breath of life and that breath caused Adam to become a living
person. That did not happen when God formed him from the dust of the ground. It wasn’t until
God breathed life into him, that he became a physical, animate, rational and spiritual being.
Each one of us today has this same unique life breathing in us and through us. The breath of
God, is the life and power of God given to us by God himself.
So, does that make us God’s personal property, does God own us? Yes – and No. Yes, in the
sense that God is the rightful owner of all things. No – if what is implied is God forcing us.
After forming us from dust, and breathing life into us God allowed us the freedom to choose.
To choose to fellowship with him, to be creative for him, to live for him, to return his love – or
not.
God breathing into that first human person after particularly forming him from the dust of the
ground, seems to me such a loving, personal act. When I see a mother with her first newborn
baby; holding him close, softly touching, caressing him, loving him. I understand more about
God’s love for me. God sees me as someone special, like that young mother with her baby God
created me. “When you give them your breath, life is created…The Lord takes pleasure in all
he has made.” (Psalm 104:30-31) God takes pleasure in all his creation. That includes you and
me. Genesis 1 tells us that (Genesis 1:31) tells us that God looked over all he had created and
saw that it was very good. We are God’s ‘very good’ creation and God’s loves us deeply. God
wants our love in return – but love by its very nature requires a choice. God has given us the
power to choose.
Suggested prayer: Lord, thank you for creating me in your image, for loving me
unconditionally. Help me to love you more even in this day .
8
Monday, February 23
Genesis 2:15-24
After God lovingly created Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden, God gave him some
responsibilities. He was to tend the garden and name the animals. But God realized that Adam
needed fellowship, perhaps even help, someone equal to him, someone who was created in
God’s image as well as someone who could work beside him in caring for God’s creation.
Adam had named all cattle, the birds, all the animals of the field but he still had no partner
equal to him. Although God created the animals and gave them life, God showed Adam that an
animal would not make a perfect partner for him. They were not humankind. So God sculpted
the woman, gave her life and brought her to Adam. Adam’s response reveals his happiness, and
perhaps relief, when he saw her for the first time. Here was someone, like himself, with whom
he could communicate and share his responsibilities.
The word ‘helper’ in this passage, is the same word used to describe God in Psalm 33:20 “We
put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.”) Certainly therefore the use of the term
“helper” to refer to the woman does not mean someone who is inferior to the man or merely to
be an assistant to the man, but someone who was equal to him, who could work with him and
share the responsibilities of their life in Eden.
I think this passage, along with Genesis 1:27-28, shows that God’s
intention was for women and men to work together, side by side, not only in the marriage
relationship, but in the world where God placed them. My father was a pastor and he believed
that both men and women were to work together accomplishing the work of the kingdom and
also reflecting the full image of God. So God created human beings in his own image. in the
image of God he created them; male and female he created them.(1:27)NLT
Suggested thought: How am I working positively with the men or women, teens, boys or girls
in our congregation?
9
Tuesday, February 24
Genesis 3:1-15
After tasting the fruit Adam and Eve knew they were naked and had disobeyed God. They tried
to evade him but the confrontation was inevitable and they had to answer for their actions. Of
course that didn’t happen! Adam blamed Eve and God (“the woman you gave me”), and Eve
blamed the serpent.
When the serpent first confronted Eve he said that if she obeyed God she would miss out
knowing a lot about life. Some people use this as meaning that real fun and accomplishment
can only be found if we disobey God. Well, that is a skewed picture of the purpose of creation
as well as a skewed picture of what life is really all about. John 10:10 tells us that Christ’s
purpose was for us to have more life than before our relationship to him; an abundant life, a rich
and satisfying life.
God does not want us to be straight laced, always serious, or dour.
God wants us to be fully alive - using all of our senses, developing our minds to the fullest
capacity, enjoying all of creation and being being the person God created us to be. God created
us for his glory, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of
God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)
Suggested thought question: What does it mean to you to be fully alive, using all your senses
and thoughts for the glory of God? Is it possible to be at a Rider’s game, cheering your heart
out, and doing it for the glory of God?
10
Wednesday, February 25
Genesis 3:22-24
In this passage God is not acting from fear that the humans might accomplish more than what
he wanted for them. Nor was God threatened by his own creation. Because Adam and Eve had
disobeyed, sin had entered into the garden, into the relationship between God and themselves.
This meant that the fellowship they had walking with God in the cool of the evening breezes
could no longer happen. They were more aware of their nakedness, something that had never
bothered them before. While they were trying to hide themselves from God, God stepped in not
to destroy them but to save them.
They had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and God was concerned that
they might now eat from the tree of life and therefore live forever with their knowledge of good
and evil. So God banished them from the garden. Originally they would have lived in the
garden forever in the perfection that God had given them. But now, after they sinned, knowing
the difference between good and evil, should they eat of the tree of life, they would live forever
in their imperfection, full of sin. For their own sake, the couple had to be driven out of the
garden as they had enjoyed an idyllic life: as much food as they wanted, beauty all around
them. So God made them go out and protected the garden so they could not re-enter. They were
obliged to hunt, till the ground, and plant crops on their own. However, God did provide a way
for repentance and restoration. It was in Christ that this fellowship was restored.
Suggested question: What did Adam and Eve lose as a result of being deceived and choosing to
disobey God?
11
Thursday, February 26
Genesis 3:22-24
I was driving from Toronto after a meeting of the Convention Council, and suddenly I ran into
blizzard-like conditions. Normal speed on the 401 is 110-120 km per hour. I was doing 30,
and I felt I was going too fast. Suddenly I realized that there was a set of headlights behind me.
After I while, I began to get impatient. “Why does that person keep following me instead of
leading for a while?” Eventually I tried to make her pass; I slowed down, I pulled over, but still
the lights stayed with me. I began to be upset, but finally accepted the fact that she was not
going to pass me, so I kept creeping alone. In time I found an off ramp, and turned into my
destination. The lights followed me. As I stopped for a red light at the head of the ramp, I
heard a knock on my window and a young woman stood there and said, “Thank you sir. I
would never have made it if I had not been following you. Thank you.” I had unwittingly –
and unwillingly – been used as a guide.
Is there a way back to the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve were driven? If we
consider the garden to be a place of fellowship with God, then there is a way back. What is
needed is a guide, a leader to take us back. We know of course, that Christ is that leader: “He
leads me in the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23.3) If we are willing to follow our
guide we will be led in the right path. But sometimes He uses under-shepherds to lead his
people to their destination. We might not know we are being used, but if we place ourselves in
the hands of the Good Shepherd, he will guide us, and we in turn can guide others.
As I was used by God to lead someone to safety, admittedly not knowing what I was doing, so
we can find guidance to fellowship with God through others who may be going the same way,
and with the leadership of the Good Shepherd we, as well as others, may find our own Garden
of Fellowship with him who loved us and gave himself for us.
12
Friday, February 27
Psalm 148:1-5, 9-13
The heading in my Bible (NRSV) describes this psalm as “Praise the Lord for God’s Universal
Glory.”
But sometimes God seems so far away and we feel so alone and small. At these times it is hard
to pray and draw close to God. We are the ones drawing away. We wonder “Where in the
world is God?” Well, he is right beside you, only a prayer or a whisper away.
Living in a parsonage can be fun, wonderful, peaceful. But things can and do go wrong –
really wrong! When this happens you question why. You wonder “Where is God?” You pray
morning, noon and night. Pray, when words don’t come and only tears flow. God hears our
groans and unspoken fears. Keep praying!
Sometimes I have fallen asleep crying and I have awakened in the morning sunshine with no
tears. Keep praying! God’s peace will come. A large part of our prayer should be praise and
thanksgiving. It is not that God needs our praise, but that we need to acknowledge the
greatness of God and God’s power and might in our lives. It is God’s power and might and
love which makes the situations in our lives turn our right in spite of ourselves.
13
Saturday, February 28
1 Corinthians 15:20-22
Adam and Eve’s failure to obey God brought sin into the world. Sin is responsible for death.
We all have their tendency to sin. Scripture tells us we have all sinned and will therefore die,
with no hope of eternity with God.
In our natural state and on our own, we cannot avoid spiritual death. But is this passage
suggesting that if we all die in Adam all will be made alive in Jesus – that everyone will
eventually be saved? That stands in contradiction to what Scripture says: Romans 3.23 “For
everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Reread today’s passage
again. Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest all who have died.
So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the
dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we belong to Adam,
everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
Christ is the new Adam. He came as a real person into the world to rescue us from sin and its
results. So everyone will not die; those who are in Christ will be made alive.
Suggested question: Has Christ come into your life and have you been made alive in him? If
not, make that request of him today.
14
Sunday, March 1 (Second Sunday in Lent)
Exodus 12:1-7, 12-13
In this passage in Exodus, God introduces the very first Passover to the Israelites. God
instructed Moses and Aaron in what they were to do. Each household was to take a lamb,
without blemish, and, together with their Israelite brothers and sisters, sacrifice their lambs at
twilight. Then they were to take some of the blood and mark their doors with it. God intended
to strike down the first born son of every Egyptian family and their animals, but He promised to
protect all the Israelite households where the blood was found on the doorposts.
It is a passage that is at once hopeful but also fearful. Hopeful, because God shows his love and
care for his chosen people, at a time where they were enslaved and controlled by the Egyptian
Pharaoh. But also fearful as God shows his mighty power when he promises to strike down the
Egyptians and pass over the Israelite homes. God is powerful over Egyptian domination and
even over death itself.
God instructs the Israelites in the first Passover meal to eat the lamb roasted with bitter herbs
and bread that has been given no time to rise. They were to eat in haste – not removing
footwear and with their staff still in their hand. They were to be ready in their houses to receive
God’s blessing of protection.
For us, looking from our perspective in 2015, 2000 years beyond when Christ walked this earth,
the symbolism of the Israelite’s sacrifice of the lamb and the blood applied to the doorposts is
clear. We see that these acts foretell God’s ultimate plan for our world in the sacrifice that
Christ made on the cross. Christ is called the Lamb of God and his blood has saved all those
who care to receive it, to “apply it” to their own lives. Have you received God’s salvation
through Christ? If not, this might be a good time to make that prayer. If you have already done
this then thank God for the gift of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross for you.
15
Monday, March 2
Exodus 12.29-32
God strikes down all the first-born of Egypt (even down to the first born animals)! But surely,
not all of them! How can this be fair? Is there such a thing as collective and corporate
responsibility and guilt? If so, what do you see as the major things for which we as a nation,
are responsible? What can or should we do about those things?
These are BIG QUESTIONS! The question of God’s fairness was asked by many in Scripture
– Job, David, Habakkuk, the people of Israel – and God never explained himself! He simply
said things like: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you
understanding….” (Job 38.4); “I will question you and you shall answer me….Would you
condemn me to justify yourself?” (Job 40.7-8) and “For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah
55.9)
Rather than question God’s justice, we would do well to question our own, both individually
and as a group. Scripture is clear that God did judge whole nations for their injustice. God
called his chosen people, the Hebrews, to holiness and justice as a nation and disciplined them
together when disobeyed. Canada is not the chosen people, yet the question of responsibility to
God as a nation should at least give us pause.
But we in the church are “a chosen people…a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter
2.9), and as such, responsible as a people to God. The individualism of our culture tells us
otherwise, that we are only responsible for ourselves and to ourselves. But as followers of
Christ we know better. We are a family, a body, supported by one another’s faith and
faithfulness to God.
As we consider over these days the story of God’s children being freed from slavery, the reality
of modern day slavery of all kinds is very much an issue in Canada. Women and children
especially are victims of sex trafficking for the purpose of slavery in prostitution, pornography,
and “adult entertainment.” Scripture calls us to defend the rights of the “orphans and widows in
their distress” (James 1.27) – to seek justice in our world. And then there is the killing of the
most vulnerable among us – through abortion – perhaps the biggest injustice for which we are
all responsible, especially we as Christians who understand the sacredness of life.
What can we do? As we fast and pray for forgiveness during this season of self-examination, I
believe God is saying “Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of
injustice…and not turn away from your own flesh and blood.” (Isaiah 58.6-7) “Speak up for
those who cannot speak for themselves…defend the rights of the poor and need.” (Proverbs
31.8)
16
Tuesday, March 3
Psalm 105: 1, 8-11, 23-27, 43
This Psalm celebrates God’s faithfulness: from forming a covenant with Abraham to the freeing
of the Israelite slaves in Egypt. Similarly, we today at First Baptist Church celebrate God’s
steadfastness and goodness in our lives as a community.
A Psalm for First Baptist Church
Lord, thank you for your loving presence, guiding our community of believers. You are at the
centre of everything we are and everything we do.
We celebrate your commitment and steadfast love. For more than 100 years you’ve led us, and
for another 100 years you’ll shine light on our paths, if we just ask – and listen.
You’ve blessed us with a corporate gift of hospitality, welcoming those who enter our church
doors, while also going outside those doors to reach the larger community.
We rejoice in the ethnic diversity within our church family: fellow Christians from China,
Burma, Central African Republic, and Sudan, to name a few. We also celebrate the diversity of
age, from our faithful, wise friends nearing the century mark to the young children delightedly
parading through the sanctuary, eager for their blessing.
Lord, we thank you for the beautiful music in our church. We gladly worship you through
song: let our voices rise up, let the organ sound, let the bells ring out!
We deeply love our church. We delight in the unique personalities you’ve given us. Despite
our differences, we recognize each other as the body of Christ. We belong to you.
Lord, your love cloaks us like a warm embrace, readying us for whatever tomorrow might
bring. With you beside us, we face the future confidently and boldly. Praise be to God.
17
Wednesday, March 4
Mark 14:12-25
In this passage, God’s big picture finds increasing clarity within the background and context of
the Exodus Passover event.
Jesus, the anointed, Passover sacrificial Lamb as in the familiar Exodus narrative, is found ‘at
night,’ ‘at home’ this time in an upper room obediently arranged by His disciples.
Using the simple elegant process of remembering, he extends to his disciples another glimmer
of ‘light’ toward the glory of God’s big picture. To do so, he offers universally accessible,
fundamental life giving elements - unleavened bread and wine - earthy, real, awakening all
senses.
The blinding light of God’s big picture of rescue, restoration, renewal may yet be unfathomable
to the disciples as it still is to us today. Yet the disciples begin to sense the fact that this ‘light’
is to be revealed through Jesus’ body and blood and through this Lamb’s sacrifice to save the
whole world, no exceptions.
Passover, founded in the narrative of Moses, by Jesus’ time had already become laden with
nuances through generations of use. These ‘night or dark’ sides were reflected in the lives and
practices of the arrogant religious leaders who were so sure they, and only they, saw the light.
Such ‘dark night’ sides even penetrated into the lives of those closest to Jesus in denial, betrayal
and confused ignorance. Yet through this Lord’s Supper, the disciples begin to see that the
Lamb’s sacrifice is the saving power not only from evil external forces but also from the dark
night of their own sins. Jesus offers this event to shepherd His disciples out of their ‘dark night’
into that degree of light of understanding they freely choose. Each disciple is God’s child,
unique in gifts, weaknesses and understanding. Each disciple has free will - Judas to betray,
Peter to deny and all to use their gifts to understand the significance of this Lord’s Supper.
We are still honoured in this way today, for through the Lamb’s Grace and through our years of
obedient, humble, reverent remembering, we, His children, gradually adjust to seek His offered
light in the dark night of our own humanness amid this temporary home, our world.
18
Thursday, March 5
Mark 14.12-25
In this passage, God’s big picture finds increasing clarity within the background and context of
the Exodus Passover event.
Jesus, the anointed, Passover sacrificial lamb as in the familiar Exodus narrative, is found “at
night,” “at home,” this time in an upper room obediently arranged by his disciples.
Using the simple, elegant process of remembering, he extends to his disciples another glimmer
of “light” toward the glory of God’s big picture. To do so, he offers universally accessible,
fundamental, life-giving elements – unleavened bread and wine – earthy, real things awakening
all the senses.
The blinding light of God’s big picture of rescue, restoration, and renewal may yet be
unfathomable to the disciples as it still is to us today. Yet the disciples begin to sense the fact
that this “light” is to be revealed through Jesus’ body and blood and through this Lamb’s
sacrifice to save the whole world, no exceptions.
Passover, founded in the narrative of Moses, by Jesus’ time had already become laden with
nuances through generations of use. These “night” or “dark” sides were reflected in the lives
and practices of the arrogant religious leaders who were so sure they, and only they, saw the
light.
Such “dark night” sides even penetrated into the lives of those closest to Jesus in denial,
betrayal and confused ignorance. Yet through this Lord’s Supper, the disciples begin to see that
the Lamb’s sacrifice is the saving power not only from evil external forces but also from the
dark night of their own sins. Jesus offers this event to shepherd his disciples out of their “dark
night” into that degree of light of understanding they freely choose. Each disciple is God’s
child, unique in gifts, weaknesses and understanding. Each disciple has free will – Judas to
betray, Peter to deny and all to use their gifts to understand the significance of this Lord’s
Supper.
We are still honoured in this way today, for through the Lamb’s grace and through our years of
obedience, humble, reverent remembering, we, his children, gradually adjust to seek his offered
light in the dark night of our own humanness amid this temporary home, our world.
Praise God, His plan to rescue, restore, renew can still be glimpsed in obedient remembrance
and in the body and blood of our Lord’s Supper.
19
Friday, March 6
Mark 14.25
It is night, the night of the Passover meal, the last meal which Jesus will have with his disciples
before he is arrested and executed. Judas has already made his deal to betray Jesus to the
authorities – which probably meant he had agreed to give them information as to where and
when they could find Jesus without a crowd present, so they could arrest him without fear of a
riot. Their dark deed would, appropriately, be undertaken under cover of darkness.
In Mark’s account, at the end of the Passover meal that night, Jesus says to his disciples “Truly
I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in
the Kingdom of God.”
The Passover meal normally involved four cups of wine. These four cups were often
understood by the rabbis in terms of the four part promise set out in Exodus 6.6: “…I will
bring you out….I will free you….I will redeem you….I will take you as my people, and I will
be your God.” A number of biblical commentators observe that Jesus apparently abstained
from this fourth cup. If that is so, it suggests strongly that Jesus is referring to the future great
banquet, for the cup which he refuses, the fourth cup, was the cup of consummation or
completion, connected with God’s fourth promise from Exodus 6.6, to take the people of Israel
to be his own.
Indeed it does seem reasonably clear that Jesus is looking forward, far into the future. He is
referring to and anticipating the great messianic banquet, the point at which the Kingdom of
God arrives in full, what the book of Revelation refers to as joyous “marriage supper of the
Lamb,” when God’s “big picture story” reaches its conclusion.
But before that happens, there is yet much night to come. That night, when Jesus would be
betrayed and arrested, the unnatural darkness during his crucifixion, the nights his corpse would
spend in a sealed tomb. And even after his resurrection there would be many dark nights of
human history - which continue even to this day. But the promise is clear and certain – in
God’s “big picture story,” the Kingdom will come, the day when Jesus returns in glory and sets
all things to rights, and there is no more night. Haste that day.
20
Saturday, March 7
Revelation: 19:6-9
These verses are bursting with joyful celebration! And we, Christ`s church, are the very
“blessed. . . . who are invited to [this] marriage supper of the Lamb.” This great banquet, or
feast, is both the culmination and the climax of a story that began in the Garden, later became
clearer and more focussed in the first Passover, about 1400 BC, when God “passed over” the
homes of the Israelites in Egypt, saving them from death. In the following centuries God's
people celebrated this saving act of God, perhaps not knowing that this anniversary was not
only a remembrance but also a harbinger of the day described in Mark 14:12-25, when Jesus
would eat the Passover meal with his disciples and would speak of his imminent death. In this
death he became the final Paschal Lamb, the one who would bring salvation to the whole
world.
When Jesus eats the Passover meal with his disciples, there is a sadness in the air because of his
impending betrayal and death, but there is also a joyful anticipation. He tells them that the next
time He will drink of the fruit of the vine will be when His kingdom has come in full. It will be
at the final and ultimate passover meal, a banquet or feast to which the great multitude of the
redeemed will be invited. Their overflowing joy will be like the “sound of many waters and the
sound of mighty thunder peals.” This is the “marriage feast of the lamb” to which all the
redeemed will be invited. And we, his church will be the celebrants, joining in
the adoration and praise.
As we at First Baptist Church observe communion at the beginning of each month, we look
back at the Passover meal which Christ celebrated with his disciples. It is a time of solemn and
grateful reflection on His sacrificial death on the cross, but it is also a looking forward to that
glorious feast when Christ will have returned to gather to Himself all who claim Him as
Saviour and Lord. Then we at FBC, together, with the church around the world, will join our
voices to that of the great multitude, crying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty
reigns.”
This is where the “big picture” story is going!
21
Sunday, March 8 (Third Sunday in Lent)
1 Samuel 2:12-20
It would be easy to point a finger at Eli and say, “Why didn’t you control your sons?”
However, let’s look at our world. For many years children have been abused by priests
while those who had the authority to stop them did nothing. Canadians allowed First
Nations people to be taken from their parents and put into residential schools where
they suffered abuse. We give money to charities or causes but the money doesn’t reach
those who need it the most. For example, five years after the earthquake in Haiti and
millions of dollars later, tens of thousands of Haitians (Amnesty Int.) are still homeless.
Nearly 300 school girls were stolen from their school in Nigeria and the attempt to
rescue them has seemed feeble. Our world is full of powerful people who are not caring
for the people they are supposed to be helping. We put people into positions of trust but
we have not held these people accountable for their actions. Our world is full of
injustice.
For the Israelites around the town of Shiloh, the world was unjust as well. The priests
were corrupt. They did not care for the people or God’s rules. They abused and
threatened those who came to worship. Eli, their priest did not stop his sons from
abusing the people and misusing the sacrifices brought for God.
As we read this story, we are called to look at our own world. Where is there injustice in
our world? Where am I being called to do something about that injustice? Take those
concerns to God and ask where God wants you to be a tool of his justice. Pray that God
would bring his justice to this world. You may want to put those concerns into Psalm 43
and pray as David did, “[I put my] hope in God...”
22
Monday, March 9
1 Samuel 2:27-31
This is a passage about compromises. Eli has allowed his sons to take the portion of
the sacrifice that was allotted to them in the way his son’s see fit. Maybe he justified his
son’s actions by thinking that although they were not following God’s instructions
exactly, they were following the general idea.
Rules are hard to hold to. You get a dog. You decide it won’t be allowed on the furniture.
It’s a cute puppy so when it jumps in your lap while you are watching television, you do not
push it off. Next thing you know, it is sitting on your favourite chair and claimed it as its
own.
Eli probably started by making small compromises with his children when they were
young. One small compromise led to another and another until his sons were doing
whatever they wanted. They no longer honoured God by their actions. However, Eli’s
love for his sons blinded him to their unacceptable behaviour. So often in our personal
lives we look at things we or our children do and think, “It’s not THAT bad.” With each
compromise, our vision is blurred. We can no longer see what is acceptable or where
we have stepped over the line.
God does not want compromises. He doesn’t want us to be in the general direction of
his desires but to be fully committed to doing what he says. He chooses to take his
honour away from Eli’s line and give it to those who will honour God above everything
else.
What is the hard line? What is the defining line between right and wrong? Honouring or
dishonouring? Eli and his sons had clearly crossed this line and their sentence is firm.
Heredity is no longer enough for them to remain priests. The rest of 2 Samuel is about
God showing that he does not choose people based on heredity or looks. Rather, he
chooses those who are people after His own heart.
Are you going to pass the litmus test? Are you a person after God’s own heart? Which
areas of your life honour God? Dishonour God? Are compromises preventing you from
being who God desires?
23
Tuesday, March 10
1 Samuel 3:1-18
This passage begins with the words, “One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so
weak that he could barely see...” There was both a literal darkness in Eli’s life in his
physical blindness and a metaphorical darkness in his image of God. Eli’s relationship
with God had been overshadowed by compromise. Because of this, God could no longer use Eli
and his family to teach the people of Israel. God needed to find someone after His own
heart. Someone who would listen and obey.
Samuel has grown up in God’s House at Shiloh but here it says, “Now Samuel did not
yet know the Lord.” Samuel may not have known God, but God knew Samuel and saw in him
the heart that He is searching for. Samuel had a servant heart. He came immediately
when he heard what he believed to be his master’s call. He obeys when he is told to go
back to bed. He also obeys and speaks the words Eli tells him to say. He listens to the
words of God and tells them to Eli (despite his fear). He serves. He obeys. He speaks
when God tells him to speak.
Like Samuel, Do I have a servant heart? Am I willing to come whenever I am called?
Do I obey? When I hear the Word of God, do I do what it says? Do I speak? When I am placed
in a situation where God’s words need to be spoken, do I speak them or let fear keep me from
opening my mouth?
24
Wednesday, March 11
Psalm 99:1-6
I remember watching an interview with the Trump family. I was amazed to learn that
each of Donald Trump’s children has a direct line to their father. They may call him
anytime, during any meeting, with anybody and he will answer their call. He had, in fact,
answered his children’s calls during meetings with powerful leaders.
Imagine if you had a direct line to Donald Trump but never used it. How ridiculous would
it be to not call and get advice from Mr. Trump before you made an important business
decision. We have direct access to the most powerful being. Do I take time to ask for
God’s advice?
Our God is the Maker of this world, the All Powerful Ruler of the universe. Wouldn’t we
want to get closer to God’s power and wisdom? How much authority do we have access
to when we are the son or daughter of the Supreme Power of the Universe? The
strangest thing is that this all powerful being wants to get close to us as well. Unlike the
powerful of this world who don’t want to share their glory and power, God chooses us.
Not because we are deserving of it. Not because we have so much potential. Not
because we are so great, but because we called on his name. We just have to call on
his name and he answers us.
[Moses, Aaron and Samuel] called on the Lord and he answered them (Ps.99:6). These
men had a direct line to God and when they called, God answered. We are all God’s
sons and daughters and through Jesus we have been given a direct line to God. If we
had a direct line to Donald Trump but didn’t use it we would be fools. How much more
foolish are we when we neglect to spend time daily with the One who rules the world.
25
Thursday, March 12
2 Peter 3:3-4,9-10
We started this week thinking about injustice in this world.
It is difficult to see God’s intervention for justice in the world. We wanted to see those Nigerian
girls rescued the same day they were kidnapped. We want to see the Haitian refugees in homes
and thriving after a year not struggling after five. We want to see our loved ones healed now,
not watch them struggle through months or years of sickness and treatment. We want a new job
right after the other one ends. God’s timing and our timing do not match. It is easy to get
frustrated with God over his seeming lack of care and understanding. Sometimes, we want to
scream, “Don’t you see, God, that I need help now, not in two months or three years!”
Spend some time thinking about how you would live your life differently if you knew you
would live for a 1000 years. Would you sweat missing the bus or a plane or would you
realize there is plenty of time to catch another one? Would you believe you had missed
your only chance at a being a writer after your first rejection letter? Would you be so
sure that you would never get a job after looking for a few months?
I imagine time looks very different to God than it does to us. God has been around for
“infinity” years (as our children like to say). What kind of perspective would we have if
we could see each day’s events in the light of eternity?
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he
is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance” (v.9, NIV).
God has not forgotten us. God is not ignoring the evil in this
world. I’m sure the people of Shiloh wondered why God allowed the behaviour of Eli’s
sons to carry on for so long. Even with those who are not wanting to do God’s will, God
is patient. God will is to bring perfect justice and peace to our world when Jesus returns. For
those of us who are desiring to do God’s will, God has more than we could ever ask or
imagine in store for us. We need to pray for God-perspective and God-patience.
26
Friday, March 13
Luke 16:19-31
Here we are back to talking about justice again. Here in this week’s gospel reading a man who
had it all while alive is sent to hell upon his death, while a man who suffered on earth and was
mistreated by the wealthy man goes to heaven.
I often struggle with the idea that evil thrives while misfortune often follows good
people. In one of my prayer times I asked God why this happens. Why didn’t God stop
those who were hurting others in this world? I received a strong answer, “I am dealing
with those people. Do you think I do not love them as much as you? Do you think I have
not sent people to them?” I had never thought of God’s patient, loving work happening
in them. I am grateful that God is patient and loving with me but what about those who
are dealing with others unjustly. I want him to stop their actions and provide swift
judgment. However, I have no idea what God is doing in their lives.
Those people have a choice to listen or not. This parable says that there will be a time
of judgment when we will have to face the consequences of our actions. God continually
reaches out to us. Through the Bible, Christian leaders, friends, nature and everyday
occurrences God constantly give us a chance to see the error of our ways and repent.
But if someone is drowning and you offer them a hand but they continually refuse it, they
will eventually drown.
We each have a choice to make. We can reach out and take God’s extended hand and be saved
or we can turn our face away and perish.
27
Saturday, March 14
Luke 16:19-31
Everyday God calls us to relationship. It is our choice whether we answer that call or
not. Dustin (9 years old) wrote his own psalm which sums this up:
Don’t follow the ways of the Devil.
Go up to the mountain of God’s holy hand
To worship Him
And to praise Him
the Holy God
Amen
Write or pray your own psalm to God expressing your desire for a relationship.
28
Sunday, March 15 (Fourth Sunday in Lent)
Jeremiah 9:1-6
“They refuse to know me, says the Lord.”
When people are getting to know each other and wanting to build a friendship, they spend lots
of time together. They do things together. They talk to one another. Whether it is kids building
forts in the church library or people going for a walk or a coffee, we can build friendships by
talking and doing things with one another.
The picture in Jeremiah 9:1-6 is of people who say “I want to know God,” but they never talk to
God and choose to disobey God’s ways. The people of God in Jeremiah’s day would have
heard all the stories of what God had done for their people in the past. Perhaps they even could
have passed a test about what God was like, or what God had done, but they didn’t know God.
It is almost as though they are sitting in the same room as God, looking at God, but don’t want
to actually talk with God. God says, “They pile wrong upon wrong and refuse to know me.”
We can choose many different ways of avoiding God. Some of those ways can be very
destructive. Others appear like very good things but still show our refusal to know God.
What is your friendship with God like? How could you grow your friendship with God?
God wants to be known. God initiates a relationship with us. God loves us. Today, as you
consider your own day, take a few moments to talk to God about what you are thinking or
feeling. Then take time to listen to what God might have to say in response. Find a human
companion to talk to your experience about.
Take the courage today to respond to God’s love for you and say, “I want to know you and to
be known by you.”
29
Monday, March 16
Jeremiah 9:7
“I will now refine and test them….”
Maybe you did not even notice that you had tooth decay until a regular check up. Or maybe you
could feel the effects of the cavity growing in your mouth. The day to fix your cavity arrived
and the dentist worked carefully to remove all the decaying parts of your tooth. Maybe your
dentist called them “sugar bugs” like our dentist does! After carefully removing all the parts of
the tooth that are not healthy, she shampooed the spot on your tooth, dried and filled it, sealing
up the hole.
God, full of love for you and me says, “I will refine them.” To refine means to make something
pure or to remove impurities from it.
Metals can be refined by heating them to a high temperature. The garbage that was attached to
the metal does not respond to heat the same way the metal does. This separates the metal from
the impurities. Writing, music, painting, carpentry can all be refined by returning again and
again to the same thing to practice. In the process of practicing the parts that are not wanted can
be removed.
Romans 8 reassures us that nothing can separate us from God’s love for us offered to us
because of Jesus. Our ways of choosing and being can move us toward feeling like God is our
enemy or uninterested in our lives. When we feel like God does not care, we shift away from
the truest part of ourselves and treat God as our enemy because of the thoughts of our minds.
God wants to remove the parts from our lives that keep us feeling separated from God’s love
for us.
Having impurities removed from our lives is uncomfortable. Refining can feel like heat. Or like
practicing. Or like visiting in the dentist. In the midst of it, we may experience pain. Life is full
of pain and suffering. Our loving God is present with us in the midst of the process of refining
us and walks with us through the darkest valleys. God promises that one day there will be a
great feast for us even in the presence of those things that refine us most.
Today as you pause to talk with God, bring those things that are painful to you and share them
with Jesus. Ask God if this pain comes from wanting to see you be refined? Or does this pain
come from trauma that you are inflicting on yourself by treating God as your enemy? Do not
run from discomfort, do not run from God, but stay for a few moments. You may wish to
journal about your thoughts and feelings and find a trusted person to talk with about this
experience.
30
Tuesday, March 17
Jeremiah 9:11-16
“…they have forsaken my law….and have not obeyed my voice.”
“I just wanna be a sheep.
I just wanna be a sheep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
I just wanna be a sheep.”
Listening to this children’s song one day brought to mind the common insult, “What are you? A
sheep? Do you just do what you are told?”
The people of God in Jeremiah’s day did not what to do what they were told either. God says
their choice to forsake God’s law and to choose idol worship was the cause of their chaos.
In today’s world it might help us to think of idol worship as “instant coffee.” Instant coffee is
quick, but it has none of the quality of good, freshly brewed coffee. Instead of building a “long
obedience in the same direction” (with credit to Eugene Peterson for that phrase), there are
times when we would rather buy a lottery ticket, manipulate a colleague to get a situation to
work out our way, or cheat on a test instead of studying. Or maybe, instead of keeping our eyes
fixed on God, God’s love for us, and God’s presence in our lives, we choose instead to focus on
the swirl of pain and uncertainty that surround us, giving up faith when we need it most.
Idolatry is holding control of my life for my elf, by myself. These choices for disobedience
bring chaos into our lives.
God’s call to obedience is for our very best. Living by the wisdom of God’s word in the context
of a community of God followers can bring us back to Jesus every day. Jesus said he was the
Good Shepherd and he will provide for us each day, leading us each day to our daily bread,
offering us rest even in the midst of the pain and uncertainty around us.
Open yourself up to a conversation with God the Father, with Jesus the Son and with the Lifegiving Spirit. Talk with them about your life and your being. Where are you choosing to be the
boss of yourself? Where are you choosing obedience? Find someone you trust to confess to
today and allow yourself to experience forgiveness. Celebrate your willingness to be obedient
by saying thank you to God and to yourself.
31
Wednesday, March 18
Psalm 25:4-5
“Lead me in your truth, and teach me…. for you I wait all day long.”
The child struggled to put the right notes to the music. Having heard the song many times, he
knew it so well. It was in his head, in his ear, but his fingers could not pick out the right notes.
He tried again and again. Finally, he set his hands on his lap and turned to his teacher and said,
“Would you show me?”
God wants to reveal a good path to us, to help us to know the ways of God’s truth. God wants
to teach us truth and wants to play the songs of truth for us over and over so that we might
know them at the centre of our beings.
We can learn wisdom for living by getting ourselves quiet in God’s presence. If there are
twelve lanes of traffic zipping around in our heads, we need to practice getting quiet. An
externally quiet space can help, but our internal willingness to become still, to stop doing, and
to wait for instruction is the most important step.
Reading the Proverbs on a monthly cycle and engaging in dialogue around these nuggets
wisdom for daily living can help us to be nourished by relationship with God’s word and by
ancient wisdom applicable for the mundaneness of our lives.
When we are still, we can learn to hear God’s voice to us. Set aside ten minutes to practice
silence today. If you are afraid you will lose track of time and don’t have space for that, set an
alarm so that you can settle in to the silence. Stop at the edge of the space where you will sit,
thanking God for being present already. You may wish to light a candle to symbolize God’s
presence. Say the Lord’s Prayer and then settle yourself in an alert but comfortable position.
Breathe in deeply. Breathe out fully. Be still. When a distracting thought approaches you might
wish to imagine it is a bird and let it fly off. When your time of silence is complete, speak your
gratefulness to God for meeting you in this sacred space.
32
Thursday, March 19
Psalm 25:8-10
“God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble God’s way.”
The word “humble” has its roots in the latin word for ground or earth. Often when we think
about humbleness or humility we focus on its almost doormat-like quality, but that is not what
the people of God are called to be. Humility as a way of life for the people of God focuses on a
willingness to tell the truth, to be taught and to be led.
God is fair and steadfast. When we seek the Triune God we find Father, Son and Life-giving
Spirit waiting with arms open wide to welcome. God is the great wooer, never a ravisher. God
calls us over and over again. When we say “Yes!” to God and settle into God’s presence, we
revel in the love of God. It doesn’t usually take us very long to become aware of those things
that we have done that have caused pain to ourselves, to others and to God. Today’s words from
the Psalms reassure us that God will lead those who are humble. There is forgiveness and help
towards a new way of living.
As God’s created ones, made of earth, we can be true to what God formed in each of us. We
can be humble: honest and truthful. Naming truthfully what we are requires owning up to our
mistakes, but also gratefully naming the many graces that God has given us, the many blessings
and great qualities placed in us from our earliest days. Sometimes it is easier to name the things
we don’t like about ourselves than to name the good truths that call us back towards God’s love
of us.
Today, pray two simple prayers. Pray, “Lord, have mercy.” Then pray, “Thank you God.”
Carry these prayers with you throughout your day.
33
Friday, March 20
Jeremiah 31:31-34
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people.”
As she was learning to ride her two wheel bike there was so much to pay attention to. She
practiced again and again. One day, she was taken to buy a new bike, just the right size for her.
The bike fitter at the store said, “Ten minutes of practice on grass, and you’ll be able to ride a
two-wheel bike. You are almost there!!”
With a beautiful new bike and new motivation, she was eager to try again. At the park she
biked down a small hill and all her skills added up to being able to ride a two-wheeler. There
was great celebration!
At the beginning of learning a new skill, we learn one small piece at a time and it can feel as if
we are reading a list on the wall.
Look up.
Bike pedal at the top of the circle.
Push the pedal down while pushing off with the other foot.
Keep pedalling.
Steer.
And when the motivation for learning a skill comes from outside your own body — it’s time for
you to learn to ride a two-wheeler — that list can feel onerous and impossible.
Our Bible reading for today talks about the change that comes when God offers a new way of
being in relationship together. Instead of a relationship based on rules outside of ourselves that
must be followed, God looks forward to the day when the time will be right for a relationship
based on the forgiveness of Jesus and the Life-Giving Spirit being inside of us to give life and
motivation to our relationship.
We still have to practice as we learn the new skills that will support living a life of relationship
with God (that’s what Lent is about!) but God places motivation inside of us through the Lifegiving Spirit.
Today take a few moments through the day to rest in God’s great love for you. Breathe in
God’s love and provision for you. Breathe out gratitude.
34
Saturday, March 21
Luke 22:14-20
“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me….This cup that is
poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
This week we have traced God’s work in our lives. God loves us and initiates a relationship
with us. God sees us as we really are and recognizes that we need help to even be able to
recognize the forgiveness and love and blessing that are being offered to us.
So Jesus, God with us, came as a human baby and lived a normal human life, and in the process
offered us a new way of being in relationship with the God who wants to be our family. As a
sign of that new way of being family with God, Jesus creates a ritual. With the food and drink
that was already on the table at a meal, he asks his followers to remember him and live into
their relationship. He takes a normal, everyday, several times a day practice of eating and
infuses it with meaning.
Jesus knew that there would be great sadness ahead for his friends. He knew that they would
become tired and afraid and lonely. He asked them to gather to share bread and drink so that
they could nurture their relationships with one another and stay connected to their relationship
with Jesus.
Jesus is God with us, God in the midst of our mundane lives. Jesus offers us a new kind of
relationship with God. We are invited to join in that great ritual that Jesus created. With the
food and drink of normal meals shared with God-seekers, we can be nourished. With the food
and drink of conversations about the Bible and about our lives of faith, we can be nourished.
Through remembering Jesus together with other people we are nourished in our bodies, our
minds, our hearts and our spirits.
Find a way to talk to someone about what you are hearing, or not hearing, in your reading of the
Bible and this devotional so far in Lent. What ideas catch your attention? Have you felt any
interesting emotions — sadness, anger, surprise, gladness — as you have been talking to God
and others this week? What has God’s presence with you been like? Where is God leading you?
---
35
Sunday, March 22 (Fifth Sunday in Lent)
Zechariah 9:9-10
Sometimes when I read portions of the Old Testament that are prophecies fulfilled in the New
Testament, I have a hard time separating the two. When I read this passage, I go right to Palm
Sunday and Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. But these words were spoken long before
Jesus, and had meaning for the people who heard them first. So, if we leave Palm Sunday out of
it, what is here for us?
I have found that the Bible frequently presents pictures that are skewed from the expected, to
present something about the Kingdom of God. That is true of these two verses. The expected
picture of a triumphant king arriving home on the back of a mighty steed is changed to that of a
humble, still victorious king arriving on a donkey’s colt. Not only that, but all the usual
weapons of war will be removed from the scene. Now the picture is totally topsy-turvey! And
then, despite a humble king, and the removal of all weapons, the king still manages to bring
peace. This must have seemed nonsensical to the people of Zechariah’s day: peace was not
achieved through pacifism.
In a significant way, it doesn’t make sense to us, to me, today either. I can see the ways that
things should be done; I can interpret what things mean; I can make a logical plan for my
success. But Jesus, the Kingdom of God, turns it all upside-down. I have to lay down my “it
only makes sense” ways and let the humble, peaceful king do the work to achieve peace in me.
Oswald Chambers, in his devotional work My Utmost for His Highest challenges me regularly
to “give up my right to myself” and I see that here in Zechariah. My right to myself is my right
to do things as I see they should be done, in ways that make sense to me, in ways where I can
foresee my success. But in the “big picture story”| God asks me to give up my right to all those
things and instead to rely on His way of doing things.
What weapons are you holding onto today? What logical, sensible ways of doing things may be
standing in the way of the upside-down, Kingdom of God ways of doing things? What rights to
yourself come to mind that you can lay before God today, and trust that He will treat them with
respect and care?
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Monday, March 23
Zechariah 14:4-9
A lot of apocalyptic literature (writings about end times) can be very daunting. It seems to be
full of bizarre images that have more than one level of meaning. The question is not only “How
can I possibly know what it means?” but “What does this mean for me?”
When I first read this passage, I was wondering how much I’d have to research to bring a sense
of context and try to illuminate the images there. But then I thought of these verses in light of
Lent. Lent is a journey we take each year to learn to give up our rights to ourselves. The
common conception of Lent is that it is a time when we are asked to “give up something for
Lent.” While giving up something like chocolate or coffee can be an excellent exercise in
revealing things about dependencies and habits, Lent is about more than temporarily
suspending things we enjoy. God calls us as Christians to learn to give up our right to ourselves.
Lent is a concentrated time in the liturgical calendar when we work on this aspect of our
spiritual journeys. When I give myself to the Spirit during this time, the Spirit brings to the
surface more to deal with than chocolate and coffee. To be committed to remaining open to the
Spirit, and to deal with what is revealed is hard work. Lent is hard work. It can seem to go on
and on.
And that’s where these verses come in. Leaving aside the particulars of the situation, here’s
what I see: God is present (His feet are standing on the Mount of Olives), and He is providing
the everyday essentials for life (light and water). During Lent I don’t need the extraordinary or
extravagant; I need the essentials for life to get to the end.
If your journey through Lent is getting difficult and you’re not sure you can get to the end,
these verses are here to tell you that God is with you and is providing you with what you need
for life. Hold on!
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Tuesday, March 24
Zechariah 14.4-9
These passages from Zechariah mention a coming time when there will be no night at all.
Much of Zechariah is a special kind or genre of writing, called apocalyptic. We really have
nothing comparable to this in modern literature. That’s why whenever we happen on this style
of writing in the Bible it comes across as odd, strange and even weird. Apocalyptic literature
usually involves visions, dreams and language which are highly symbolic. Yet apocalyptic
literature, like Zechariah, is in the Bible. And since we accept the Bible as God’s Word to us,
we need, somehow, to attend to what it has to say however challenging a task that may be!
Fortunately there are some well established, time-tested literary principles for reading
apocalyptic literature – such as Zechariah. These principles allow us to treat the text
respectfully and to ask what the author’s intentions were.
Two of the most important of these principles are these: First, apocalyptic literature, like
Zechariah, usually addresses the present, the near future as well as the very distance future
weaving back and forth among these in complex ways. Second, apocalyptic literature, like
Zechariah, is not really about giving a sort of detailed flow chart of the future, on the lines of
first this, and then this and then that will happen. Apocalyptic literature is usually much more
about the “big picture story,” than the details. Attempting to come up with a detailed picture of
the future or confidently connecting some current event with something found in apocalyptic
literature is often foolhardy.
The big picture which Zechariah is describing is this: despite the way things may look like in
the world, in his time – and ours - God is still sovereign, God is still in charge, and history is
moving toward God’s chosen conclusion, when night, darkness, sin and suffering will end.
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Wednesday, March 25
Romans 8:28-30
I am a Mom. I have three children whom I love with all my heart. I call them my own. As my
own, they have a right to relate to me in a way no one else can. It is a joy for me to share with
these precious ones all that I have.
Lots of you just said in your head that you can totally agree with what I’ve just said. Did you
recognize it as these verses? There is just one extra part in the Biblical version. It’s a statement
about who Jesus is as he relates to God and who he is as he relates to us. And we need that extra
bit because unlike my children, who I grew inside my body, sometimes we wonder about our
relationship to God. Am I really a child of God? Like flesh-and-blood family, child of God?
Yes!
I have been exploring the idea of Jesus as a big brother. It has been a tremendously helpful
exercise for me. For whatever reason, I don’t have a hard time believing that Jesus is God. I do
have a hard time understanding that Jesus is fully human, though. I want to make Jesus into
someone without frustrations, without questions; someone who always knew what was coming
and was completely prepared at all times for whatever that was. But that means I can’t turn to
Him for help when I have frustrations, or questions, or when I don’t know what the future holds
and feel unprepared. This is the Scripture I come to to remind myself that Jesus was really,
truly, absolutely human: he has to be in order to be my big brother! If Jesus is the firstborn, then
I am born after Him into the same family, and the parents in that family see me like I see my
children, and afford me all the privileges that come from being a member of the family.
As we soon enter Holy Week, keep in mind the humanity of Jesus. See it in the stories. Feel it
with him. And then see how God loves Him. I mean, SEE IT. And know that God feels about
you as He feels about Jesus. He loves you that much.
If you are so inclined and have the technology to do so, you could go to YouTube and search
for “David Crowder Band How He Loves Us.” I think it fits her in Lent because it makes
reference to forgetting afflictions and being overcome with God’s love, and that is a message I
need in Lent.
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Thursday, March 26
Romans 8:31-35
This part of Romans is almost painful to read at this time of year. It is so easy to gloss over
statements like, “did not withhold his own Son” and “Christ Jesus, who died.” We want to rush
past to “yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God.” This is completely
understandable. We are post-resurrection, even post-Pentecost people but if we don’t reflect on
what it means that God “gave [Jesus] up for all of us” then our understanding of our salvation is
shallow and one dimensional.
Lent is a time when we think carefully and deeply about what the provision of our salvation
cost Jesus. One of the reasons that we choose to give things up* during Lent is to experience, if
only dimly, what it meant for Jesus to give up his legitimate and divine prerogatives for us. It is
as we enter in to Jesus’ experience in our own way that we understand even more deeply how
much we are loved.
Spend a moment or two considering how you have felt if you gave something up during this
Lenten season. If you didn’t, simply imagine what it might be like to give up something you
value, not to get something in return but that someone else might get something.
*Remember that you give up things that you can actually have during Lent; giving up a bad
attitude for example, which is not something you should ever actually have, is cheating.
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Friday, March 27
Romans 8:38-39
There was a time when these two verses were very much in the running for my “life verse(s).” I
have often turned to them when I feel like I am all alone in a cold and unfriendly world or when
I have felt that God is nowhere to be seen. Have you ever wondered what it must have been like
for Jesus when he was on earth? Did he ever or even often feel like he was separated from God?
Where did he turn for comfort when he felt this way?
I am so grateful that Paul wrote these words. Paul’s experiences of hardship in the service of
the gospel far outstrip mine and if he could be convinced of what these verses teach then I think
I can be convinced too!
For today, take some time to convince yourself of these things too. This doesn’t mean that you
grit your teeth and “force” yourself to be convinced, that is futile. Rather, remember the times
in your own experience when you have experienced the closeness of God. These could be times
of especially meaningful worship or those moments of delirious good humour with your oldest
friends. You may have experienced that deep sense of God’s presence in the mountains or on
the prairies; in the company of people or alone with God. Remember also the stories of your
friends or from Scripture or from church history . . . all of these stories and personal
experiences of God’s closeness are what convince us that nothing can separate us from God.
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Saturday, March 28
Matthew 21:1-9
This is such a familiar passage! Tomorrow, it will be read and celebrated in church, and nothing
about it will be surprising or unexpected. Sometimes, these are the most difficult passages to
read and meditate on to try to learn something new. The people in this story seem to behave in a
completely ordinary way to me, but probably only because this story is so familiar. But, when I
think about it, it seems extraordinary that regular, everyday people would throw some of their
own clothing on the ground to celebrate a man one day, and then call for his execution a few
days later. (I realize that some of the people may not have been the same people doing both, but
they represent the general will of the people on each occasion.) So, I have been asking myself
some new questions about this story.
Does the change in people’s attitudes and actions negate the praising? Were these people all
just fools who went along with the few who started something? If they did all just go along
with it, does that make the praising they did any less praise-y?
Here’s where I think some of these thoughts are coming from. I have been learning that to be
obedient to God very frequently involves not having a clue about the big picture. Today I said
to a friend, “I love it when a plan comes together, even when I had no clue what the plan was
until now!” My actions can sometimes seem disjointed, not part of a logical flow of the actions
of a rational, logical person. But I remember that I am not a person who seeks to appear rational
and logical on the outside; I am a person who seeks to be obedient to God, no matter what. (We
can see a lot of irrational, illogical actions of godly people in the Bible when we forget that we
know the outcomes of the stories.)
So, here are these people, acting extravagantly in praising Jesus, and clearly they don’t really
understand what it really means, or how it fits into a bigger picture. Some of them turn around
and condemn Jesus in a few days’ time. Jesus said if they hadn’t done it, the stones would have
cried out. They were being obedient! Blindly obedient. And some of us could say they are fools
for changing their tune so fast. But let’s look at it this way: at least once in their lives they were
absolutely, completely, unabashedly obedient, and we still talk about them today. Am I willing
to be that obedient?
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HOLY WEEK 2015
Sunday, March 29
Palm Sunday
Morning Worship Service
(Distribution of Palms)
Easter Alleluia Concert
11.00 a.m.
7.00 p.m.
Thursday, April 2
Maundy Thursday
Worship Service
Holy Communion
7.00 p.m.
Friday, April 3
Good Friday
Worship Service
At Westhill Park Baptist Church
(Joint Service of All CBWC Regina Churches)
TBA
Sunday, April 5
Easter – The Sunday of the Resurrection
Sunrise Worship @ Wascana Marina
6.30 a.m.
Easter Sunday Worship
Holy Communion
11.00 a.m.
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