Lent 2019

by Martha Kinney
03/17/19
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Ash Wednesday March 6, 2019

Ash Wednesday begins 46 days before Easter Sunday. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent – which is the period of self-restraint and abstention for Christians prior to Easter.

            I thought it might be a good idea to review the reasons behind Lent and why we observe it. From Thanksgiving [Advent] thru Easter  it is the time we reflect on what God has done to show His love for us. From Easter to Advent it is a time to consider what our choice will be in response to God's Love  and sacrifice for us.

            It is easy to focus on 'what we will give up for Lent' rather than the true purpose of it. Many people include fasting during Lent as well, but that too is not the main purpose.  According to religious literature, Lent is a 40-day period of fasting or abstaining from certain foods. and prayer. “The emphasis was not so much on the fasting as on the spiritual renewal that the preparation for Easter demanded. That is where I hope this devotional will give us.

            Ash Wednesday starts this season by reminding us that as humans we are mortal and we will all die someday. We cannot change that fact. But it also reminds us that our soul will spend eternity somewhere as it is immortal. This gives us a logical starting point for considering what we are and how we want to respond to these two facts. We must remember that God created us to be immortal so we could spend eternity with Him. But once sin corrupted us God had to find a way to redeem us...enter Jesus and Easter.

            As we look forward to the weeks ahead, I hope you will consider what we talk about each week in light of these facts. Our human bodies will die and return to the earth, our soul will go into eternity and God loves us so much that He provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him regardless of how sin has tainted our world.

            Lent can be a spiritual 'Spring Cleaning'. A time when we go back to truth and see if we have strayed. Life is a daily challenge and the pressures can be overwhelming. It is good to take some time to see if we have been swayed away from what we know is right. There's a poem out that says it is a challenge to be who and what we were created to be or to become just like everyone else. God created divine originals in each of us. Are we still ourselves or are we just like everyone else?

March 10 Setting the Stage

In hopes of making sure we are all on the same page, I am including the Scripture verses in each week's devotion.

Matthew 22:2-14 New International Version (NIV)

² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴ “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

            Although this parable talks about heaven, its principle purpose was to tell us that there are rules to get there. They include our choice to accept or reject salvation...we choose. Second, heaven is available to all but we all come in the same way... acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice at Calvary  is that way. It is not what we do or don't do it was all done by Jesus when He died.

            For educational purposes I would like to point out that Jesus was telling the people that as His chosen people, Israel had been given the first opportunity to receive Him. But like the first set of guests, they refused.

            The second invitation was extended to the whole world. That means us. But lest you think it wasn't God's plan to include us all along let me give you God's word way back in the Old Testament.  Genesis 12:2,3 NIV “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,  and you will be a blessing... and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” [underline mine] Remember Jesus was a descendant of Abraham.

            This parable starts by saying Jesus is talking about heaven. God is the Father who has prepared this wedding feast for His Son, Jesus. [Many places in the Bible tells us that Christians are the bride of Christ]

            The invitation was sent out to everyone regardless of station in life. In the story, some felt that they were too busy so they rejected His invitation. One thing we struggle against is being too busy. We can think of spiritual things later. When time ends and we stand before God we must explain why we rejected salvation and Jesus' shed blood. I am sure we too will be speechless, as the one guest was, what is our reason to reject God.

            Another thing we need to notice in this parable is that the king provided the proper clothing for the wedding guests. This parable [story] tells us that God planned for us to spend eternity with Him in heaven. He did all the preparations and even offered us to be clothed in righteousness because of Calvary. [that is what the wedding attire represents] But there was a guest that did not accept the king's provisions and when the king asked him why the guest was speechless [he had no excuse]. The wedding clothes represents that salvation is necessary to gain acceptance into heaven. The story ends with the statement that says everyone was invited but the choice as to being a guest was left in the hands of those invited.

            The real problem is that good people are good and don't understand that though they are physically alive, they are spiritually dead. Another thing the wedding clothes represent is the forgiveness of God and the fact that we are all equal in HIs sight. That too seems to be a stumbling block to good people. God loves us all equally, even those who are bad. But of course our human nature labels what is good and what is not. Jesus is reminding us in this story that everyone is equal at the cross. Forgiveness is free to all.

            This story tells us that God did all the work and Jesus provided us with a new life by dying on the cross. It lets us know that we can accept or reject what was done at Calvary, but to get into heaven [the wedding feast] we must come through Jesus and His shed blood. [accept the invitation]

            We have often read this story and perhaps we missed the point of it. Or perhaps we thought it referred to the good and bad people in the world. The religious and the non-religious. But we need to see that this story was about us and our choices when it comes to Christ.

            This is Lent and we need to be honest and truthful with ourselves regarding all the God has provided and offered us. We have to be honest with ourselves and consider if we give lip service but not heart service. Do we think we are good enough that we don't need to consider what our daily attitudes are? Do we think that just because we came from a Christian background we are good enough?

            One thing that was obvious in this parable was the fact that all the guests were dressed equally. You could not tell who was rich, or who was poor...who was a servant and who was a prince. They were seen as all the same; a guest. The other thing, is that they were seen as a guest of the king. That brings us to another place to pause. Can other's tell we are Christians? There should be something about us that makes people see that they are important and we see them as equal to us regardless of their station in life.

            This first week as we set the stage for Lent we must start with understanding that God did all the preparation to get us fit for heaven. His invitation is for everyone. He accepts us just as we are and His love makes us all equal. As His invited guest, we get to choose whether we will accept His invitation and follow the path He has laid out or think we are good enough as we are.           It is easy to fall into habits and thinking that everything is okay. But life is constantly attacking us with compromise. We must stop and evaluate where we have let the world change us into less than what God intended. Then we must choose whether we will continue to compromise or return to what we know we should be.

March 17 Genuine or Phony

            Last week we talked of the fact we are all needing forgiveness for our sins and God has provided that for us through Jesus and Calvary. We also talked of the fact that we are all equal in God's sight and we should see others the same way; equal. This week I want to talk about knowing truth and living truth. Of course Lent is written for those of us who call ourselves Christians. So the thoughts in this devotion is taken from that perspective.

Matthew 23:1-4 New Living Translation (NLT)

 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.  They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

            The key phrase in this passage is For they don’t practice what they teach. You may think this is an odd passage for Lent but wait a minute. Are we not all guilty of telling our kids or others 'do as I say, not as I do' by our words or deeds? Perhaps that hits too close to home. We all are guilty of being a phony or hypocrite from time to time, if we are honest.

            The other part of this passage is - They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. We talked about all of us being equal in God's sight but we tend to not follow that practice. Sometimes Christians make being a believer a onerous, burdensome task. That is not what God did when He created salvation.

            One thing that is true in all of us is where we are in life as far as our maturity is concerned; be it physical or spiritual. But that doesn't excuse us when we are phonies.  What it should do is cause us to be patient and tolerant with those who are not as developed in their maturity as we are. We should be a source of encouragement and help.

            I want us to truly look at how we live. It doesn't matter how enlightened or educated we are, what matters is are we being true to what we know is right. Does our attitude and actions, our words and thoughts show consistency with what we know is right. Only you know if you are real or a phony.

            One thing I struggle with as a Christian is the fact that we make Christianity very complicated and hard. Jesus made it plain that there were only two commandments to living the Christian life and one telltale sign that we were a Christian. The telltale sign is found in John 13:34 [KJV],.. That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.          I chose the parable of the Good Samaritan for stating the two commandments of being a Christian for two reasons. The first is that the victim  in this passage was a Jew and the hero of the story was a Samaritan. The Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans. Second, if you read the entire story [Verses 30-37] you will see what a phony looks like in those who happened along first. Check to make sure you are not one of those characters.

            Here are the two commands that are required to be a Christian. Luke 10:25-28 One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’' “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” Show me where these commandments or identifying character are unbearable or burdensome.

            The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to show us how we should behave, but they only showed us how impossible it is to live up to their demands. However, Jesus came and told us that if we followed the two commandments above, we would fulfill the demands of the Ten Commandments. Pretty simple but not really when our humanity gets in the way.

            That's what being a Christian is all about, having God in our life so that we can follow these two commandments with His help. The question is are we trying to play both sides of the street by being enough like the world to fit in, instead of being the kind of person we know to be. Do we put burdensome rules on others instead of following the simple truth of Scripture...love God and Love others. Lent calls us to take a serious look in the mirror and see who we really are. Are we genuine or a phony. If the latter is true, what are we going to do about it?

March 24 But if Not...

Daniel 3:17-18 King James Version (KJV)

... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

            During the second World War many countries submitted to Hitler without a fight. Among those that refused was England. The phrase that became the rally cry even as England was bombed extensively, "But if not". The meaning was clear, they would choose death rather than surrender. Of course, in spite of their horrific damages their resistance paid off and the Nazis were defeated.

            This is a famous Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They too had a choice to make. Their stance is very important in our Lenten devotions this year. It too harkens back to the choices we make after learning what God has done for us.

            Christianity has become unpopular in many parts of the world today. You can be spiritual but don't get too religious. Your faith is a private matter and all religions are acceptable. The problem is many of the new religions are anti- Christian and anti-God. Remember, God said there is only one way to make heaven. We think that is unfair but we often look at what God asks and forget the price He paid to redeem us from sin.

            We want to put God into a box that fits our lifestyle or understanding. However, God does not fit in any box. We don't want Him to be the one in control so we try and make Him obsolete. But He is eternal. So now what do we do?     We must choose. Just like Adam and Eve who choose to eat of the forbidden fruit rather than obey God's command.

            We must decide if we will be loyal to God no matter what or compromise to fit into society's rules. The sad thing is society's rules are ever changing, God's rules do not. The three Hebrew men were told ,'submit or die'. They were polite in their response, however they made it clear they would not submit. 'God can save us if He chooses, but regardless of whether He does or not, we will remain faithful', was their response. What about us? Are we so committed to following God's rules of right and wrong that we will be faithful to them no matter what, or ...

            This year my devotions are a bit more direct than in years past. We are living in a world that is rapidly changing and not for the better. It is very important we take the time to decide where we stand and if we will stand no matter what. If faced with death because of our faith will we be like those who we saw murdered by ISIS because they would not submit. Or will we fade into the background so that no one knows of our faith.

            When I was a teen there was a saying, 'If being a Christian was a crime, is there enough evidence to convict you?" I know it has popped up now and again but there is a chance it could become a crime to be a Christian. We have seen several people arrested, tortured and put in prison because of their faith in many parts of the world today.

            We really don't like to talk about such things and often get defensive when the subject comes up because it is uncomfortable. Still we need to face this and be honest as to where we stand. Like everything, God lets us choose. I know the thoughts that would come up in my mind is what about my family, would they understand? What would happen to them because of me?

            I am pretty sure these three men had families, but they knew that being faithful was paramount to the  future. Live or die they wanted to leave an indelible witness that live or die, God was the most important person in their life. Their faith was worth dying for.

            Funny thing is that for most of us living our faith is too hard. We don't want to give up our own idea of right and wrong especially when it runs contrary to God's. We don't want to face the embarrassment of possible ridicule by society because of our faith. And we surely don't want to live in such a way that others cannot miss the fact that we are Christians. The question this week is, do we stand with the world or like the Hebrews declare, 'But if not'...

March 31 Remorse or Guilt

Joel 2:13 New International Version
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
New Living Translation
Don't tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead." Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.

            It doesn't matter which translation you read they all say 'rend your heart'. What exactly does that mean? If we look into a Thesaurus, it says rend means to break. So this verse tells us to have a broken heart not  just a verbal apology. Sometimes we just confess that we were wrong but there is no real remorse. But let's look at God's response to our broken relationship first.

            In thinking about this, my first thoughts were,' how do I react when I have been wronged?' Well I can tell you I don't always follow God's example. 'Slow to get angry' is not my response. I am immediately angry. Merciful and compassionate, nope I tend to lash out and seek retribution. Unfailing love does not come to mind at that moment. Yet, here is how God has responded to mankind and us since the Garden of Eden. He is eager to reestablish our relationship with Him. Eager.

            Lent is suppose to help us see how much God loves us and how we often overlook that love and our need for Him in our life. We read this verse and skip over God's response and just focus on the guilt it brings to our attention. We trip over the fact that we know that we sin sometimes and should be ashamed. We should feel unworthy and dirty and ugly because of our behavior. But I don't think that is exactly what we are suppose to see here.  It says in Romans 5:6,8 [The Open Bible] When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners...But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

             Joel is trying to get  us to see  that when we realize how deeply God loves us it should cause us to be broken hearted over the pain we have caused Him. Salvation isn't suppose to make us feel bad as much as it is suppose to get us to realize how much God loves us. And hopefully it will cause us to develop a deep love for Him too.

            When we love someone deeply we are broken hearted when we do something to offend or hurt them. That is what Joel wants us to feel towards God...a deep love that causes us to not want to sin. I wonder if too often we go through the motions of seeking forgiveness without really feeling broken heartedness because we have hurt the heart of God. The Catholic prayer of confession declares. 'against thee have I sinned' . Sometimes I am unsure that we recognize that sin is an offense against God. So, how much do we really love Him?

            This week think about how God expresses His love towards us even when we are disobedient to what we know is right. Recognize His desire is to restore our relationship with Him to its most intimate level. Then, consider how you respond to that love. Do you really care if you hurt God? Do you really love Him to the degree that hurting Him breaks your heart? Joel is asking us if we understand what it means to feel remorse and not just feel guilty when we know we have done wrong.

April 7 Getting Side-Tracked

Galatians 5:6-9  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision  avails anything, but faith working through love. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?  This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.     This passage deals with where we are today. It reminds us that our relationship with Christ is not based on a bunch or rules, and traditions. It is not based on what we do or don't do to seek God's acceptance. It calls us to examine whether we have become side-tracked.

            The people of the early church had been bound by the Laws of Moses and the traditions for thousands of years. Here comes Jesus and He says we only need to accept Him as Savior and love God and others. This was tremendous freedom for these early believers. However, the religious zealots tried to impose the burdensome rules back onto the people. That is why the reference of circumcision came in.

            Paul is reminding us that this persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. Christ calls  us to freedom. Over the years humanity has followed the same habit of taking something simple [Salvation] and turning it into a set of complicated rules.  Paul compares life to running a race and asks why we have left the route. He compares the things that get us off track as leaven.

            One thing we pride ourselves in is the fact that we think for ourselves, but in reality how much of our thoughts are influenced by the world? When we start out as Christians everything seems new and fresh. However, along the way thing start changing. They do not seem to be big things but little compromises that prick our new conscience. That's the problem. We do not get off track by most big things. It is the little things that creep into our lives that slowly draw us away from truth.

            The biggest reason God gave us the Bible is to offer us a road map that will tell us the truth. It is not written to impress a certain group of people. It is written to give everyone an anchor that will stand firm and will not change with society or humanity's whims. If we want to stay on the right path and know what is truth and what is not, we must spend time reading the Bible. It shows us that every choice has consequences; good choices usually leads to a good consequence and bad choices lead to a bad end. Sometimes a bad choice may seem to let us get away with it. Speeding is an area where it seems most folks get away with it, but we all know it is like playing Russian roulette. You don't know when your speeding will lead to an accident. So it is with compromise.

            There used to be a cultural moral compass that set out right and wrong. But over the years we have compromised a little here, a little there until we have no absolutes anymore. So it can be in our Christian walk. We get busy with life and have less time for God; be it church, prayer or reading His Word. We lose our focus on what we know is right because it might offend someone or it might cost us something. We make excuses for these small things but before you know it we are far away from where we were when we first became a Christian.

            Paul is calling us back to return to being free in Christ. Asking us if we are even aware that we have gotten off the straight path. Has the leaven of the world tainted us and we are not even aware? Humanity hasn't changed since the beginning. We start out well but along the way we get side-tracked.

            God's desire was to restore freedom and a moral compass that would get us through this world successfully. That is why Jesus came. God knew we were susceptible to the half-truths of evil. He knew we would be easily drawn away from the truth because the devil knows how to make bad seem good.

            This week take a personal inventory and see where you have been drawn away from those things that should be convictions.  See where the leaven of the earth has slowly turned your mind from what you know is truth to something less. Check and see if the bad choices in your past is keeping you in bondage because to acknowledge them as sin would call for a change in your life.  Jesus came to take all the negatives in your life and turn them into positives. But that can only happen if you are truthful with yourself.

            All of us get side-tracked sometimes. The secret is to recognize when that happens and to return to what you know is right and truth. Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life'. John 14:6 That is why He came to show us the way, teach us truth and give us life both here and into eternity.

April 14 Palm Sunday

John 12:12-13  The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!”

Matthew 27:1, 20-23 (NIV)  Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the  people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.... But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.Barabbas,” they answered. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.They all answered, “Crucify him!”“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

Hebrews 6:6 (KJV) “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

            This week starts with Palm Sunday and ends with the Crucifixion on Friday. I have condensed the week with the Scriptures above. I think it is such a clear picture of us and all humanity. We start out with joy, high hopes, and a belief of good things to come. Then reality hits and we are drawn away with the persuasion of  life as we see it and as we are indoctrinated to believe it is.

            Jesus had been with them for three years teaching them and healing all who came to Him. He had fed them on several occasions in a miraculous way. They looked at Him as the Genie in the bottle that would destroy the Roman rule over them and set up a utopia lifestyle. But Jesus had come for a more important reason. To free us from sin and give us a home in heaven when we leave this world.

            We are so like them. We follow Him as long as He is doling out blessings and meeting the wants in our life. But then when we hit a wall or fall into hard times we turn away. We see three sets of people in these passages. The crowd, the priests and Pilate. Barabbas is the symbol of all that is wrong with the world. Hate, murder, greed. The crowd and Pilate represents most of us. The priests are the instigators of evil. They have their own agenda and use others to meet their end. Our first verse tells us that the priests were determined to have Jesus killed and plot and planned to accomplish that end. Verse 20 tells us that they turned the crowd to help achieve that end. And the crowd willingly followed their lead.

            Pilate on the other hand sought to do what was right and tried repeatedly to release Jesus. But the fear of the crowd caused him to bend to their wishes. He boldly declared he found no fault in Jesus, but he wasn't going to buck the system. He was out to save his own skin and career. I find myself more like Pilate sometimes. Sad to say I don't want to go against the norm even though I know they are wrong. It is easier for me to say nothing than speak out. It is easier to fade into the background than stand up for right. I don't want to buck the system or fight against it.

            We love to focus on Palm Sunday with its declaration of joy and acknowledgment of Jesus being king. We prefer to skip over Friday and head into Easter with its new life and the joy of the resurrection. We don't want to sit through the last supper, the anguish in the garden, Peter's betrayal, and the events that end up at Calvary. But these things are a part of the Easter Story. They are the parts that tell us that we need God in our lives because we are like the people, the priests and Pilate. This is why Jesus came. To liberate us from ourselves and sin. When we reject these parts of the Easter story and Christ we are like those Paul wrote about in our Hebrews verse. We are just like those that were there that first Easter week.

April 21 Easter

            As we come to the end of Lent, I hope you remembered to consider that our human bodies will die and return to the earth, our soul will go into eternity and God loves us so much that He provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him regardless of how sin has tainted our world.  Life is a daily challenge and the pressures can be overwhelming. It is good to take some time to see if we have been swayed away from what we know is right.

      Many of us will celebrate Easter with new clothes and a trip to church. But the fact is that Easter is just the beginning of new things if we are in Christ. Lamentations 3:22-23  (ESV)  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

            As you go through the rest of 2019 take time to reflect on what we have talked about this Lenten season. Remember God loved us so much that He willingly allowed His Son, Jesus, to die in our place for our sins. He continues to reach out to us inviting us to become restored into His family forever.  And think about how you are going to respond to this great gift.

HE IS RISEN INDEED !!