LENT'S CALL TO LOVE

The call of the Old Testament prophet Joel, "Return to the Lord with all our hearts," is an inward work. "Rend your hearts and not your garments," is not a superficial act of spirituality where I might try to give up a few things or say I am more holy because of an outward adjustment I make during Lent. This is a radical departure from religion to a relationship of love.

Jesus Himself addresses this when the Pharisee asks Him. "Teacher. Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" And Jesus says to Him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-30

And so we are caught in what God is depending on: love. The Law of God depends on love and the Prophets depend on love; our whole existence and relationship with God depends on love. First, that He loved us: "See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God.... In this is love, not that we have loved God but that but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 3:1; 4:9.10

So Someone has taken the payment and guilt of our sin so that we might be restored to love, become God's children and love others. This call to love God and others is the full weight and way of the Gospel- it is to be our disposition and our delight. Paul gives us all the qualities in 1 Corinthians 13 that we might have a measuring stick and might know ourselves and how well we live and love.

May the Lenten call to return to God with our whole hearts open our  lives to loving Him and others.


Medicine from Sacred Scriptures:

" Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love each other."

                                   1 John 4:11

LENT'S SONG

"This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
                                       Lamentations 3:21-23


Sunday was beautiful, we gathered as a family in church; it was precious singing the same songs, hearing the same Word and worshipping together. A haunting song of renewal has been running like an undercurrent in my soul ever since. It was a gift from God for Lent, a reminder that this journey is about His mercy and grace and my willingness to go to Him.

Maybe this will be a gift for you as well:

To Thee I Come

"To Thee I come, a sinner poor, and wait for mercy at Thy door; Indeed I've nowhere else to flee; O God be merciful to me! To Thee I come, a sinner weak, and scarce know how to pray or speak; from fear and weakness set me free; O God be merciful to me!

To Thee I come, a sinner vile; upon me Lord bestow a smile. Mercy, through blood, I make my plea, O God be merciful to me! To Thee I come, a sinner great, Thou knowest well my awful state; yet full forgiveness is with Thee; O God be merciful to me!

To Thee I come, a sinner lost, for I have none but Thee to trust; But where Thou art, Lord I would be; O God be merciful to me! To glory bring me, Lord at last, and there, when all my fears are past, with all Thy saints I'll then agree; O God was merciful to me!"
       
                            Samuel Medley (1738-1799)    Clint Wells,  2010

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"Even now, declares the Lord, "Return to Me with all your heart...return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."

                                                                    Joel 2: 12, 13

HELP! IT'S LENT

"Listen to me in silence...For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. O do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One. "Isaiah 41:1, 14

Begin in silence
Open your heart, My Child,
You are much distressed
"Fear not
I am with you
Do not be dismayed
I am your God
I will strengthen you
I will help you
I will uphold you
With My righteous right hand"

Father I cannot make this journey- I am failing and falling and miserably looking in the mirror of your holiness. "My. child, take My hand, and I will lead you. I am with you, do not be dismayed because I am near. When you are sure you cannot walk in My ways of living and loving selflessly I will be your help. When you are weak I will strengthen you.

Are you weary already with yourself in Lent? There is help.

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"But now thus says the Lord He who created you. O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel; fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and your are Mine" Isaiah 43:1

SIN AND SNOW

I am unaffected by the six inches of snow that fell on the east coast dropping flakes, filling driveways, falling on roofs and fields alike. This precipitation is so far removed from me as we bask in the sunshine of the Bay Area, picnicing in the park, meandering through the Headlands, dining together.


 I wonder, if I have been moved from darkness to light, if my sins have been dealt with on the cross of Cbrist, what keeps me weighed down as if I was buried under the most recent Nor'Easter? It is that I am unaware. First, I cannot always see and second I am either forgetful or unmoved by my bent towards sin and self, by my self-absorbed way of  loving. When we traveled through TSA pre-check we heard, "keep it on, keep it in." This is helpful if it is 5:30 am and you don't want to unpack the laptop and take off your shoes, but if, however, it is God who is looking to see what baggage we carry in our souls, it is most unhelpful. We need a closer examination. He asks for holiness and we settle for so much less. The journey of Lent is one of listening to God and letting go of sins.

Once I see my sin and surrender to God's mercy the weight of the season of sin is lifted and the beginning of daily maintenance arrives: we are moved from the blinding blizzard of sin's sway and lifted into the lap of my Father who longs to wash me whiter than snow and inspect my carry-on, The truth is we live as though God were not interested in our little idolatrous ways when in fact He is most desirous to have  us whole and free,

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand.... The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore." Psalm 121

SO FAR TO GO

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12

I never really considered how far the east was from the west until yesterday. We woke early, before five, delays, trouble pushing off from the gate, an unexpected injury the day prior caused our communication through the day to be awkward and tense. All these details weighed in my mind, the work of it all: moving oneself from here to there and the effort to manage bags and provisions;  I wondered,  "is my Lenten journey much the same?" 

I come from afar off, the landscape shrouded in white and here I am, a world away with palm trees, greenery, blue sky and a fog named Karl that rolls in off the ocean each day. Friends, family, meals and laughter all speak of intimate connection, but traveling was the price.

So my soul begins her joureney of Lent on the Pacific, with children gathered, sights to see and bags to unpack. Interiorly I am ready and even eager to unpack the weight of sins I have carried: Pride, anger, self-reliance, idolatry just to name a few.

Have you looked  in the baggage you have and asked God what needs to go?

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"The Lord is slow is compassionate and gracious, and slow to anger, abounding in love."
Psalm 103:8

FLOWERS FROM GOD

If we will follow the prophet Joel's directives for Lent we begin with love:

"Even now, declares the Lord, return to Me with all your heart.with fasting and weeping and mourning. 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." Joel 2:12, 13

It is as if God were sending a bouquet of flowers to us saying, "I love you and I have incredible compassion." Lent is a call to bring our whole hearts to God, for He gives His heart to us. How do we come to this God of love, to the One who made a way for us? We come in great sorrow for the ways we have hurt Him and others by our sins,  we come weeping over failures that we cannot seem to amend. God's abounding love calls to us through Lent saying, "I am here,  My child, and I long for your love, all your love. Your weeping and repentance lead you back to Me."

Are you on your way to God's heart of love?

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"The Lord your God is with  you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
               Zephaniah 3:17

WHITER THAN SNOW

 

Landscape is lost and blades of grass are blotted out as storm after storm has pounded us; we are, most of us in New England, overwhelmed and weary. One wants to look up or around and see a glimmer of hope, a faint whisper that spring is coming, and some warm sunshine to melt away all this madness. So today when we woke to another 3-4 inches of snow, all I could think of was David's cry of repentance: blot out my transgressions and wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

 

 

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.... Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:1, 2, 7

 

What is whiter than snow?  I am. When God washes us clean, when we have, "come clean," and told Him all the ways we have sinned, in thought, word and deed, in what we have done and failed to do, how we have not loved as He has asked us to, then He comes to us and washes us. Tenderly, gently, lovingly, faithfully. This is not a scolding and recriminating kind of scrubbing, as if God had a brillo pad and He would keep at us until we looked a little better, seemed less like a failure in His eyes. No, this is a Father holding us, even, and perhaps especially, in Lent, and saying:

 

 "My Child, I am so glad you have come to Me. I know you cannot love as I do on your own, you have a long way to go, but let me help you. Let Me wash away your imperfections, let Me cleanse you from your faults~ you know what they are. But I would remind you that I take away the sins of the world(John 1:29) you cannot keep both your sins and My love and forgiveness. Choose wisely, Child, clinging to your sins, defining yourself by them, when I would take them away, leaves a weight on your soul too heavy to bear. Consider this: give up the weight of carrying your sins this Lent. When you fail or fall, come running to Me, waste no time in shame or self-condemnation. Run to My arms of compassion and let Me wash you"

 

May the Lord of our Lent teach us what it means to be washed clean, whiter than all the snow of this New England winter. We have a King who gives us the gift of forgiveness, will you accept this gift this Lenten season?

 

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

 

" 'Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,' this befits a King who forgives all offenses, with authority, and Himself furnishes the gift."

 

John Chrysostom Fourth Century

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LENT'S LONG AWAKENING

Lent’s Long Awakening

Ashes mix with yesterday’s tears

making me more open somehow

to the promptings of His Spirit

“My Child, I Am.

I Am love and light

hope and healing,

joy for your heart’s

sad weeping…

I say the word that heals

and you will listen

in these Lenten days…

Peace, child,

your sorrow and My mercy

meet here at long last.

Rise from these ashes

in awe and grace…

Take My strength

for your weakness

and trust My love and faithfulness

found in passion’s ashes.”

dhallenbeck

Ash Wednesday 2015