Lenten Reflections
Go! for Lent: Matthew 26:37
This gripping text tells part of the story of Jesus and the disciples being in the Garden of Gethsemane, before Jesus is betrayed by Judas. Jesus is already in turmoil. Friends and followers are exhausted and cannot stay awake. Jesus knows the pain of the current reality and the desire to ask for a different […]
Go! for Lent: Genesis 8:15-9:3
A Time to Get Going A Paraphrase of God’s Command to Noah (Genesis 8:15-9:3) When God delivered Noah and his family after a tumultuous year-long voyage over troubled waters, he commanded Noah, “Go, I have given you a second chance. Go, be fruitful. Go make a difference in this new world I have given you.” […]
Go! for Lent: Zechariah 8:21
Come let us go…I need you! I may not know you. I may never meet you. But I need you. I need your gifts and skills, your determination and strength. I need your failures and your sorrows, your pain and your stumbling. We may never cross paths but without you I am not able. It […]
Go! for Lent: Mark 4:35
When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” Mark 4:35 It is one thing to go; it is an altogether different thing to go “to the other side.” Until now, being with Jesus had been a relatively safe adventure traveling around the neighborhood of Galilee. […]
Being Peter: Lenten Meditation, 3/29/2013
March 29, 2013 By: Hershey Mallette Oh, Peter, not again! Every time…every year…you deny Jesus?! If I were Peter, I’d claim Jesus! Would I? Do I? Wait… Maybe I am Peter. Oh no, I am Peter! Every time I look the other way when I see someone in need. Every time I fail to speak on my […]
Service and Sacrifice: Lenten Meditation, 3/28/2013
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 By: Grace Flint “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) Since Lent is a time of self-examination […]
Beloved: Lenten Meditation, 3/27/2013
Philippians 4:1-13 By: Charles McClain “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8) Paul has a great way of addressing his readers. Beloved! One […]
Wisdom and Folly: Lenten Meditation, 3/26/2013
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 By: Adam Pike In today’s reading, Paul describes God’s wisdom not as a virtuous trait, or a well of knowledge built by experience and time. Rather, it is a living thing, autonomous, personal, and at times, elusive. Even more, it is nothing less than Jesus himself: the cosmic being who formed the […]
Poured Out: Lenten Meditation, 3/25/2013
John 12:1-11 By: Jamie Osborne I think there is a tendency to characterize Jesus more like a superhero than a human being. The Christian faith affirms that he is both fully God and fully human, but his humanity is sometimes overshadowed by him being the son of God. We hear the stories of resurrection, healing, […]
Enemies to Love: Lenten Meditation, 3/24/2013
Luke 19:28-40 By: Jonathan Melton “After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem” (Luke 19:28) The “this” that Jesus said, before he went on ahead, up to Jerusalem, is the familiar parable of the talents, which ends with the nobleman’s ominous lines: “I tell you, to all those who have, […]