Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
Luke 18:31-34 NIV 84
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. For the next six weeks, our church will meet every Wednesday night leading up to Holy Week to contemplate and reflect on Christ's perfect sacrifice for mankind who is utterly destitute apart from him. All those Old Testament prophecies we talked about during Advent and fulfilled in Jesus - true God and true Man.
In addition to attending midweek services, I've gotten out the books for my daily devotions for this time of year and added some new ones.
Concordia Publishing is having a good sale right now on:
Celebrate Jesus at Easter - great for families!
He Was Crucified - a must for your home
Martin Luther's Easter Book - just ordered it for myself
From Northwestern Publishing House:
The Theology of the Cross - a year long favourite but there are Lenten/Holy Week/Easter sermons in the back that are perfect for weekly readings
Forgiven Pin - been wearing this for years during Lent
From Amazon - book or download:
God is on the Cross - Reflections on Lent and Easter by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This last book I'll be posting thoughts weekly on Wednesdays. Each week has a different theme beginning with "Prayerful Reflection". Feel free to join in and make comments!
The pretty nail polish is off my toenails - the only time of year I allow them to be naked! Weird, I know. But the reality is I'm so full of myself that I need these little jolts to remind me of how empty I am apart from him. To be reminded of my need helps me to appreciate the Fulfiller of my Every Need.
And as another visual reminder of our journey up to Jerusalem, the kids and I will be making another "Lenten Garden of Grace". Wait. Who am I kidding? I'll be making it as the kids watch me from the warm side of the window fill the basket up with dirt. My perfect kind of indoor plant - I only have to keep it alive for 6 weeks. By the grace of God, I can do that!
I also have the blessing of being on altar care at church this month. I am humbled that I'm even allowed to prepare the meal of bread and wine for communion tonight. We don't just remember his sacrifice in this meal but he gives us his body and blood and he gives us his life-giving sacrifice. Thank you, Jesus.
God bless your journey up to Jerusalem!
12 comments:
Loved your post, Rachel! It is Thursday, and I am on track so far with Bonhoeffer's book. I must admit, each day's reading is shorter than I'd anticipated, but this simply means I need not suspend the other study I had going. So that's good news! I'm reading the book of Luke and going through the Bible study on the WELS Women's Ministry web site for that book of the Bible.
Yesterday's thought - "God deceives no one" - had me a little baffled. Bonhoeffer said that when Jesus responded to Satan that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God," that meant God deceives no one. Is the idea that Jesus did not need to prove he was the Son of God (by turning stones into bread, or any other proof for that matter)? Any insight here?
For the beginning of Lent, I liked the point that we don't choose an arbitrary cross or pick out our suffering, but that God has given us the suffering appointed for us. Giving up something for Lent, as is often done, may be beneficial for some, but I believe God would rather have us bear with patience and faithfulness and even thankfulness the crosses he has given us. And so, a focus for Lent could be to look at the struggles or difficulties God has given us and bear them cheerfully.
And then today's thought about prayer was particularly good as well, and the timing was ideal, since we have a family member who is gravely ill with an infection, and we are urgently praying for his healing. The reading was a good reminder that it matters not the number of words, or the eloquence, or the format, or how my heart pleads with God. It is simply approaching a loving Father, a relationship made possible by the blood of His Son, placing my request at his feet, and knowing that he hears me and will answer as he, in his wisdom and love, sees fit.
You are right - the Bonhoeffer book has must shorter daily readings than Advent book study. That's why I'm only using it as a supplement to my Bible reading. Sounds like that's what you're doing too which is great. The WELS Women's Ministry website is a great resource and I'm glad you're using it!
I love the idea of "Lent by Candlelight". Maybe one of these years:)
I totally agree about the "God deceives no one". I don't disagree with the statement itself obviously but to take that thought as the main message of Jesus temptation in the desert seems bazaar to me. Satan is the King of Deceiving and shows himself play that role worthy of an Oscar! Jesus sets aside his powers as the Son of God and lives his life as Son of Man perfectly in our place by resisting temptation under the most stressful of conditions. He also uses the Word of God to counter the devil; an important lesson to us as we encounter temptation! So, yes, not the perfect theme brought out here.
I echo your thoughts on "taking up our cross" and there's no better book than "The Theology of the Cross" I've found that explains this better and in depth. My cross will certainly look different from someone else's and it's no use comparing or trying to "swap" or pick crosses. It sounds ridiculous but how often do we try to do just that?
So important to have a proper understanding of prayer and worthy of reflection. Lots have been written about it that we could go on and on. We can go right to our Father in heaven in prayer because Christ has interceded for us. He wants to hear the big and the small. It's personal and intimate and he promises to hear us.
I will include your sick family member in my prayers! May the Healer bring physical healing to your relative according to his will.
Thank you for your prayers, Rachel! God has granted some progress for Mike, but he is a long way away from making a full recovery.
I just read the Friday reading. So thought-provoking! I agree that we put ourselves in a very shaky position if we neglect God until we are "in the mood." We are in grave spiritual danger, and besides that, we miss out on so many blessings! I have experienced those times when I am going to church or doing my personal Bible study not because I really feel like it that day, or that week, or that month, but because I know it is what God wants me to do, and he wants what is best for me. "Sober work and practice." And I have experienced the blessedness that results from being faithful in "gladly hearing and learning" God's Word. The deeper I am rooted in and intertwined with God's Word, the more amazing God is to me - the richer my prayer life is - the quicker the words are on my tongue when there is an opportunity to witness - the more "natural" it is to trust God for everything - the more filled with God's love I am, and therefore the easier it is to reflect that love to others. I could go on, but you get the idea.
And yet, the last 2 sentences of the first section give me pause. "We must learn God's language, laboriously learn it. And we must work at it, so that we will be able to talk with him." Feels a little too martyr-ish or work-righteous to me or something. Sort of making it a chore and doing some sort of pious wallowing in how hard of work it is. And then after all of that work, then we are worthy to talk with God. I have a feeling I'm reading more into the words than what Bonhoeffer meant, but that is just my impression.
And then the section about morning prayer - that's a really great encouragement. It reminds me of what I understand luther would say - something to the effect of "I've got so much to do today that I'll have to spend an extra hour in prayer in order to get through the day."
I confess that my prayer life is haphazard. It is good to have these words of Bonhoeffer to encourage me to be more faithful in prayer.
Love in Jesus,
Tracy
I'm going to try to write some coherent thoughts after a long day of teaching my 13 year old how to tell when a word is an adverb and when it's part of a prepositional phrase, the properties of air and the Middle Ages. Followed by running errands, taking kids to soccer and cleaning my floor. So the following will be what I have left to squeeze out of my brain:)
First of all, I wanted to note that as I was driving around today I had the opportunity to listen to an Issues, etc. titled "Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent" http://issuesetc.org/2014/03/04/1-ash-wednesday-and-the-season-of-lent-pr-will-weedon-3414/ that was a great reminder of what Lent is and what it isn't. Good thoughts and brought me to tears a few times!
"God is not a matter of mood" - thank goodness because we humans can be awfully moody! He's constant, dependable, trustworthy when we are not. Our emotions cannot always be trusted and we dare not base our perceptions of God on how we feel. Rather he gives us his means of grace in word and sacrament to assure us without a doubt he is present and working.
I understood the "learning God's language" in the sense that our human mind set by nature is so radically different from God's that we can only learn his ways from being in the Word where he reveals himself to us. Here we learn what redemption, grace, love, forgiveness, etc means in ways we'd never grasp apart from the Word.
I certainly understand your valid concerns you mentioned and agree that if read that way can give a false, work-righteous impression.
Morning prayer - I hope his comments don't cause guilt in anyone that may not pray or meditate on his word until later in the day! But committing our day to the Lord is certainly good and right. I tried printing off Luther's Morning Prayer the other day to keep up in our school room but our printer ran out of ink - rats! My husband and I have recently started our day by reading a psalm, discussing it and praying about our day. This has been quite wonderful and I wish we would have started this a long time ago but better late than never:) The kids and I start our school day with devotion and prayer too as I recognized this was a positive way to start on the right track - not that it isn't a surefire way to stay on the track all day, mind you. But it's a good habit and focuses our minds as we start the day.
I too think about that quote from Luther:)
I am thankful that Jesus lived the perfect prayer life for us! We fall short in this area too and we lay it at the foot of the cross. His faithfulness in prayer becomes ours through Jesus!
Saturday's reading has to do with meditation. In my experience, I've not run across this topic being discussed nor was it ever encouraged. So I must admit I flounder in this area!
I'm uncomfortable with it because when mentioned, it brings to my mind someone sitting on the floor cross-legged with their fingers together in the air while humming "OHMMMMMM". No one in this scenario is contemplating God's Word or just read from the Bible. They are attempting to empty their minds or something.
Last year I started reading a book "Grace Upon Grace" written by a pastor from Australia affiliated with LCMS and it has to do with "spiritually" and "meditation". I got through a decent part of the book but I finally gave up because it left me with too many unanswered questions I couldn't discuss with anyone. It did make me more aware though in my Bible reading how often the word meditate comes up and there's something about this that has some validity. The Psalm quoted is one of many examples.
So without this getting to be too long, here are my basic thoughts: Meditation should always come after reading God's Word for there is where he promises to speak to us. Too often I know I have my reading, do some praying and I'm off to finish the dishes. Perhaps it may be worth considering instead of running off right away or even praying right away that I take the time to thoughtfully and quietly consider or "meditate" on the words I just read. Not looking for a new revelation or some secret voice to talk to me but to BE STILL. That's easier said than done! As he writes ,"It is quiet enough for the word, as we read and understand it, to penetrate us and live within us."
As I said before, this topic has never been discussed in my circles nor do I know anyone who does this in the proper, Biblical sense. I'm not discrediting it as it's specifically mentioned in the Bible but it's been one of those things that has been abused so maybe we shy away from it more than we should?
Playing some catch-up here. I do believe I understand what you are saying about meditation, Rachel. It would be interesting to get a pastor's take on this. I think there is great benefit in taking time to be still before God at various points during a reading of His Word, as well as afterward. Our world and our lives tend to be so rushed, and I think there is something lost when we bounce quickly from Bible reading to prayer and then, as you say, off to do the dishes. Perhaps this is why I have found time for personal Bible study to be such a key element of my spiritual health. When I am in the presence of other people, I am thinking about what might be on their minds. Silences can be awkward and thoughts can be rushed. During worship services there are sometimes pauses for silent prayer, and again, my brain often kinda freezes and wonders when the pastor will start talking again, or whether the people in front of me find this awkward. But during personal Bible study I can take those pauses that would be awkward in the presence of others, and simply be in God's presence. One time during worship services when I tend to meditate (although I never really thought about calling it that) is just after I've gone up for communion. I sit down and fold my hands and bow my head. My idea is that I'm praying, but sometimes I just don't have words and I spend a minute or two basking in Jesus' indescribable gift to me, in my Father's love for me, in the Spirit's presence, and just the peace of forgiveness.
So there are some of my thoughts on meditation. A wonderful thing to practice during Lent, I think - to let the seriousness of sin really sink in.
Sunday's reading is SO beautiful!
"We can seek God nowhere except in his word, but this word is alive and inexhaustible, for God himself lives in it. If God’s word has found us, then we can say: “With my whole heart I seek you” (Ps. 119: 10)."
That is my favorite part. God's word is the only place we can find him. Bonhoeffer says "if God's Word has found us" - not "if we seek God in his word," or "if we accept Jesus into our heart," or "if we seek God and our lives give evidence of our faith," - then we can say: "With my whole heart I seek you."
And then he highlights our tendency to stray as soon as something other than God's Word catches our attention. Not only our tendency to stray, but our utter inability to get back on track without His help!
And then the quote from Mrs. Bonhoeffer... wow. Talk about a long-distance relationship. And yet, in spending time with God in his word daily, they kept connected to one another via their connection with their Lord. And then they "couldn't be sad anymore."
I pray, with the Psalmist, the Bonhoeffers, and all the saints on earth, "With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments."
Thanks for those GREAT thoughts on Sunday's reading! All the things you mentioned struck me too!! You are so right - this was a beautiful one.
The only thing that really rubbed me wrong was the last sentence in the reading - "But those who seek God with their whole heart will not go astray." Maybe he didn't mean to make this literal but more a "proverb" like? When we're connected to his Word he grows and sustains our faith leaving us more aware of God's commandments, his will for his children and a keener awareness of what is sin. But we'll definitely go astray plenty as long as we're living on this side of heaven. Anyway, that's my only issue:)
Monday's reading has to do with hope. A Christian will hope as easily as we breathe. In light of eternity, we hope. With eternal perspective, we hope. We loose hope when we loose perspective, when we start thinking so much about our temporal life, when we're caught up in the here and now. And how silly we'll feel someday having spent so much time and energy on hopelessness.
This book is definitely a supplement though - it gives no reason for the hope we have. I guess it assumes the reader will have figured that out already?
Jeremiah 29:11 - one of my favourite passages!
Good morning!
I see what you mean about that sentence that rubbed you a bit the wrong way. I took it as a summary of what had been said in the whole paragraph, and also as a moment-by-moment kind of statement. God finds us in his word, grabs hold of us - our whole heart, and as he does so, we do not stray. We look away for a second, however, and suddenly God does not have our whole heart. Then we quickly stray. But when, by His grace, we seek him with our whole heart, then we cannot stray.
Monday: Hope. Certainly a Biblical concept that is much different from what the sinful human nature can conceive. I think we talked about this during advent too. The times I feel most hopeless are definitely those times when I am so wrapped up in my insignificant temporary problems that I am, in fact, "resigned to this life and cannot look forward to God's eternal power and glory." I am guilty of that false humility, as Bonhoeffer calls it. I need the reminder that I ought to dare to hope. "People grow with their hope - if it is hope ONLY in God and HIS SOLE POWER." I'm not interested in risking any false hope, like "if I resolve to work harder from here on out, things will be better." That kind of hope lasts just about 3 minutes. Daring to hope in God - that's a risk-free venture!
Tuesday: God Can Wait
"God lets human beings start; he lets them make progress, have success, and seems himself to be totally passive. [...] So we march forward, proud and self-confident and certain of our success and ultimate victory."
It is so easy for me to start, sub-consciously even, giving myself credit for the good I receive or am able to do. I like Isaiah 26:12 - "Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."
Then in the reading comes this sentence: "God waits in the hope that people will finally understand his moves and want to turn their life over to him." I am completely NOT fond of the way he said that. We, by nature, will NEVER want to turn our lives over to God!
Let's just substitute 2 Peter 3:9 here. "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."
God doesn't strike us dead immediately when we give ourself the credit that belongs to him. Instead, he patiently waits until just the right time, when by his grace, he cuts our ego down to size so that we "in fear and trembling recognize God's power and our own weakness and wretchedness."
The excerpt from Dietrich's letter to Maria taken along with 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 pulls it all together, I think. The moral of the story then becomes "Got uses suffering for our eternal good."
Tues: God can Wait
Again this title threw me off a bit. After I wrapped my head around it all, I think it could have been "God Is Patient" - but whatever.:)
Yesterdays message of hope and today's message mean all the more to me when I think what Bonhoeffer was going through himself when he wrote this stuff. It certainly must have looked hopeless to human eyes as he rotted in prison after being put there by the Nazis.
For us today it may not be a prison we're rotting in but a diagnosis, a trial, conflict, job struggles, family issues, on our deathbed, etc. It looks bleak. But 2 Corinthians reminds us "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal." Those are the times "God crosses our way" as Bonhoeffer says although we know he's always with us. "God crosses our way, so that WE CANNOT TAKE ANOTHER STEP. We must stop and in fear and trembling recognize God's power and our own weakness and wretchedness." The trials draw us closer to him so that we DEPEND on him.
I really liked the other Bible verses you quoted, Tracy - thanks so much for mentioning them. I also didn't like the quote you mentioned as not being quite accurate. I agree!
Yes, you summed up the moral of the story well! And I would also add "Things are not always as they seem".
The addition of "things are not always as they seem" is a wonderful thing to remember when going through trials. Thank you for adding that!
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