First Sunday in Lent

Lent is a season of fasting and repentance. One of the most commonly asked questions is “Why do we fast at Lent?”

We fast at Lent first and foremost because Jesus fasted. He went into the wilderness for 40 days to fast and be tested by Satan. Lent is 40 days of fasting because of Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness.

We also fast at Lent because God, throughout the Old Testament, called His children to a holy fast. One of the most poignant instances of this is found in the book Joel.

“Now, therefore,” says the LORD,

“Turn to Me with all your heart,

With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

So rend your heart, and not your garments;

Return to the LORD your God,

For He is gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger, and of great kindness;

And He relents from doing harm.

Who knows if He will turn and relent,

And leave a blessing behind Him—

Most importantly, we fast as a way to draw closer to God. We actively remove something from our daily lives and replace it with prayer. We make the conscious effort to say to God, “You are more important than anything in my life. Please show me the areas in my life that I need to improve so that I can draw closer to you.”

Ash Wednesday

“Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent:  Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledge our wretchedness may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.  Amen.”  The Book of Common Prayer 

Thus begins the liturgical Ash Wednesday Service.  A service designed to remind us that we are sinners and are in need of repentance.  It reminds us that we are made from the dust of the ground and that one day we will return to that dust.  Ash Wednesday puts our lives in perspective with the universe.  But, it also gives us hope that God, who is all-powerful, will forgive us if we truly repent.

Ash Wednesday also marks the beginning of Lent, a season of repentance and fasting.  It is a period of time for Christians to pause and take stock of their lives before the tragedy of Holy Week and the triumphant celebration of Easter.  Lent is 40 days, modeled after Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness in preparation of His earthly ministry.

Wednesday February 25, 2009 is the first day of Lent.  I would encourage you to find and attend an Ash Wednesday service.  Let the ash that is placed on your forehead serve as a reminder of the dust that we are made of.  Allow God to speak to you and direct your fast, so that it will challenge and change your life.

Struggling With Prayer

For Christmas I received as a present a hand held labyrinth.   I have been a fan of the labyrinth for years.  Walking the path almost takes one out of the real world and into a place of walking solely with God.

To the uninitiated a labyrinth may seem a bit strange.  Just walking around a maze that has no exit.  The experience is so much more than that.

According to Wikipedia “Labyrinths can be thought of as symbolic forms of pilgrimage; people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment. Many people could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel.  Many newly made labyrinths exist today, in churches and parks. Labyrinths are used by modern mystics to help achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets his mind.”

I use it as a way to calm my mind enter the presence of God without distraction.  Using the stylus and tracing the pattern I am able to block all the distractions from around me and focus on God.  It has become almost a daily ritual as I seek God.

It has become a journey to me.  I enter the labyrinth with God, and as we walk towards the center, we talk about general things, leaving the world behind.  When we reach the center, we stop as far away from the world as we can get and discuss the serious matters we need to discuss.  Once we finish we walk back out from the center and conclude our discussion as we reach the world once again.

I realize this may sound very mystical, but I am a very visual person.  It helps me in my prayer life to visualize God with me, walking and talking.

I do not know what works for you.  But I would encourage you, that if you are having a struggle in your prayer life, try the labyrinth.  It helped me refocus my prayer life, it may help you.

White Christmas?

It looks like Portland, OR is going to have a white Christmas for the first time in years.

I'm personally very excited about this.  It may delay or cancel some of my plans, but this happens so rarely I think I can enjoy it. 

Here are some of the pictures I have taken of this exciting "snow event"

All of my snow pictures can be found here

4th Sunday of Advent - Peace

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 or Luke 1:47-55
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

We live in a world where the idea of peace seems to be a fantasy. Just turn on the news and the events and situations that present themselves are at times unbelievable. Someone has done something despicable to someone else. A husband is accused of killing his wife. A car bomb has killed innocent people in someone’s attempt to make a statement.

And even closer to home in our own lives peace is something that always seems to be out of our grasp. Things are bad at work, which for some reason we cannot leave at work. The test last week did not go well and next week’s test does not look any better. We feel sick and know something is wrong, but the doctors keep telling us that we are fine.

Yet Jesus speaks to us of peace in the midst of everything going on around us. This is one of those things that make us wonder (but would never admit to) if He remembers what life here on earth is like, because maybe He has been in heaven long enough that He sees everything through “rose colored glasses”.

But we must not forget that Jesus spoke these words while He was on earth. Before He was crucified, knowing what was coming. Jesus knew the pain, agony and death that was coming and He still spoke of peace. He spoke of a heavenly peace. A peace that we cannot understand. A peace that we would have in the midst of all the painful and frustrating experiences of this life. A peace that would make life not just bearable, but something we can enjoy.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Fourth Sunday in Advent.

3rd Sunday of Advent - Joy

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Psalm 126  or  Luke 1:47-55

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Many people try to put joy and happiness in the same camp.  They think that they are just different ways to say the same thing or convey an idea.  However, that is not the case.  Unlike happiness, joy has nothing to do with circumstances, joy comes from hope.

It is hard to talk about joy without talking about hope.  As Christians our joy flows out of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  Many who have no hope live lives of utter desperation without happiness, joy or satisfaction.

We we have hope because Jesus Christ has saved us from our sins.  But, that hope only comes when we know what we are saved from.  We are saved from the eternal consequences of our sins:  separation from God.  This hope brings us joy.

We have a hope that we will spend eternity with God, in a place where, as Isaiah tells us,  ‘sorrow and sighing will flee away’ where ‘the lame will leap like a dear and the mute tongue shout for joy.’  The hope that this brings gives this life meaning and purpose.  It makes this life bearable and it brings to our hearts joy.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Third Sunday in Advent.

2nd Sunday of Advent - Love

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

In one of the most familiar passages of scripture we are told why God sent Jesus to this earth.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It was because of love.  The word “love” in our society today does not have the same power or meaning it used to.  We love our car, we love TV show, we love the new video game, and we love our family.  If one was not paying careful attention we may see our family put on the same level as the car, TV, video game or something else.

However, this does not seem like the kind of love that would cause God to send His Son to die on a cross for the salvation of humanity.    Even Jesus commanded us to “love one another”.  But what does this really mean?

Jesus tells us that “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  This is what love is.  This is what we should mean when we use the word love.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Second Sunday in Advent.