Lent 2009: Thank you -- live in the Easter promise of new life!

This is the last message that will go out this year on this Lenten Devotions Facebook group, blog, and email list.  I just wanted to thank everyone who read our Lenten Devotions this year.  I hope our devotions have helped you grow closer to God this Lent.  

We are now in the season of Easter, and we change our focus from the introspective contemplativeness of Lent, into joyfully living out the promise of new life found in the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  

Also, check out the discussion of Easter and doubt at http://www.dcyoungadults.org/featured/easter/

For more information on our ministry:

Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University

  + Website: http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran 

  + Facebook group: GMU Lutherans 

  + Facebook profile: Mason Lutherans 

GMU747 Creative Christian Worship

  + Website: http://gmu747.org 

  + Facebook group: GMU747 

Additional thanks for those who helped me out by writing a devotion or few: Ben Masters, Chris Bergtholdt, and Katie Kane, Rev. Lisa Hufford, (and anyone I missed).  Thanks also to those who commented or otherwise provoked discussion.  ;-)

Grace and peace,

Ben Buss

Lutheran Campus Minister at George Mason University

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BAKE SALE: Today (4/13), Noon-2pm, JC East Plaza Sidewalk (to raise money for our Relay for Life team  to benefit the American Cancer Society).

THEOLOGY PUB: Join us as we eat, drink, and chat about life, theology, and God.  Brion's Grille at 5:15pm on Tuesday (4/14).  Rides from SUB1 room 207 at 5pm.  ALL ARE WELCOME!

SPECIAL INVITATION: This Wednesday (4/15), our "747" worship experience will be super exciting as students are planning and leading worship as a project for their class on "The Sacred and the Erotic".  Join us, and reclaim your body in light of the resurrection of Christ.  7:47pm in the JC Bistro.

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University.  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

Easter 2009

Mark 16:1-8 
1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

THOUGHTS:

These women walked toward the tomb worrying about problems the stone would cause them, yet when they arrived, it was already rolled away!  They were understandably disturbed, and even more confused when a man sitting in the tomb tells them that Jesus has been raised.  Some of the oldest copies of Mark end here at verse 8, with these women fleeing the tomb in terror and amazement, too scared to tell anyone about it.

We proclaim the Gospel:

HE IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!

ALLELUIA!  PRAISE BE TO GOD!

PRAYER:

Lord God, we fall on our knees in wonder, and we shout the Good News in joy: "Jesus is risen from the dead!"  May be dwell in the awe of that first Easter morning today.  In Jesus holy name we pray, AMEN.

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REMINDER: Carpool to worship with us TODAY (4/12) for EASTER worship services.  Meet at 10:25am for a ride from SUB 1 room 207.  

SPECIAL INVITATION: This Wednesday (4/15), our "747" worship experience will be super exciting as students are planning and leading worship as a project for their class on "The Sacred and the Erotic".  Join us, and reclaim your body in light of the resurrection of Christ.  7:47pm in the JC Bistro.

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009 #40: Holy Saturday

Psalm 22:1-2,14-19 
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!

THOUGHTS:

This Psalm starts with words later uttered by Jesus while hanging on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Have you ever felt forsaken by God"

Does it ever feel like God is far away?

Today, we remember the Sabbath that Jesus spent dead ... in Hell according to some interpretations.

It's the epitome of being far away from God.  

Today, we contemplate how Jesus (God incarnate) suffered complete separation from his own divine nature.  

Our understanding is that Jesus did this so we wouldn't have to ... that in ways we can at best comprehend only abstractly, his death puts us into a better relationship with God.

Today, we allow ourselves to deal with our fear of being completely cut off from God.  Yet, we are not overcome with despair because there is hope ... a promise of new life around the corner.

PRAYER (adapted from "Lutheran Book of Prayer" Concordia Publishing House, 1970:

     Lord God almighty, we are silenced at the grave of your son.  We confess that a great mystery confronts us.  By faith we know that he who died is the one who unlocked the great secret of your love.  His tomb is our tomb.  He carried with him to the grave our sin and our death that he might break their hold on us.  

     Trusting in our Lord's promise to rise again, we come not to mourn, but to confess the sin that he would leave buried.  Have mercy on us!  Grant us the Easter faith that anticipates with joy the day on which, in him, we too come forth from the tomb to truly live.  We pray in his name and for his sake.  Amen.

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REMINDER: Carpool to worship with us (meet at SUB 1 room 207).  Email lutheran@gmu.edu if you have questions.

4/12 - EASTER: Meet at 10:25am to carpool to a local Lutheran congregation for Easter worship!

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009 #39: Good Friday

Hebrews 10:14-18,23-25    

 14 For by a single offering [Jesus] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," 17 he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 

 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

THOUGHTS:

Today is "Good Friday".  It seems an odd name for us to use as we remember that Jesus -- who is God, but also fully human -- was executed for a political crime (claiming to be a King of a people ruled by the emperor of Rome) by the government authorities at the urgings of the priests of his own religion, after being betrayed by one of his 12 disciples and more or less abandoned by the rest.

What's so "good" about this day?

What's good is that, through this bizarre turn of events, God mysteriously washed creation in his blood, and God remembers the sins and lawless deeds of humanity no more.  The good news is not the apparent death of God.  The Good News is that Jesus took our Sin to the grave in his death.  The Good News is that God will remember our sins no more!  We are free!

For this reason, we sinners come boldly before God as saints, for our sins have been washed away!  Therefore, as we remember the death of God, we also remember the new life this brings to humanity.  We proclaim this faith as we gather together to encourage one another to loving God's creation and to action rooted in that love.

PRAYER (adapted from the prayer for Good Friday in "My Prayer Book" Concordia Publishing House, 1980):

     O Lamb of God, slain for sinners, this day brings me to the foot of your cross.  Humbly and shamefully I admit that you have carried my griefs and sorrows; with your stripes I am healed.  I thank you that you suffered all as my substitute.

     For my sins your hands and feet were pierced with nails, your lips tasted of the vinegar and gall, your side was pierced by the spear.

     Here I behold the tremendous price of my sins that cost you your life, Lord Jesus.  Here I see you as the lamb of God, who by one sacrifice has forever perfected and sanctified humanity.  May your cross ever be the source of my forgiveness, comfort, joy, and peace.

     As I view you today suspended on the cross, may I by your love be prompted to say with Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ .. and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  By your love draw all people to you that they may live with and for your forever more.  For your holy name's sake I ask it.  Amen.

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REMINDER: Carpool to worship with us (meet at SUB 1 room 207).  Email lutheran@gmu.edu if you have questions.

TODAY (4/10) - GOOD FRIDAY:  Stations of the Cross in mixed media -- The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death.  We'll meet at 6:15pm to check out this mixed media experience created through the collaboration of 4 faith communities.

4/12 - EASTER: Meet at 10:25am to carpool to a local Lutheran congregation for Easter worship!

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009 #38: Maundy Thursday

John 13:5-10,14-15  5 Then [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you. 14 [If] I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."

THOUGHTS:

Jesus, shortly before his crucifixion, chose to wash the feet of his disciples. Peter doesn't want Jesus to wash his feet. Maybe it seems demeaning to allow his Lord to do something so lowly. This is something Peter could do for himself, or someone of lower stature maybe -- but not a task for his master. It's not Godly work! Right?

Do you identify with Peter here? We like to be self sufficient, and we tend to think of servant's work as being demeaning. We want to be independent! Yet, as disciples, we need to allow God to serve us through others when we can't make it on our own. We also need to be willing to be servants to others, giving of our time to do work we might even consider demeaning. Like Jesus, we may need to lower ourselves to show others how much they are loved.

PRAYER:

Lord God, you have given us the very air we breathe. Teach us when to rely on our communities and guide us to serve the world around us in your abounding love. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.

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REMINDER: Carpool to worship with us during HOLY WEEK (meet at SUB 1 room 207).  Email lutheran@gmu.edu if you have questions.

TODAY (4/9) - MAUNDY THURSDAY:  Meet at 6:50pm and we'll head to services at a local Lutheran congregation.

4/10 - GOOD FRIDAY:  Stations of the Cross in mixed media -- The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death.  We'll meet at 6:15pm to check out this mixed media experience created through the collaboration of 4 faith communities.

4/12 - EASTER: Meet at 10:25am to carpool to a local Lutheran congregation for Easter worship!

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009 #37

Hebrews 12:1-3 
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

THOUGHTS:

This is what we've been doing during Lent: stripping ourselves of our sins, those things that we so often build up as obstacles in our relationship with God.  We free ourselves of these weights so we are free to endure life's struggles.  In right relationship with our Lord, we help each other to wrestle with issues.  Although we focus on these things during Lent, it's good to remember that we will create new barriers for ourselves each day, so regardless of the season, it's always good to be mindful of freeing ourselves of these weights.  Support each other whenever the need arises!  Faith run free!

PRAYER:

Lord God, thank you for washing us clean.  Help us to daily rid ourselves of those things that stand between us and you.  Help us to be as free as you created us to be.  In Jesus name, AMEN.

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REMINDER: Carpool to worship with us during HOLY WEEK (meet at SUB 1 room 207).  Email lutheran@gmu.edu if you have questions.

4/9 - MAUNDY THURSDAY:  Meet at 6:50pm and we'll head to services at a local Lutheran congregation.

4/10 - GOOD FRIDAY:  Stations of the Cross in mixed media -- The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death.  We'll meet at 6:15pm to check out this mixed media experience created through the collaboration of 4 faith communities.

4/12 - EASTER: Meet at 10:25am to carpool to a local Lutheran congregation for Easter worship!

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009 #36

1 Corinthians 1:18,25-30 

18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 25For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. 25 For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. 26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption

THOUGHTS:

It sounds crazy, doesn't it?  God chooses to save the world through death.  Jesus died to realign our relationship with God.  What?

Yet that's how it played out.  We are now reconciled to God through our own brokenness at the foot of the cross.  

God shows time and time again that our real value isn't measured by the standards of the world.  It is not about how smart you are, how connected you are, what you look like, how cool you are, what clothes you wear, how many "fans" you have, what tint your skin has, how sexy you are, what movies you like, how many houses you own, how big your army is, what your major is, what "stuff" you own, who you work for, who your friends are, who you find attractive, where you are from, how many people you've kissed, what music you like, or ANYTHING else that our society tells us is important!

You are worth more than you can possibly imagine or comprehend because of who you are at your core: a beloved child of God.  It's out of your control -- your value comes from being loved by God!  This truth still sounds foolish to our ears today...

PRAYER:

O Lord, our God, we can scarcely believe it is true that you love us so much.  Please accept our humble thanks.  Our lives are yours.  Lead us as you wish. In Jesus name, AMEN.

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009 #35

John 12:12-16 
12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!" 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"  16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

THOUGHTS:
This is sometimes called the triumphal entry of Jesus.  It's likely more of a protest.  Based on the historical timing, we know that Romain officials would have been riding into the other side of Jerusalem to great fanfare and praise.  People would have been throwing the coats off their backs for the horses to tread upon.

Over time, it seems that "hosanna" has become synonymous with praise -- probably largely due to these Gospel passages putting it next to "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."  However, "hosanna" means "to save" or "please save" or "save, now!" -- it's a desperate plea for healing and wholeness.  In this passage, it is almost used as a counterpoint to the praises: Please save us, we have faith and praise you.  Save us now!

Jesus entry is less triumphant, and more of a satire of the Roman entry.  It makes a mockery of the pomp and circumstance on the other side of town.  Yes, it also fulfills prophecies, but in it's time, this parody was probably a statement about seeking justice and healing in the face of Roman imperialism.

How do we seek justice and wholeness in our world?

PRAYER:

Lord God, praise be to your name, and blessed be those who humbly serve you.  Please save us!  For the sake of Jesus the Christ, AMEN.

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com

Lent 2009: Sixth Sunday (Palm Sunday)

As mentioned previously, Sundays are not part of Lent, but rather always celebrations of the resurrection.  To mark this distinction, instead of my thoughts on scripture, here's some interesting stuff I've stumbled upon lately...

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"Every minute that the world emphasizes the power of God more than the love of God, it will be more inclined to use force.  Wherever we prize certainty more than we prize humility, we can expect to find ourselves more readily distinguishing between good people and bad people. ... And the more we do it, the more we lean toward punishing bad people for not being good, and trying to force bad people into becoming good people, as if force will work such magic, or as if we all had the same definition of good."  ~ Peter Marty (Grace Matters, 5/6/2007) 

"My address is like my shoes. It travels with me. I abide where there is a fight against wrong."  ~Mother Jones

"One aspect of serving others is listening to the call within to express your gifts—those talents you have that make you feel infinite when you are doing them. When we express those gifts, the Holy Spirit works through us in ways we may never know directly, touching the lives, hearts, and minds of others." Joanna Bates (environmental scientist, dancer, and writer)

"I have come to understand that strength, inner strength, comes from receiving love as much as it comes from giving it.  I think apart from the idea that I am a sinner and God forgives me, this is the greatest lesson I have ever learned.  When you get it, it changes you... God's love will never change us if we don't accept it." Donald Miller (in Blue Like Jazz)

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com