Lent 2009 #4

Matthew 9:9-13 

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. 

10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples.11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

THOUGHTS:

     As you were growing up, did anyone ever tell you that "you'll be judged by the company you keep"?  While I can't deny that people may judge you unjustly, Jesus clearly models sitting down to a meal with people that the "respectable" people (politicians, religious leaders, etc.) preferred to avoid.  More than that, Jesus calls sinners to serve as his disciples.  He befriends them and entrusts his ministry to them after his death and resurrection.  As I wrote yesterday, it isn't about being good enough.

     In Lutheran theology, we understand ourselves to be "simul jusus et peccator" -- simultaneously both saint and sinner.   In a letter to his friend Philip Melanchthon on August 1, 1521, Martin Luther wrote: "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly...Pray boldly--you too are a mighty sinner."  In their concert last night, the band Lost and Found expressed how central these paradoxes are to their faith, that we are both good and bad, both captive and free, both sinner and saint, both lost and found -- all at the same time!

     In my relationship with God, I am a sinner because I have a self-centered failure to trust God -- a tendency to think I know best.  At the same time, I am a saint because God forgives my sins and remembers them no more -- and this is mysteriously accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

     As we journey together this Lent, how can you be more open to God's calling in your life?  How can you make yourself more ready and willing to follow where God leads you?

PRAYER:

God, we are amazed at your merciful graciousness in forgiving our sins.  Thank you!  Help us to center our lives in trusting YOU.  Help us to live more fully in your presence and to be open to your calling in our lives.  In Jesus name, AMEN.

---

PS:  If you want to discuss theology -- how God intersects our lives and world -- in a safe, open environment, then join us at Brion's Grille on Tues 3/3 at 5:15pm .  Contact lutheran@gmu.edu for details/rides. 

---

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 Day #3

Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

THOUGHTS:
I remember growing sometimes hearing things like "you don't want to hang out with those people because they are trouble and people will think that you are like them." I protested that Jesus ate with the sinners and that maybe I'd be a good influence on them, but my arguments weren't persuasive. Years later, I still stand by what I said then. If anything, I'm more convinced that we are called by God to get to know our neighbors no matter what anyone else thinks -- especially those that don't fit society's norms! ("Normal" is a hogwash term anyway. People are unique individuals and everyone deviates from the norm a litte bit, and that is a *good* thing.) I'm actually less focused on being a good influence on the people around me as far as motive goes -- though I certainly hope I'm not a bad influence!

As I pointed out yesterday, God loves us even while we are sinners and sees the righteousness of the Christ when looking at us, even though we don't deserve anything like this! I want to share this grace with the world! I want to explore the diversity of God's creation -- to listen to the struggles that people face, and to hear their hopes and dreams. I want to be present for them and to help them work through the issues they face. I want to be part of what God is doing in the world that I walk through each day -- so often oblivious to what is going on around me. That's what I think the motive should be: being present for people who might need us and open to God working through us in ways we don't understand.

Yet most days I am so involved in my own obligations that I don't do a very good job at this. This Lent, look honestly at whether you spend time with people on the margins as Jesus did. Ask yourself why or why not? Ask yourself if this is an important part of your faith. Pray about how God might use you in small ways as a vessel of grace to those in need that you pass by each day. Consider that merely being present for people may be all the "effort" really required.

PRAYER:
Gracious Lord, you have created such wonderful diversity! We know that there is much that we can learn from people who look, think, and live differently that we do. Help us to notice people around us, rather than passing them by. Help us to be cognizant of their needs. Help us remember to pray for the people we see each day. Allow your grace to flow through us into the world. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

NOTES:

1. If you want to comment on my thoughts for a particular day, use the comments at the bottom of that post.

2. GMU Lutheran Campus Ministry is part of Northern Virginia Lutheran Campus Ministries. Our ministry is focused on students attending George Mason University or other colleges in northern Virginia -- and we don't just mean Lutherans ... we welcome everyone! For more information, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran

Lent Day #2

Ephesians 2:1-10
2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.


THOUGHTS:
I realize more and more that I am no better than anyone else. I know that I don't measure up. I know that I'm a sinner. But I also know that God meets us in our brokenness -- God always comes down to meet us where we are. In the Hebrew scriptures, God came down to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. God met them in the midst of their lives and used them for God's purposes. Later, God clothes himself in skin and comes down to earth in the form of Jesus to hang out with the destitute and those on the margins...to suffer and die in one of the most humiliating and degrading ways that humankind has ever devised...and in doing so created a bridge from our sinful world to God. This all happens while we are still undeserving sinners! At church last night, the pastor told of a time he offered someone communion, and the person looked down saying "I'm not a good enough person for that." He explained that that's exactly right, and that's the point. None of us are ever "good enough". It's not something we could ever "earn". We are saved by the grace of God reconciling world through the death of Jesus the Christ.

Father Robert Farrar Capon describes this as something like "propping open the gates to heaven with the corpse of Jesus". The result is that we are made righteous through the work of Jesus the Christ. We don't earn it, but through God's grace, we are clothed with the Christ's righteousness. So even though we are still sinners, God views us through the same lens as Jesus -- God sees the righteousness of Jesus when looking at us! In the Lutheran tradition, this gets summed up in saying that we are always both Sinner and Saint at the same time. Somehow, even the faith we need is a gift of God. This may open another can of worms and questions -- and that's OK. Part of this journey is living amidst our questions.

God loved you so much that even though you are a sinner, it was God's will that Jesus the Christ should die to reconcile you to God -- through no work of your own whatsoever! Therefore, as Martin Luther wrote "Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice more boldly still." In more detail, "God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world." (Martin Luther writing to Philipp Melachthon in 1521.)


PRAYER:
Lord God, we offer our thanks for your awesome mercy, knowing full well that we don't deserve it. We ask that you continue to sustain us when we are faltering. We trust in you to provide the nourishment we need to live. We plead for help in forgiving those in our lives in the way that you have forgiven us. We pray this in the name of Jesus the Christ, who suffered for our sake. Amen.


NOTES:
If you missed a past daily devotion or want to comment on my thoughts for the day, visit http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com/

Lent #1 - Ash Wednesday

Luke 18:9-14
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."


Thoughts:
Today is the first day of Lent, which is a season of returning to God. It isn't about giving up things that may or may not be good for you like chocolate or meat. It isn't a self-help time for resolutions like people make at New Years. It's about turning our focus to our faith, seeking a deeper relationship with God. It's about new life flowing into ourselves from that relationship. It's about faith communities coming together to support each other in this journey.

We begin today with honest confession to God. We acknowledge that we know God instructs us to care for those on the margins: the poor, the destitute, the elderly, & the widows. We acknowledge God's call for us to love his creation: the environment, our enemies, & those who really make life hard on us. We confess that we fall short on our side of this relationship sometimes. We confess that we try to live life on our own. We confess that our actions in life evidence that we don't think God is necessary. We confess that we are sinners in need of mercy.

The imposition of ashes during worship services today is a sign of that repentance, and of our desire to be made clean again. The ashes, made from the palms from Palm Sunday of last year, are placed on our foreheads. They remind us that humankind was created from the dust of the earth, and that at the end of the life we will return to the earth. We are symbolizing that God created us, and we are now returning to God. We think of ashes as messy, but they have long been used as an ingredient in soap. With these ashes, we express our desire to have our dirtiness made clean.


Prayer of Abandonment:
(by Charles de Foucauld, a Catholic contemplative who lived from 1858 to 1916)

Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.