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 #5

Ephesians 2:1-10
     1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through 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 ages to come 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 the result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

THOUGHTS:

Let me repeat verse 8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Our salvation is not based on what we do, say, think, or set out to do in life. Our salvation is solely a gift of God. To put it simply, it comes for FREE, merely because God wants us to have it.

     To put it another way:  "And if by grace [that God is motivated], then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. Because if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work" (Romans 11:6).  In other words, if you try to combine grace and works, then grace is lost in the process.  Put simply, if you have to "do something" to acquire salvation, then salvation isn't through grace.

     Back to Ephesians, verse 10: "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." Good works aren't about earning salvation. We were made for good works to be our way of life.

     Write this down someplace you'll see it numerous times in the next few days: "I was made for good works to be my way of life."  Spend some time thinking and praying about what this simple statement might mean in your daily life.

PRAYER:

Lord God, you have been so gracious to us.  We frequently try to make everything about ourselves, and have trouble understanding our salvation is for your sake.  Help us to live the way of life that you have prepared for us, to do good in the world as a way of life.  In Christ Jesus we pray, AMEN.

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PS:  If you want to discuss theology -- to talk about questions you have reading the above -- 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. 

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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 Day #36

James 2:14-18 (NET)
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and eat well," but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.

THOUGHTS:
Martin Luther didn't like James, dismissing it as "an epistle of straw" at odds with the "good news" found in the Pauline doctrine of justification by grace through faith. Compare the verses above to Ephesians 2:8-9 (CEV):

8 You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. 9 It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about.

James pulls from Hebrew history and the teachings of Jesus to make the point that faith is active. It isn't merely a profession from our mind and lips. It isn't just a feeling resting in our hearts. Faith manifests itself in how we live our lives.

I admit that I am sometimes intoxicated with God's grace. My faith finds a home in this message of grace that comes out of the Gospels and Paul's letters. I struggle with judgement that isn't coated with grace. Yet I value James as an important reminder that our faith is lived out. If you have an extra half-hour this week, read all of James (it's quite short).

Remember that we cannot earn salvation with our works, but also pray about how your actions represent your faith. Is our faith alive -- moving us to act, or is it just a collection of inanimate thoughts? Jesus says those who believe do his work (AKA "God's will"). See John 14:12, (ESV):

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."

Do you live like you believe?


PRAYER:
Oh God, we know that our actions fall short, and we praise you for loving and accepting us anyway. Fill us with your love for all people, so that our faith bubbles out of us into our actions -- so that we live our faith. May we always do your will. In Jesus name we pray. AMEN.