Sunday, February 28

Where is my treasure? Or Sifting Through the Ashes
Matthew 6:19-21 (New International Version)
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Sometimes the evening news is just too hard to watch. Occasionally I turn it on with the intention of keeping up with what is going on in the world and then I turn it off because I just don’t want all those awful images in my head so close to bedtime. One of the ones that bothers me the most is when they show families picking through rubble or ashes, when there has been a tornado or a fire. It is so sad to see people who have lost everything sifting though ashes to try to find any remnant of their old life or any treasure that wasn’t destroyed.
To me that image of sifting through the ashes is what Lent is all about. This is the time when we really consider the fact that everything we have worked for and everything we have collected will not be ours anymore. All of the treasures, all the material things that we hold dear will be passed on to someone else or thrown away when we are gone.
It is not just our material possessions that will be gone. Our skills, our knowledge, our expertise—all of these will be gone when our bodies turn to dust. There is nothing we can do to save the things that we have worked so hard for in life. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Lent is the time when we consider what our true treasures are.

Dear Lord,
Help me not to love my worldly possessions so much. Help me not to worry too much about what I don’t have or what I have lost. Help me not to be too proud of all I have accomplished. You are my treasure now and always. Amen

Monday, March 1

Pierced by Doubt
John 20:24-29 (New International Version)
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

I think Thomas got a bad deal. He had a moment or two of doubt and now that is all we remember him for. This is what I think he would say about it:

“Hi, I’m Thomas and I am upset with you guys. Just because I had a hard time believing that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead, I have been stuck with the label “Doubting Thomas” for all eternity. Now, my name is used to describe anyone who is a skeptic. I did so many other things in my life. I did so much for the cause of Christianity. Why do I have to be remembered only as a doubter? I have a lot of good qualities. I was braver than the other disciples and I was so loyal to Jesus. Remember when the other disciples tried to keep Jesus from going to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead? They said it was too dangerous because people in that area had just tried to stone Him. I was the one who said, ‘Let’s go with him and we can die with him.’ I love Jesus so much! I should be remembered for that. I should be called, ‘Thomas the Loyal One.’
Sure, I told the others that I didn’t believe. I said that I would have to put my finger in his wounds. I am ashamed of myself for that, but can you people honestly say you would not have said the same thing? Jesus wasn’t angry with me. He met me where I was and gave me what I needed.I want to be remembered for loving Jesus and for believing that he is God. I did doubt, but Jesus came to me and he helped me. Jesus comes to all of us. We all have doubts sometimes. I just want you guys to remember that.

Dear Lord, help me to remember that you are not angry with me when I doubt. You meet me where I am. You come to me and help me. Help me to be gentle with myself. Strengthen me so I can be an inspiration to others. Lead me to the place where I can say, “I am blessed because I have not seen and yet I believe.” Amen

Tuesday, March 2

The Truth about Ashes
Psalm 51:10-12 (New International Version)
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Do you remember Sojourner Truth? She was a slave, born in New York around 1797. (Her given name was Isabella Baumfree.) She eventually escaped and was emancipated and moved to New York City.

Isabella experienced a call from the Holy Spirit to travel and lecture. She wanted a new name that would reflect her new calling. Saying that she had left everything behind, and wasn’t going to keep anything of Egypt on her, she went to the Lord and asked him for a new name. “And the Lord gave me Sojourner,” she said, “because I was to travel up and down the land, showing the people their sins, and being a sign unto them. Afterward I told the Lord I wanted another name, because everybody else had two names; and the Lord gave me Truth, because I was to declare truth to the people.”

While preparing for a speech at the town-house in Angola, Indiana, she heard that someone had threatened to burn down the building if she spoke there. Listen to what she said when they threatened to burn down the building: “Then I will speak upon the ashes.”
That is what God does when we finally admit that we have nothing-that we can accomplish nothing on our own. God says “Then I will speak upon the ashes.”

God does not send us away empty. God calls us out of the ashes and into new life. Lent is the time when we say to God, "Here I am! Look at me I’m dust and ashes, but I am your child. I am a sinner and saint all rolled into one. Here I am! I am a hypocrite and a liar, but I love you. God, my heart is broken, but at least it is open. Here I am God. I’m calling to you from the ashes of my sinful life. And I can hear God calling back to me. I can hear God saying, “Okay, you’re a sinner, I can work with that. I will speak upon the ashes and I will send my Son to heal your sin-sick soul.”

Lord, speak upon the ashes of my sinful life and wash me clean as only you can do. Amen

Wednesday, March 3

Watching Jesus Suffer or Hand Me the Remote

John 14:2-4 (New International Version)
2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."
When I was a little girl, I accidently saw part of a movie that contained a very graphic depiction of Jesus’ death on the cross. I had a babysitter that wasn’t paying attention and I was just flipping through the channels. I hated what I saw, but I could not take my eyes off of it. I had nightmares for weeks and the babysitter was never asked back.

Lent is a time when we tend to concentrate on Jesus’ death and his suffering. We think of nails and wood and torture. This is not inappropriate. Knowing that Jesus was willing to suffer for us lets us know how much we are loved. Being loved can inspire us to do great things for the Lord. The knowledge of that love can sustain you in the worst of times.

I want us to remember that Jesus didn’t suffer on the cross just for the sake of suffering. He certainly didn’t do it to make us feel guilty. He did it to build up the Kingdom of God. I know we have to think about the wood and nails and suffering sometimes, but I also like to think about the other kind of building. Jesus’ life, His death and His resurrection, all work to build a home for us. Everything He did was to prepare a place for us.

Dear Lord, please help me to be inspired and strengthened by your love for me. Show me how to practice sacrificial love in my everyday life. Let me remember that I have a place ready for me in my Father’s house—a place where suffering will be no more. Amen

Thursday, March 4

OUCH! God’s Word is Like a Hammer

Jeremiah 23:28-29 (New International Version)

28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. 29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Have you ever read a passage of scripture and then had the uneasy feeling that you had to change something about your life or about your behavior? God’s word is not always a word of comfort. God’s word is the hammer that breaks open our hearts when they get too hard. It hits us when we turn a blind eye to the suffering of others or when we fail to be generous with the gifts we have been given.

Lent is the time when we delve more deeply into God’s word. This is a great privilege. It can give us hope and it can comfort us. We need to remember that God speaks to us as a loving parent. A good parent corrects children who have gone astray. Don’t be surprised if God’s word hits you like a hammer. It might be the wake-up call you need to live a more meaningful life full of God’s peace and infinite joy.

Dear God, Let me be open to your word. Soften my heart when I harden it to the suffering of others. Don’t let me stray too far from your loving embrace. Amen

Friday, March 5

Help me Stay Level

Psalm 26:8-12 (New International Version)
8 I love the house where you live, O LORD,
the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But I lead a blameless life;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.

In Psalm 26 David talks about what a good person he is and how much he loves the house of the Lord. We love the house of the Lord too. We want to be good people. We know we are not always good. God knows it too. There is no such thing as privacy from God. If you read your Bible, you will see that David was not always a good person either. We need Jesus because we are not always the people we want to be. We are one way on Sunday and sometimes another on Monday.

Dear God, help me to be the same kind of person during the week that I am on Sunday morning. Keep my feet on level ground all the time. Be merciful to me and redeem me. Amen

Saturday, March 6

A Stone for a Pillow? Or Jacob Wakes Up.

Genesis 28:10-22 (New International Version)

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway [a] resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it [b] stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it."

Jacob must have been very tired to be able to sleep with a stone for a pillow! He had an amazing dream. He saw angels and God spoke to him. God made some wonderful promises to him. It must have been the best morning of his life. How joyous it would be to awaken with the memory of God promising to watch over you, keep you safe and give you your heart’s desire. Jacob realized, “Hey, the Lord is here with me and I didn’t even know.”

I want to be like Jacob. (Except I don’t want a stone pillow.) I want to see a vision of God and hear God’s voice. I wouldn’t mind seeing some angels either. I would like a big, dramatic event to show me God’s power. I would like it, but it doesn’t matter if I get it or not. I don’t think it takes an incredible dream or a miracle to be able to say, “God was here all along. I guess I just wasn’t paying enough attention.” God is at work in our lives. God is there when we are cold and tired and our pillows are hard. God is there when we are well fed and comfortable. God is in the big events and the small details. God watches over us and keeps promises.

Dear Lord, help me to see that you are with me whether I realize it or not. Help me to be open to you and aware of your work in the world. Watch over me until you bring me safely home someday. Amen