Lent Day 4:

Dear God, as I continue to make my way through Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I want to stop and just thank you for always being here to meet with me. Sometimes I am father from you, but you are never farther from me. Oh, my God, I love you.

Before I start with Day 4 of this Lenten series I’m doing with you, I want to go back and mention something I noticed last night as I was reading Psalm 35. David was bemoaning his situation and asking you to rip into people who were wronging him. I’ve always struggled with those psalms, but last night I got a vision that David was writing that psalm on behalf of Uriah. Uriah was the victim and David was the villain. David was coming to terms with his villainy towards Uriah. I’m not saying that’s actually what David was doing, but it gave me an appreciation and perspective on the sentiment I haven’t had before.

Here are the passages the book has for me today:

• AM Psalms: 30, 32
• PM Psalms: 42, 43
• Deuteronomy 7:17-26
• John 1:43-51
• Titus 3:1-15

Just off the bat, I’m kind of surprised we are spending so much time in Deuteronomy and Titus. I’m not looking ahead because I’m trying to stay in the moment, but if you’d have asked me to guess which books in the Bible we will be spending time with, I would not have guessed Deuteronomy and Titus.

Okay, here is what stands out to me in today’s readings.

Psalm 30:5a – For his anger last only a moment, but is favor lasts a lifetime.

This takes me back to when my children were small and I started to get a glimpse of your love for me through my love for them. I would get so angry sometimes, but then it was so easy to forgive. Even now, there is nothing that will take away my love for them. Nothing they can do. Yes, I get angry, but it is fleeting. You love me the same way. Do you get angry? Yes. Do you forgive me? Yes. Do you ever stop loving me. No. Amazing! You are amazing!

Psalm 30:11-12 – You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

I have some wailing and sackcloth in my life. There are things that cause me sorrow. But I know that you will remove it. In fact, you often bring me joy and dancing even in the midst of the sorrow. One of the things I’ve learned through this sorrow is to not make the things that are bringing me sorrow idols. Am I sorrowful because I’m looking to those things to bring me the fruits of the Spirit only a life with your Holy Spirit can bring? Or am I sorrowful because I am truly worried about them? While I know that sometimes I fall into the idol category, I am getting closer and closer to it being only about my worry for them.

Psalm 32:5 – Then I acknowledged my sing to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Sometimes I forget to simply confess my sin to you and tell you I am sorry. As I type this, I am thinking about specific sins of which I am aware. I’m so sorry for those. I know they are harmful to me and to others. I am so sorry. And then I am sure there are things I’m doing that are sinful and I don’t know they are sin. I am sorry for that too. Reveal them to me.

John 1:43 – The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Following Jesus. What an interesting thing to be called to do. I don’t understand this world or how you have laid out the system for those you call and those you apparently don’t. I think, overall, you call us all. Thank you for making me your child.

Titus 3:2, 10 – …to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men...Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

This one struck me because I’ve got some of this in my life right now. I have someone in my life who did some slandering this week, and I am trying to figure out how to address it so that I can take a stand against divisiveness. Oh, Father, guide me in this one. I really need your help here. It’s heavy on my heart.

I bring all of this to you in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 

Lent Day 3: Excerpts from Psalm 31,

Dear God, as I intentionally experience Lent this year and go through Day 3 for Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I’ve decided to do something a little different today. I want to read the passages and then call out the verses that resonate with me. But before I do, here are the passages that have for us to read today.

• AM Psalms 31, 95
• PM Psalms 35
• Deuteronomy 7:12-16
• John 1:35-42
• Titus 2:1-15

Here we go:

Psalm 31: 6 – I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD

Idols have come to mean more to me over the last three and a half years. Ever since I heard Andy Stanley interview the couple where the pastor/husband barely survived COVID and he noted that we tend to make an idol out of “certainty,” and we find all kinds of tangible things to put our certainty in (spouse, children, economy, government, etc.) when you, God, are the only thing that is the same and never changes. It’s now easier to see the idols in my life that I must relinquish, and also see the idols others make. Right now, in election season, it feels like many people are worshipping their political party, counting on it to save them or else all will be lost. I hate those [including myself] who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.

Psalm 31:11-13 – Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends–those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

This is a psalm of David, and I cannot help but wonder if he wrote it during Absalom’s revolt. The idea that David would be the contempt of his neighbors and that those who see him would flee from him is shocking, but then again aren’t we all, as humans, shockingly fickle? Are there areas of my life where I foolishly abandon those I should support because it is the safe thing for me to do?

Psalm 95:6-7 – Come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

This is just a nice piece of worshiping you right here. Oh, Father, you are my Maker. You are my God. I am a lamb in your pasture. A lamb under your care. Thank you. I submit myself to your care.

Deuteronomy 7:12 – If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

Deuteronomy is where you are laying down the law, literally, for the Israelites. This whole passage is, frankly, a little simplistic in my mind. It says you will make good for the good and bad for the bad. All I ask right now is not for good, but that you will help me to be near to you.

John 1:37-38 – When the two disciples heard [John the Baptist] say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

What an interesting question. I wonder if they knew. I wonder if they had an idea of what they wanted but didn’t have the courage to say so they just asked where he was staying. In their heart of hearts, I would imagine they were looking for the same Messiah everyone else was looking for. They wanted to be lifted out of the mire of subjugation to Rome and restored to power. Had they known at that moment how things would play out over the next three years they might have stayed behind. What do I want from you, even this morning? Is it the right thing or is it selfish?

Titus 2:9-10 – Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teacher about God our Savior attractive

For this passage, I want to quote part of today’s reading from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer: “But reading the letter to Titus can be overwhelming. Planting and nurturing the church in Crete is not an easy matter. The culture is crude and in constant agitation. As part of the Roman Empire, it is subject to, among other things, the norms of slavery, the subjugation of women, and the abuse of alcohol. Sexual immorality is rampant, and hopelessness is widespread.\\Knowing and following Jesus, according to Paul, is the only adequate antidote to such a broken world.“

Father, I am still leaning into the word “patience” for this Lenten season. Help me to continue to die to myself and simply embrace everything Jesus was–and everything Jesus was is completely contradictory to who I am. Thank you for this amazing gesture on your part to come to earth and give us your example of how to behave and live. How to love and serve. How to give of ourselves, worship you, and love others. Help me to be that man today.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 

Titus 2:12

And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,
Titus 2:12

Dear God, there is a line between changing the world and living in it. It’s your job to change the world. It’s my job to live in my small corner of it and impact what I can through the sphere of influence you’ve given to me.

I think too many people right now are obsessed with changing the world from the top down. I ran into a friend at the store yesterday and somehow our conversation about the drought and how hard it has been on his ranching turned into a rant about how our country is going downhill because of its leadership. I tried to bring it back by pointing out some of the “idol” work I’ve done over the last two and a half years, asking myself what my idols are. Government? Health? Economy? Military? Wife? Children? Not all of these have been idols for me, but some of them certainly have. They are what I want to put my certainty in instead of putting my certainty in you and you alone.

But if I can “live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to [you],” then I have a chance of being part of your kingdom coming and your will being done on earth as it is in heaven from the ground up. You don’t build a house starting with the roof and working down to the foundation and the soil. First you have to deal with the grassroots–the soil. Then the foundation, walls, roof, and finally finish out the inside.

Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, I pray under submission to your authority that you will guide me today. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Bring those I love one step closer to you. Bring me a step closer to you as well. You are my God. I am your grateful and loving servant.

Amen

 

Titus 2:1-2

As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.
Titus 2:1-2

Dear God, it is interesting that this passage came up today on Bible Gateway’s verse of the day because I’ve spent part of the morning listening to a podcast that talked about the Texas state legislature and how they think they have been acting wisely in some of the laws they passed in the last session, but they could possibly have done more harm that good in terms of long-term conservative strategies.

For example, they quoted a Wall Street Journal editorial board piece (which would represent conservative opinions) about the new Texas abortion law. The piece said that the Texas legislature’s immediate success with the SCOTUS, which will likely be short-lived until there is a proper lawsuit challenge that they will decide, opens up a bit of a Pandora’s box for liberal issues. For example, can New York enable people to sue other citizens for owning a gun? On a personal level, even as a pro-life person, I’ve already found myself feeling uneasy about how the legislature has gone about this. It does not feel like they are acting wisely.

Which brings me to a point that I’ve been driving home for several months now, but the thread seems to explain a lot of behavior of Christians that befuddles me. There is a difference between being a Christ believer and a Christ follower. How many of the people who wrote and voted for these laws are people who spend time pursuing you and following you, and how many simply believe you exist and then use you to justify their own agendas? I would posit that a good majority of those who voted for these laws are believers but not followers.

Of course, now it’s time to take the finger I’m pointing at them and look at the three fingers in my hand that are pointing back at me. Am I wise? Am I foolish? Am I naive? Am I patient? Am I willing to make space to listen to you? Am I a true follower of you, or do I just use you to justify my personal dogma? Of course, I would like to think of myself as a follower and not just a believer. I would like to think of myself as wise. I try to make moments like this to listen to you, but probably not enough. I know I am be impatient. I am certainly naive, although that can actually be a good thing in that having too much guile and understanding of others who use guile would probably send me down a rabbit hole that isn’t healthy for me. Still, it is good to be well-read and try to understand issues.

Father, help me to start with just being your follower and then let the fruit from your Spirit grow from there. Fill me with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, and self control. Help me to use those fruits to develop my thoughts and how I interact with the world around me. Make me an instrument of your peace. When people look at me I want them to see you inside of me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Titus 2:1-2,6-8

As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience…

In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.

Titus 2:1-2,6-8

Dear God, I used to see myself as the “young men” in these passages, but I suppose I have aged into being the “older men.” I would guess that it is hard for a young pastor to lead older men. I’ll confess that I have times when I look at a younger person who means well but just doesn’t have the experience yet to see what I see. Of course, there are those who see me and think the same thing. It comes up most with parenting. Now that my children are in their 20s, I find that I have a low tolerance for advice from people whose children are not yet teenagers. They just don’t know, and I hope they never do, how tricky it can be.

So what does the young pastor do? What do I, as a 50-year-old lay person, do? Well, it’s pretty easy according to this passage. Exercise self control. Be respectable. Live wisely. Have integrity. Of course, with Paul, it always seems to come back to what he told the Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit. If I have the Holy Spirit then these things will start to grow out of me naturally: love, joy, peace, patients, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, self control, etc.

I’ve been really troubled lately by seeing some of the local pastoral leadership in our community start to take sides in the tug of war happening on social media. And it’s not like they are leading in positivity. They are ridiculing the positions of others. They are making light of things that concern others. They are seemingly seeing only one side of a few given issues of which I think there are at least two legitimate sides. It’s been disheartening.

Father, help me to exercise self control, live wisely and respectably, and sacrifice anything necessary to maintain integrity. And do it all for your glory and not mine. I really don’t want to increase. I want to decrease so that you will increase. Be glorified through my life and draw others to yourself through me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Titus 2:2-8

Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:2-8

Dear God, when I read this the thought that comes to me is that nothing is new. Two thousand years ago, people drank too much, slandered, gossiped, cheated on their spouses, went to war needlessly, ignored the poor, sold people into slavery, etc. Kingdoms rose and they fell. There was corruption. I guess the only thing that might be new is that we now have so much more access to information (real, fake, and mixed) than we did before. We can now know what’s happening in places all over the world if we want to. But our hearts are still the same. Not better or worse– the same.

I guess there’s an odd comfort in that for me. Going back to the tribulation preacher I heard last week, it was almost like listening to someone who gives horoscope readings. Everything he said could have been applied to every year between now and when you gave John Revelation. But my comfort isn’t in the idea that things haven’t really progressed, but in that you are still God and this is nothing the world hasn’t seen before–well maybe except for our growing ability to damage the planet ourselves. That’s changed too.

Father, I’m going to go back to the serenity prayer from AA. Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Titus 2:11-12

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,

Titus 2:11-12

Dear God, I had an interesting thing happen yesterday. A friend told me that he believes in “God,” but has no reason to believe in Jesus. It all just seems to fantastical for him—virgin birth, resurrection, miracles in between. I was so caught off guard that I didn’t give nearly as good of a response as I wish I had. I’m sorry for that.

Back to this passage, help me to continue to turn from the things that are godless and sinful, and towards the things that are of you. Help me to be righteous, wise, and devoted to you. Help me to let go of my fears and be at peace. Help me to completely let go of my own agendas and plans for the future and embrace you in each present moment.

Father, I guess this is a pretty simple prayer today, but it’s also a back to basics. Love God. Hate sin. Repent. Disciple. Serve. Help me to believe enough to do all of these things.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 

Titus 2:2

Titus 2:2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.

 

Dear God, first, I’m not sure I’ve ever read this before and considered myself one of the “older men.” I usually identify with the young men in verse six, but I guess we all get older. I’m now realizing that in a church, or even humanity, I am on the older side of the equation. But enough about me and my age.

These instructions are very broad for older men. There are a number of areas in which I should exercise self-control. There are a number of areas to which I need to pay attention so that I can be worthy of respect. And living wisely is about as broad as it gets. But I think that what will drive adherence to these commands is to have a sound faith and couple the faith with love and patience. I need to pursue you. I need to be filled with love and patience for others. But I also need to not let myself be distracted from my highest calling which is to first do all of these things for my wife. She needs to see self control. I need to be worthy of her respect. She needs to see my living wisely. If my faith is sound then it will bless her. And being filled with love and patience for her will be the blessing that you want for her and make her more likely to be filled with love and patience for me.

Father, help me to be the man you need me to be today. I’m going to spend a lot of time with a former mentor who has lived the life of Job more than anyone I’ve ever known. Help me to be what he needs today. Help me to be what my immediate and extended family needs. Most of all, help me to be a good worshiper of you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen