Ideas for Lent 2024

But God is holy Feb 16, 2024

Psalm 103:1-2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

I didn’t manage to write a post yesterday, so I’m a day late with my ideas for this year’s Lenten season. Here they are:

Key off Psalm 103, one or two verses at a time, so we keep in mind God’s character.
Use the Litany of Penitence, one strophe at a time so we can think carefully about each one and make whatever confession we need to make, based on the Spirit’s conviction. The Litany has twelve stanzas, so using two per week will bring us to Holy Week.
Keep track of our progress using a Lenten calendar. The one I’ve chosen (thanks, Suzanne Werder) is a journey with Jesus to the cross. I suggest you download and print this and use color and symbols of your choice to represent your experience day by day. Of course, you can use other Scriptures to enrich this plan.

It would be great for us to use half an hour each day for prayer during Lent, but anything we manage to do is better than nothing, right? Decide for yourself how much you want to invest in this spiritual heartcleaning.

Today, and the next couple of days, as we think with King David about God’s holiness in the context of how praiseworthy he is, let’s start with a general confession. “We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength” fits with the first two verses of Psalm 103. Try to write down at least a paragraph of response to the psalm and the confession (below). What does God’s holiness mean to you?

Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength.

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.

We have not been true to the mind of Christ.

We have grieved your Holy Spirit.

Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have sinned against you.

Holy Forever, Chris Tomlin

Combining Valentine’s Day with Ash Wednesday

But God wants our hearts

Joel 2:12-13 That is why the Lord says,
    “Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
    Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
¹³Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
    but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
    He is eager to relent and not punish.

Today and tomorrow, I’m helping get Caleb and Talita to school and home again because their dad is traveling for work and their mom is a nurse who leaves home early and gets back late. The kids have spent hours laboring over their valentines for their classmates and teachers. Caleb wrote his greetings by himself.

Valerie “dotted” the names for almost-four Talita to trace, and she wrote her name by herself on all these cards:

So much effort to communicate friendship and appreciation!

I’ve been musing over how to combine Valentine’s Day with Ash Wednesday. The prophet Joel gave me the answer. God’s heart is full of unfailing love for us, and he wants us to love him back. He wants to repair his broken relationship with us. He can do so if we turn back to him, admitting and grieving what we’ve done that hurts him.

Our “valentine” for him is humility, and honesty, and a desire to hear and honor his heart of love.

And there’s no better source of love for those we care about than his Spirit, free to flow within and through us (John 7:37-39). That’s why I’ve chosen a flowing river as an image for Lent. The Spirit wants to cleanse us and grow and water his fruit in the garden of our hearts. Starting with love.

Shutterstock: Liinna Lilli

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

River of Life by Mac Powell

What color calls to you today?

But Jesus is trustworthy Feb 12, 2024

John 12:34-36, 44-46 [The crowd asked] “Just who is this Son of Man anyway?” Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. … Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light. … I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”

“Walk in the light … Put your trust in the light.”

Early this morning I dropped my car off for servicing. As I walked down one of Pittsburgh’s famous block-long public staircases and on downhill to a bagel shop to wait for our mechanic’s call, thinking about this week and about this text from John 12, I found my mind swirling with color.

It started Friday in my granddaughter Juliana’s bedroom when sunshine suddenly broke through the winter gloom to fill the room with rainbows refracted through the prisms her mom hung in her windows. Juju was as delighted as by bubbles dancing in the sunshine a few weeks ago.

Shutterstock: MarcelClemens

Then came a marvelous Saturday women’s retreat, where the colors contained in the Light, representing the variegated wisdom God shares with us, splashed across the tables, the walls, and even the tableware, and showed up in our “color prayers” at the close of the retreat. So richly God’s wisdom enriched our souls at this retreat!

Then yesterday, to help celebrate our son-in-law Cesar’s birthday, I wore red, his favorite color. It turned out this worked also for cheering for the KC Chiefs. Yes, KC, because I lived there during high school and had my first experience of a super bowl as the Chiefs won in 1970. The only way I could understand the hysteria at the time was comparing it with a country winning the soccer World Cup.

Red, of course, will work Wednesday as well, as North America celebrates Valentine’s Day.

Then on Friday comes my granddaughter Talita’s fourth birthday. She’s chosen a mermaid theme for her party Sunday afternoon, so iridescent purples, pinks, greens, and blues join the mix of colors in my head.

And in the middle of all this comes Ash Wednesday, the end of Epiphany and the beginning of Lent. What color is Ash Wednesday? Grey, I guess, because of the ashes, although Google tells me it’s violet or unbleached linen, and the color of Lent is purple.

What’s my takeaway from this rich palette filling my imagination? Jesus not only created light, he is light. Every color is contained within him and expressed through us, his Body. How boring it would be if we were all—pick a color—all red, or all blue, or all yellow. God painted his world with color, gave us each different personalities, gifts, interests, passions, griefs, and joys. He delights in each one of us.

One of the joys of Saturday’s retreat was the fun of spending hours together with friends, old and new. Google tells me the color of friendship is orange. I’m carrying that into this week, wanting to share the rich hues of salmon, and peach, and coral with the friends whose lives intersect with mine this week.

What about you? Which color speaks to you today?

Thursday I’ll offer you a challenge for Lent. Spoiler: it too involves color!

By the way, EA Books surprised me by publishing Book 3 of the Cally and Charlie series, Facing the Faeries 1906, sooner than I expected. It’s now available on Amazon in paper and as an ebook. Enjoy! And if you do, please write a review to help others find the book. Of course, you’ll enjoy Book 3 more if you read, or reread (and review!), Books 1 and 2 first.

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light, by Kathleen Thomerson

And in an entirely different style, Walk With Jesus, Consumed by Fire

Photosynthesis

But Jesus’ light leads to life

John 8:12, 9:5 I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. … While I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.

It happens all around us and fuels our lungs and muscles. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and trees use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy. Light generates life!

I could so easily get off on the (mostly illegal) destruction of the rain forest, but I’ll spare you the soapbox (except to say one thing: the more beef we eat, the faster the Amazon Forest will be cut down for pasturing methane-belching cows, top of the food chain and doubly injurious to our planet’s health).

Shutterstock: GraphicsRF.com

Though a description of photosynthesis wasn’t published until 1779, Jesus the Creator, of course, understood it perfectly. As he so often did, he used nature to express spiritual truth. Light is life.

Speaking in the Temple in Jerusalem on the last day of the week-long fall harvest Festival of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, or Booths, or Shelters, Jesus promised living water, another necessary element for life (John 7:37-39)—probably in connection with the daily Sukkot water ceremony, when the priest poured out collected rainwater from the previous season.

And then, sixteen gold bowls in the inner courts of the Temple were filled with oil and lighted. Likely, Jesus stood beneath these lights to declare that he was the Light of the world (John 8:12). The light at the center of Temple worship—but more. Light that could leave the Temple and walk into the world, confronting the darkness found there. Like falsehood, and slavery, and unbelief, and wrong judgment. Some people were so angry they wanted to kill Jesus.

And the intrigue—or offense—intensifies when Jesus repeats the claim of being the light of the world (John 9:5) when on the Sabbath, he heals a man born blind. The intricate interplay of light and darkness in this chapter, of who can see and who can’t, of what is sin and who commits it, challenges all assumptions and the very order and fabric of society.

The man formerly blind who for the very first time can see—imagine!—has the gall to say, “Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” He was thrown out of the synagogue, as people often are who dare to speak truth (Liz Cheney comes to mind). Jesus, who had given the man physical sight, found him and gave him spiritual vision as well.

“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus told the angry leaders. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see” (John 9:41). In chapter 8, he called people liars. He clearly hadn’t read up on social etiquette. So cringey for this Enneagram 9 who hates conflict and upset apple carts.

Will you and I welcome Jesus’ light shine into the dark corners of our hearts, confronting our sin, healing our blindness, synthesizing new life in us?

Hide and seek

Hide and seek

But God’s work is revealed in his light

John 3:19-21 God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see God at work in what they are doing.

I just spent a weekend with my grandchildren. They love, love, love playing hide and seek, from the baby to the six-year-old. The two three-year-olds can’t bear for long the tension of being hidden: “Here I am! I’m here!” The six-year-old can wait a long time in his increasingly inventive hiding places.

Shutterstock: A3pfamily

In the course of their play, this six-year-old knocked his sister to the ground. Immediately he said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” and rushed to help her get up. I noticed, though, that minutes after she was happily off chasing her cousin, my grandson stood in place, tears pooling in his eyes. When I asked him what was wrong, the tears overflowed.

“I didn’t want to hurt Talita,” he sobbed. “I did something bad.”

I had a choice: Try to convince him that accidents happen and not to worry about it; Talita was fine. Or honor his sense of wrongdoing. “Sweetheart,” I said, “there’s something we can do when we’ve done wrong.”

“What?” he asked, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

“We can tell God what we did and ask him to forgive us. When we do that, he promises to make our hearts clean. Would you like to do that?”

After doing so, he stood for a moment looking at the floor, then gave me a brilliant smile and ran to find his sister and cousins.

And I had the joy of seeing God at work, lifting my grandson’s distress from his shoulders.

You and I have the same opportunity: to bring our wrongdoing to the light so we can receive forgiveness and restoration of our joy and freedom. Often this requires restitution as well for the way we have hurt someone.

We may think we’re protecting ourselves when we hide our sin, but in fact we’re internalizing the harm we did, thus dimming our internal light, making it harder to see our own hearts clearly. We need the Holy Spirit to shine his light, to seek and find and deal with what is hurting us inside.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (1 John1:8-9).

Hope or dystopia?

But Jesus’ light can’t be extinguished by darkness

John 1:1-18 In the beginning the Word already existed. … The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. … So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. … Jesus Christ has revealed God to us.

I’ve missed you! And I’ve enjoyed focusing on other things, like vacation. And the details of publishing Facing the Faeries 1906.

I’m returning to this blog halfway through the season of Epiphany, which ends with the beginning of Lent on February 14. The readings for this season have included the Gospel of John, with his emphasis on Christ as the Light of the world.

Epiphany began on January 6, the day selected by early church fathers to remember the magi visiting baby Jesus in Bethlehem and bringing him gifts. The magi were not Jewish, hence the connection with Jesus bringing light to the world, not just to the people God chose to be his earthly family and lineage. The wise men illustrate for us the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that through him and his descendants, all the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18).

Returning to twice weekly postings on this blog, I have four opportunities to think about John’s view of Jesus as the Light of the world before we enter Lent. It seems John can hardly wait to get into this theme. As one of Jesus’ disciples, walking with him for at least three years, John was well positioned to tell us what he personally saw and experienced of what he calls Jesus’ glory, the divine light of unfailing love and faithfulness shining through him.

John was no pushover. Jesus called him and his brother James “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). They wanted to call fire from heaven to burn up a Samaritan village that didn’t accept Jesus (Luke 9:52-54). Yet in John’s writings (he’s the most prolific New Testament writer after Paul), his emphasis is on love. His life was transformed by the light of Jesus shining into his personal darkness, gentling him and dramatically changing his perspective on the “others” in his world.

For us, you and me, grappling daily with the darkness, violence, and brokenness of the world, John’s introduction to his Gospel is tremendously encouraging. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Think about that. Isn’t it good news, solid rock on which to place our feet, a promise we can count on no matter how dark things get? We don’t see it yet, but the ending of the story will be glorious!

Tucked inside my fortune cookie! Isn’t that cool?

Thinking about this promise, I feel my anxiety for the world dissipate like air leaking from a balloon. My thoughts turn to my small role in shining his light into the darkness around me, beginning in my own heart. What a relief to know I’m just a minor character in this huge story God is writing. He has the whole thing figured out! Hallelujah!

Amy Grant celebrates this: Lighten my darkness …

And have you been enjoying the Advent ABC playlist? It still brings me to tears.

Speaking of stories, watch this space for an announcement about Facing the Faeries 1906!

Advent ABC: A to Z, Alpha and Omega

Isaiah 46:9-10, Revelation 1:8 I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” … “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

We’ve reached the end of the alphabet, but not the end of worshiping Jesus for the variegated tapestry of who he is that we learn from Isaiah. We can circle back to the beginning and celebrate him each of the remaining days of Christmas (until January 6) and for the rest of the new year. Here’s the link again for the Advent ABC playlist, which you can find as well on the home page of ButGod.blog.

Dave and I are traveling tomorrow. I’ll see you back on this blog in February.

Happy New Year!

Alpha and Omega, Gaither Vocal Band

Sanctuary/Alpha and Omega, Israel Houghton and New Breed

Advent ABC: eXalted Yahweh (Lord)

Isaiah 52:13, Acts 2:33 See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. … Now Jesus is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand.

When Jesus appeared in human form,

he humbled himself in obedience to God

and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God exalted him to the place of highest honor

and gave him the name above all other names,

that at the name of Jesus …

every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:7-11

Exalted (Yahweh), Chris Tomlin

Advent ABC: Word

Isaiah 40:8, 21; John 1:14 The Word of our God stands forever. … Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the Word of God—the Word he gave before the world began? … The Word became human and made his home among us, full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

In the beginning, the Word already existed.

The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought life to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:1-4

Adore, Chris Tomlin

Advent ABC: Victor

Isaiah 53:12, Revelation 5:5 (Isaiah 52:10, Revelation 17:10) I will give [Jesus] the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many. … The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory.

Continuing Advent ABC to the end of the alphabet …

I like the fact that my Christmas candle is misshapen. The truth it tells is not immediately obvious. Like the baby in a stable.

Victor’s Crown, Darlene Zschech