Lenten Reflections: Withdrawl

"Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said."

Matthew 26:72

Fear = Withdrawal  

Peter withdrew when anxiety level peaked. Hiding in the shadows of a cold and dark courtyard, he protected his ass before Jesus even had the chance to defend His. He reacted. He withdrew.



One

Two

Three

Run!

Isolated. Alone. Afraid. Peter stood on the outskirts, weeping at his own cowardice. What could bring him back to himself again? What could ever bring redemption? 

"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

"Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."

"Put your sword back in it's place, Peter! You've got bigger battles to fight, and they're not against any man!"

We love our weapons. Our confidence soars when we've got a powerful armament. But when left nothing but ourselves, our instincts leave us vulnerable and in panic.We look out for number one because we believe that without a weapon, we can never stand to defend number two.  Sometimes Christ just calls us to stand.

"Yes, I know Him! He's my friend! He's my Lord! And if I could make my way through that gate, I'd be standing at His side. I'll die if I have to!"

Don't be so quick to judge Peter. He's a soldier and a coward. He's a CEO and he's homeless. He's a cop and a thief. He's a freedom fighter and he's a terrorist. A saint. A sinner. He's you. He's me.

Lord, just as Peter withdrew, we withdraw as well. When we feel our hearts race with panic, we run. We withdraw from You. We withdraw from ourselves and our relationships. Call us back, Lord. Let the rooster crow. Engage us that we may be engaged with You. Amen

 

Lenten Reflections: Positive

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." - Philippians 4:8

The choice is ours. Negative or positive? Dark or light? Hatred or love? Anger or peace?

"What do you want from me today, God?"

"Really? Did you read what Paul just said, or just skim over it to fill up your quiet time?"

"No, I read it!  Really, God!  I just...." 
 
Be true.... What is truth?

Be noble.... Like the Presidential candidates?

Be right.... But I'm usually wrong.  

Be pure...."But I'm contaminated. No one else is pure. Why should I be?"


Be lovely...."But I'm ugly, just as the world around me."

Be admirable...."No one cares when you're admirable, God. But when you're detestable, people pay attention."

Be excellent...."I've seen excellence in action. And I don't want it."


Be praiseworthy...."Praise who?"

Definition is critical. Clarity is essential. Negative or positive? Man or God?

Pure? Self-righteous hypocrite

Lovely? Vanity

Admirable? Better than YOU

Excellent? Success at all cost 

Praiseworthy? Arrogance  

It's ironic how we so often ask God to reveal his will for us. When His words so clearly tell us, you would think the answer would be clear. But freewill leaves us with a choice.

But even the positive can be manifest in the negative.  

Truth or lies?

Positive or negative?

The positive unites. The negative brings separation.

The reality is that when we're in union with God, choosing the negative is much less likely, if not impossible. Unity with God is essential as we journey through this world, and unity with one another makes the trip that much easier. It's positive. It reveals God's Kingdom.

Positive.

When we disconnect, we dwell in negative spaces. We become complacent and mindlessly roam through areas of life, clinging to whatever adds temporary light. We disengage with one another.

Negative.

Lent is a time when we examine the negative in light of the positive. We embrace the negative so that we can cling to the positive. Lent is about choosing; choosing God's words or man's. Lent is about definition; defining what is truth, and rejecting what is false.

Lord, we know how easy it is to choose the negative, even when we think we're choosing the positive. Enable us to define the positive through You eyes, through Your words, and through Your Spirit. And as we find truth, unite us closer to You, so that we can unite closer to others.         

Lenten Reflections: Truth?

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  “What is truth?” retorted Pilate."

John 18:37-38  

"What is truth?" Our culture is in desperate search for truth, but as with Pilate, most of us don't stick around long enough to hear the answer. 

Truth is truth. And from God's perspective, truth remains as it always has been; absolute. Black and white. 

Unfortunately, from our perspective, truth is not always that simple. We process our world through a lens that often reflects shades of grey. What God intends as truth becomes interpreted as relative. We do the best we can with what we have, who we are, where we've been and where we're going, but truth is usually interpreted through our own personal world view. 

The problem that we encounter is when we choose to ignore truth. Truth must be identified, acknowledged, reflected upon and even wrestled with. We can dissect truth. We interpret truth. We can embrace truth. We can manipulate truth. But ignoring truth only clouds the lens through which we see the world around us.     

"What is truth?"  

"Who cares?"

Truth sometimes hurts. The truth is often frightening. Truth convicts. Truth reveals.

Truth is truth. Reality is often a lie.

Lent is a quest for truth; not necessarily the truth of others, or the world around us, but the truth of ourselves. Ironically, the truth that lies within ourselves will reveal external truth as well. When we come to face the truth of who we really are, we see others as they are as well. That can be ugly and beautiful at the same time. Dark and light in concert with each other. The path of truth often splinters off into various trails, but as we follow "the way and the truth and the life", we find that our journey is more straightforward than we realize. 

Lord, we seek truth. Your truth. But as we walk through this world, we realize that things are not always that simple. We make mistakes, we take the wrong path, and sometimes we choose the lie rather than truth. As we follow You, Lord, enable us to see Your truth as clear as we can. We know that our perception is limited, but with You, there is no limit. Amen     

    

Lenten Reflections: Third Sunday of Lent

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

Matthew 18:21-22
 
What a different world we would live in if forgiveness were give as freely and as often. How many relationship saved? How many homes with peace restored? How many families kept together? How many counseling offices left empty? How many bottles of Rolaids unopened? 

But forgiveness is not easy. 

"Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive." - CS Lewis

We have no problem saying, "I forgive you."; forgiveness is another thing altogether.

Forgiveness is unconditional.

"I forgive you....Well, just until you hurt me again.  I'll keep the knife sharp, just in case." 


Forgiveness is total release; not so much the person forgiven, but the one who forgives. For when we refuse to forgive, we hold more than the other carries.
 
When we refuse to forgive, we hold darkness inside ourselves, and refuse light into our lives.

When we refuse to forgive, we deny healing and allow the cancer to consume us.

When we refuse to forgive, we reveal to God our arrogance, and proverbially flip Him off.

When we refuse to forgive, we sin.

"Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again." - St. Augustine
  
Now that sounds familiar.

Lord, in Your love and mercy, You are faithful to forgive us, when we hurt You and others. As You have given us unconditional forgiveness, enable us to give the same to others. For when we unconditionally forgive, we reveal Your light to a culture of unforgiven. Amen

Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday - Humiliation

 
"You are dust...." - Genesis 3:19

Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.

As Lent begins, we're humiliated. Lent is not joyful. Lent is not a season that we greet each other with glad tidings. Lent is dark. And as Advent culminates in celebration, Lent culminates in death. Advent is intricately melded into Christmas.  Lent is broken by a week of reflection, healing and preparation for the joy that resumes at Easter.

Ashes mark our foreheads, reminding us of sin and the deteriorating nature of this world. We are dust. The world is broken. And the dust that we come from will become our humiliation when it finds us again. When our mortal bodies breath their last breath, we are humiliated one last time in dust. We are dust. We are broken.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

The ashes also remind us that the God of the universe faced humiliation as well. By becoming dust and returning to it's embrace, Jesus was dust. Jesus was humiliated. Jesus was broken. The heavenly became earthly. The immortal became mortal, if only for a brief interlude of history.

He became humiliation so that one day our dust may life forever. We will cast off the dust. We will be fixed. 

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

As we begin the Lenten Season, let us remember that our healing of humiliation comes through Christ. By His humiliation, ours was lifted. By His temporary embrace of the dust, our dust thus becomes immortal. By the donning of ashes upon our heads, let us face our humiliation with the hope of resurrection. Through Christ, our ashes become beautiful. Through Christ, the broken is repaired. Through Christ, our humiliation becomes joy.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

Advent to Lent.

Birth and Death.

Beginning. Ending. Rising.  

Lord, as we begin this Lenten Season, humiliated by the ashes we receive, enable us to reflect on the sin that we so often try to avoid. Help us to remember that although we are dust, broken and mortal, we will one day rise with You, perfect and immortal. 

Amen.