Lent 2020 - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2020 | Day 23: “Glory”

As we continue our devotions through Lent, I feel the weight of the shift that has taken place. The world wide pandemic has really altered my perspective. It’s not that I wasn’t aware of the realities I’m addressing. It’s they have taken on a new texture and significance. I really feel like the way I see the world and my faith and God has changed. And I can honestly say it is in a positive direction.

I can’t really explains it. I’m not really trying to. I just know that after this whole thing is behind us, I know I will have been changed.

In a weird way, this is what glory means to me. In almost every instance I can remember in scripture, when glory is referenced it usually means God’s glory. And when God’s glory is in view, we are usually seeing it in its fullest expression. The glory of God is wonderful, if you can withstand it. But no sinner can. And so for us there is a sense in which God’s glory is horrify rather than edifying. The funny thing is that regardless, something will change when you encounter God’s glory.

As we continue drawing closer to Easter, I would encourage all of us to prepare to behold the glory of God. That way, when we come face to face with him we will rejoice and not cower.

Lent 2020 | 4th Sunday in Lent: “Celebrate”

Let us celebrate today, for He is good and in all things he is faithful to us.

Today’s the 4th Sunday in Lent. Every Sunday in Lent is not technically a part of the season of Lent. It serves as a reminder of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ because every Sunday is a celebration of what the gospel proclaims. So this Sunday, and every Sunday in the season of Lent, we will celebrate what it means to have been saved. So, rather than an extended devotion, I would like to offer you a song that can help us to focus our attention and to give worship to God for the sacrifice, ministry, mission, and purpose of His Son our Savior, Jesus Christ, as we celebrate the renewed life that we have in him. Let us celebrate today, for He is good and in all things he is faithful to us.

Lent 2020 | Day 22: “Listen”

Regardless of the thing that has increased this awareness, what I have noticed is that we are listening more.

With everything happening, it has been interesting to see what people have become more aware of. For some people it’s their relationships. For others it was how much time was dedicated to one activity or another. For some it has been how unprepared or how prepared they were for a hardship.

Regardless of the thing that has increased this awareness, what I have noticed is that we are listening more. Not just half-heartedly paying attention. That is still happening I’m sure. But I find that more people are actually listening to friends, family, their heart, and most importantly God.

One of the greatest challenges in life is to be present in the moment. And now that the majority of the world is being asked to stay indoors we are not being distracted as often as we normally are. There is only so much you can do when you are confined to you home. You have to get creative. You have to really pay attention to what you really want, not just to pass the time. But to fulfill you soul. You can only do this when you listen.

As we continue preparing for Easter morning, I would encourage us to be more intentional in our listening. To really make an effort to do the hard work of staying in the moment. If we do, we may just learning something we have need to learn for a while. But never gave ourselves the time to accept.

Lent 2020 | Day 21: “See”

Sometimes our vision is impaired by something that is right in front of us but remains veiled for some reason.

Do you remember that time that Jesus spit on a blind man’s eyes?

Yeah… Jesus did that.

It is one of those stories that has to be true, because if it wasn’t, why would you put it in there. It is not something I would think to do. But that is exactly what we find in Mark 8:23.

Apparently, some people brought this man to Jesus and asked him to heal the man’s blindness. Jesus led the man out of the village and then spit on his eyes. He asked the man if he could see. The man answered yes, but that the picture wasn’t very clear. He could see people, but they looked like walking trees.

Jesus then touched the man’s eyes and his vision was completely restored.

This really is a curious story. Why did Jesus go through the trouble of only “partially” healing the man the first time, only to finish the job with a second effort? I think it has to do with the instructions that Jesus gave the man.

After the healing, Jesus tells the man to go home, but not to go back to the village. You see, there was something about that village, something in that village that causes Jesus great concern. The healing did not take place in the village, but outside the village. And after the healing was completed the man was sent away from the village. But there was an intermediary step. Jesus revealed something to the man about the people in the village. He called them walking trees.

Now, I am not going to make up some meaning as to what Jesus could have wanted the man to know, but the man seemed to heed the warning.

At least on the surface of things we can say that trees aren’t supposed to walk. But these did. That would imply that there was something unnatural going on there. Something that would have been an obstacle to both the man’s healing (therefore his removal prior to “partial” healing) and his growing faith (as revealed by the question after the “partial” healing).

We all desire to see. To know what is going on around us. But, sometimes our vision is impaired by something that is right in front of us but remains veiled for some reason. Because of this, it takes a “partial” removal of the problem to expose it.

In this season of uncertainty, we are being confronted with a global blindness. We do not know what is happening or why. But for those of us who trust in Jesus we must ask ourselves, what is God revealing to us in this intermediary step? What are the walking trees that are being exposed that we must walk away from?

In this season of Lent, let us pray that as we prepare for the completion of the healing Jesus promises, we take notice of what God is trying to help us to see.

Lent 2020 | Day 20: “Able”

God is able to do what he has promised.

As we enter another day trying to make sense of things in the time of Coronavirus, the focus for today made me think of a song. It is a song based on Psalm 121, one of the Songs of Ascents.

A song of ascent was a Psalm sung by the Hebrew people as they went up to Jerusalem for worship. As they traveled they would sing and remind themselves of who God was, what he had done, and what he had promised. This psalm, in particular, reminds us that regardless of what may be happening around us, God is able to do what he has promised. This psalm is written in the language of covenant and promise. God is active in this psalm. He is doing stuff. And the stuff he is doing should be a comfort and a reminder to us.

¹I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. ²My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. ³He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. ⁴Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. ⁶The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. ⁷The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. ⁸The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (KJV)

Take a couple of minutes and reflect on the beautiful promises of God in this Psalm.

Lent 2020 | Day 19: “Sent”

What I find most interesting about this moment in history for the church, is that it is redefining what it means to be sent.

The focus for today’s devotion is “sent.”

I find today’s focus a little ironic considering the fact that mass population quarantines are being recommended or enforced. And yet, in the world we live in, we can still find ways to live as people on mission.

What I find most interesting about this moment in history for the church, is that it is redefining (not in the sense of a new meaning, but in that of returning to the original sense) what it means to be sent. Being sent is not about location. It is about mindset.

Because of our new birth, we have been made Ambassadors for Christ. We have been given a mission to which we must all submit. Our jobs are not an impediment to being sent, it is the place we have been sent to. Our recreation is not a distraction to being sent, it is an opportunity to demonstrate the normalcy of our “sent-ness.” Our families are not hindrances to being sent, they are the first recipients of who we have become in Christ.

What the pandemic has done, what it is doing is reacquainting us with who we, those who claim membership in Christ’s body, were always bent to be and what we were always meant to be doing. This is quite remarkable.

I don’t know why we must live thru these days. I don’t know what life in this world will look like after it’s all over. But, I am growing in my sense of this, we will not be able to look at ourselves the same. We will have changed. My hope is that it will be for the better. I pray that we will take advantage of the time we are being given.

The urgency of the situation requires an equally urgent response. The world needs to know that God has spoken and when we who have responded to his call respond, we will respond like Jesus who was sent into the world. We will say, “I am ready. Send me.”

Lent 2020 | Day 18: “Light”

Even when the darkness seems great, a small flicker can become a beacon of hope.

This is what I have felt in the last few days as the world has had to face the Coronavirus pandemic.

Even when the darkness seems great, a small flicker can become a beacon of hope.

This is what I have felt in the last few days as the world has had to face the Coronavirus pandemic.

There are so many questions and not enough answers. There are seem to be an insurmountable number of obstacles and not enough avenues of escape. If we are not careful, we can turn our backs on the only source of hope available to us because there seems to be so much darkness around.

I have often wondered what it means that Jesus is the light of the world. And by extension, that we are the Church, a city on a hill. These metaphors are related. They share the same purpose but have different functions. As the city, we reflect the light that emanates from the source, Jesus the Messiah. We do not possess light of our own. It is a borrowed splendor. Something that we should never confuse, but many times end up doing.

The apostle Paul offered one of the most remarkable descriptions of Jesus every captured in the Scripture. He said to the Corinthians, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Two questions emerge here. When did God say this? He said it when the earth was formless and void. In the beginning, there was nothing in all of creation that reflected his goodness, but he said, “Let there be light,” and out of himself, light shone forth.

But the wondrous mystery is this. What was the nature of that light? It was Jesus himself. Jesus is the light that God sent into the world at creation. And he is the light that entered into the world at his incarnation. This is what light does. It changes the very definitions we use to describe the work of God. God sends forth light and we look upon Jesus’ face.

In this light, there is the knowledge that transforms our minds and glory that inspires worship. But in order to see both of these there needed to be light.

Light is what reminds us that darkness is not a thing with its own substance. It is merely the absence of something. For when the light shines, darkness flees.

In this season of Lent, let us look toward the light. Let us remember that the darkness does not linger when the light shines. Let hold fast to the promise that in God, “the Father of light,” there is no shadow of turning, and from Son shines a light that removes the fear of the night.

Lent 2020 | Day 17: “Revealed”

The prestige of every trick is the part of the trick that the audience is anticipating but has doubts of its achievement.

Our focus for today is the “revealed.”

One of my favorite moved is “The Prestige.” It is an interesting movie about two magicians who are vying to become the best in the world. What makes the movie compelling is that you don’t quite know what is going on. You see what they want you to see, but the “trick” that is being played against us (the audience) is not easy to pick up on.

In one of the early scenes, we are given a hint at what the movie is really about. The three acts of a magic trick are explained.

“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”.” [Source]

The prestige of every trick is the part of the trick that the audience is anticipating but has doubts of its achievement. This is the part that causes the awe in those watching.

I don’t want to conflate a movie with the Word of God. I do want to say that when I think about the miracle of Jesus being born and dying for the redemption of the world is like the prestige of a trick. The reason being that when we consider what the Scriptures claim Jesus actually did, not merely pretended to do, we all struggle to believe our eyes.

But that is exactly what we are called to do.

There are two passages of scripture that point to truthfulness of this revelation: Romans 5:6 and Galatians 4:4a.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…”

Both of these passages speak of a moment in time. A point in history when God exploded through the veil of eternity and made himself known in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God had to wait for the right time to make his entrance. Why? Because God was working something out that required perfect time.

In Jesus, the fullness of God was revealed to the world (Colossian 2:9).

In Jesus, the power of God’s grace was finally demonstrated.

In Jesus, the wonder of God’s mercy was finally made available.

In Jesus, the God of the universe was revealed.

As we continue our steady march toward Resurrection Sunday, we must ask ourselves: have we seen what God has revealed? If so, can others see it in us?

Lent 2020 | 3rd Sunday in Lent: “Celebrate”

Let us celebrate today, for He is good and in all things he is faithful to us.

Today’s the 2nd Sunday in Lent. Every Sunday in Lent is not technically a part of the season of Lent. It serves as a reminder of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ because every Sunday is a celebration of what the gospel proclaims. So this Sunday, and every Sunday in the season of Lent, we will celebrate what it means to have been saved. So, rather than an extended devotion, I would like to offer you a song that can help us to focus our attention and to give worship to God for the sacrifice, ministry, mission, and purpose of His Son our Savior, Jesus Christ, as we celebrate the renewed life that we have in him. Let us celebrate today, for He is good and in all things he is faithful to us.

Lent 2020 | Day 16: “Ripe”

One of the great challenges that we have in the church today is that we have not learned how to distinguish between that which is ripe with that which is not yet ready.

When I consider the word ripe, I think of that which is ready, that which has reached its point of maturity. One of the great challenges that we have in the church today is that we have not learned how to distinguish between that which is ripe with that which is not yet ready.

I didn’t grow up on a farm, I didn’t grow up learning how to tend to a field of crops. And because of this, I feel that I am a little bit unprepared for the reality of what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God. Our pastor, Bishop Luis R. Scott, tells us that we live in an agricultural system. We live in a world where the principles of seedtime and harvest are in operation. Where seasons come and go.

Jesus even told His disciples after his encounter with the woman at the well, that God is looking for laborers who will go into the field. Why? Because the fields are ripe unto harvest. Jesus was revealing to his disciples that there was something in them (and us!) that has a difficult time seeing when something, spiritually speaking, has finally come to maturity. We would like to think that we know how to help others become what Jesus wants. But the reality is not so easy.

We all could be more effective in connecting and interacting with this world. In determining when someone is ready to go from attendance and participate in discipleship and fellowship. And from these into ministry of some form. not necessarily formally, but within the context of who God has made them to be.

If we cannot tell when something is ripe, how will we know when we must act? I think the challenge of the season of Lent is we are challenged to look back and to see if have we truly been growing ourselves? Are we ready? Are we ready to become laborers in this field? Ready to bring in the harvest that Jesus said is right in front of us.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a better laborer in the vineyard.