I am finding it difficult to blog right now. I am not going to be able to complete the Lenten Readings. But, I would encourage you, especially during Holy Week, to read all of the Daily Readings.
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like one overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and his holy words. (Jeremiah 23:9)
It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. (Romans 9:16)
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. (John 6:63)
Let all who are wise heed these things
and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD. (Psalm 107:43)
Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly. (Psalm 102:2)
"I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD...This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior. (Jeremiah 23:3-4 & 6b)
And we know that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, optional reading)
Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57)
I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God. (Psalm 69:3)
"Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 22:15-16)
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17)
Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:45b-51)
Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, "Can I not do with you, house of Israel, as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (Jeremiah 18:5-9)
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8)
But you, Sovereign LORD,
help me for your name's sake;
out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me. (Psalm 109:21-22)
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:35-40)
How long, LORD, will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?
They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.
They crush your people, LORD;
they oppress your inheritance.
They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
They say, "The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob takes no notice."
Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise? (Psalm 94:3-8)
Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. (Jeremiah 17:23)
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:15)
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." (John 6:27)
Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the LORD. (Jeremiah 16:21)
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6)
Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?
You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. (Psalm 89:8)
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. (John 6:11)
He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it." (Mark 8:12)
Although our sins testify against us,
do something, LORD, for the sake of your name.
For our backsliding is great;
we have sinned against you. (Jeremiah 14:7)
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me! (Psalm 66:20)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
The themes of the past weeks continue into this week. Lent continues to be a time for us to reflect on our humanity. We are sinful and dependent. But, some of the readings for the week have begun to remind us that God hears us nonetheless. Even in God's wrathfulness and vengeance, which the Scripture is clear to communicate, God does not reject our prayer. In today's readings for example, we see two different sorts of requests. On the one hand we find Jesus denying the request for a sign. He is not into sensationalism (oh that we too would not be into it; the local news would be tons better!). Yet, God hears the requests of a penitent heart. God does not withhold God's love. Christ does not leave us in bondage to sin. He has set us free. And we are moving toward remembrance of the day in which that freedom was obtained. Thanks be to God!
These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless! (Jeremiah 13:10)
"Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (John 8:47)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14)
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)
But you, LORD Almighty, who judge righteously
and test the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause. (Jeremiah 11:20)
Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend. (Psalm 88:16-18)
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)
Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:34-36)
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:2)
LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.
Discipline me, LORD, but only in due measure—
not in your anger,
or you will reduce me to nothing. (Jeremiah 10:23-24)
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20b-21)
"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31b-32)
Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people? (Jeremiah 8:21-22)
Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live;
do not let my hopes be dashed. (Psalm 119:116)
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)
But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.' (Jeremiah 7:24-26)
Their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return. (Psalm 78:37-39)
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25)
"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." (John 7:37b-38)
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. (John 7:24)
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. (Jeremiah 7:5-7)
Now to anyone who works, their wages are not credited to them as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to anyone who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5)
Restore us, LORD God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:3, 7, & 19)
"From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
'Peace, peace,' they say,
when there is no peace.
Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,"
says the LORD. (Jeremiah 6:13-15)
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)
Jesus...said, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:19-20)
This past week I was struck by the strong words of Jeremiah. His prophetic words were directed at the greedy class and the nation as a whole. The words are rather hard to hear for an American. At the same time I hear the calming voice of the psalmist and I am reminded of God's preference for those often oppressed by greedy and deceitful individuals and haughty nations. With whom do I identify? Paul's words remind me that God is an equitable God, judging both Jew and Gentile alike, redeeming all by grace and faith, en-Spiriting all, showing mercy to all. No one is their own. Finally, the words of the evangelists do what good words of evangelists should do; they recall the good news. When taken together these Lenten readings speak the good news to each of us. Ought we to be amazed? How can we not be?
"Among my people are the wicked
who lie in wait like those who snare birds
and like those who set traps to catch people.
Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful
and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;
they do not defend the just cause of the poor.
Should I not punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?" (Jeremiah 5:26-29)
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22b-24)
My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. (John 7:6b-7)
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:14)
There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.
The poison of vipers is on their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.
There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10b-18)
You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:37b-40)
LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
You struck them, but they felt no pain;
you crushed them, but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than stone
and refused to repent. (Jeremiah 5:3)
Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy praise your name. (Psalm 74:21)
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats." (Jeremiah 4:10)
You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? (Romans 2:21-23)
Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. (John 5:19-23)
Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, LORD, to help me. (Psalm 70:1)
'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD,
'I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,' declares the LORD,
'I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt—
you have rebelled against the LORD your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,'
declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:12-13)
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:1-4)
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." (John 5:17)
For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight. (Psalm 72:12-14)
This is what the LORD says:
"What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves. (Jeremiah 2:5)
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed (Romans 1:17b)
Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2)
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (John 4:50b)
