Lent: Day 26

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)

Lent: 1st Sunday

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land...When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. (Deut. 8:6-7a, 10)

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor. 1:25)

And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins. (Mark 2:22)

Since Ash Wednesday I have been posting portions of the Daily Readings from Year One of the Daily Office Lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer. My Lenten discipline is to read and meditate on the Daily Readings for all 46 days of the Lenten season (40 days of Lent + 6 Sundays). In order to keep myself to the task I decided to select a verse or two from each of the daily readings (Psalms, OT, NT, and Gospel) and arrange them in a way that captures the theme for the day (at least as far as I see it). I have not taken the time to offer reflections each day, but I thought that doing so on the Sundays would be a good part of the process.

As with much of the Lenten readings, the Scriptures this past week focus on two things: 1) self-awareness of sinfulness, and 2) God's mercy/grace/provision. Today's readings offer yet another theme to consider. The readings from 1 Cor. and Mark call to our attention the newness of God's graceful actions. What God has done and is doing cannot be contained or understood in the rationale of this world. It goes against everything that we know. It is appears foolish and weak, and yet it is stronger and wiser than what can be poured into the wineskins we are used to carrying things in. I worry when I and/or the Christian culture in general (especially among Americans, and even more especially among American Evangelicals) grow so accustom to a lifestyle that takes for granted God's strength, wisdom and newness that I fail to see how completely radical God's merciful provision is.

God, remind me anew each day of your foolish wisdom, your weak strength, your new wine. Quench my thirst, when I am in a dry land with no water. And when I am filled, let me praise you for bringing me into the good land you have given me.