SUSAN K ROWLAND    

DAILY 'LENTEN MOMENTS' FOR THIS  WEEK

Sunday, Feb. 28: The Second Sunday of Lent
Sunday’s Gospel reading is Luke 9:28b-36: The Transfiguration.

Sunday’s prayer starter: Spend some quiet time today imagining yourself on that mountain with Peter, John and James, seeing Jesus transfigured into his glory right in front of you. See Elijah and Moses come to Jesus and converse with Him. How would you feel? What would you do?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the former covenant between God and the Israelites with the New Covenant he is establishing. The terms of this new covenant are more exacting than the observances required of the Israelites. We are expected to love our enemies; to pray for those who persecute us; to accept and love everyone, not just our families and friends. Then Jesus sums up the New Covenant with: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Part of me (the childish part) wants to cry out, "Do you know what you’re asking? I can’t possibly do that. I’ve got enough to do to get through each day. Be perfect??"

Jesus smiles at us when we feel like that. He knows we can’t be perfect on our own. God would not ask the impossible of us, and God knows how impossible this is -- far better than we do! So, was Jesus teasing? Not at all. Jesus knew that his self-sacrifice on the cross, his death and resurrection, would bring us into a whole new relationship with God. He knew God would send the Holy Spirit to us, giving each of us the ultimate "life coach" to guide us to perfection. "Be perfect" as a command really means "Surrender your life to Me. Let Me make you perfect--as your heavenly Father is perfect."

That does not mean that we are to be passive, that we have nothing to do with our spiritual development. Think of a baby learning to walk. The parents must get the baby on his feet, keep picking her up when she falls. But the baby is enthusiastic and keeps working at it--with joy and laughter. We are God’s own children. God respects us and lets us participate in our spiritual growth. "Being perfect as God is perfect" is not easy; it is impossible for us to do on our own. But God’s work in our lives to make us perfect should be joy to us.

Today’s Scripture readings:
Deuteronomy 26:16-19: God’s covenant with the Israelites is ratified in this reading. "Today you have obtained the Lord’s agreement: To be your God; and for you to walk in his ways …"
Matthew 5:43-48: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Today’s prayer starter:

Has Jesus’ command, "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," filled you with anxiety or uneasiness? Have you thought you were supposed to do this on your own? How do you feel about this command now?

To hear some people talk, even Christians who should know better, one would think God was a harsh taskmaster, exacting and difficult to please. The Israelites were being punished for their sins, but God was taking no pleasure in this. In fact, it was breaking God‘s heart. God had warned them over and over, had attempted to restore the loving relationship they had once enjoyed. We always reap what we have sown. There are always consequences to our actions. If there weren’t, we would never learn and never grow. We would either become completely depraved, or end up like infants, never reaching our full potential as God’s sons and daughters.

The idea that God is harsh, distant, and hard to please is an immature view of God. It is not worthy of the true, loving God, and it is not worthy of us, his children. St. Paul wrote, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways." (I Cor. 13:11). Let’s put away these childish images of God and become spiritual adults.

Those of us who are maturing and coming to know God have seen another vision of God, very different from the world’s distorted view. We know God as Father and Mother, tender, loving, forgiving, interested in us. This is a God who weeps when we weep, who laughs when we laugh, who rejoices when we do well, who picks us up when we fall. This is a God who wants an intimate, one-on-one relationship with each of us. Today’s Scripture readings:Ezekiel 18:21-28: God assures us that, if we turn away from sin, he will forgive us. "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?"Matthew 5:20-26: "If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift."Today’s prayer starter: How has your image of God changed as you have matured as a Christian?

It’s a peculiar trait of us human beings that, when faced with troubles or problems, we will try almost anything before we give it up and go to God with the problem. We will throw all our thought and energy into the situation, trying to make things right ourselves. We often exhaust ourselves with our efforts. Apparently, we believe deep down that, "God helps those who help themselves," even though we know, as Christians, this is not true.

Jesus gave us the assurance that God loves us and is always ready to help us. Still, God gives us the dignity of choosing for ourselves. If we want to ‘go it alone,’ God will not force us. If we say, in effect, "Hands off. I can handle this," God will back off. How many of our worst problems have been the result of our trying to act as though we were God? How many situations could be transformed if we would only "ask, seek, knock?"

Jesus says that everyone who asks receives, everyone who searches finds, and everyone who knocks finds God opening the door to them. Jesus isn’t speaking to some elevated, special, holy people; he is speaking to all of us. "God is your Father," he says. "You parents know how to answer your children’s requests. You don’t give them stones or snakes when they ask for food. Don’t you think God is as wise and as loving are you are?" We need to trust God more, like little children do. We need to go to God first and ask when we are in need.

Today’s Scripture readings:
Esther C: 12; 14-16: "God of Abraham, spare your people," Esther and Mordecai turned to God when they discovered a plot to destroy the Israelite people. God heard their prayers, and the people were saved.
Matthew 7:7-12: "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you."

Today’s prayer starter: What is my greatest need today? Before I do anything else about it, have I brought it to God and asked for help and guidance?

Yesterday, we thought about Matthew 6:7-10, the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, from "Our Father" to "on earth as it is in heaven." Now we are on more comfortable ground. Look at verse 11: We get to ask for something for ourselves. But, wait, Jesus takes care of all our needs and wants and worries and fears in seven words: "Give us this day our daily bread." That’s all? I want to explain to God all the things I need, all the things I’m concerned about. And I want to give God instructions as to the best way to handle these matters. After all, it’s my life! But no, Jesus says, all the earthly matters that take up so much of my time and energy can be disposed of in seven words. Give me what I need today, Lord. That’s it.

Forgiveness is the next topic of Jesus’ ideal prayer. But there is a twist here that we must pay attention to. We do not approach God with the petition, "Forgive me, and someday I’ll get around to forgiving those who have hurt me." The way I read it, we go to God and ask forgiveness when we have forgiven others. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is how God can forgive sin. But our sacrifice when we ask for forgiveness is to forgive those who have wronged us.

Finally, Jesus reminds us of an important fact of life: We are in the middle of a war, a cosmic war over the souls of everyone on this planet. We ask God to protect us, especially when we are about to walk right into danger. We ask God to rescue us when we wander into sin. Go back to verse 10, where we pray for God’s Kingdom to come on this earth. Jesus’ words remind us not to get comfortable here on this earth. This is not our home, and although God is more than able to protect us, we cannot get careless. We are surrounded by enemies who want to destroy us and everyone we love.

Today’s Scripture Readings:
Jonah 3:1-10: Jonah is sent to the people of Nineveh to tell them they are about to be punished for their sins. To Jonah’s surprise, they actually repent, averting God’s judgment.
Luke 11:29-32: Jesus tells the stubborn people of His time that someday the Ninevites, who listened to Jonah, will judge the people of Jesus’ day for their unbelief.

Today’s prayer starter:

Say the second half of the Lord’s Prayer slowly and thoughtfully. Again, what phrase or word leaps out at you and makes you uncomfortable? What is God saying to you through your reaction?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray His way: simply, directly, and with the right priorities. Have you ever examined the Lord’s Prayer closely? We say it so often and so quickly, we may be missing its treasures and the subtle lessons Jesus was teaching us through it.

The first half of the Lord’s Prayer is entirely about God and our relationship with Him. We should be very mindful of what we’re telling God. We call God "Our Father," and the word Jesus used here was not the formal "father" but the familiar "Abba" or "Daddy." So the first thing you do when you say the Lord’s Prayer is to call God your Daddy. And you are saying that your Daddy is Holy--perfect, divine, majestic, your creator who is worthy of your worship.

Listen to what you are saying to God in the second verse. You are saying you want God’s Kingdom to arrive on earth, God’s will to be done here as it is, perfectly, in heaven. This is a dangerous, revolutionary thing to pray for! Every time we say this prayer, we are asking God to overthrow the very systems and values in which we’ve lived all our lives. We are pretty comfortable with our world’s ways of doing things, with the consumerism, the pleasures, the busyness, the "stuff." If we pay attention to this part of the Lord’s Prayer, we should squirm a little at this part.

We will continue examining the Lord’s Prayer tomorrow.

Today’s Scripture readings:
Isaiah 55:10-11: "As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth … so shall my word be. It shall not return to me empty." God’s word always accomplishes what God intended; we can take comfort in that.Matthew 6:7-15: Jesus teaches us how to pray--the Lord’s Prayer.

Today’s prayer starter:

Say the first half of the Lord’s Prayer slowly and thoughtfully. What phrase or word leaps out at you, makes you uncomfortable? What is God saying to you through your reaction?

"You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." and "…just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." Today’s Scripture readings hang together and make it clear that God regards holiness in very practical terms. Keeping the Commandments; helping the poor, the sick, the homeless; giving unselfishly to those in need.

What of my insistence in these Lenten Moments that we need to spend time in prayer daily, keep the Sabbath, sit still and open ourselves to the "living water" Jesus promised? Why can’t we just jump into social justice ministry and ‘do stuff’ for the disadvantaged? Why pull away from active doing, work, which we like, and make ourselves be still before God every day, which can be uncomfortable and seems less productive? The answer: Because we can’t jump into caring for others -- or any work -- without prayer. We can’t run ahead of God, decide on our own what we should do, and go do it without communicating with God. Jesus never did that. Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God, but he never started his day’s ministry without going out to the desert early in the morning to sit with God. Why do we think we can?

Many of us miss the real implications of these Scripture passages. We think the "doing" is an end in and of itself. "Do this, and you won’t be a goat and go to hell." But God says "holiness" is the goal. The things we do are the fruit of that holiness. Justice, fairness, compassion for the downtrodden, love for the unlovable--these things are impossible for us. They require an infusion of God’s love. And we receive those infusions during our time alone with God and during our Sabbaths, when we give up "doing" for the day and soak in God’s rest.

Today’s Scripture readings:
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18: The Hebrew people are given basic rules of holiness, most of them having to do with how they treat one another. All these things apply to us today. "Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen." (I John: 4:20).
Matthew 25:31-46: Jesus speaks vividly of the final "judgment of the nations." The criteria, again, is how we treat one another. How do we treat the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the criminals? If we see them as God sees them, we will treat them as though they were Jesus himself. We will be acting as God acts; we will be holy as God is holy.

Today’s prayer starter:
Do you find it more difficult to sit still in prayer than to be doing things? Why do you think this is? Recall a time when you "ran ahead of God" and threw yourself into a project without praying about it. What happened?