Saturday, March 31

Exodus 10:21-11:8

Psalms 42, 43, 137, 144

2 Corinthians 4:13-18

Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10: 46-52

“Take heart; rise, he is calling you.”  And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus.

How is it that the blind man can see Jesus, and know he has the power to heal, and he exercises the courage to ask for healing?  And yet the great multitude within which Jesus is standing, who can see Jesus, are asking nothing from Jesus.  Our eyes are a great gift but they can also be a burden.  The multitudes see Jesus and they judge him to be just like any other Rabbi - a great teacher.  And since this passage reveals nothing about miracles being done in Jericho before this encounter with the blind man, they do not perceive the healing power of Jesus.  The blind man only knows of Jesus from what he has heard from his place on the roadside.

Imagine being that blind man; each day sitting there on the roadside as people pass into and out of Jericho, hearing bits and pieces of the story of Jesus.  No one taking time with you to give you the whole story in one sitting.  As you sit there in the sun begging, you weave together in your mind the story of Jesus from the fragments you have heard, and begin to formulate your own picture of who and what Jesus really is and what he is really doing.  Without the hindrance of sight and in the absence of judgment you weave a story based on facts and not the perceptions that sight can create.  The blind man’s picture of Jesus was so perfect in his mind that he was able to spring from his seated position on the ground, to his feet, and move towards Jesus.  He was drawn to Jesus and God was guiding him. ( for no one comes to Jesus except through the Father).  

We Christians have been hearing about Jesus all our lives, from the very day of our birth.  We have been creating in our mind a picture of who Jesus is and what he can do in and with our lives.  If all of a sudden we heard the words from the lips of another person, “Take heart; rise, Jesus is calling you.”  Would we be throwing off our mantles and springing to our feet and racing towards Jesus?  Or would we be as blind as the multitudes who when seeing Jesus, only saw a great teacher?  We are called to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole mind and our whole soul.  Nothing about loving based on sight. 

Lord give me the faith of a blind man that I might know you not by what I see but by what you reveal to me in my time with you in prayer and meditation.

“Take heart; rise, he is calling you.”

Bob Felice

Friday, March 30

Exodus 9:13-35

Psalms 22, 141, 143

2 Corinthians 4:1-12

Mark 10:32-45

Mark 10:38-48

The passage challenges us with the notion that to be great in life, you must be a servant.  Unfortunately, that concept runs counter to what many of us have been led to believe by our culture.  We often are caught up with the belief that the definition of success is having power, prestige, and possessions.  We define the perfect vacation where we can go totally relax and be pampered/indulged by wait staff.  We relish being served by others.

However, Jesus measured greatness in terms of service, not status. In fact, that is exactly what he called himself - a servant.  In the business world, many books have been written on leadership, but few on servanthood.  Servanthood runs counter to the world's idea of greatness.  In the rat race of life, climbing up the corporate ladder is the goal of many.  We would rather be generals than privates.  Everyone wants to be a leader; few strive to be a servant.  But God wants us to be servants.  He wants us to give our time and talents to others, not keeping it to our own pursuits.  God also tests us by asking us to serve in ways that don't always play to our strengths, but rather where the needs are at the moment.  He does that to test our maturity.  He does that to test our character.  It's been said that the true measure of one's character is what you do when no one is looking.  Jesus said, "You can tell what they are by what they do."

God calls us to a service beyond what we understand.  He has created us for a life of good deeds.  Whenever we serve others in any way, we are actually serving God.  There is no insignificant service to God - - it is all important in His eyes.

Doug Hart

Thursday, March 29

Exodus 7:25-8:19

Psalms 131, 132, 133, 140, 142

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Mark 10:17-31

At the beginning of Exodus, Chapter 8, we hear God tell Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says:  Let my people go, so that they may worship me.’” (NIV)  In reading all of today’s readings, it was this phrase that stuck with me.  It’s probably because I’ve always had a problem with the idea that God needs us to worship Him.  I mean, God’s not human.  Although we always seem to be attributing human qualities to God, we know that He is a spiritual being, all powerful and all knowing.  He can’t possibly have a fragile ego.  He certainly can’t be so insecure that He needs us to reassure Him of His greatness.  Of course, most believers would argue that it isn’t God who needs us to worship Him.  It’s just the opposite.  We need to engage in the act of worshiping, whether it’s through quiet prayer or boisterous singing.  It’s good for us, and it strengthens our relationship with God.  It is an essential spiritual practice.

Recently, I was reading a book* by a man writing about, among other things, his travels in Bhutan.  What impressed this guy about the Bhutanese was the way they did almost everything very deliberately, very attentively.  Even a simple handshake was a truly meaningful act.  He went on to say he felt the word “attention” was underrated.  While he sat at his computer and typed the words of his book, his 2-year-old daughter sat at his feet, vying for his attention.  What did she want?  His love?  Not exactly.  She wanted his “pure, undiluted attention.”  The writer observed that perhaps love and attention really are the same thing.  Not “counterfeit attention” (people, especially kids, can spot that), but genuine attention.  Isn’t that how it is with worship?  When we worship, we show our love for God by giving Him our “pure, undiluted attention.” 

This Lenten season, are you giving God the attention He deserves?

Evelyn Snow

*The book referenced is The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (2008)

Wednesday, March 28

Exodus 7:8-24

Psalms 119:145-176, 128, 129, 130

2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6

Mark 10:1-16

2 Corinthians 2:14-26

“…in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence.”

A few of us were able to be at the recent Diocesan Council meeting and were privileged to hear Bishop Andy’s inspiring (in today’s terminology, awesome) address.  His text (Isaiah 55v.11) which I have written just below, amplifies and completes the text I have chosen from today’s appointed readings.  It is from Isaiah 55:v.11 and is as follows:

“…so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth; it shall not return to me empty….” 

Thus it seems we are not only as Christians appointed as persons speaking for God, in His presence, but we are assured that there will be an outcome from whatever we say and do.  It strikes me we would be wise to pray deeply that the things we say and do have the effect that God wants and do not come back empty.

All my life I have believed that most Anglicans, and that includes Episcopalians, find that their evangelism fits most comfortably in the example we set in the way we conduct our lives and the ways in which we interact with others.  We do not feel called to knock on doors or hand out tracts on street corners, but are more likely to work in the ways of the church, to give our time and our talents and our money to the many opportunities which increasingly seem to exist today.  But given that our words (and actions) will not have the wrong effect we have to be careful. This does not mean being fearful, for we have our Lord within us and behind us, guiding us to do the right thing.

Of course we shall sometimes fail – we are human after all.  But I take comfort from knowing that we can be forgiven and learn from our mistakes.

As we move on in this Lent season I pray that we can all be ready to listen to the words of Jesus, to reflect them in what we say and do. To speak with sincerity as persons sent from God, and that our words and actions do not return empty. 

Ron Merrett

Tuesday, March 27

Exodus 5:1-6:1

Psalms 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126

1 Corinthians 14:20-40

Mark 9:42-50

Included among today’s readings are six of the 15 Psalms known as the Songs of Ascents.  As I read in preparation for this meditation my first impression was that overall, these psalms seem rather cheerful for Lent; more like hymns of rejoicing than penitential reflections.  The name “Song of Ascents” has an upbeat, almost buoyant, feeling to it.

But upon re-reading, I found the architects of our lectionary were perfectly right to include these in our Lenten readings.  It seems very possible that these Psalms were uppermost in Jesus’ mind when He was “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.”*  The Songs of Ascents were (are) associated in Jerusalem with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, which commemorates Israel’s period of wandering in the wilderness.  Certainly it seems likely that Jesus would have found comfort and strength, as he prepared “to be tempted by the devil,”* in the message of protection dominant throughout these psalms.  “I lift up my eyes to the hills, From whence does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2 RSV).

Each psalm also sings of peace, joy after suffering and God made manifest to his people, messages recurrent throughout Lent, Holy Week and Easter. As we know from the Beatitudes, the labors for God in this life bring a blessed “harvest” of Easter joy.  The Psalms for today end with 126:5-6 “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!  He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”  Throughout Lent and the painful events commemorated in Holy Week, we also remember what is to come.  These six Songs of Ascents remind us that God will lead us through the wilderness (whatever that wilderness may be) to Easter, when we will come rejoicing.  

*Matthew 4:1, RSV

Karen Montgomery