Category: Theological Rant
First Sunday of Lent
Each year our Regional Youth Council (RYC) creates a devotion eBook for Lent and Advent. The adults that serve as sponsors for RYC work with a different group each year. The pandemic has been particularly hard for some of us to feel inspired or inspirational during these “holy” days of Christendom. Below is the devotion for the first Sunday of Lent from the self published ebook, Lent: a Daily Journey 2021.
I invited you to join our youth in this daily journey.
Psalm 25:1-10
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore the Lord instructs sinners in the way. The Lord leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble the way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep covenant and the decrees.
Click here to download a pdf. Click here to download an epub.
a Wednesday prayer
Before there was “cloud” storage or even disk drives most ministers kept files of sermon ideas and the manuscripts of sermons or prayers they have written. Being an old GenXer, I’ve got both files of written sermons and words stored in the cloud. Monday of this week I was looking through my printed sermons file. It was humorous, humbling, and I noted a theology that has matured. Oh my. On occasion I’ve saved a prayers in those files. The words below were handwritten on legal pad paper. The first page of the prayer reads, “Pastoral Prayer.” There was no date, but I suspect it is during the Persian Gulf War (1990-91). It was originally written for the season of Lent, but it seems appropriate for late 2020.
Holy and loving God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse our innermost hearts and hear our prayer.
The sledge hammer of world events has, and is, pounding us. Our bodies are bruised and our minds tired, but our prayer for peace and for the safe keeping of friends and loves ones continues on. We pray that Your spirit will fill the United Nations so that in the silent moments the delegates might know that you are God.
O God, parent of us all, we need to be cradled in your arms. Allow us to cry, but do not let us slip down the slide of despair. You are the God of our ancestors, the keeper of covenant, and your people need your loving presence in their lives. We need a word and an experience of hope to keep us strong when the sledge hammer pounds us.
During the season of Lent we pray that you will forgive our sinful ways and cleanse our hearts. Show us, through your servant Jesus, that you are seeking us out, and like him, all we need to do is respond. But God, our private lives are busy and sometimes we do not see or hear You calling. Focus our attention and give us ears to hear the message of comfort that You whisper to us.
We pray for our Church. As our relationships mend help us to see the face of Christ on those who sit around us. Keep watch on us when we are sheep and empower us to speak a word of hope to those who are suffering. In a wave of silence, we bring to you our individual prayers.
All these prayers, spoken and silent, we offer to you, O God, our rock and our salvation. Keeper of covenant, hear our prayer.