Deuteronomy 26:1-11
The service of Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent reminds us that, from the earliest days, those who followed Jesus prepared for the celebration of his passion and resurrection through important rites (rituals). Baptism is a rite of passage through which we are joined to Christ and become members of the church. Other rituals can be ways that we remember we are part of a community that God has promised to sustain as well as recall that humans are always in need of God’s saving power. The Hebrew people, too, had important rituals for remembering who they were, and how their existence as a people showed God’s mighty power of salvation. Their gift of the first fruits of their harvest, the first life-sustaining food from their labor and the product of the land given to them by God was a gift of thanksgiving and praise. This gift was an important reminder of the status of humanity within the created order and their dependence on the God who created them and placed them as stewards of creation.
- What in your life would constitute “first fruits” that you might give to God in thanksgiving for God’s love and mercy?
- What other rites (rituals) besides baptism and reconciliation do you participate in at church? Are they more focused on joining the community or sustaining it? Name some important symbols or actions associated with these rites.
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
This psalm describes God’s character as strong, powerful, and ready to save those who call upon God’s name. Jesus is sustained by these truths during his time of temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). Although Satan quotes them to Jesus, only Jesus understands what they mean. To be “bound to [God] in love” and to know God’s name are the attributes of the faithful. The one who “dwells in the shelter of the Most High” has come to know and trust God through encountering God in the stories of Scripture that reveal God’s character.
- How has God revealed Godself to you through Scripture, the church, or in the person of Jesus?
- How does your knowledge of God help keep you safe in times of trouble or temptation? Have you seen or experienced “the shelter of the Most High?”
- Where have you come to know God’s Name? How do you feel that you are “bound to [God] in love?”
Romans 10:8b-13
This reading is contained within an extended argument in which Paul explains Gentile inclusion in Israel’s salvation history while acknowledging Jewish hesitancy to accept Jesus as Messiah. Paul writes that God’s salvation is available for all: Jew and Gentile. Salvation for all is possible because of God’s work (Romans 9:16: “So it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who shows mercy.”). Therefore, even Paul’s Gentile audience in Rome is able to claim Jesus as Lord and be sure of God’s salvation.
- This scripture is often used as a kind of formula to “prove” or “claim” salvation. Read in the context of the entire chapter (and chapter 9 before), do you see other possibilities for what this verse might mean?
- If salvation is from God, what part does human action play in choosing to accept or reject God’s generous gift? Why would God allow humans to choose to reject this gift?
Luke 4:1-13
Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for forty days, in an echo of the Hebrews’ forty-year sojourn in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt, and as a time of spiritual preparation for his earthly ministry. His temptation mirrors the temptations and trials of the Hebrews, and his resistance through total reliance on God through the use of Scripture shows Jesus to be an embodiment of faithful Israel and the one who will fulfill the Covenant. Jesus’ refusal to turn inward for strength and sustenance, his refusal to worship anything but God, and his acknowledgment and acceptance of the limits of his humanity on his expression of divinity (see Philippians 2:6: “Who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped.”) are all grounded in an embodied knowledge of God found within Hebrew Scripture. Lent is a time when we can practice journeying with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, examining our lives, returning to Scripture for nourishment, and asking God to forgive us for times when temptation has overcome our desire to love God and love our neighbor.
- Jesus is tempted physically (bread), materially (authority of rule over kingdoms), and spiritually (test the power of God). How are we tempted in similar ways in our lives? What do we know about God from Scripture that we can use to overcome these temptations?
- What gives you hope as you read this scripture? Where do you find Good News?
- What spiritual discipline or practice have you taken on, given up, or focused on this Lent? How do you believe this can help you keep a Holy Lent?
Benjamin Hopkins is a postulant to the priesthood from the Diocese of Western North Carolina and is proud to be a member of the second cohort of fully hybrid M.Div. students at General Theological Seminary. When he is not working on coursework for seminary or interning at a local parish, Ben is learning to grow food on a small farm in the foothills. He is grateful to share a life with his wife, Rebekah, and their two demanding cats, Jack and Lola. Ben loves to be in nature, hiking, camping, or just being.
|
