The Lenten Pilgrimage - Day 7 

Wednesday, February 24th 

   “ Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                Matthew 6:1

     We have embarked upon an inner spiritual journey.  The Season of Lent invites us to do the necessary inner work of the soul in order that we might live our outer lives of discipleship more faithfully.  An authentic outer witness requires diligent inner work.

     Jesus warns us against religion for show, calling out false piety performed for the crowds.  Though we may impress our neighbor with outward religious acts, God knows our hearts.  And virtuous acts with self-serving motives will always produce bland fruit with a dismally short shelf life. 

     These are days to do the quiet work of the soul, days for prayer, for searching the Holy Scriptures and for serving our neighbor in hidden ways.

      Lent invites us to seek no reward other than the delight of our Father in heaven. 

Prayer

    Lord Jesus, we confess our propensity to want praise for our pious acts.  We confess our 

    desire to receive credit for the good we do.  We long for the kind of purity of purpose to which

    you call us as your followers.  We seek your grace to live, love and serve in ways that honor

    and glorify you, without any desire for the spotlight.  Save us from every expression of 

    surface, hollow religion.  Grant us grace to do the diligent and careful work required for inner

    holiness and righteousness, to your glory.  In your name we pray.  Amen.  

The Lenten Pilgrimage - Day 6

Tuesday, February 23rd 

   “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.”  

                                                                                                                      Luke 4:13          

                                                                                   

     Luke’s the only gospel writer that tacks on this final thought at the end of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness.   It’s as if Luke is reminding his readers that the deceiver doesn’t give up easily.  It’s also a reminder that temptations often come when they are most effective.  And the most effective time for a temptation to strike is when we find ourselves most vulnerable.  In other words, “an opportune time."

      The devil doesn’t give up easily!  Sin, often dazed, is seldom destroyed.  John Wesley once named our tendency to succumb to temptation when he preached that humanity was “created to stand, and yet liable to fall” (“The New Birth”, 1760).

      Perhaps its a good thing to remember this closing comment by Luke.  Maybe its helpful for us to identify our places of greatest vulnerability. 

      Here’s a thought for the 6th day of Lent - Where are you most vulnerable to attack?  What is the sin that most often stalks you?  When is the most inopportune time for you to face temptation?

Prayer

 Lord Jesus, as we make our spiritual pilgrimage to the cross during this season of Lent, we are aware that, like Simon and the disciples, Satan desires to sift us like wheat.*  We know that sin is always lurking at the door.** Keep us ever mindful of our bent to sinning, our vulnerability to falling.  Help us to walk the way of the cross this day, one humble step at a time from a posture of confession and repentance.  Save us from sin.  Make us strong in the face of temptation, especially in those moments when we are most susceptible of being swayed by the tempter.  In your holy name we pray.  Amen.  

* Luke 22:31

**Genesis 4:7

 The Spiritual Pilgrimage - Day 5

Monday, February 22nd

     “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

                                                                                                                        Matthew 4:8-10

     On day 5 of our Lenten pilgrimage, let’s consider the temptation to worship the wrong things.  In Jesus’ wilderness testing, the grandeur of the world was set before him.  Worship of, and allegiance to, Satan brought with it the promise of earthly wealth and power.  

      Its tempting to grab for the brass ring, even if we have to let go of our soul in order to reach for it.   Many’s the life that has been ruined by reaching too fiercely for the wrong things.

 

      Fall prey to the deceiver’s offer here, and life may sparkle for a season, but it will ultimately spiral down into the darkest of all darknesses.   Worship of the world exacts a high toll.

      Remember Jesus’ warning?  “What will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?” (Matthew 16:26)

Prayer

   Lord Jesus, give us eyes to see, ears to hear and the wisdom to discern what is true, 

   lasting and eternal.  Help us to take hold of the life that really is life.  Enable us not to waste

   our lives in pursuit of temporal treasures that are susceptible to rust and thievery.  And save us

   from ever offering worship to anything or anyone, save the Lord our God.  Amen.

            

 The Lenten Pilgrimage - Day 4

Saturday, February 20th 

   “Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you.’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’“                                                 

                                                                                                                        Matthew 4:5-7

     If we don’t learn anything else here, let’s at least all agree that quoting the Bible doesn’t necessarily mean that a person’s heart is right with God.  Even the devil can quote scripture!

     

    Of course, Jesus is undeterred, unwavering in his resolve to do the will of God.  While the devil strategically launches Bible verses in the form of a manipulative attack, Jesus uses scripture as a shield against the devil’s best shots.

       

    The Bible can be used for ill, as well as for good. So on Day 4 in the Season of Lent, here’s a thought - Don’t be like the devil and use the Bible as a means of imposing your will on another.  Be like Jesus, and use the Bible as an anchor to keep you grounded in the face of temptation.       

Prayer

   Forgive us Lord, for any time we have used the Bible for self-serving means.  Free us from our propensity to use the Holy Scriptures as justification for un-Christ-like thoughts, words or actions.  Free us from any semblance of darkness and fill us with the fullness light.  Open our hearts to hear your word through the words of the Bible.  Enable us to embody your truth.  Empower us to be agents of your goodness and grace in the world.  Save us from sin and temptation, and make your love incarnate in us we pray.  In Jesus' name, Amen.  

 The Lenten Pilgrimage - Day 3 

     “The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’.  But he answered, ‘It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

                                                                                                                            Matthew 4:3-4

   There’s much we could say about Jesus’ period of testing in the wilderness.  We might point to the tempter’s timing.  We could reflect on how the temptation to turn stones into bread comes at a moment when Jesus is most vulnerable, when he is hungry for physical food.

    Timing is often everything, even when it comes to temptation.  We can easily wave off temptation when we are resolute and strong.  Its in our moments of weakness when we are most vulnerable. Reflecting on this first temptation Jesus faced is a reminder that even a seemingly innocent step in the wrong direction, is a step in the wrong direction. 

    On day 3 of our Lenten Pilgrimage, let’s check for the chinks in our armor.  Let’s inspect our walls for the most likely breach.  What whispers from the tempter are most appealing to us right now?  And perhaps its good to remember that a skilled tempter often tempts with a pleasing package wrapped in layers of our own self-justification.  In other words, the most enticing and potentially dangerous temptations may not immediately look like temptations to us at all, something akin to "I know you're hungry, why not just turn these stones into bread."

     Something to ponder of this 3rd day of Lent - Where are you most vulnerable to temptation today?

  

Prayer

    Lord Jesus, you modeled for us the way of resisting temptation when you were confronted

    by your own physical hunger and spiritual test.  We confess that we have often not lived

    up to your example.  Too often we have justified our willingness to veer, ever so slightly,

    from the path you have provided for us.  Forgive us for our failings.  Renew in us a strong

    desire to follow you faithfully.  Give us strength to resist the voices that cry out to us in our 

    wilderness.  Reveal to us the sin we have allowed to remain in our hearts.  Grant us wisdom

    and strength to adopt a posture of confession and repentance in these holy days of Lent,

    that our witness may bring glory and honor to your name.  Amen.  

     

       

  

 The Lenten Pilgrimage - Day 2

    “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.  The tempter came and said to him….”                   

                                                                                            Matthew 4:1-3a                             

                                  

     Our 40 day spiritual pilgrimage is modeled on the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his Galilean ministry.  Before Jesus began his public ministry, he battled the darkness of temptation’s allure.   The Spirit led him into the wilderness, placing Jesus squarely on the tempter’s home turf.

     In the ancient mind, the wilderness was the place where demons had great influence and power.  Here, darkness clearly had the upper hand.  And it was to the wilderness, that the Spirit sent Jesus immediately after his baptism. 

     A thoughtful Lenten journey requires some inner-wrestling with the temptations that seek to undo us, with the inner-darkness that would destroy us. 

     

     In these early hours of our sojourn together, we acknowledge that there is inner work that we cannot do for one another.  Some work, no one else can do for us.

     Before Jesus could be ready for the work ahead, he had to deal with the devil.

         

     So do we.  And we readily acknowledge that we often haven't responded as faithfully as Jesus in the face of hellish temptations intent on our destruction.  

     The season of Lent confronts our bent to sinning, calling out every unclean thought, word or deed that cowers in our inner darkness.  The invitation of the season is to develop and cultivate spiritual disciplines and practices that can serve to move us toward Christ-likeness. 

       And the correct posture for the journey is one of confession and repentance. This is the crucial work before us.  This is the holy work of Lent.  

       

Prayer  

     Lord Jesus we confess, too often we have yielded to temptation.  We have succumbed

     to the entreaties of the tempter.  We have allowed sin to enter and to grow 

     within us.  We acknowledge our bent to sinning, grieving our propensity to

     self-centered thoughts and actions, lamenting and acknowledging our failure

     to love others as you love us.  Forgive us we pray.  Empower us to walk in 

     newness of life in these holy days of Lent.  In your name we pray, Amen.  

Ash Wednesday

Season of Lent - Day 1

And so it begins.

     In more normal times, Christian worshippers all across the globe would gather in sacred spaces today to be reminded of a sober and somber truth.  We’re all sinners, and we’re all going to die.  That truth is usually brought home with the aid of smudged ashes in the shape of a cross on our foreheads.  

     Welcome to Ash Wednesday, a day when the good news might seem to be a bit more difficult to recognize.  

      The Season of Lent is a spiritual journey.  Actually its more than a journey.   It’s a spiritual pilgrimage to the cross.  Inspired by Jesus' wilderness temptations for forty days, these are days of penitence and preparation for the Church, days to reorient ourselves once more to living fully as the Easter people of God. 

 

      But before we breathe in the sweet aroma of Easter Lilies, we take up our crosses, dragging along our broken humanity, our sin and our shame and make spiritual pilgrimage to the cross.  For we know that before we can fully live there are things within us in need of dying.  

      Ash Wednesday begins for us an important inner conversation.  What is the sin we still cultivate in our hearts?  What prejudices still hold sway within us?  Is pride pushing us toward a fall?  Have there been wrongs perpetrated against us of which we refuse to let go?  Is there hate in our hearts?  Do we harbor bitterness?  What are the stumbling blocks we've placed in our spiritual pathways?  What unnecessary baggage are we carrying?  

       These are the kinds of questions Ash Wednesday invites us to ponder.  This is the type of inner reflection we're called to do while pivoting our lives toward Christ.   This is the inner work of the self-denying, cross-carrying, Jesus follower during Lent.  

       Today is Ash Wednesday.  The time has arrived.  There is much work to be done.  

       Come!  Let’s pilgrimage together.   

      

 Prayer - 

   O Christ who walked the way of the cross, 

   call me afresh and anew to follow you.  Reveal to me every obstacle in my way that prevents       

   me from knowing the deep spiritual intimacy with you for which my soul longs.  Teach me

   your way, make straight my path, save me from the sin that would bind and destroy me.

   Give me courage to heed your call to discipleship that I might truly deny myself,

   take up my cross and follow you.  In your holy name, Amen.