[re]imagine Lent: 3/25/2023
We encourage you to sign up for the 40-40-40 Lenten Challenge, a challenge with our partner Southeastern Iowa Synod to participate in Lenten practices, including these daily devotions. Just signing up counts as participation! More info here.
“Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.””
Saturday, March 25 (Annunciation)
Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. These words are familiar – the creed we speak in community, boldly proclaimed as one when the body of Christ gathers in worship.
Yes, Lord, I believe: the prayer spoken in the midst of grief, hope for the life of the world to come.
Yes, Lord, I believe the conviction of the knowledge of life – here and now – when facing images of hunger, poverty, and war.
Yes, Lord, I believe: the whisper cried in the night, desperate pleas for healing and wholeness.
Jesus – the resurrection and the life – manifests in our world in so many ways. And yet, I often wonder if I am hardwired to see death, its shroud clouding my vision and ability to fully embrace Jesus. Have I been attuned to Spirit life? Have I, like Martha, Mary, and the Jews gathered at the tomb, been surprised by this resurrection life? Astounded at the unimaginable grace which brings the dead to life? Amazed at the miracle of the blind receiving sight? Offended at the radical welcome and hospitality that is resurrection?
Yes, Lord, I believe. It stands alone as a statement of faith, a confession of hope, and a resistance to the powers of death. And we can trust these words precisely because Jesus, the resurrection and the life, spoke them to show you the glory of God – whose resurrection life doesn’t stop even at the gates of hell – but go beyond and into the world to come.
Prayer
God, help me to see with ready and willing eyes what it is that you see. Help my sight turn into belief, and turn my belief into action, that following your vision for a world of mercy, peace, and love, I might follow where you lead, through the messiness of death, to the everlasting light of your resurrection dawn. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Journal Prompt
We, humans, are constantly casting visions: how we want our life to look in 3, 5, or 20 years. How our companies can impact the world. How our congregation can best live into its mission. Yet how often do we allow God to shift or change that vision? Do we ever stop to wonder if God has something in store that we haven’t even imagined?
This week I invite you to think about your life, your work, or your congregation. How do you listen for God’s vision? How do you know if your current trajectory aligns with that vision? What has felt extra messy or difficult, and might that be God’s Spirit at work?
Week Four Devotions by Rev. Erika Uthe, uthe@seiasynod.org