Day 14: Wow! God Feels All That?
March 3
by Michael Lovett
Readings:
Reflection:
Read the scriptures, then watch the video of this devotional if you prefer.
I think today we're going to see why Lent isn't popular like Advent or Christmas. Lent is so real, so in-your-face with the human condition. Lent is a time of holding up a mirror and seeing so clearly how we miss the mark. If we don't engage in spiritual disciplines with any regularity the rest of the year (confession, reflection, silence, stillness, solitude, simplicity), then this season of fasting and deep consideration is just off-putting.
Today's reading and reflection may land that way for you. I hope you are blessed by engaging with this content. As we round out the second full week of Lent, today's scriptures are zingers. As the dentist says when giving a shot, "You may feel a bit of discomfort." Let's dive in.
Isaiah Chapter 1 is simply scathing. It is visceral. It's almost human, the way Isaiah speaks of God's experience of Israel's actions and heart. WOW.
This chapter is incredibly direct and a wake-up call. God has no interest whatsoever in hypocrisy, and God he is just... so he will go there and call out religious outward behavior that avoids the deep human needs of the poor and oppressed. Failing to align our will to the heart of God creates a level of damage that is just awful. And God names it in this passage.
What does the language and the intensity of this passage do inside of you? What should we do as people seeking to return God's love and righteousness now that we have seen this passage? Who do we think we are, judging others, avoiding the poor, widowed, orphaned, elderly, the "alien" (immigrant)? This Lenten season is a time to sober up.
Do we have the courage to do a hypocrisy check? Will we compare our way of worship with our way of relating to each human we interact with?
I have noticed, as I write this Lent series, that the lectionary, or set of readings, is deepening my awareness of how God feels about our lack of integrity and God's clarity on how seriously He takes our treatment of our fellow humans. Each of them. God can be as clear as he wants, but we are so prideful that we just don't change. We need the liturgy of Lent desperately, but I don't think we know it, especially if we happen to be middle-class suburban dwellers who've never missed a meal and who rarely engage the "least of these"- the imprisoned (literally or spiritually), the poor, sick, dying, elderly, widowed, and orphaned. It is no wonder that Jesus tore apart the temple courts when the money changers and business folks had commercialized his temple and area of worship in Matthew 21.
Speaking of Matthew, as we read in Matthew 23,
Jesus in Matthew 23 is picking right up on the same message of anger and dismay at religious leaders who are all about self and dress it up as religiousness or godliness. It is so disengenuous, Jesus has to call it out.
I have also marveled at how much God suffers because of our free will. WOW. We choose so poorly and so consistently, it must hurt. God loves us and won't control us. He will call it what it is--hypocrisy, folly, injustice--but he will not control, and in fact, he gives Jesus in light of our selfishness. His compassion is greater than his anger.
God offers hope, as well.
If we start making the world better, if we engage the people groups that are hurting, blood red becomes white as snow. This is bringing shalom. This is not working for salvation; it is repentance.
Let us pray for a deep change of heart toward each person, not just "those people." Let us pray for more extended commitments to serving the needy (a year-long or lifelong commitment to serving), not just joining one or two events a year organized by an organization. Most of these organizations have infrastructure, and their reach is limited by a lack of human resources to organize, distribute, and put a human touch on the aid they provide. Let us pray AND take action personally, seriously, and to live differently in light of this scripture and with gratitude for the character of God.
Song:
Give Me Your Eyes, Brandon Heath
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