This Is True Religion

THIS IS TRUE RELIGION

A JOURNEY WITH GOD What is true religion? Is it intricate rituals and practices that we need to master in order to get closer to God? Is it just a mastery of scripture, church traditions, or the history of God’s people?

While these expressions are obviously religious, scripture speaks differently about the nature of true religion.

The witness of scripture cries out:

True religion looks like loosening the chains of injustice.

True religion looks like sharing your bread with the hungry.

True religion looks like not turning away from your own flesh and blood.

This is a kind of religion that the world around us might be interested in. It is more than beautiful stained glass windows that have no vision for the poor. It is more than ornate doors that have no welcome for the refugees. There is a kind of religion that satisfies our hunger for a more just world.

Yet we see in Isaiah 58, God is not against practices of religion: Sabbath, fasting, tithing, etc.

God is simply tired of empty practices. In fact, when our practices are fueled by works of justice and compassion, God promises that He will come and rescue us and restore the broken streets of our city, nation, and world.

During Lent, we take time to acknowledge and confess how some of our spiritual practices have been empty. We admit the way our supposed service to an invisible God has often kept others on the margins invisible. We open our hearts and minds to the reality that this is not God’s way.

Lent is a historic season in the church calendar where people prepare themselves to remember the ministry of Jesus: his life, his death, and his resurrection. We are reminded during Lent that the way of God looks like Jesus, a man who engaged in spiritual practices that fueled his justice and compassion. Time and time again, Jesus calls us to do the same. Pray and serve. Tithe and seek justice. Practice Sabbath and love the outsider. Love God and love others — even when it costs. Jesus lived, died, and was raised with this kind of faith.

This is a rooted faith that will not wither when a campaign ends.

This is a firm foundation that transforms relationships of service into friendships.

This is a lifelong well that prevents burnout.

This is true religion.

Let’s invite God to fill this season of Lent and to make our religion true.

No matter where we are with God or with justice, let’s use Lent as a time to experiment with the living God and His deep passion for justice. Let’s come and see what God has for us.

This journal aims to help us connect with God through a weekly scripture and a description of a corresponding spiritual practice for that week all while encouraging us to seek justice in our lives. I pray this journal will be a way for you to grow in true religion - a faith that emulates Jesus’ devotion to God and his love and action towards others.

As you begin this journey, here is my prayer for our community found in the Gospel of Matthew.

It is a prayer Jesus taught his disciples in light of the religious hypocrites who would pray publicly in order to be seen and the Gentiles who prayed lengthy prayers in order to be heard. In Matthew 6:9-13, this is a prayer Jesus taught his disciples as he sought to instruct them in the way of true religion:

“Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the evil one.

Peace to you on this lenten journey,

Josh Williams Lead Pastor

Lent 2016

LENT PRAYER CHALLENGES In order for us to get the most out of this process, I encourage you to pray regularly about the following:

1.

Something it would take God to do in your life. When we think of true religion, we usually don’t think of what God might do for us. It sounds too selfish. However, I’ve found that if we really want to pursue the things of God, we need to live lives where we truly ask God for what we need. Let’s invite God into our lives by praying regularly and specifically for Him to do something in us and for us.

2. A call to serve some particular area of justice (caring for a vulnerable population, responding to a problem in the world, promoting a good the world needs more of).

Nowadays people advertise causes to us as if they are products we consume. In some ways, these organizations do this to stay afloat in our current climate of consumption.

When you silence those voices (however well-meaning), where and how does God call you to serve? Ask God to show you that this Lenten season.

3.

Six people in your life in New Haven who are not trying to follow Jesus who you’d like to experience of the good things of God. One of the ways that we can press into true religion and the justice of God is by pressing into prayer. God is at work in our own lives and beyond. While we pray big prayers for God to aid our world, we don’t want to forget about our local neighborhoods. He’s at work in our families, our neighbors, ourco-workers, and our friends. During Lent, we’re going to commit to pray for six folks in our lives not yet following Jesus who we’d like to experience God’s best. (The reason to pick folks in New Haven is related to this: by praying for folks right here in our city, we also invest our hearts and minds in our city, in the here-and-now.) Even if you’re not sure what you believe about Jesus or about God, I’d encourage you to pray for others in your life as a part of the “faith experiment” aspect of all of this. After all, if there is a God and that God has both the power and compassion to bring about good things in people’s lives, you’d want that God at work in your friends’ lives. At the very least, this practice of regularly praying for folks you care about will at least have helped you grow in love for these folks.

In addition, I would encourage you to invite folks just beginning to consider faith to pray with you. What a cool blessing to have God answer a prayer (plus, we’ve found again and again at ECV that God is eager to answer the prayers of folks who are trying to check out who He is).

If you’re on board, there’s one critical thing to do from the outset. Commit! Take some time to decide what and who you want to pray for. You can even do it right now if you’d like.

1. What’s one thing that it would take God to do in your life that only God can make happen? ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Pray for a call to serve some particular area of justice.

3. List six folks from your life in New Haven who are not currently oriented towards Jesus who you’d like to experience the good things of God. ____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

THIS IS TRUE RELIGION

LENT 2016 ISAIAH 58

Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.

4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.

5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; 14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

WEEK ONE: WHAT KIND OF RELIGION?

WEEK 1: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:1-5 58 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Reflection: God sent his prophet, Isaiah, to be a truth teller to the people of Israel. While Israel was supposed to be a community that modeled God’s justice for the Earth, it instead modeled hollow practices to a God that Israel’s neighbors did not believe in. In our wider culture, it is easy to see how this same critique could be levied against the church. In seeking to get God to notice us through outward displays of spirituality, we sometimes forgot God’s call to seek justice and we do what we please. What is the truth that the church needs to hear today? Elm City Vineyard? You? What would a true fast look like? Use your imagination to ask God what true religion would look like in your life and in the church. Understand that God is not against spiritual practices; rather, he wants them to be rooted in loving God and loving neighbor.

As you begin this Lenten journey, ask God how he wants you to be a person fueled by rich spiritual practices that lead to true fasting. What do you need from him to engage these seven weeks well and to engage the world around you with love, justice, and compassion?

WEEK 1: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION Why memorize scripture? In the age of Bibles on phones, tablets, and computers, do we ever really need to have scripture “hidden in our heart”? Thankfully, this practice is more than just being able to recite a few lines after a week of study. It is letting scripture go deep into our hearts and minds, where we cannot simply close an app and forget what we’ve read.

Memorization helps these words stay with us at a deep level as we are aiming for these words to form us. Thankfully, we can look at church history and see how this practice has formed others.

St. Patrick (of “shamrock” fame) was instructed by his grandfather to memorize scripture. In particular, St. Patrick memorized the Psalms, a book of poetry to God. As Patrick grew up, he gave up on religion until something terrible happened. Patrick was caught by slave traders and made a slave. Facing this devastating reality, Patrick leaned on his childhood faith and prayed one hundred Psalms a day. He eventually escaped and then, years later, he returned to his land of captivity to share his faith in Jesus. His mission was wildly fruitful, and he even abolished slavery in the land. What was the constant between his well-off childhood, his period of slavery, and his time returning to Ireland to share the good of news of Jesus and free slaves? Praying all 150 Psalms that he had memorized.

Could memorizing scripture keep you during a time of trial? Could it fuel your relationship with God? Could it empower works of justice?

Try it out! Let’s commit to a crazy goal together. By the end of Easter, let’s memorize Isaiah 58 together as a church! Of course, we can read it and we’ll hear it at church during Lent. Still, let’s try out a practice where this scripture can go deep in us.

As you work on memorizing Isaiah 58, pray for different ways you want to practice true religion in your life. Even as you speak out the words, pray for particular people, companies, cities, and nations. Make the verses personal to you and relevant to the world around us.

As an encouragement and to give you something else to memorize after you finish Isaiah 58, here are a few verses highlighting how good it is to have scripture in your heart as well as your phone. This week, take some time to memorize these scriptures.

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. (Joshua 1:8) The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip. (Psalm 37:31) Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2) I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)

WEEK TWO: LOOSEN BONDS 
 OF INJUSTICE

WEEK 2: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:6

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

MATTHEW 21:12-17

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

REFLECTION:

Most people are familiar with the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This rule is a maxim that most would say they strive for, yet we often fail to apply it beyond the personal. How does it apply to justice? God, through the prophet Isaiah, says it loud and clear: loose the bonds of injustice! undo the thongs of the yoke! let the oppressed go free!

God speaks of his fasting as more than just fasting from food, but fasting from injustice and oppression itself. In addition to abstinence from injustice, God encourages acts of justice towards the oppressed and those who are under heavy yokes (those in slavery and those carrying heavy financial burdens, respectively).

We see Jesus picking up this tradition by defending the “others” through challenging a system.

The place where Jesus drove out the buyers and sellers was known as the court of Gentiles - the place for outsiders to worship God. Instead of being a place for people far from God to come near to Him, it was a place for the familiar to take part in buying and selling items they needed to prove something to a priest and to God. In seeking out their own interests through this exchange, they forgot those on the outside. Jesus does not. Even after he overturns the temple, Jesus heals the blind and the lame and validates the voice of children. Jesus sees people and invites them towards him through challenging systems and embracing individuals.

Where is God calling you to challenge an unjust system on behalf of others? How might you join that effort of justice while remaining in community with the people it affects?

WEEK 2: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

FASTING

Fasting is a traditional Lenten practice. It is an outward sign of an inward commitment. By giving up something material, we become vulnerable and aware of just how much we need “stuff” to live. Whether it’s food, spending on non-essentials, or Netflix, we take notice when something we do often is stripped from us.

This is the power of fasting. This practice disciplines us to see where we have formed attachments (even healthy ones like eating) and challenges us to let go of them for a set time to depend more heavily on God. Isaiah 58 encourages our fasting to be true. This call comes from the common sense notion that it is silly to give something up to get closer to God while at the very same time engaging in something that pushes us farther away from God. This is the kind of fast God abhors.

So, how do we move forward?

Well, one way is to fast from injustice itself. We can research more during this Lenten season about the foods we eat and the clothes we buy to see how to stand against economic injustices. In addition, we can fast from participating in various systems like racial injustice or gender inequality. By seeking to fast from such overwhelming systems, we might simply become aware of how much we are complicit in them. This, too, is a kind of fast if we add repentance as part of our fast.

Similarly, we can fast from something simple like certain kinds of food or Facebook and dedicate our fast to a certain justice issue that we commit to pray for this week. When you notice the ache of not being able to eat chocolate or check sports scores, you can remind yourself to pray. These prayers could be for God to overthrow systems that keep people in poverty in developing countries or for God to send protection for the persecuted church. It is helpful to pick something bigger than you could ever fix yourself so that the neediness you develop by fasting from something resonates with your need for God to change something in the world.

It is important to note that this discipline has been used for thousands of years to connect people to movements of justice. Some recent examples have been fasting in solidarity with low wage workers, particularly migrant farm workers. Other fasts have highlighted issues like climate change or anti-trafficking efforts. There have been other fasts against civil wars like the one in northern Uganda. The common thread for these kinds of fasts is picking a social justice issue where one feels powerless in order to spiritually connect with God in the face of otherwise hopelessness. In an age where we receive more updates on catastrophes and injustices around the world than any other previous generation, choosing to fast for a concern where we feel powerless fights off numbness and connects us to God and to humanity.

This week, decide how you want to fast either for this week or for all of Lent. Make sure it is a fast that connects you to God and to the people and communities around you.

WEEK THREE: YOU HAVE ENOUGH
 TO SHARE

WEEK 3: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:7A

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house?

MATTHEW 12:13-21

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.

Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

REFLECTION:

Where do you not want to share and why? The disciples are afraid to share because of their lack. If you look at the situation from their perspective, it makes sense. Why promise someone food and then not be able to feed them? Thankfully, Jesus has something different in mind that is fueled by has compassion for the people around him. After Jesus commissions the disciples to present food for the people to eat, Jesus takes what they have and blesses it. The rest is history. All the people were satisfied. There’s even enough leftover so that each disciple has their own basketful of bread.

When asked by God to give, do you look at your resources and still find lack? Today, consider true religion as a call to share your resources with others despite how much or how little you have. Prepare your offering (money, time, talent, etc.) and ask God to bless it. Then, give it away.

Isaiah 58 challenges us to share with others and to bring the homeless poor into your home. If you are someone comfortable with giving from a distance, ask God to challenge you with people and situations where you can practice hospitality in ways that interrupt and involve your life, your home, and your finances. This is an uncomfortable prayer, yet it is a chance to rely on God and His provision in the face of the unknown and fear.

Do you trust God enough to share your food, your money, and any other resource?

Do you trust God enough to open your home to others?

This week, ask God for opportunities and you’ll find out!

WEEK 3: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

TITHING

Tithing is the practice of giving material resources to God. In particular, this practice gets its name because it represents giving a tenth of what you earn to God. When you decide to tithe, you commit to trust God with your finances as you give a tenth away beyond your reach. This also changes your perspective on the remaining ninety percent. This is money that you get to creatively steward. The spiritual practice of tithing is not meant to stop at a tenth; rather, this discipline highlights the role of self-control and generosity with something very material and precious to us: money.

Jesus famously says in scripture that you cannot serve both God and money. Similarly, Jesus says that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. Take time to think about your relationship with money. Do you serve it or does it serve you? Where do you invest it and what does that say about your heart? These are tremendous questions that have profound implications.

In light of this, tithing can almost come off as a mercy from God. In fact, it really highlights the gift of any spiritual discipline. Spiritual disciplines, at their best, introduce us and ease us in to a practice or area where we’ve had trouble growing. From there, these disciplines - including tithing - change our heart and give us more freedom in that area beyond our specific practice.

That is good news for us as the call from Jesus regarding money is certainly to do more than tithe. Jesus is more interested in the state of our hearts while we give than what number or percentage we give. More so, Jesus invites us to call him Lord. That means that Jesus has access and control over everything in our lives, including all our money. Still, tithing remains as a way forward as we learn how to have Godly habits with our money. It’s not that we stop at tithing but that we start somewhere.

At Elm City Vineyard, we have always encouraged people who call our church home to give and to give generously. Tithing is a great start. If you’re not comfortable giving to churches or are just visiting ECV, giving to charitable organizations is another way to loosen the grip of money on your life.

As you practice this discipline, notice how you feel when you give online, write a check, or give cash away. Do you feel fear creeping in? Do you become aware of a specific financial anxiety?

Do you feel resentful? Note these feelings and then bring them to God. If you feel relief or gratitude or joy, also note these feelings and bring them to God. Ultimately, we want our giving to be a gift.

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Embrace this by examining your giving and committing to be generous this Lenten season.

Additionally, think of ways you can give daily this week to begin inviting God’s work in this area of your life.

WEEK FOUR: SEE YOURSELF 
 IN THE OTHER

WEEK 4: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:7B

When you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

MATTHEW 26:6-13

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

REFLECTION:

Jesus was not embarrassed by this woman with the alabaster jar. He did not look away. He did not make her an object or minimize her offering by comparing it to what it could have done for the poor. He simply received her. He did not hide himself from his own kin.

Where are you tempted to hide yourself from others? Is it a specific person? Or group? Or they like you or dissimilar? Do you barter internally saying that you are justified in overlooking them through a commitment you have or even a cause? One creative interpretation of Jesus’ phrase that “the poor you will always have with you” is that your cause or conviction will remain with you but the people you overlook could be gone after your lone encounter with them. Are you seeing them?

Challenge yourself this week to identify people or groups you often overlook and then take the time to actually see them and to even see yourself in their stories. Instead of hiding from others, make them family in some small way.

WEEK 4: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

LECTIO DIVINA

Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading. It is a practice of taking scripture and asking God to speak to you through your imagination, the presence of God, and a posture of rest.

Here are the practical steps of Lectio Divina:

• • • • •

Find a restful place to read scripture. Sit quietly with the scripture you’ve picked and invite God’s Spirit to dwell with you. This could be as simple as praying, “Come Holy Spirit.”

Commit the time to God.

Read the scripture you have selected. Read it aloud. Read it silently. Read it at least more than once.

Meditate on the word. What sticks out to you? What phrases keep returning? Is there an image associated with the passage? Take note of what God is doing as you take in the scripture.

Pray in response to what you sense you are receiving from God.

End by listening to the voice of God. This part might feel more like receiving the “gaze” of God as opposed to hearing or feeling anything specific. Receive this gaze and the attention of God’s love for you.

Given our Lenten journey, use Isaiah 58 for your Lectio Divina or the Matthew 26:6-13 passage about Jesus and the woman with the alabaster jar. During the week, ask how God is meeting you through these scriptures?

However, this Lectio Divina is not simply for scripture. It is a practice that allows our imagination to be formed into the likeness of God. One way Jesus engages his imagination on behalf of people is to empathize with them and to have compassion for them as if he is living out their situation. Through this, Jesus does not hide from his kin and instead becomes like them. The divides of our day are wide enough that we need to use our imagination to empathize with people.

Experiment with a different kind of Lectio Divina. Take a person, community, or even a movement that is very different from you. Place them before you and before God and begin the practice of Lectio Divina. If it is easier for you, pull up an article about them or a quote they’ve said. Use this to engage in Lectio Divina and open up your Godly imagination to see where God is in their situation.

What do you observe?

What did you learn about this other person, group, or movement?

What did you learn about God?

Learn to use this way of seeing - with your imagination - to add empathy and compassion to everyday interactions.

WEEK FIVE: SPEAK NO EVIL

WEEK 5: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:9B

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil

MATTHEW 7:1-5

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

REFLECTION:

The ancient book of wisdom, Proverbs, says that with our words we either speak life or death. As we pursue justice, it would be easy to say that what matters is what we do and that what we say along the way is inconsequential. The witness of Isaiah 58 and Jesus disagree.

Words matter.

One place where we often abuse words is judging others. We make final sentences on one another that label and paralyze us. As we consider what true religion is, we unfortunately have to note the ways religious communities are known - rightly or wrongly - for judging others. At the same time, communities fighting for justice can also be known for the ways they judge others who do not agree with their cause or beliefs. Jesus shares a way forward that involves more thought and action then is usually practiced when one makes a judgement on someone.

Jesus says to point the finger in before pointing it at our neighbor. Jesus calls for selfexamination first. Where is there a log in our own eye? Is it a log of hatred where what we want to point out in another - however accurate - is birthed in hate and enmity? Is it a log of envy where we judge others simply because we are jealous of who they are or something they have achieved? Is it a log that has caused us to be blinded and hold a distorted view about someone? Whatever it is, let’s ask God and others around us to identify how our judgement could be coming from a false and unhelpful place.

Then and only then, can we help our neighbor by taking the speck out of their eye.

Sometimes, judgment does need to be given. When we do that delicate work, let’s adopt a posture of helping and call people into a relationship of neighboring instead of making distant judgments that leave people on the outs.

WEEK 5: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

SILENCE

There is so much noise in our world. From 24 hour news on TV and the internet to constant social media chatter on Instagram and Facebook, we are bombarded with updates about life and the world. It’s not uncommon for us to get personal texts and then a news alert about a natural disaster or to see a picture of a friend’s baby on Facebook followed by the latest vitriol over a disputed injustice. This is the world of ticker tape alerts, newsfeeds, and infinite scrolling websites. We often feel the pressure to jump into this whirlpool with comments, likes, and immediate responses. There is a time for that. But what about a break? What about stillness?

What about silence?

Silence scares us. Blaise Pascal, a mathematician and philosopher, once wrote, “I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.” To be silent is to be with oneself. This solitude can frighten us when we still feel a swirl of anxiety, worries from the day, weights and burdens on our hearts, and the dizzying voices that simply poke at us to start speaking again. However, when we push past these voices, weights, and anxieties we can find ourselves transported to a space unlike any other. A space of quiet and rest.

Silence is a great antidote for us when we are in a state of judgement. When we judge others or “speak evil” as Isaiah 58 says, we often run some kind of track or loop of their offense. Perhaps, we hear their words, see their distasteful behavior, or we just feel the disturbance we receive when around them. Whatever form it comes in, this is not silence. Stepping into silence clears those feelings and resets us with rest and calm. This is hard work given how often we hold judgements and resentments against people. However, this work of silence becomes much easier when we ask God for help.

Calm my anxious heart, O God. Settle me into your Spirit.

Make me rest in your Love.

These are short prayers that can push us lower and lower still until we are submerged lower than even our heaviest burdens. We cannot get to this place of rest ourselves. We need God to help move us there and silence is a great prayer in and of itself as it symbolizes surrender and a giving up of one’s agency and embraces another power and another voice.

Take time this week to be silent for an uncomfortable time for you. This could be ten minutes. Or an hour. Or a whole morning or afternoon. If it works for your life and schedule, you could even take a Saturday and try to be quiet the whole day. As you silence yourself, what do you notice?

Where are you preoccupied? How does your body feel physically? How does God draw you back into quiet? In your quiet, what is God doing?

For however long you are quiet, embrace it as a gift. Relinquish control and enjoy not having to be understood through words. Simply receive the understanding God provides as He meets you in the quiet.

WEEK SIX: CALL THE SABBATH A DELIGHT

WEEK 6: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:13

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs

MATTHEW 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

REFLECTION:

The Sabbath is a day set apart by the Lord and for the Lord. It is traditionally observed as a day of rest where one stops working. In Isaiah 58, God sends a warning through the prophet that people are trampling on this day and pursuing their own interests. Instead, God wants His people to delight in the Sabbath and to consider it worthy of special honor given God’s command to set the day apart as holy. Here, God is not doing a take down of religious practice.

He actually values and wants people to delight in the religious practice of the Sabbath. Once again, God’s desire is for people to receive the gift of a practice, not trample over it.

In the accounts of Jesus’ life, one could argue that Jesus goes his own way on the Sabbath. After all, there are multiple stories (i.e. Matthew 12:1-14) where he gets called out by religious leaders who believe he is offending God by his activity on the Sabbath. Yet, Jesus’ way is not our way and his activities on the Sabbath looked like healing, restoring, and providing for others all while still abiding in His Father’s love. This is a Sabbath that is honorable and worthy of delight.

In Matthew 21, we read the traditional Palm Sunday text. This, too, is Jesus engaging in a religious practice as this procession leads up to Passover, a holiday marking God freeing the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. More than that, people around Jesus decide not to go their own way in this passage. Instead, they begin to worship Jesus as King. Hosanna is a cry that means “save us.” Together, Jesus and the people make this day something of a Sabbath. Jesus does not go his own way by continuing his trek to Jerusalem where he knows he will eventually die.

The people do not go their own way by humbling themselves and exalting Jesus as a King despite his humble appearance. While the people’s obedience is fleeting given Jesus’ eventual fate at their hands, they do show, if only for a day, what it means to not go your own way but submit to the King. Where is the practice of Sabbath needed in our lives? Not simply a day of rest, but a way of life submitting to the King and going His way, not our own?

WEEK 6: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

SABBATH

It is hard not to go our own way when that is all we know. Sabbath interrupts our own way dramatically by calling us to cease striving and to cease working and to instead set apart a day for rest and renewal. Of course, the Sabbath is a gift for God as it is a day that honors Him and the famous seventh day where He rested and marveled at his wonderful creation. Yet, it is a gift for us too. It is a day to step out of any toil that we’ve gotten caught up in at work and to simply allow ourselves to rest.

As you prepare to have a Sabbath sometime this week, it is important to find a time in your schedule where you can consistently block off 24 hours. If 24 hours seems ridiculous, then find a time frame that works for you at this point in your life. Once you have done that, you want to see how to engage in the following on your Sabbath:

• Pause - Pausing creates space for you to reflect on your life this past week. It might look like canceling activities, not doing chores, or getting away into nature for a few hours. Do whatever it takes for you to reflect on your life. Be sure to add some buffer time to get used to the change of pace and even the silence. Some helpful practices for this are journaling, walking in nature, lying down, etc. While you pray or read scripture in this time, it is important to have a sense of what’s happening in you. Once you are able to identify that, you have done the work of pausing!

• Pray - This part of a Sabbath is having meaningful time with God as part of your day. This could look like doing the examen of your week (asking where you’ve seen God and where you’ve missed God) and bringing that to God or it could look like liturgical or spontaneous prayer. The key to this step is to carve out time to connect with God in ways that you enjoy or in ways that you want to grow. If you are just beginning a relationship with God, I recommend you look for God’s voice in scripture, particularly the Gospels. I’d also recommend doing conversational journaling where you talk to God and imagine God’s response to you and then write it down. See if you notice patterns or if you are starting to recognizing God’s character and His voice to you.

• Play - This is a long lost art on the Sabbath and beyond. Have fun! Find activities that give you life and enjoyment. It could be playing sports, music, or games. Think about what recreation means to you. What re-creates you and revitalizes you? Find out how to incorporate those practices into your Sabbath. Feel free to engage in communal practices too. Playing with others on your Sabbath is a great way to gain rest. In general, activities where you create and are active are more life-giving than other ones where you consume and are passive.

Remember that when you find yourself using entertainment on your Sabbath!

To protect your Sabbath, consider turning off your phone or doing a technology fast during the time. Removing distractions greatly helps in going the way of God not the way of whatever notifications you might receive through your devices.

Also, remember that we can trample the Sabbath by not following God’s way. Examine how your Sabbath connects you to God, to the Earth, and to others and be mindful of ways it disconnects you from others, the natural world around you, and God. While the call is not to tire yourself doing social justice or service on your Sabbath, you want to make sure that your Sabbath connects you the kind of life God calls us to through Isaiah 58 rather than escaping from it.

GOOD FRIDAY: LAMENT

GOOD FRIDAY: SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 27: 27-61

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; 36 then they sat down there and kept watch over him. 37 Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

38 Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” 44 The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.

49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

REFLECTION:

Walk with Jesus through this passage. Reflect on him being stripped and mocked. Reflect on him being spat on and pierced with the crown of thorns. Reflect on his last words to His Father. Reflect on his death.

Lament the false accusation. Lament the cruelty of the Cross. Lament the corruption. of innocence. Lament the death of Jesus, the son of God.

Bring your own lament to the cross of Jesus. Join your sufferings with the sufferings of Christ.

GOOD FRIDAY: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

LAMENT

A few years ago, I watched a movie called Fruitvale Station based on a true story. It depicts 24 hours or so in the life of Oscar Grant, an unarmed black twenty-two year old in Oakland who was killed by a BART policy officer. The film ends quietly with Oscar’s real-life young daughter giving a speech in honor of her deceased father. As the credits rolled, no one moved. I just heard hushed cries and muffled sobs all over the theater. Yet, no one left for an unusually long time. Finally, I whispered to my wife, “I think this is where we are supposed to lament.” It’s a moment I’ll always remember because I have come to recognize that same feeling in other circumstances in my life. There is something so tragic and so overwhelming all I can do is notice that I am supposed to do something but nothing comes.

Have you felt this way? Whether it is news about a natural disaster, terrorist attack, mass shooting, persecution of religious groups, or more incidents of racial injustice, we feel the ache of loss and the tug of powerlessness. What do we do in the face of such devastation and increasingly common loss? Lament.

Lament is a biblical process of going to God and crying out about how bad something is. It is important for lament to start with mourning the ugly thing in your life or in the world and addressing God amidst that mourning. This brings God into your situation of pain. Then, move to asking God to help and deliver you or the affected group. You are encouraged to be honest about whoever is bringing you or the affected group pain. Ask God to deal with them and have His way trusting that He is the ultimate judge, not you. After that, you can either express the blamelessness of you or the group or confess any sin that you or the group committed. Finally, you can declare God’s restoration and redemption over you and the situation. As you lament, you might find that you cannot get through all the steps at once. That is OK. Do what you can and then come back to it later.

You will find that this process of lament involves a release. Through lament, you release the pain, confusion, and heartache. This does not mean they will be gone after you lament, but it does mean you will be aware of the pain you are holding (which is more important than you may realize) and that you have processed some of it. The process of lament allows us to be fully human instead of growing numb to the pain around us.

Since it is Good Friday, engage in lament with the death of Jesus. For some of us who have grown up in the church, this death carries weight we know we are supposed to feel. It is easy to let the familiarity of this story (or the hypocrisy of some who believe it) rob us from feeling the overwhelming shock and tragedy that Jesus’ first century friends felt when Jesus was killed. For others of us who are just learning about this story for the first time, it is hard to relate to a figure who lived and died so long ago. Regardless of where you are with the story of Good Friday, choose to take time to mourn the death of Jesus through lament.

As you lament, what do you notice?

How does it make you feel?

Where did you notice pain and suffering?

What is Jesus doing with it.

HOLY SATURDAY: WAIT AND TRUST

HOLY SATURDAY: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 30:15

15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

But you refused.

PSALM 27:13-14

13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!

REFLECTION:

“Saturdays” are hard. The tragedy of Friday is over. The victory of Sunday is not yet. You are stuck. Waiting.

But waiting for what? Will God move? Will He act? Will he overturn injustice? Set the oppressed free?

Break the heavy yoke? What if you cannot see God do any of that on a Saturday?

Therein lies the problem. You are stuck. Waiting.

What is waiting like for you? If you’re like most people, it’s hard.

Scripture gives us some encouragement on waiting. First, choose to wait for God. Wait in a way that expects God to move. Open your heart up and take courage. Then, continue waiting. This is wholehearted waiting where you do not grow faint. This is wholehearted waiting where you do not succumb to disinterest that festers out of bitterness. It is the toughest kind of waiting that says despite the obstacles, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” This is robust faith, and it is a gift God gives us through waiting.

Isaiah 30 encourages us to return to God and rest from any way our worry and impatience has moved us far from a posture of waiting. It even encourages us back to the discipline of silence as a way of developing trust. We see from the scripture that the community of Israel refused. Let’s have a different response on our Saturday — whether we’re in it now or whenever it comes. Let’s wait, be strong, and let our hearts take courage. Sunday is coming.

HOLY SATURDAY: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

WAIT

Seriously, just wait.

EASTER: THEN GOD WILL RESCUE

EASTER: SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 58:8-9A, 10B-12, 14 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

10b Then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places,

14 Then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

MATTHEW 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.

Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

REFLECTION:

Isaiah 58 is a chapter that speaks of “if” and “then.” The second half of all these conditional clauses from Isaiah 58 builds to this moment on Easter Sunday.

If we loose the bonds of injustice, then our light shines forth.

If we share our bread with the hungry, then our healing springs up quickly.

If we cover the naked and don’t hide ourselves from our own flesh, then our vindicator shall go before us and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then we will call and the Lord will answer!

If we take away the yoke from our midst and the speaking of evil, then our light shall rise in the darkness.

The Lord will guide us continually and satisfy our needs in parched places.

The Lord will rebuild our broken cities and ancient cities.

We will be called repairer of the breach and restorer of streets.

If we don’t go our own way on the Sabbath, then we will take delight in the Lord and he will make us ride upon the heights of the Earth.

If we practice true religion, then the true God meets us.

What do we do when God meets us? Like the two Marys in the Matthew passage, we leave our tombs with great joy and wonder! We come towards Jesus and worship him. Then, we share Jesus with others. Where false religion attempts at gaining status by beautifying tombs - sites of hollow and empty practices - true religion is invested in meeting the God who has invited us to rich practices that demonstrate love for Him and for neighbor. Why wouldn’t we share about that?

This Easter, celebrate that Jesus has met you and enriched your practices in ways that bring life to your relationship with God and with others. Walk away from the tomb of empty religious practices with joy and walk with Jesus, the living God, who guides us in love. Thank Jesus that he makes spiritual practices come to life and that he provides true rescue.

EASTER: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

CELEBRATION

As people seeking to live out true religion, we need to become people of celebration. We can celebrate because the victory of Jesus over death means that death does not win. This means wherever we find death we can witness to the power of Jesus to bring life - in our lifetime or in the next. Sometimes, we can feel selfish for celebrating when we see so much hardship around us. However, it’s important to both lament and celebrate. As people who have seen the power of Jesus’ resurrection, our celebration can be a prayer that brings the victory of Jesus to whatever situation we face. In our lives, this celebration should look like something.

Interestingly, some of us express far more greatly with areas of my life that were supposedly non-religious than with anything connected to my faith. Whether a song or movie or joke between friends, we often let ourselves go as we experience moments of joy. In church, however, we sometimes find ourselves holding back. Even outside the context of religious services, we can find ourselves muted in our joy and outward display of emotion over events that represent significant areas of conviction for some. Namely, Jesus’ resurrection.

If we truly believe this resurrection story, though, shouldn’t our enthusiasm be just a tad higher than the latest summer blockbuster or hit song. The words from C.S. Lewis in his Reflections on the Psalms provoke us to think that something might be incomplete when our deep convictions are accompanied by muted outward expressions over those same convictions. Lewis says:

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with….The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

Celebration is a practice that invites us to enjoy God with God. We can celebrate loudly or quietly. We can celebrate through movement or being still. We can celebrate by ourselves or in community. How we celebrate can be varied, but we must celebrate. Our celebration connects us to the eschaton where Jesus’ victory is final and complete. This is why the prayer Jesus

expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with….The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

Celebration is a practice that invites us to enjoy God with God. We can celebrate loudly or quietly. We can celebrate through movement or being still. We can celebrate by ourselves or in community. How we celebrate can be varied, but we must celebrate. Our celebration connects us to the eschaton where Jesus’ victory is final and complete. This is why the prayer Jesus teaches us that opened our time together this Lent is so powerful.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Let’s continue to pray that the celebration of heaven would come down as we celebrate here on Earth. May that be a prayer calling forth the Kingdom of God to our broken world so in need of something worth truly celebrating. May we be able to say that our King Jesus, who leads us in true religion that loves God and neighbor, is our reason for celebration. May that celebration bring transformation, healing, dancing, laughter, and justice to our world.

Resurrected Jesus, help us join you in that celebration and let us enjoy every second of it. Amen.