2020
Lenten Devotional GUIDE
Love God. Love People. Belmont University University Ministries
Guide to Daily Prayer
O P E N I N G S C R I P T U R E & P R AY E R
Lent 2020
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday. The traditional purpose of Lent was the preparation of the believer for baptism on Easter Sunday. Today, the Church affirms that
Rend your heart
through the practices of prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial, Christians are prepared to remember the death
and not your garments.
of Jesus on Good Friday and celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Return to the Lord your God,
This Lenten Devotional Guide is a Belmont community tradition that helps us to enter more fully into the season of
for he is gracious and compassionate,
Lent. We are immensely grateful to all of those who have helped to make this Lenten and Holy Week guide available to
slow to anger and abounding in love,
our campus community. This is a campus-wide collaboration that includes contributions from faculty, staff and alumni.
and he relents from sending calamity (Joel 2:13)
It is a testament to the giftedness of our community.
Holy God, I open my heart, my mind, and my life to you. Speak, so that I will hear your voice and my life will be changed. AMEN.
This guide has instructions for daily devotions throughout the season. You are encouraged to read the assigned scripture passages, the devotional, and spend time in prayer and meditation. Through these spiritual practices, God will be at work in your life.
CONFESSION OF SIN Reflect quietly before God, asking for forgiveness for all those things you have done and the good things that have been left undone. Remember, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
Our prayer is that the words found here will nourish and challenge you as you journey with Jesus to the cross during this Lenten season. As we enter into this season, may this be our prayer:
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
SCRIPTURE LESSONS & REFLECTION Read the assigned passages for the day found at the top of each page along with the written devotional.
P R AY E R S
Lord, we would grow with you,
Lord, we would grow with you
Lord, we would grow with you
New shoots reaching out
In sunshine and rain
And bring forth fruit
Hands stretched upward
In darkness and light
That is pleasing to you
Like leaves newly formed
In cold days and summer days
Fed by your living water
Soaking up your light and warmth
From Springtime to Winter
Giving sustenance to others
Lord, we would grow with you
Lord, we would grow with you
Lord, we would grow with you
The following is a suggested guide for prayer during Lent:
—The Worship Leader’s Little Helper, John Birch
Pray for all Christians around the world; especially for those who endure persecution for their faith.
Pray for all those who engage in the ministries of the Church and especially for Belmont University.
Pray for our nation and all those in authority.
Pray for those who suffer and grieve.
Pray for Christ’s peace in the world.
Pray for God’s transforming work in your life.
Pray for the end of conflict and war.
Grace and peace, HEAT HER GERB SCH DAUGHERT Y Rev. Heather Gerbsch Daugherty University Minister, Office of University Ministries
Pray for justice for all people.
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A S H W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 6 Isaiah 58:1–12 | Joel 2:1–2, 12–17 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10 | Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
Ash Wednesday
T H U R S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 7 Psalm 51 | Jonah 3:1–10 | Romans 1:1–7
We turn our eyes toward Easter. On this the first day of Lent, we begin a resolute journey of preparation for the joy of
Lent is an invitation. It invites us to prepare for the tragic and joyous feast of the Lamb of God, the death and
Easter and the wonder of the resurrection.
resurrection of Christ Jesus. It is an ancient invitation, one that Christians have faithfully renewed for the last eighteen hundred years. The earliest Lenten celebrations (and many today) prepared believers for baptism. Having confessed
Come with us. Join us. Walk with us.
Jesus as Lord, Lent called on converts to cultivate the spiritual and physical rhythms of the Christian life: prayer, fasting,
An Easter morning awaits us all.
repentance, listening, memorizing and singing the Psalms. From day one, these converts gazed across the difficult
Our scriptures for today help us begin the journey as they call us to look into ourselves and examine who we are and
weeks of heart and body work in joyful longing for Easter, when each would arise from the waters of baptism to
who we can be in Christ. Admittedly, it is the kind of personal self-examination that can be unsettling or unpleasant.
receive the Fire that destroys the darkness of sin and gives light to the whole world. It didn’t take long for the Church
Lent calls us to be honest with ourselves. It asks us to look at who we really are in our most private selves and to begin the process of preparing ourselves for renewal and resurrection. Joel 2:12 captures God’s call for renewal in our lives by reminding us God says, “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning….” The Isaiah passage painfully points out our inauthentic practices of religion and self-serving approaches to worship. Psalm 51 gives us a picture of what awaits us on this journey as we call out for God to have mercy on us (v. 1) and as we ask God to create clean hearts in us (v. 10). Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians frames for us this journey that focuses on reconciliation, not judgment. We will become more reconciled to God. Finally, Matthew’s text reminds us this is deeply personal and private. Lent is not a public performance, it is a
to realize that the holy struggles and mercies of Lent are an invitation for the Christian community. Lent is a journey. It is a religious and profoundly spiritual road trip that goes on (and on) for weeks. Do not be foolish! Surround yourself with the companionship and wisdom of others. Alone, we give up, we forget, we feel abandoned or simply miss out on the joy of exploring God’s many narrow paths with a friend. Take it slow! Do not rush the patient work of the Spirit, as God invites you to face your sins and failures. In these painful moments, enter into the Sorrow that heals, the sorrow of the crucified Jesus who weeps with you and heals you. Allow him to examine your deepest longings and treat your deepest wounds. May this Lent be the season when you finally invite a counselor to help you walk out of an emotional darkness. May it be a season to fast from excess and lust. Consider a seven-day fast: cut out Netflix, just for a week; cut out five dollar
private journey with God toward our own Easter renewal. Our scripture present for us a roadmap for the Lenten journey. These reflections that follow from the Belmont community will remind us that we are all on this journey together. All
coffee drinks, cut out one meal, weave in journaling, weave in daily prayer, weave in daily exercise, weave in eight hours of sleep a night. Be creative! Fast with a friend—no need to fast alone. Every time the fast crosses your mind, whisper, “thank you for life.” However small or creative your Lenten journey may be this year, may healing and transformation
around us there will be fellow travelers returning to God, finding mercy, and growing in reconciliation with God.
reach into your innermost depths, where wounds and lusts, love and justice, God and you, wrestle and embrace across
Come with us. Join with us. Walk with us.
the loveliness and messiness of your life. “I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ, to observe a Holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance, by prayer and
An Easter morning renewal awaits us all.
fasting, by practicing works of love and by reading and reflecting on God’s Holy Word.” DA RRELL GWA LT N EY, Dean M ANUEL A. CRUZ , Assistant Professor of Theology
College of Theology & Christian Ministry
College of Theology & Christian Ministry
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F R I D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 8
S AT U R D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 9
Psalm 51 | Jonah 4 | Romans 1: 8–17
Psalm 51 | Isaiah 58:1–12 | Matthew 18:1–7
In David, Jonah and Paul, we have three wildly different reactions to God’s mission in their lives. In these reactions, we
The season of Lent has always been a time to reflect on the “transgressions” that we as humans commit; not only
can see the different ways that we respond to God refining us and showing us truth during periods like our Lenten
throughout the day, but throughout the year. GOD calls us to have mercy, unfailing love and great compassion. He
journey this year.
desires for us to have faithfulness and ask for wisdom as we “walk daily in this world.”
Jonah is called to preach to Ninevah, by all accounts a heinous, evil city. And when God responds to this city with
Unfortunately we fail more often than not to engage in those virtues, simply because we quarrel and create strife
mercy, Jonah’s reaction is one of contempt and pettiness. Read through the tone of Jonah’s words, how he speaks
internally within ourselves and externally with others. “We are willing but the flesh is weak.” Psalm 51 demonstrates
with God, how he spits utter disgust at the lesson that God is trying to teach him.
how easily we fall and how we desire to do be “cleansed from our transgressions.”
David is a beloved, God-fearing king who gets himself caught in a sea of adultery, scheming and murder. After God
David was a man of GOD, yet he recognized how he had fallen through his transgressions. He called upon the LORD to
confronts David through his prophet, Nathan, David’s response is one of confession, humility and utter devastation at
cleanse him from his sin and wash away his “iniquity.” It is courageous behavior to acknowledge that we are sinners
the works of his hands. Unlike Jonah, David sees that God’s mercy also applies to himself and vows to use his second
and have a need for GOD to wash away our “iniquity.”
chance to bring glory back to God. Read David’s words in Psalm 51:13–15 and see how his despair has given way to a renewed mission.
During this Lenten period we are called to “reflect and recognize” our transgressions; transgression that we engage in, not only with ourselves but with others. Lent is a “time taken out of a busy year” to truly spend time before the LORD
Paul has reached a stage of full acceptance of his mission to spread the Gospel, bolstered by God’s power, as he states
to acknowledge our need for him, to grow in our faithfulness to GOD and to ask for the wisdom to recognize when we
in Roman 1:16. Freed from feelings of shame and apprehension, Paul spread the message of Christ and encourages men
are “out of step” and make the decision to move back into the “grace” of GOD.
and women throughout his journey. The questions that we have to ask ourselves are what is God calling us towards this season of Lent, who is he calling us
M ARY G. M AYO RGA, Associate Professor
to share our faith with and in what ways are we being called to encourage, forgive and help those in our spheres of
Mental Health Counseling Program, College of Theology & Christian Ministry
influence? Will we be humble and open like David, confident and eager like Paul, or hard-pressed and pouty like Jonah? Jonah’s story in particular is interesting to consider today. his story ends with God asking him a question, but we never hear Jonah’s response. For us as readers, the question is then posed for us to answer: when will we stop to engage with God’s mission for us: to spread his name to those around us? How do we respond as he commands us?
T IM SCHOENFELD, Assistant Professor Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Science & Math
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S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 Genesis 2:15–17, 3:1–7 | Psalm 32 | Romans 5:12–19 | Matthew 4:1–11
First Sunday of Lent
Holy Temptation
M O N D AY, M A R C H 2 Psalm 32 | 1 Kings 19:1–8 | Hebrews 2:10–18 As my friend and colleague Dr. Ann Coble observed one day when we were chatting, this scene from 1 Kings really is
We do not have to deny ourselves of anything. If you can’t afford something, open a line of credit; grocery stores and refrigerators are fully-stocked; new wardrobes and gadgets are all just a couple clicks away; Netflix and Youtube have the next video queued-up and counting-down for you. In a culture of excess and accessibility, availability is often conflated with desirability. In other words: seeitmakeitmine. There is not much space between seeing something and having it, except for maybe just a quick twinge of want in-between. It all happens so fast that there is no room to encounter true longing, deep satisfaction or even holy temptation…holy what? “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil,” (Matt 4:1). Wait, why does the Spirit
the original Snickers commercial—“You’re not you when you’re hungry. Grab a Snickers!” Like the actors in those commercials, the prophet Elijah is being rather dramatic here, isn’t he? I mean, OK, he had to flee for his life because the bloodthirsty Jezebel has threatened to kill him. And, sure, he’s wandering in the wilderness, unsure of where to go or what to do next. And, fine, he is so exhausted, disheartened, disillusioned and depressed that he is asking God to take away his life. Well, when we put it that way, maybe he’s not being dramatic after all. Maybe he has legitimate anxieties and fears and maybe he can see no way forward and is actually at the end of his fraying rope.
lead Jesus into the wilderness? In order to be tempted by the devil. It reads like an enigma, but by fasting in this
The most striking part of this little narrative to me is the practical, hands-on way that God responds to Elijah in this
season, you are following the Spirit’s leading into the wilderness of temptation. In this brief passage, we get to look-in
scene: To paraphrase, the messenger from God advises, “Have a snack, some water and a nap, and see if that doesn’t
on Christ’s full humanity as he faces three desires that Henri Nouwen famously frames as the temptations to be
shift your perspective a little bit.” (Kind of like in those Snickers commercials.) I imagine God here in the guise of my
relevant (turn stones into bread), to be spectacular (leap off the temple) and to be powerful (bow down to the devil).
Southern grandmother—no fuss, no nonsense, just the down-to-earth wisdom that there aren’t many problems in daily
At the heart of following the Spirit’s lead into temptation, are we not facing the same allurements as Jesus faced?
life that a good night’s sleep, a plate of barbecue and cornbread and a cold glass of sweet tea can’t fix. Rest,
You may be fasting from food, social media, shopping, caffeine, streaming shows or a number of other perfectly
sustenance, hydration: Maybe these are the very simple building blocks of resilience and willpower.
acceptable aspects of life, but by thoughtfully connecting to those desires in the wilderness, you are also connecting
In general, we are not accustomed to the idea that taking care of our bodily needs is part of spiritual care. Yet the Bible
to what’s beneath them. In the desert, we can step back and ask: Why do I want this so badly right now when it’s not
usually does not make our modern-day distinctions between caring for bodies and caring for souls. Over and over, the
so accessible? What’s underneath this want? Is it the desire to be relevant? A spectacle? To have control? To numb
biblical text indicates that these parts of ourselves are bound up together.
from pain?
Take care of yourself today. Attend to your physical needs. See if that doesn’t change your view of what you
Jesus’s world-changing ministry does not begin with a parade or crusade through the heart of the city, it begins with
think is possible.
40 days of empty-handed solitude in the desert, facing his own demons (i.e. the devil) to prepare for the reality of day-to-day life in the world. If you can say no to temptation in solitude, how much more will you be able to do so when you’re faced with temptation in the midst of everyday life, without even realizing it?
B ET H RI T T ER-CO NN, Lecturer College of Theology & Christian Ministry
CORY BISHOP, Program Assistant College of Theology & Christian Ministry B.A., Biblical Studies, Belmont Class of 2011
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T U E S D AY, M A R C H 3
W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 4
Psalm 32 | Genesis 4:1–16 | Hebrews 4:14–5:10
Psalm 32 | Exodus 34:1–9, 27–28 | Matthew 18:10–14
The passage from Genesis offers insight into human nature that I find manifestly true and deeply disturbing. When I
Let’s be honest: we all have THOSE moments. You know, the ones that, if possible, we would like to not-so-gently yank
offer a gift to someone, I am open to their judgement of my taste, my generosity, my motives and my value to them. If
from existence or at least gloss over with embellishment and exaggeration. In my life, examples of these moments
my gift is regarded like Abel’s, I feel generous and thoughtful, a worthy companion to the recipient. If not, I am hurt,
include when I frustratingly question and doubt God’s seemingly silent presence or find myself speaking passive-
ashamed of my failure and that hurt can easily turn to wrath. I haven’t resorted to murder yet, but I have ignored,
aggressive, prideful words to family and loved ones. Given the mixture of hurt, anger and self-righteousness that
disparaged and distanced myself from people who haven’t accepted my gift, or misused it or who simply didn’t seem
becomes woven within both the actual moment and its consequences, any possibility of grace and redemption can
grateful enough for my effort.
feel foreign and virtually impossible.
I remember an illustrated Bible story from childhood. Abel’s robe, his lamb and the smoke from his offering were all
If alive, I’m certain that the Israelites would be able to relate to these sentiments when reflecting on their actions
billowing white. Cain was dressed in a dark, dirty cloth and his offering sent an ominous black stain into the sky. Was
leading up to the Exodus 34 passage. You see, in Exodus 31, God gave Moses “the two tablets of the covenant law, the
Cain was doomed to inadequacy, set up for failure? The story seemed deeply unfair, which is probably what made it
tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” on Mount Sinai over the course of forty days (Exodus 31:18). Once
seem so true to life. Perhaps Cain would better have kept his offering, than to suffer rejection and even more trouble!
Moses returned to the Israelite people, he was enraged to find that they had erected and begun worshipping a golden
The passage from Hebrews doesn’t exactly answer my doubts, but it does open them to new possibilities. The hard advice of Genesis—“If you do well, will you not be accepted?”—is softened by the recognition that Jesus, too, was
calf. As a symbol of the peoples’ immorality and unfaithfulness to their covenant with the Lord, Moses hurled and destroyed God’s covenantal writings to his people.
rejected, and “learned obedience through what he suffered.” The Psalm, too, follows misery and shame with
From here, a place of darkness and hopelessness as the Israelites recognized, mourned and repented from their
deliverance and the assurance that, “I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
actions, we return to today’s Scripture. In an act of divine and absurd compassion, he who is “merciful and gracious,
So, although it’s painful to have my offerings disregarded, I try to curb my mulish ways, accept instruction, and trust in the LORD. Soon enough, we will be delivered!
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” asked Moses to assemble two tablets similar to the first and to ascend Mount Sinai once more (Exodus 34:6–7). Despite the Israelites’ fickleness towards him, God swiftly and tenderly forgave his people and graciously presented them with the Ten Commandments. In light of this narrative, may we be reminded that in darkness, in the shadowy moments of our humanity in which we
W ILLIA M H. HOOP ER , Professor Mathematics and Computer Science Department, College of Science & Math
have been wounded and deeply wound, there is still great hope of restoration with God. When we, like sheep, wander off, God leaves the ninety-nine others in his flock to rescue us—and rejoices at our safety and return (Matthew 18:12–13). When we, similar to the Israelites, forget the goodness of our Father and chase after the insatiable desires of our hearts and minds, God is quick to forgive and draw us near once more. May this Lenten season be a reminder that the end of the story does not lie within our less-than-glamorous moments, the Israelites’ immorality, or Jesus’ death on a tree. Light shines, and redemption and restoration have the final word. Resurrection has come.
ALYSSA ST EPHENS, Class of 2022 Neuroscience & Religious Studies Major
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T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 5
F R I D AY, M A R C H 6
Psalm 121 | Isaiah 51:1–3 | 2 Timothy 1:3–7
Psalm 121 | Isaiah 51:1–3 | Romans 3:21–31
Where do you come from? I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I have since lived in many states, with
Hills and valleys often symbolize the emotional, physical and spiritual ups and downs of human experience in novels,
many different types of terrain, but I have never lost my love for the mountains. For thousands of years, they have
paintings and movies. Helm’s Deep in Tolkien’s great trilogy, Thomas Cole’s landscape featuring The Oxbow and the valley
stood like sentinels offering shelter in their long shadows. Who do you come from? I am the oldest child of Bill and Carolyn; loving and faithful parents who were married for fifty years before my dad passed away in 2018. I haven’t lived with them for many years now, but the family life they created laid a foundation that has helped me weather many storms. In today’s texts, the people of God are encouraged to remember the faithfulness of those who have come before us and more importantly, the faithfulness of God no matter where we find ourselves. “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you,” says the prophet Isaiah. The apostle Paul reminds Timothy of “the faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure lives in you.” The words of Psalm 121 comfort us with the constancy of God’s presence. “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.” This forty day journey of Lent encourages us to reflect on the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted, but I am also reminded of the forty years that Israel spent wandering in the wilderness before entering the promised land. God’s presence went before them as a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. When we face temptations and we seem to have lost our way in the wilderness, scripture says, remember where you came from, and remember who you come from. “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” (Psalm. 121:1) The one who made the hills does not slumber, nor does He sleep. In a world with few constants, we can be assured of God’s presence at all times and in all places.
of ashes in The Great Gatsby, each portray valleys as sites of violence, uncertain protection, uncomfortable transition and decay. Apt plot developments and striking artistic devices remind us of the transitory nature of life, from our daily highs and lows to the more epic shifts at times of significant change. Regardless of scale, we lurch between these extremes of experience, either passing like a summer shower or grinding over us like a slow-moving hurricane. The Bible promises that in our journeys through shadows cast by flanking hills, we will find hope by looking for it above and beyond the surrounding inclines. Such is revealed in Psalm 121. Adopting the voice of the psalmist—who does not immediately identify where we are—we “lift up” our eyes to the hills, only then recognizing our literally depressed location, into which some of us seem able to fall with relative ease (and regularity). Since the psalmist cites no particular threat, we may supply own particular trouble, big or small, that robs us of peace: a challenging day on the job or being unwillingly out of work; the natural aches of aging or a terminal diagnosis; a short-term parting from our love or the final separation of death. Since the scale of our hurt does not matter, the divine physician will not ask for us to rate our pain on a scale of 1 to 10. Any ache is God’s: the One who in strength and wisdom created the vastness of heaven and the fullness earth, from every fleeting vapor to each slender blade of grass. The Psalm reveals God’s healing power and saving grace, but not through the dramatic manner its power might deserve. This intimate God of personal care never drowses nor rests while securing our uncertain steps and protecting our fitful sleep. Enjoying a blessed view from the heights, we too often forget the support that brought us there. In the depths of our sorrows, we too often neglect to seek the light of the One who can preserve and protect. May we always remember God’s faithful protection when we enjoy the view from the mountaintop, as well as God’s promise of help when we feel lost in the valley.
L EIGH HITCHCO C K, Honors Program Assistant J HENNI FER A. AM UNDSO N, Dean O’More College of Architecture & Design
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Second Sunday of Lent
S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 7
S U N D AY, M A R C H 8
Psalm 121 | Isaiah 51:4–8 | Luke 7:1–10
Psalm 121 | Genesis 12:1–4a | Romans 4:1–5, 13–17 | John 3:1–17 or Matthew 17:1–9
In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus welcoming the unexpected people. He welcomes a sinful woman, a lame woman
“New Year, New Me.” It’s a common phrase that we hear in the time that surrounds the turning of the calendar. This is a
and a woman who, for years, had been considered unclean by Jewish law. He welcomed a boy with a demon, a man
season where we are fixated on resolutions and changes. Where we focus on throwing out the old, bad habits of the
covered with leprosy and a man who was paralyzed. He even welcomed Judas Iscariot to the last supper. And for today, in Luke 7:1–10, Jesus is welcoming a military official, a Roman centurion who represents those who are occupying Jesus’s country. Jesus doesn’t see him in person, as far as we know, and the centurion himself does not need healing—the centurion is asking for his slave to be healed. Nevertheless, Jesus is welcoming the centurion by hearing his story and healing his slave.
last calendar year and implementing new, good habits in the year to come. I know that in my life, I have found that those resolutions often have trouble taking root and I forget about them shortly after setting them. I think that the reason this happens is because we don’t really spend much time preparing for the New Year. I know that when I have set resolutions, it’s usually a list of things that I have thought of on December 31 or January 1. What’s cool about the Lenten season is that it gives us the opportunity to set time aside and prepare for a different
Well! That must be a shock to the disciples! They have been following Jesus and have just heard the teaching we call the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus did say to “Love your enemies,” but the Romans are Enemies with a capital E. And it is a shock for the people who are reading and hearing the Gospel of Luke, because they, like we, know how the Romans
kind of New Year. It gives us time to strip away distractions (the practice of abstaining from something) and focus on being born again like Christ was on Easter. If you are looking for some solid “resolutions” to set as you go into this “new year,” I think today’s readings offer a great starting place.
treated Jesus. So why would Jesus welcome a centurion? Why would we have this story in the Gospel of Luke? And
In the passages, we revisit Abram (soon to be known as Abraham) being commissioned by God to leave his homeland
why would this story be included in the readings for Lent?
so that he can be made into a great nation. If we boil this down, God is simply asking Abram to go. He wants him to
It seems that Jesus was impressed with the centurion’s respect for Jesus’s authority, which showed that he had faith in Jesus. Jesus called it faith that was greater than anyone else in Israel. The Gospel of Luke describes Jesus as loving the outcast and the outsider, of welcoming the ones we least expect. The early Christians would have been very surprised to find Jesus calling a non-Jew a person of great faith, and this is the point. Jesus is welcoming all, not just Jewish believers. There are many reasons why this story might be included in the readings for Lent, but I will focus on just this one: What if Lent, a time usually associated with self-reflection and self-sacrifice, is also a time of welcoming those who unexpectedly show faith? What does that look like for you?
get moving. I think this is the call that we need to heed as we head into a new year in Christ’s resurrection. Additionally in our passages, the psalmist reminds us that God is the source of our protection and our help, while Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that Abraham (that’s Abram for those of you keeping track at home) was made righteous because of his faith. If these things are both true—which we believe them to be since they are, you know, in the Bible—we have all the more reason to heed God’s call to “Go!” We are reminded that IF we do go, we will be protected and we will be helped along the way and that it is by walking by faith alone that we will be saved. Sometimes things can get tricky. Sometimes our lives can get messy. Sometimes we just need to put one foot in front of the other. If we do that, soon we’ll be walking out the door and into a life that God has blessed for us. You don’t need to leave your homeland, or drop everything and start over. You just need to commit to taking one step today toward a life with God. I pray that someone who is reading this will make this their Lenten intention and vow to walk by
ANN COBLE, Lecturer
faith into new life with Christ as we all move toward the mystery of his death and resurrection.
College of Theology & Christian Ministry J O E M ANKOWSKI , Assistant Director Fitness and Recreation Department, Division of Student Life
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M O N D AY, M A R C H 9
T U E S D AY, M A R C H 1 0
Psalm 128 | Numbers 24:1–9 | Hebrews 3:1–6
Psalm 128 | Isaiah 65:17–25 | Romans 4:6–13
What comes to mind when you think of the word “house”? Perhaps you think of the antisocial maverick doctor on the
In the first part of the Romans passage, Paul cites a psalm that states blessed are those whose sins have been forgiven
hit TV show, but most of us simply think of a building for human living. I think of my house in Brentwood where I live,
by the Lord. He continues to explain who he means when he’s writing about those who are forgiven. He ties it back to
the place where I sleep, eat, host friends and do yard work. It’s the place where the most normal of things happen, and
Abraham and the covenant Abraham made with the Lord, but he makes a distinction that Abraham’s faith did not
it’s the place where I feel most safe. Six times in our scripture text today from Hebrews we see the word house appear
begin once he followed through with the actions given to him. Rather, Abraham’s faith precedes the actions, and Paul
referring to “God’s house,” but it’s not talking about the brick and mortar buildings where we live.
uses Abraham to show his readers that God’s promises are not dependent upon fulfillment of law but instead through
We know, of course, God doesn’t live inside of a house. God’s presence isn’t restrained to the church building or a
the righteousness of faith.
chapel. So what kind of house is the writer of Hebrews talking about? We get the answer in verse 6—“We are his
Paul reminds the people of the blessing that they have been promised. As people who live by faith, we need to be
house.” God’s presence goes beyond the buildings and structures we build for worship and dwells inside his people,
reminded from time to time, or maybe all the time, because the fullness of the blessing and promise has not yet been
the women and men who believe and follow Jesus. It’s in and through our lives that God manifests God’s love, grace,
fully revealed. There’s a richness of the blessing described in the passage from Isaiah. The description is a beautiful
forgiveness to others.
image of all aspects of creation reconciled to one another and fully actualized in their purpose and intention.
The aim of the Lenten season is to prepare us for the Easter celebration—the Resurrection of Christ. As we progress
I constantly try to find reason in all that I do. I sometimes get caught up trying to find the underlying purpose of the
throughout Lent, we often create intentional habits of fasting, praying and other spiritual practices to cultivate a
actions that I take, because the actions need to mean something if I’m going to dedicate time towards them. Life,
sensitivity and intimacy with the Spirit, engaging with the presence of God that lives within us. But we also recognize
however, doesn’t always follow that formula. At times we need to complete a task fully before we understand the true
that God’s presence works not only in us, but through us. We are the house that God dwells in, and we invite others to
meaning behind it, and other times we need to complete the task several times before its true reason is revealed to us.
experience the same love that we experience.
Then there are times where even after we’ve completed a task, we’re further from understanding the purpose behind in.
Today, I encourage us all to take a moment and pay attention to the presence of God within us. Perhaps you’ll spend three to four minutes in silence, quietly praying and listening to God with you and receiving the love experienced there.
This is how I feel about exercising and budgeting sometimes. I’m kidding, but I know I can’t be the only one. In all seriousness, these instances where we complete tasks without seeing some overarching meaning or divine
Secondly, might we take a moment to extend that love to someone else through prayer, encouragement or service as
purpose are where our lives as faithful people are actualized for the moment that we’re currently living in. We live
we call attention to the coming joy of Easter.
faithfully when we don’t need a reason or purpose to be fully present. God promised to reconcile his creation not only back to himself but also back to itself as creation. We can’t fully understand the greatness that will be, so we find hope
L A RKIN BRILEY, Director of Missions and Associate University Minister University Ministries
in beautiful metaphors. The images described in Isaiah bring a sense of that reconciliation of God’s creation and the fulfillment of a promise. The passage’s ending brings me hope and serves as a reminder, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” are the final words added to this string of metaphors. Again, we’re given a promise. And, we are told the purpose. Though I cannot understand how living each day in faith brings us closer to a reconciliation with all creation, we remain faithful to the promise that we have been given.
LO GAN NEWKI RK, Residence Director Division of Student Life
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T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 1 2
Psalm 128 | Ezekiel 36:22–32 | John 7:53–8:11
Exodus 16 | Psalms 95 | Colossians 1:15–23
When I was in high school, this scene from John 7–8 was acted out as a part of our yearly Easter Cantata. I remember
I’ve never really liked deserts. I grew up in Oregon surrounded by trees and mountains, so the exposed barrenness of a
watching each year, moved by the scene as religious leaders who had so viciously accused the woman backed away
desert always feels unforgivingly hard: sand and wind, heat and stone. It makes sense to me that deserts are places of
from her one-by-one, convicted by the words of Jesus. It seemed that they, too, were unable to perfectly keep the laws
exile, symbols of death, metaphors for hardships.
that they had been given. And finally, there stood Jesus and the adulterous woman. He did not condone her behavior, or even give absolutely for her sins, but instead sent her away with permission to start anew and leave behind her life of sin.
When I’m in the desert-spaces of my life—the places of hardship, or spiritual dryness—the suffering of my circumstances tend to block out God’s creative authority and love. I don’t see the life-giving hand of God working out blessings in the barren landscape of the desert. I see an expanse of unforgiving terrain. And I’m not alone: in the
We are a few weeks into the season of Lent and I don’t know about you, but this is often the time when I become
passages for today, the Israelites complain about their time in the desert. Like me, they believe that there can be no
discouraged about my own discipline or lack thereof. Some years I am willing my way through the season hoping that I
redemption in a desolate space, that anything is better than the desert. They would rather return to an old life of
don’t “mess up” and others I am disappointed that I have already done it. I look at my brothers and sisters in Christ
enslavement, they would rather die than face the difficulties ahead.
around me, wondering if they are doing and feeling the same or perhaps willing them to do it so that I am not alone.
The passages from Psalms and from Colossians paint a different picture. In Psalms, we find a God whose loving
Reading this passage, though, reminds me of two things important for those who follow Jesus to remember. First, our
authority over the planet creates both barren and fertile places: “In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the
concern is not to adjudicate the moral lives of others, sitting in judgement when they fall short of God’s desires for us;
mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” The Psalmist goes on
the act of moral conviction belongs to the work of the Holy Spirit. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew implores us to
to explain that wherever we are, we are “the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” All landscapes in the
pay attention to the plank in our own eye before pointing out the speck of sawdust in our neighbor’s eye. This passage
world—lush abundant ones and brittle dry ones—are the pastures of a God who cares and guides his people.
also tells us that we do not need to continue any harmful or sinful habits and patterns that plague us. Jesus’s words to the adulterous woman, “Go now and leave your life of sin”—are also his words to us. Our lives can be different.
Lent asks us to face the deserts of our lives. Lenten practices like fasting remind us of our sins, our hardships, our exile. The point is not to make us miserable, but to remember that God provides in and transforms desolate spaces: manna
This passage today stands as a signpost for us on our Lenten journey to the cross—it is never too late to change our
and quail, water from stone. It isn’t that God rescues us from the discomfort, pain or hardships of the desert. But he
ways in either case.
gives beauty, rest and healing where we least expect it. I still don’t love deserts, but Lent is slowly teaching me that they, too, are a beautiful part of the landscape of my life.
H EATHER DAUG HER T Y, University Minister JAY M E M . Y E O , Associate Professor of English
University Ministries
Department of English, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
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S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 1 4
Psalm 95 | Exodus 16:9–21 | Ephesians 2:11–22
Exodus 16:27–35 | Psalm 95 | John 4:1–6
It is easy to create divides.
I opened the door, and there stood Laurie on the step balancing something covered in a brown grocery bag.
Coke vs Pepsi
“It’s a cake!” she announced with a smile. “For the baby.” She came right in.
N’sync vs Backstreet Boys
On a sultry Saturday afternoon in July, the women in my family made the house ready. One polished the wooden table, others arranged cut flowers, tended the ham, lined up glasses sparkling from a fresh rinse. We had company coming.
Democrats vs Republicans
Early the next morning, we would trek downtown to our parish church to baptize our youngest child, “the baby”
Morning Person vs Night Owl And drawing lines is not a new thing. People have always been trying to sort through who is in and out. Who is included and excluded.
indeed. After his damp ritual, we would welcome guests to celebrate the receiving and naming of a new child of God. Our small home would be crowded, in the best way, as a Southern gathering merged energetic conversation with good things to eat.
And then Jesus pops onto the scene. And it seems like everywhere Jesus goes, he is redrawing the lines. It is the woman at the well, the Samaritan on the side of the road, the tax collectors and the lepers. Jesus was in the work of expanding the circle of compassion. Jesus was in the work of reminding those who thought they were on the outside, foreigners in the land, that they are loved and included. And equally as important, Jesus was reminding those who were on the inside that maybe they need to reconsider the lines they have constructed. Paul picks up this train of thought in Ephesians. Paul reminds the Ephesians—this whole Jew vs Gentile world you all have created—it is off. There is no divide. You Gentiles who have been culturally brought up to believe you are on the outside, you are included. And you Jews who have always held the pen to draw the lines—it is time to reconsider. Jesus, once again, expands the circle.
I did not expect Laurie. High school acquaintances, we had seen each other by chance at a playground. I’d been in Atlanta for more than ten years; she had recently relocated there. Here she was, bearing manna from heaven in the form of a pound cake. As it turned out, we had no other dessert for our Sunday christening lunch. My delivery by manna from Laurie bears little outward resemblance to that of the disgruntled Israelites in the Lent-like desert. Neither does our playground encounter sixteen years after high school correspond to John’s account of Jesus’s meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. Yet if we back up for the long view, similarities, like moments of grace, abound. Many memorable and instructive stories in our lives begin with a sense of the not-what-we-expected. Our stories here are rich in that familiar theme: Moses’s traveling tribe did not expect decades of manna wafers to stretch over each
And this Jews vs Gentiles argument can feel outdated. The terms can seem foreign. But the concept of who is in and
Sabbath; the Samaritan woman in John 4 did not expect a Jewish stranger to show up at the well, to know her, to
who is out—and our tendency to always put people like us on the in category—has never been more relevant. In a
speak the truth in riddles; in fact, she did not expect him to speak at all. In both stories, abundance and deliverance
world of divisions, Jesus’s and Paul’s words remain countercultural.
arrive by surprising means. Now there’s a gospel theme as fulfilling as pound cake.
I am not sure what unsaid lines you have drawn, but today, consider expanding your circle of compassion. Today, go
Speaking of cake and expectations: I had contracted for a special cake with a neighboring baker friend who never
out of your way to remind those who think they are cultural outsiders that they are loved, welcomed and included.
showed up at all; a break-up was involved, and our occasion slipped her mind. My abundant deliverance by the
Today, redraw your circle and let others know they have a seat at the table.
thoughtfulness of a fellow young mother who knew me from back home is a bright, lasting memory to this day With the psalmist, we should remember this Lent to come before the Lord not “wayward in our hearts” (Psalm 95:10)
RYA N HOLT, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of New Student Orientation Programs
with an agenda, but in thanksgiving and humility. Through whatever form our wilderness takes, we should remain open
Division of Student Life
to undeserved, unexpected deliverance. We should expect it.
WY ET H B URGESS Department of English, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
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Third Sunday of Lent
S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 5 Exodus 17:1–7 | Psalm 95 | Romans 5:1–11 | John 4:5–42
Trust. 2020 is, for me, the Year of Trust. I am writing this on January 9, several weeks before we begin the Lenten season, but even this early in the year, God is surrounding me with this theme. From a sermon to my daily Bible reading to an oldie-but-real-goodie Margaret Becker song, reminders are everywhere. The scriptures for today’s devotional are no different. Whether it is for daily provisions or general well-being, God’s people have always been called to trust him. And that, more than anything, is where we have always failed. The Israelites’ lack of trust in their years of wandering has become an object lesson for today’s believers. God kept providing, and they kept grumbling. He provided them freedom from their Egyptian oppressors, a miraculous path through the Red Sea, manna and quail to eat, pillars of cloud and fire to guide their way and water from a rock (!)—and yet, they continued in their distrust, even creating an idol to a god of their own design. The Psalmist references this, recalling the Israelites’ “hardening their hearts,” and entreating his listeners not to do the same. As our Shepherd, he will provide—safety, guidance and physical and spiritual needs. As his sheep, we can trust him to do just that. Jesus repeatedly exhorts his followers to trust. In our passage from John, Jesus offers water that will quench one’s thirst permanently, and sustenance that comes from doing his work in the world. We don’t have to earn these provisions, but merely trust God to provide them. Continuing in Romans, Paul, of all people, knew what it was to suffer, and yet he frames suffering in the context of what it produces—perseverance, character and hope. Without going into why suffering exists, we know that we can trust God to bring good out of our suffering.
M O N D AY, M A R C H 1 6 Psalm 81 | Genesis 24: 1–27 | 2 John 1–1:13 “Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—if you would only listen to me, Israel!” (Psalm 81:8) Have you ever heard the voice of God? I must confess I do not think I have—at least not in an audible way. I’ve had experiences where my spirit is drawn in a direction (some traditions call this ‘being led’). I have interpreted words of those within my community to be ‘from God,’ but I am not sure I could describe to you what the voice of God actually sounds like to me. As we read Psalm 81, it begins like so many psalms we find in scripture. “Sing for joy…shout aloud…strike the timbrel… Sound the ram’s horn!” The psalmist is calling the reader to worship…to celebrate God in the familiar ways God’s people often do. But then in verse 5 we recognize a reality that many of us find all too familiar: the sound of an unknown voice. You see, like the psalmist too many times in the midst of our daily lives, and even our worship, we remain unable to recognize the voice of God. In our attempts of praise and adoration, our level of intimacy is so limited that we cannot identify God’s voice as a familiar one. To be certain the challenge is not that God is not speaking, but rather that we are unable to hear. More significantly, when God does speak, we are unwilling to actually listen. The Lenten season challenges our ability to listen. It calls us to remove the noise of our lives and to attune our soul to the voice of God. This season allows us to pause and to acknowledge all the voices in our lives that compete with our recognition of God’s. We see a great way to start this process in the remainder of Psalm 81. In the passage, God’s voice first calls the psalmist to remember. “I removed the burden from their shoulders…In your distress you called and I
Lack of trust in God creates addiction—to substances, to food, to possessions, to sex, to media, to control. When we
rescued you…I answered you out of a thundercloud.” Sometimes the easiest way to attune our hearts to the voice of
don’t trust God to provide, we try in vain to provide for ourselves. And, of course, nothing we find for ourselves will
God is to recount the ways in which we have seen and heard God in the past. When was the last time God’s
satisfy, because at the heart, it isn’t these things that we really crave. Instead, our real craving, the deepest yearning of
faithfulness has been evident to you? When has God rescued you? When has God answered your cries for help?
our souls, is a relationship with Yahweh-yireh, God-Provides. This Lent, let’s sacrifice our lack of trust in order to satisfy our craving for God and what he provides.
This season be assured that God is speaking to you. May we heed the warning in Psalm 81 and take the time to hear and to listen.
PA MELA HOWELL , Call Center Manager
CHRI ST Y RI D I NGS, Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate University Minister
Grad Student, Mental Health Counseling
University Ministries
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Psalm 81 | Genesis 29:1–14 | 1 Cor. 10:1–4
Psalm 81 | Jeremiah 2:4–13 | John 7:14–31, 37–39
Water is such a powerful symbol. We are cradled in amniotic fluid in our first months of life. Water makes up 60% of our
A couple of my friends throw pottery (in the creative, rather than destructive, sense). Imagine their joy at seeing
bodies. We are baptized in water. When we think of water, we usually think of streams and rivers and oceans. Not rocks.
someone use a pitcher they made to carry water and pour it out where most needed.
But this theme of water flowing from the rock is found in both the Old Testament and the New. The Psalmist sings of “honey from the rock.” Jacob rolls away the rock over the well in order to water Rachel’s sheep. In 1 Corinthians, Saint Paul reminds members of the early Church that the Israelites “drank from the spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ.” Perhaps the fact that we do not usually expect water from rocks is the entire point. God can bring forth life-giving water from the most arid and unexpected of places—but only if we give up our need for control. God was having the same control issues with the ancient Israelites that He has with us today: “But my people would not listen to me…So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.” Our own devices, indeed. How much time do we spend toiling away on our iPhones and Androids and tablets? When work emails and news and audiobooks and social media can reach us anywhere and at any time, it is easy to fall into the lie of productivity—that is, the belief that, in order to be valued, we have to optimize our every minute of every day.
But what if they look up at the dump and find their pitcher amongst the other rubbish—a pitcher that was carefully and lovingly made, that was beautiful and useful, and should still be so? Imagine their hope-tinged pain as they picked it up, wanting to take it home and mend it. And once they have, the joy of hope repaid. But what if the pitcher chose to be broken? If, instead of the pleasure of fulfilling its purpose, it gave up its purpose and decided to be useless? Alexis de Tocqueville talks about the informal social institutions Americans had, institutions which developed the “habits of heart and mind” that “fit us to be free.” When we limit ourselves appropriately, then we no longer require outside restraint. It is the difference (or should be) between a child and an adult. A child cannot usually be trusted to restrain their desires—to have vegetables rather than cake for dinner. An adult should be able to make that choice (or at least, that’s what my mom keeps telling me). We have certainly lost many of those habits of heart and mind, ones
But do we? What would it mean if we started to look to God for our worth instead of trusting only in the power of our
that let us accept limitations on our self to leave some scope for others—and we see the results. Democracy is not
own will, our own effort? What would it mean if we let our hands be “set free from the basket” for a few hours? A day?
something we have, but something we do, choices we make.
Would we be reminded that the power of the universe pulses inside of us? That the energy that made exo-planets and galaxies also made the blood that flows through our veins?
Likewise, a Christmas carol asks Jesus to, “bless all the dear children in thy tender care, and fit us for heaven, to live with thee there.” Our belief is not a trophy or a plaudit, something hung on a wall and dusted, but a seed planted by
Perhaps when we are still as rocks, that is when God is able to bring forth the water living in us—the water Christ uses
our Creator, one meant to reshape our habits of heart and mind, and thus our actions—to fit us for heaven, by making
to bathe and bless others.
us more resemble its King and our Father. We can choose to let him mend us, let him fill us and serve his purpose. But it’s a choice we have to get in the habit of making, in heart and mind.
K RISTI A RTH, Assistant Professor of Law NAT HAN GRI FFI N, Associate Professor
College of Law
Political Science Department, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
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Psalm 23 | 1 Samuel 15:10–21 | Ephesians 4:25–32
Psalms 23 | 1 Samuel 15:22–31 | Ephesians 5:1–9
Growing up the daughter of a Baptist minister, I remember attending church what seemed like every day. To be honest,
Psalms 23:1 translated in the English Standard Version (ESV) states, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” If I can
during my childhood I often found myself complaining about always having to be there. As I got older, I gained a
begin to truly grasp and stand on that one verse, I could live the most beautiful, love filled and stress free life ever. Here
deeper understanding as to why cultivating my spiritual life was so important. My parents were preparing me to stand
is the problem: I’m still human. While reading and studying 1 Samuel 15:22–31, verse 22 really spoke into my spirit. It
boldly on my faith, walk with conviction and to listen and obey the voice of God.
states “And Samuel said, ‘has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the
The same way it seems children have problems obeying their parents, we have problems obeying God in some of the simplest ways. In 1 Samuel 15:10–21, King Saul was given a clear and direct command. Yet, he took matters into his own hands, and chose not to fully obey. Partial obedience is still disobedience. God does not set us up for failure, he creates teachable moments. When we are faced with a decision to obey God, remember we can trust he knows what is best for us. He gives us strength to submit to his will, and he will bless us in ways we cannot imagine. Life is best lived when we focus on the Savior. Where do you place your focus when life challenges you? Who do you run to for comfort? Psalm 23 reminds us that everything we need is found in Jesus. He is our comforter and protector. When you are walking through a valley—you have more bills than money, you have an illness that is wearing you down or you are struggling in your relationships with others, remember this: stay in his presence and keep your eyes fixed on our good shepherd, he will lead you safely through. This Lenten season, I invite you to take off those things that hinder your Christian walk. “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:25–32) Be obedient to God in small things and big things. Fix your eyes on Jesus when the seasons of your life change. Position yourself to be blessed, and watch God move!
Lord?’ Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” The rest of the passage goes on to talk about how King Saul sinned and turned away from listening and obeying the word of God, and because of fear started obeying the voice of the people. Ephesians 5: 1–9 simply confirms the writings from 1 Samuel. The one thing that I try to stand firmly on this: before I make any attempt to speak into someone else’s life I conduct an honest assessment of my own life. I can go back almost 22 years ago, when I truly gave my life to Christ, and see clearly the times when I fail to listen and obey the word of God. I let outside influences rule over my life without even being aware it was happening. I gave into the fear of what people would think about me; if obeying the word of God would make me seem self-righteous. As we grow in Christ, and our relationship strengthens, we become the benefactors of God’s redeeming love, grace and mercy. Going forward into 2020, let us conduct self-assessments of our current lives; pondering two very serious questions. First, and this is a question that I think we lose track of when reading and studying this passage, are we really listening to the word of God? When I facilitate discussions in a group setting I use ground rules to make for a fair, open and honest conversation. One rule is to seek first to understand, then to be understood. Simply explained, often times when someone is speaking to us, we’re not really listening because we are too busy forming thoughts to respond. Are we treating God that way when He’s speaking to us? Are we too busy forming thoughts of all the reasons we can’t or won’t hear him? Secondly, do we have a problem obeying the word of God out of fear, of what not only people in general, but our family and friends think as well. I mentioned earlier the redeeming love, grace and mercies of Christ. Many years ago I too fell short of listening and obeying, but being a benefactor, I too have been redeemed by God’s love, grace and mercy. So if that day for you needs to be today, to start being the benefactor of God’s love, grace and mercy, rest assured God is ready, willing and able to do all things.
COSON YA STEP HEN S, University Budget Analyst Office of Finance & Accounting
GARY B . HUNT ER SR., Telecommunications Manager
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S U N D AY, M A R C H 2 2
Psalm 23 | 1 Samuel 15:32–34 | John 1:1–9
I Samuel 16:1–13 | Psalms 23 | Ephesians 5: 8–14 | John 9:1–41
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Have you ever seen the night sky in a rural area and noticed the incredible difference between the visible stars there
Perspective. We all have a viewpoint in how we handle situations that face us in our daily walk. Sadly, my perspective is
and the visible stars in a more urban area? The difference is like night and day. Having grown up in a suburban area
not always what it needs to be. I regret to admit that my sinful nature gets in the way and my selfish desires will taint
and living in Nashville, looking at the night sky does not often include a wide array of visible stars for me, but I have
my perspective if I am not focused on allowing the Holy Spirit to continually direct my thoughts and actions.
memories of going camping and glancing upwards to bright, marvelous displays. The stars are perhaps our most powerful and accessible metaphor for understanding the relationship between darkness and light. Within today’s passages, there is a power struggle between darkness and light. The psalmist and the writers of the
God’s word constantly reminds us how to view the world from God’s broader context. Consider Samuel, appointed by God to anoint Israel’s next king when he traveled to the house of Jesse. Samuel saw the first seven sons and thought Eliab and perhaps some of the others would be whom God would choose; however, that was not the plan. God
Gospel of John recognize darkness, and yet the existence of light to banish it at the same time. In other words, the
reminded Samuel that he was looking at the heart and not the outwardly appearance of what man may see (I Samuel
promise given in these passages is not for a complete lack of darkness; the promise is for the presence of light in the
16:7). We are also reminded of when Jesus healed the blind man in John 9 and the perspective of the Pharisees was
midst of the darkness. In Psalm 23, “the goodness and love” of God “follow” the psalmist even when they “walk through
one of disbelief because the healing took place on the Sabbath. While they knew much about the law, did they really
the darkest valley.” In the first chapter of John, the coming presence of Jesus is equated with the coming of “the true
know God’s perspective? How easy it is to lose the right perspective when we focus only on a set of rules and not the
light that gives light to everyone.” In these words there is a comfort in knowing God’s presence is found even in the
entire spiritual perspective of a situation.
darkest places and moments of our lives.
The great promise of scripture is that God wants to direct our paths in his ways (Psalm 23:3) and for us to walk in his
It is not difficult to recognize the presence of darkness in our lives. It often seems much more difficult to recognize the
perfect light. My prayer is to try and understand life’s situations and issues from God’s perspective and to lean on him
presence of God’s light in our experiences of darkness. At times, we feel more like the night sky in the city with dull,
and not my own understanding. His word is clear that he will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5–6).
isolated sparks of light glowing across a pale sky. However, the Scripture promises us a rich and luminous night sky in God’s presence to guide us along through our most hopeless and painful journeys.
I pray that our focus will be on loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength in order to love our neighbor in the way the God intends for us to do. As we keep our eyes upon him, our path has the ultimate light and direction.
This spring, as you find yourself in moments of thick darkness, cling to the hope given to us in faith: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
DAVI D F. GREGO RY, Dean College of Pharmacy
H ANNAH RA E M EL I S, Class of 2021 Religion and the Arts Major
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T U E S D AY, M A R C H 2 4
Psalm 146 | Isaiah 59:9–19 | Acts 9:1–20
Psalm146 | Isaiah 42:14–21 | Colossians 1:9–14
Another child separated from her parents at the border.
In Him We are Saved
“We wait for justice, but there is none”
Colossians 1
Another blatant lie and cover up by those in power.
Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Apart from him, we are all slaves and prisoners of sin and death. But his loving sacrifice changes everything. In him we are saved. In him we have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (v. 14).
“Truth stumbles in the public square” Another mass shooting. Another hate crime. Another political scandal. “We look for light, but all is darkness”
Our spiritual wisdom and understanding enable us to “live a life worthy of the Lord” and to “please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work” (v. 10), growing in knowledge of God, being strengthened and giving thanks. We are blessed with endurance, patience and joyful thanks because our God has included us—qualified us—in “the inheritance
These words from Isaiah ring just as true today as they did when they were written 2,500 years ago. It seems we are
of the saints in the kingdom of light” (v. 12). We are qualified only through God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
just as likely to discover Neverland or Atlantis as we are to live in a society where truth and justice matter.
We are rescued from dark despair, ignorance and hopelessness; we are brought into the kingdom of the beloved Son
These words of Isaiah, coupled with the passage in the Psalms, prompts us to consider two things. First, we are
of God. We are forgiven. We are redeemed. Our heart is set on God and on things above. We can devote our mind, soul,
challenged to consider the ways in which we perpetuate injustice. We may not actively do the injustice, but many of us
will and life to God. His grace is in our hearts; to His people He gives strength and power “according to his glorious
directly benefit from the fruits of injustice and oppression. We benefit from economic structures that perpetuate
might” (v. 11).
income inequality. We buy products manufactured in ways that destroy the earth and dehumanize our brothers and
These verses address our past, our present and our future. In Christ we are released from our guilt, we experience his
sisters across the globe. These passages call us to recognize that we stand idly by when truth stumbles in the public square. They call us to recognize that our “transgressions before [God] are many and our sins testify against us.” As people of God we are called to pursue justice, speak truth and let the light of Christ shine through us, yet too often we fail. Secondly, these passages remind us where justice comes from, where to place our hope. Too often, when we witness
rich blessings and we look toward our heavenly inheritance of eternal life.
B O NNI E RI ECHERT, Chair and Associate Professor Department of Public Relations, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
injustice we turn to those in power. We place our hope in a political party or an individual to fix society’s woes. The Psalmist reminds us not to put our hope in our fellow humans. Rather we are prompted to place our hope in the God who took on flesh and became human. The God who was born into a poor family, regularly hung out with the outcasts of society and was unjustly murdered by those in power. As Christians we worship a God who identifies with the oppressed, with those who are most impacted by injustice. We are called to repent and turn away from the ways we practice injustice and turn toward God. And in doing so we find our only hope of living in communities marked by justice, truth, righteousness and love.
JOSH TENHAKEN -R I ED EL , Assistant Director of Spiritual Formation University Ministries
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W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 5
T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 2 6
Psalm 146 | Isaiah 60:17–22 | Matthew 9:27–34
Psalm 130 | Ezekiel 1:1–3; 2:8–3:3 | Revelation 10:1–11
One of the common themes in today’s verses is that of provision. The psalmist praises God for his provision of life, his
In Psalm 130, the Psalmist pens a beautiful prayer full of longing for God to answer him and the hope of believing that
care for the needy and his justice for the oppressed. The prophet reminds Israel that God will provide for their nation’s
his prayers are already being answered. He tells all of Israel to put their “hope in the Lord” because “with Him is full
prosperity and security, remembering his covenant as they return from exile. And the apostle describes Jesus’s
redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel from all of their sins” (vs. 7b–8). They did not know at the time when God
compassionate restoration of health for two blind beggars and a demon-possessed man.
would redeem them or how He would do it, but through prophets and Scripture Israel knew God would come.
It is worth noting that each of these readings tie together three phases of time—past, present and future. The psalmist
Fast-forward to Ezekiel 36. The Israelites have been overtaken, destroyed and pillaged multiple times. They are losing
recognizes God’s creative act in the beginning, worships him for his present acts of love and mercy, and praises him for
hope that there is a God at all, much less the type of God who would come to them and rescue them. But verses 9 and
his eternal reign. In the midst of the challenge of rebuilding a nation, the prophet reminds the Israelites that although
10 offer a new hope to the people. God says to his people, “I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor… the
past sins and rebellion caused their downfall, God has forgiven them, restored them and has plans for prosperity in
ruins will be rebuilt.” God sees and knows his people. He never forgets his promises to them. He gives them timely
their future. The apostle’s narrative demonstrates what happens when the eternal God from creation steps into the
words of encouragement in their moments of despair because he knew they needed it. He continually springs us hope.
present and engages with humanity in ways that foreshadow our glorious hope in his eternal presence.
Move to Luke 24:44. The disciples’ Teacher has just been murdered in an unthinkable way. Many of them abandoned
Later in the book of Matthew, Jesus provides us a permanent reminder of the majestic arc of God’s redemptive plan—
him and went into hiding after his death. They had what they thought was an unshakeable hope, but now it was all
past, present and future—through the act of communion (Matthew 26:26–29). As he breaks the bread and takes the
over so quickly. How could something so true be snuffed out so fast? How could they dare to have hope in anything
cup, he identifies his broken body and spilled blood as the ultimate sacrifice, the provision for their salvation. He then
ever again? And that’s where our hope comes in again. Jesus has just raised from the dead and shows himself alive to
tells the apostles to eat and drink (present), remembering that these elements represent his covenant and forgiveness
his disciples. Jesus tells them that everything that has happened to him is to fulfill Scriptures written long ago that
of sins (past), and that he will not partake again until the return of a renewed kingdom (future).
they knew but just needed the reminder.
During today’s meditation, let us look at our own life, our own story, our own past, present and future. Like the psalmist,
He is a God who himself made the way for us to be redeemed. He cares greatly for us and sees each of our needs,
let us praise God for the provision of life, his mercy, justice and compassion. Like the prophet, let us encourage
looking on us with favor. He offers hope in every situation. So now let us continue to pray Psalm 130 knowing that our
ourselves and one another to lift our eyes from current circumstances and cast our hope on the Lord and his design for
great hope has come for us and will come again to bring us to himself.
our lives. And, like the apostle, let us marvel at the cross, Jesus’s final and permanent provision of victory of life over death, our everlasting hope and our eternal destiny.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I put my hope in the Lord for with him is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. ASHLEI GH M ART I N NEU
JEREMY LA N E, Director of the School of Music
Belmont Alumna Class of 2018
College of Music & Performing Arts
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F R I D AY, M A R C H 2 7
S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 2 8
Psalm 130 | Ezekiel 33:10–16 | Revelation 11:15–19
Psalm 123 | Psalm 130 | Ezekiel 36:8–15 | Luke 24:44–53
Growing up, I always had a transactional view of God. To my high school self, God was just interested in my behavior
Allergic Reactions and Active Waiting on God
and as long as I didn’t cuss, steal or kill anyone, I was good. And if I was good, God would give me things that I wanted. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was a faulty way of thinking and believing in God. Verse 3 in Psalm 130 says that if God kept a record of our sins no one has a leg to stand on. Even if we are perfect, or “righteous” as Ezekiel says, if we disobey one time (Ezekiel 33:12) our previous perfection counts for nothing. We cannot stand on our righteousness in the presence of God. Deep down each of us know that. We know that we are broken. Either we fail to measure up or we realize that we are frail people that need help.
Perhaps you have felt it before—the restlessness, anxiety-building symptoms of a “waiting” allergy attack. It tends to happen in long checkout lines and definitely in Nashville traffic. We are allergic to waiting, or at least I am. We try to avoid it or at least minimize it. Instacart, DoorDash, Waze and of course the beloved Disney Fast Pass are key tools in our anti-waiting arsenal, designed to minimize wait times wherever they may appear. In essence we hate to wait. Yet, in today’s scriptures, the psalmist presents a counter-cultural idea. In Psalm 130 he actually encourages us to wait. That’s right, WAIT for the Lord. It’s a theme seen in each of today’s scriptures. In Ezekiel, Israel is encouraged to wait for the Lord’s redemption, and in Luke 24, the disciples are encouraged to wait for the one “my Father has promised.”
But there is hope.
So how does a 21st century believer with a severe allergic reaction to waiting respond? Surely there is a saintly fast
Notice how Psalm 130:3 states that no one is righteous. The psalmist says that “if” God kept a record of everyone’s sins
pass hidden within the verses. Unfortunately, no. Rather the psalmist encourages us to lean into the waiting with
no one could stand, implying that he doesn’t do that. And verse 4 speaks to the true nature of the holy God of the
specific instructions on how we should wait. The psalmist describes waiting with his “whole being” and in anticipation
universe: “But with you there is forgiveness.” Sometimes my transactional view of God creeps in and tells me that I
of its fulfillment. To underscore this, the psalmist twice repeats, “I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the
don’t need forgiveness. The lie tells me that I need more of God’s blessings. But my hope is not in the gifts that God
morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
gives me, my hope is with the unfailing love and redemption that God provides (Psalm 130:7–8).
Notice too that waiting has a companion, the antidote to our allergic reaction—hope. In the waiting, the psalmist places
I also love the way this psalm expects God to redeem and provide mercy. It’s like the writer has seen it before; like the
his hope in God’s word and encourages us to do the same. Thus, the psalmist illustrates that waiting is not a passive,
writer has cried out to God previously and seen Him answer. The psalmist is willing to wait because he knows mercy
religious thumb-twirling enterprise, but an action. God calls us to actively wait by placing our hope in him.
and redemption is coming and it is worth it.
Finally, the psalmist ends with why we should wait on the Lord. He tells us to “put your hope in the Lord for with the
Today’s verses in Ezekiel speak of life and death. No one can have life without repentance, which isn’t an elimination of sin. Repentance is what Ezekiel 33:11 says twice: to turn! It says to turn from your evil ways. The first followers of Jesus were called followers of the Way. They followed the way of Jesus, the way he did life: sacrificed for others, loved the marginalized and privileged alike, and led with kindness, passion and gentleness. The first Christians turned from an evil way of life to follow the Jesus way of life. And that’s our call now: to step into the life Jesus offers through the
Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” Waiting is hard. Thankfully we are not called to wait alone. In Luke 24, as Jesus prepared to ascend into heaven, he told the disciplines that he would send them a helper in the Holy Spirit. Thus, even in the waiting, God is with us, showing us his unfailing love.
forgiveness of a holy, loving and awesome God. CHRI ST I E KLEI NM ANN, Associate Professor RYA N NEISES, Coordinator of Academic Services and Sports Ministry
Department of Public Relations, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Athletics
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S U N D AY, M A R C H 2 9 Ezekiel 37:1–14 | Psalm 130 | Romans 8:6–11 | John 11:1–45
Fifth Sunday of Lent
M O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 Psalm 143 | 1 Kings 17:17–24 | Acts 20:7–12
During his missionary journeys around the ancient Near East, Paul faced trials and imprisonment for preaching the
Through these passages we see Jesus bringing life to those who are dead—David, Eutychus and the widow’s son.
Gospel of the risen Christ. As told in Acts of the Apostles, Paul continued preaching and teaching in the capital of the
Although we may not realize it, each and every day Jesus is bringing life to the dead parts of us. He gives us breath
highly militarized Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Nero. He was bringing a message of hope to a world that
and the water of life and we rise up and live a fruitful life because of the power and love of Jesus.
had been governed by corrupt dictators such as Tiberius, Caligula and Nero. Because Romans armies had conquered the Mediterranean world, there were many displaced people in the city including Jewish Christians like Prisca and Aquila, fellow workers in Christ who had been exiled then returned. They are mentioned in Romans 16:3–4.
David pleads with God to take him out of his deep depression, “Lord, come quickly and answer me, for my depression deepens and I’m about to give up. Don’t leave me now or I’ll die.” In Psalms 14:37, David knows that he will not be able to get out of this dark hole he is in without God and the light he brings. He mentions that he thinks about the blessings
One person permanently changed by Paul’s letter to the Romans was St. Augustine of Hippo. Augustine’s book
and wonders that God has done in the past and he knows that, like in the past, God can bring him out of this pit. David
Confessions tells of his early sinful life and eventual conversion to Christianity. In the turning point of Confessions,
suffered a tremendous amount of stress, pressure, heartache and emotional turmoil during his life. But one thing that
Augustine hears a child’s voice in a garden telling him to “take up and read,” which causes Augustine to flip open a
He always goes back to is the Truth. He knows that regardless of his emotions and feelings of despair, the Truth of
Bible and find this passage in Romans 13:13–14: “Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness,
God’s love for him will get him out of any pit. He turns to the one who can make it better, who can pick us up and carry
not in strife and jealousy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as for the flesh, take no thought for its lusts.”
us to the light.
Likewise, the message of Romans 8:6–11 is that today we live in a fallen world like that fragmented, conquered realm of
In the stories in 1 Kings and Acts, both disciples did not try some crazy trick or weird procedure to raise those men to
the Roman Empire during Paul’s time. The middle of Paul’s letter to the Romans (specifically Romans 8:6–11) is the
life. They simply spoke Truth over them and let Jesus put life back into the mens’ lives. When we are in a pit, a funk or
turning point because it is about the difference between the old and the new. We can choose to live in the old, lower
even just having a bad day, once we realize we cannot make it better ourselves we are one step in the right direction
world of the flesh or turn our hearts and live according to the new Holy Spirit, which reigns in Christ and in each of us.
towards healing. Speaking Jesus’s name over our troubles and turning them over to him is sometimes the only thing
Paul tells us if we set our mind on the flesh, it ensures only death, but to set our mind on the Spirit is the door to
we can do—and it is the BEST thing we can do. Giving our hurt and pain to the one who loves us more than anything is
eternal life and peace. What more could we want than eternal life and peace when we look around? If we remain stuck
the best type of healing we can receive. Speak Truth over yourself and remind yourself how loved you are—Jesus will
in the mud and trapped in the flesh, we are just like those corrupt Roman emperors who did not try to please God.
bring healing and life beyond what you can even imagine.
Paul’s message has transcended the centuries and given life to Augustine and millions of other followers of Christ. We need have a turning point in our own Lenten journeys towards Christ.
HAY LI E CRAVER, Class of 2020 Belmont College of Law
JONATHA N THOR N D I KE, Professor English Department, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
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T U E S D AY, M A R C H 3 1
W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1
Psalm 143 | 2 Kings 4:18–37 | Ephesians 2:1–10
Psalm 143 | Jeremiah 32:1–9, 36–41 | Matthew 22:23–33
“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.”
I have heard all kinds of stories of God “telling” people to do things—break up with someone, quit one job and take
—Christian D. Larson
another, move to a new city. I listen to those stories and sometimes it is hard to know what to make of them—I’ve never
Has catastrophe entered into your life? Does it seems as if the only one in the world suffering is you? Remember this—throughout the Bible there are several moments where the characters acknowledge that God will not leave nor
heard God talk to me in this way. But, this is just the kind of thing that we read about in scripture all of the time. Today’s passage from Jeremiah is one of those times.
forsake his children. Multiple times, God through his faithfulness, listened to the outpouring request of his people and
Things were not looking good for the people of Israel or for Jeremiah personally. Babylon’s army had surrounded the
poured out a blessing. There is suffering in this life. The greatest example of such turmoil is the pain and suffering of
city and was about to take it captive. Jeremiah himself was confined in the courtyard of the royal palace. The future
Jesus Christ. It is, however, through God’s righteousness and love for us that he hears our prayers and provides a path
looks bleak and in the midst of that situation, God tells Jeremiah to buy a plot of land. It may have seemed silly to
for us to follow.
those around him that he would buy a piece of land that was about to be in the hands of the Babylonian army. But,
God has provided us with something special and its inside of us to overcome all obstacles and to do great things. David, in his knowledge and reverence of and for God, cried out and asked for guidance. He spoke to God about his faithfulness. He recognized that only God could provide him with an abiding peace in his life. The entire 143rd Psalm highlights David’s desire to be heard and to do for the Lord. He was fully aware of how much better his life would be with God in full control and him following God’s plan for his life. The ability to utilize the talents God has provided us with; talents to uplift downtrodden humanity; talents to have altruistic character: the great provision God offers to his people is not empty. We must adhere to what it is God desires for us—ultimate surrender. From an earthly vantage, if you sacrificed something so important to you for someone else, would you want a small amount of thanks and loyalty? God is only asking that we do the same. Since he has unfailing love for us—he wants us to have unfailing love for him. He has provided a Savior on our behalf and he is asking that we accept his lordship. As difficult as it may seem, the benefits are amazing and the alternative is horrifying. I cry out to you, oh Lord. Provide in me a clean heart. Allow for my thoughts, actions and being to be of you. Let every interaction I have create a new relationship or enhance an existing one with you. Give this community the strength
God tells Jeremiah to do it, and Jeremiah listens. Through Jeremiah’s obedience, God says to the people who have nothing but fear for the future, “This is not the end of your story. You are mine and I will bring you back to this place. This land will once again be yours. I will enter into a covenant with you and I will never stop doing good to you.” Through the faithful actions of Jeremiah, hope is brought into a dark and impossible situation. Are there ever times and places where you have felt lost and abandoned by God? Where you have felt cut-off and abandoned? Have you ever felt like the Babylonians have surrounded your city and there is nothing that you can do about it? In those times, we may need to turn to this text to see a picture of God’s future for us. Here, we are reminded that God controls that future and it is one of hope, rebuilding, fruitfulness and recovery. God’s promise to the Israelite people through Jeremiah continues to come to us today—we are never left in the midst of disaster and struggle without God. God WILL rescue and redeem us.
HEAT HER DAUGHERT Y, University Minister University Ministries
necessary to help grow your kingdom. We humbly submit to all you have been, are and will be in our lives. Thank you and amen.
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T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 2
F R I D AY A P R I L 3
Psalm 31:9–16 | 1 Samuel 16:11–13 | Philippians 1:1–11
Psalm 31:9–16 | Job 13:13–19 | Philippians 1:21–30
Psalm 31:9–16 is a compelling passage. We live in a world that is good, created by the Good Lord Almighty, but also
If you’ve spent much time in the Christian tradition, you’ve probably heard Paul’s famous words in Philippians “To live is
one that is filled with suffering: sorrow, hunger, sickness, death, grief, violence. The sin of humankind has brought on all
Christ and to die is gain.” These words take the common experience of every human, life and death, and put a sense of
kinds of hardship. Sometimes it seems like there is terror on every side. At times, we might feel forgotten, of use to no
purpose to each. All of us, at some point, must answer the question about what we believe it means to live and what it
one, like broken pottery. Other times, we might feel surrounded by enemies. Jesus himself “was despised and rejected
means to die.
by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:3). He was well-acquainted with grief and tears, and just like us, was subjected to the world’s difficulties. But, “…however fierce the waves are which beat against us, and however sore the assaults by which we are shaken, we hold fast this as a fixed principle, that we are constantly under the protection of God, and can say to him freely, ‘Thou art our God’” (John Calvin). Our refuge and salvation are in God and his unfailing love and mercy. God will not fail us, no one can take God from us. “…blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7–8). As we see in the passage I Samuel 16:11–13, God has a plan and it will succeed. God makes use of even mistake-prone people like David. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). We look forward to Easter, when we celebrate our Savior’s resurrection and his triumph over sin and the world!
So, what are you living for? I know I have lived for all sorts of things, and oftentimes my direction feels like it changes by the day. I’ve lived seasons of my life for accolades and recognition, seeking the achievement and praise that comes along with it. I’ve lived at times to acquire money and material things, seeking security and the pleasures of more stuff. I’ve lived trying exclusively to focus on my career and the jobs that I might be able to find if I were to succeed. Now, I don’t think many of us consciously choose these directions all of the time. But I do know that if my purpose is vague, then so is my direction. I often end up getting swept around by the things that make me happy or offer the least resistance. And yet, isn’t it so inspiring and refreshing to others around us when they have a sense of calling and purpose that’s driving them? I believe Paul had such a deep and intimate relationship with God that it was an easy decision to say that to live is to live for Christ. It was his experience with the risen Jesus that animated his sense of purpose and calling in the world. In the end, this is what the season of Lent invites us to experience and remember. As we practice temperance through fasting, we open up more of ourselves to experience a deeper and more meaningful encounter with the risen Christ. I’m hopeful that as we all continue through the Lenten season in the ways God has called us all to participate uniquely, that we might echo Paul’s words more sincerely each day in saying, “To live is Christ.”
DA N N Y BILES, Professor Mathematics and Computer Science Department, College of Science and Math
LARKI N B RI LEY, Director of Missions and Outreach University Ministries
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S AT U R D AY, A P R I L 4
S U N D AY, A P R I L 5
Psalm 31:9–16 | Lamentations 3:55–66 | Mark 10:32–34
Psalm 118: 1–2; 19–29 | Luke 19: 28–40 | Isaiah 50: 4–9a; Philippians 2:5–11 |
Palm Sunday
Psalm 31: 9–16; Luke 22:14–23; 56; Luke 23: 1–49 Astonished and afraid. We find in today’s reading from Mark’s Gospel that Jesus’ followers were astonished and afraid as they followed him on
“A Choice” by Lauren Wright Pittman1
the road to Jerusalem. Maybe you can identify with this. I must confess that at any given time in my own journey
Our Lenten journey heads toward its end with the beating of palm branches. What do
following Jesus I have been one, or both, of these things. I put one foot in front of the other as I journey after Jesus not
they signal? The coming of a king? The suffering of a servant? Artist Lauren Wright
fully understanding where he is leading me. I remain astonished by the person of Jesus and the miracles of who he is
Pittman offers the following reflections:
while simultaneously being made afraid by the mysteries of the journey. As the disciples were experiencing these very
Jesus offers us a layered and complicated choice, one that is as complex as his
things, the scripture tells us that Jesus took them aside and told them what was going to happen to him.
own dualistic nature. The first option is self-denial, a heavy burden and a lost—but
“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the
saved—life. The second is gaining the whole world, but forfeiting life. It’s easy for a
teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and
seasoned Christian to take this choice for granted. This choice that Jesus calls us
spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
into may even seem like a no brainer, but in this moment, Jesus teaches of the terrors that will befall him and invites the crowd to knowingly face that path
Jesus is out in front, leading the way to Jerusalem and then stops (for the third time in fact) to tell the disciples what is
alongside him. If we’re honest, it is extremely difficult to reject the tempting power
to come. The first time Jesus told them they didn’t believe him. The second time they didn’t want to believe him. But
and wealth this world has to offer and allow our life to take the shape of good
this third time, Jesus is again trying to help them understand the reality of what is about to occur: that the road of
news for all.
redemption must journey by the foot of the cross. It is a stark reality that the disciples were having trouble wrapping their minds around. So they did the only thing they knew to do in the midst of their bewilderment—they followed
The choice isn’t an obvious one. One side looks like an opulent pile of riches, a crown and endless power,
behind Jesus into Jerusalem.
while the other looks like tattered and worn hands with new life blooming out of wounds, work, burdens and relationships. This choice may seem like a distant decision made long ago, but it’s a decision to be
During the Lenten season as we reflect on the realities of the cross perhaps you are also struggling to fully grasp the
made every single day, one moment at a time. In working for and with the downtrodden, poor, orphaned,
depth of its message. Perhaps the mystery of redemption seems to allude you. You might even find yourself
widowed, ostracized and oppressed, we will find ourselves.2
astonished and afraid. I wonder if our scripture today is reminding us that Jesus continues to take us aside and reveal his message to us. Perhaps today, all you are able to do is fix your eyes on Jesus and follow each of his steps on the
The coming Holy Week calls each of us to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” Our response is found
road to Jerusalem. During this Lenten season, may you be reminded that following in the steps of Jesus is, in fact,
in how we invest our lives.
journeying toward redemption by way of the cross. May it be so.
God, deliver me from the evil temptation of power, privilege and wealth into wounds, work and relationships so that love will supremely reign. Amen.
CHRISTY RIDINGS, Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate University Minister University Ministries
KELLY M O RELAND J O NES, Trainer & Self Service Analyst Administrative Technology
1 2
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http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57082 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57082
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M O N D AY, A P R I L 6 Psalm 36:5–11 | Isaiah 42:1–9 | Hebrews 9:11–15 | John 12:1–11
Monday of Holy Week
T U E S D AY, A P R I L 7 Psalm 71:1–14 | Isaiah 49:1–7 | I Corinthians 1:18–31 | John 12:20–36
Tuesday of Holy Week
Lent always occurs in the late winter and early spring. This is the time of year when the weather vacillates between
Now that the Son of God is here, there has been a shift—a true turning point—towards a new way of being. In his
warm and cold, sun and rain. We wake up to the crisp morning air, reminded that winter hasn’t left only to experience
ministry, Jesus challenged the world’s wisdom with the Lord’s. So often we find ourselves so insistent on the
the warmth of the afternoon sun, reminding us that spring knocks on the door.
manifestation of our own plan that we ignore the truth of God’s call for God’s Kingdom. As we become less interested
This time of year reminds me that I live between winter and spring. I have good days and bad days. Most days include elements of both struggle and growth.
in our own wisdom and strength, we become more susceptible to the voice of God in our life. Isaiah 49 established that there is a change coming. Israel, as God’s chosen people, is to prepare as servants of the
I think we all live between winter and spring. We live between Christ’s first and second coming. The trajectory for the redemption of all things is set, but we have yet to arrive. Just as we experience glimpses of what’s to come in the trees budding and birds singing, we experience glimpses of what comes when one day everything broken will be healed, but we aren’t fully there yet. I don’t do well living in between. I want to live in either winter or spring. I can lose sight of God’s faithfulness and lose hope. I can also totally ignore the brokenness in myself and the world around me. These words from the Psalm and Isaiah provide a way for us to live in between, to live in that awkward space between winter and spring. They remind us that God’s love is steadfast and that evildoers persist. We see that God’s servant, embodied in the person of Jesus, doesn’t ignore what is broken and will not grow faint until all is made whole. There is dark and light. There is brokenness and healing. We experience despair and hope. God’s rule of peace, love, justice and grace is now and not yet.
Lord in excited anticipation for God, the Redeemer and Holy One, to restore Israel. What this means is that God’s children are to put their trust in God. Psalm 71 reminds us of the faith we can have in the Lord for righteousness, rescue and refuge. With this knowledge, we can look towards Jesus’ ministry, and the major change that took place with the manifestation of God’s plan. We are called to mirror Jesus’ faith in God’s seemingly crazy plan. Just as Jesus urged his followers to pursue a life of light in the gospel of John chapter 12, in our modern context we can pursue God fiercely. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul explains that Jesus’ death on the cross is certainly not what most would have predicted for our supposed savior. However, Paul’s words capture the character of God in the sacrifice of God’s son perfectly: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” When we know God intimately, we may grow in our knowledge of God’s strength. When we are confident in God’s strength, we may walk in the confidence of God’s almighty power, goodness and plan. Through this, we become saved and sanctified and made new, for God’s plan is that we are in relationship with Jesus, and we are confident in God’s boundless love for God’s children.
So as the rain drizzles and the sun peeks through the clouds, as the cold lingers and the trees start to bud, I hope that we can be reminded of God’s faithful presence with us in the in between. May we remember that God’s love is just as real on the days when we feel overwhelmed by living in a broken world and on the days when joy springs forth like an endless fountain. May we remember God’s goodness and steadfast love in the now and not yet, in between winter and spring.
KAELA B UGGY, Class of 2022 College of Theology & Christian Ministry
JOSH TENHAKEN -R I ED EL , Assistant Director of Spiritual Formation University Ministries
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W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 8 Psalm 70 | Isaiah 50:4–9a | Hebrews 12:1–3 | John 13:21–32
Wednesday of Holy Week
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 9 Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | Exodus 12:1–14 | I Corinthians 11:23–26 | John 13:1–17, 31b–35
Maundy Thursday
Today in the Christian calendar is just a weird day, in my amateur opinion. In this Holy Week, today has no immediately
God does miracles to show us that he is on the side of healing, not disease; life, and not death; freedom, and not
recognizable affiliation.
bondage. The Passover celebration took place before the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The Jewish people had been
Palm Sunday is now several days behind us. Yet, one of today’s passages remind me of Jesus’s triumphant entry. If I were asked to describe the scene on that day, the “cloud of witnesses” we find in Hebrews 12:1 would do a pretty good job to describe the cheering masses welcoming Jesus’s entry with shouts of Hosanna! The comparison feels straightforward for me to make!
enslaved for centuries, but now God was about to act to free them. He told them to take “a male lamb without defect” to be “slaughtered.” They would eat his flesh, while his blood would protect them from the death that would bring God’s people into a new life of freedom. The very first account written about the last Passover meal that Jesus ate with his disciples is not in the Gospels, but in
And—from our perspective of hindsight—we know what is coming the next two days: a story partially captured in today’s passage from the Gospel of John. Looking at verses 26 and 27, the stage is set for Judas’s betrayal and the difficult events of Jesus’s trial and crucifixion. The excitement of Sunday is now giving way to the darkness of Thursday night and Friday. Hope is starting to dim; joy begins to fade. Because we are looking back at these events, we do know that hope and joy are not fully lost! Where do we—as 21st-century Christians—go from here? My reading of today’s passage from Isaiah offers a good starting point. From the celebration of the previous Sunday to the despair of Friday to the ultimate redemption found this upcoming Sunday morning, our God has been, is, and will be there for us! How great is the litany in Isaiah: “Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me” (50:8, NRSV). Let the words of Psalms be our reminder and hope: “You are my help and deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!” (70:5b, NRSV).
the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. This tiny group of Jewish and Gentile Christians was rejected by both the Jewish leadership and the Roman authorities. They needed to know that despite the financial and personal losses they suffered for following Jesus, they were not forgotten by God. Like the Jewish people who had suffered in Egypt, the new Christians were given a Passover meal to celebrate. Instead of being told “things would work out,” they were reminded that Jesus suffered with and for them: “This is My body, given for you;” this is the “new covenant in My blood.” We call the day before Good Friday “Maundy Thursday” from the Latin word “mandatum,” meaning “a command to do something.” We are commanded by God to “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”—a Lord who is put to death by his subjects; a sinless Messiah who suffers for his guilty persecutors; “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” but is scorned and mocked in the process. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke contain accounts of the Passover meal that prefigure how “Christ our Passover lamb” will be sacrificed for our good. But there is no such account in the Gospel of John, the last Gospel written by the last Apostle to die. Instead, John focuses how we should respond to Jesus, the Suffering Servant who even washed his
RYA N FOX , Assistant Professor Math and Education, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science
disciples’ feet saying: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” We can echo St. Augustine in response: “O Lord, command what you will, and give what you command.”
TO D D LAKE, Vice President Spiritual Development
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F R I D AY, A P R I L 1 9 Psalm 22 | Isaiah 52:13–53:12 | Hebrews 10:16–25 | John 18:1–19:42
Good Friday
The Not-Just-Superhuman Priest
S AT U R D AY, A P R I L 2 0 Psalm 31:1–4, 15–16 | Lamentations 3:1–9, 19–24 | I Peter 4:1–8 | Matthew 27:57–66
Holy Saturday
Some say that Holy Saturday is the day that Jesus rested from His work of providing salvation to the world. As I let my
We love superheroes. At least, according to the box office. Movies about superheroes have become the most popular and profitable film franchises, grossing billions of dollars in box office receipts. Black Panther grossed $700 million, while Avengers: Infinity War grossed $678.8 million. That doesn’t include Avengers Endgame, Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and many others. And then there are those heroic Jedi warriors from Star Wars who wield a superpowerlike ability to tap into The Force and elevate themselves above their foes. To be sure, there is something captivating and exciting about watching superheroes do superhuman things, routing evil and restoring justice, doing good for humankind and saving it from human villainy. Maybe it’s not so mysterious that we are attracted to superheroes. Perhaps we sense and clearly see our need for someone to root out the human inclinations that lead us to express the worse human nature has to offer, to let a lack of love fester until it becomes villainous. Even when we don’t sense our own capacity for sin, according to the Bible it’s there just the same. And it took someone with more than superhero-type power to right it. Scripture tells us that the blood of goats, bulls, doves and lambs lacked the efficacy that comes from a human life for a human life. And even then, not just any human life. Rather, a Savior who would choose to experience what we do, to know what it is to be betrayed (multiple times), or discriminated against, or lonely, or an outsider, or anxious, or poor, or what it’s like to suffer a miscarriage of justice, to not be recognized for who you are. And yet, powerful over it all.
mind roam back, I think of some of the events that led to that fateful day: the miracles; preaching; the healings; fulfilling of prophecy; the teaching of his disciples; the betrayal of a friend; the agony of his suffering in Gethsemane when he prayed for release from his assignment; Peter’s denial; the mocking/insulting crowd that once hailed him as Hosanna; the beatings; the whippings, the scourging; the suffering of the cross and lastly being forsaken by His father. Then, finally before dying on that cross, he states: “It is finished.” I don’t know that I will ever fully understand that depth of love that led Christ to do what he did for us. However, I am grateful for it. I do know that, like Jesus, in this life we will suffer and through this suffering we will continue to be transformed into his very image. Following his example, we must strive to be obedient to the will and way of our Father and complete the assignments given to us, no matter the struggle. For there is also a rest provided for us each day as we rely on the word that God has given us. “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” Lamentations 3:21–24 There is something that is so incredibly gratifying about completing the assignment. With that final exhale, you know
As the writer of Hebrews puts it: “Seeing that we have a great High Priest who has entered the inmost Heaven, Jesus
that every challenge, every problem, hardship, tear and moment of agony was worth it. Finishing the assignment that
the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our faith. For we have no superhuman high priest to whom our weaknesses are
God has set before you may take you to places you least expect and put people into your path that may challenge you
unintelligible—he himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that he never sinned. Let us
in ways you don’t expect. However, it is the journey and our obedience to God that brings us into harmony with him. It
therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to
is in those moments of harmony that there is true peace and rest.
help in the hour of need.” This is not swooping down with the quick thunderbolt or crashing through walls and then disappearing until the next
ANGI E B . B RYANT, Assistant Dean of Students
crisis. It is infinitely better.
Division of Student Affairs
CHERY L SLAY C A R R , Associate Dean College of Entertainment & Music Business
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S U N D AY, A P R I L 2 1 Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24 | Isaiah 25:6–9 | I Corinthians 15:1–11 | John 20:1–18
Easter Sunday
THE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY MINISTRIES MISSION The Office of University Ministries provides opportunities for students to: • See God at work in their lives and in the lives of those around them. • Find a place to belong on campus and in the world.
“Do not be afraid…they will see me.” These are words Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene and Mary as they encountered him while running from the empty
• Develop a sense of purpose in leadership and service.
tomb on Easter Sunday morning to tell the disciples all they had seen and heard—a violent earthquake, an empty tomb, an angel appearing as lightening and fear overwhelming Roman guards. After the fear and grief of Saturday, they awoke to the joy only Sunday could bring. I have known fear, and I have known the difficulty in seeing clearly through the veil of paralyzing doubt. While I write these words in mid-January, I’m contemplating the final days of my father’s life as he wins his battle with end-stage cancer, and the near-end of real connection with my mother as dementia slowly diminishes her memory. These are the days and nights of pain and suffering, of doubt and despair, of fear and fainting sight. Perhaps it’s no accident that I agreed to write this Easter Sunday Lenten meditation. All of us have or will have that moment when our world will turn to darkness, when hope will feel out of reach, fear will overtake us and our sight will grow dim. After their encounter with Jesus, Scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene and Mary were “afraid yet filled with joy”—the “dark night of the soul” met the “joy that comes in the morning.”
WORSHIP
Ways you can be involved
Into.Nashville is a WELL Core-credit program that exposes
Join us for Chapel every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
students to the diverse communities of Nashville and helps
at 10 a.m. in the Gabhart Chapel located on the ground
students engage and embrace the most often neglected
floor of the JAAC. (WELL Core credit offered)
people of the community.
Continuing Conversations: Continuing the Conversation
2 01 9–2 02 0 FAI T H DEVELOPM EN T
gives a chance to discuss the chapel topic for the day in a
OR GAN I Z AT I ON S, AFFI LI AT ED GRO UPS
more conversational setting. More information can be
& GRADUAT E FELLOWSH I PS
found on BruinLink!
Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM), BUD Ministries, Belmont Bridge Builders, Belmont Catholic Community
S P I R I T U A L L I F E A S S I S TA N T S In partnership with Residence Life, SLAs engage first-year
Afraid yet filled with joy! As I celebrate Easter Sunday, I will have been to my father’s tomb, and I will have likely moved
students in on-campus community within their residence
closer to saying goodbye to the memory-life of my mother. I will have walked the path of mourning and will have
halls through small group and service opportunities.
begun to embrace the path of morning—the journey by which joy overcomes fear, hope integrates with grief and
SERVICE YEAR
(BCC), Belmont Wesley Fellowship (BWF), Chadasha Gospel Choir, CRU, Delight, Every Nation Campus Ministry, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), InterVarsity, Navigators, Ukirk, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), Young Life, Christian Legal Society (CLS), Christian
promise breathes new life into the future.
Service Year is an intentional Christian community right
What journey are you on today? Has fear overwhelmed and paralyzed you such that it’s difficult to see and embrace a
here on campus. It’s an amazing opportunity to grow in
future? Has joy come to you in the early hours and given you a hope and a promise? Or perhaps life is going well, and
your relationship with God, make meaningful friendships,
you’re preparing for a yet unknown Saturday. Regardless, resurrection is a reminder that death does not have the final
and serve in the Nashville community!
OFFI C E OF U N I VER SI T Y M I N I ST R IES STA FF
say—joy, hope and promise are the light that breaks into darkness, giving life to those who seek faith, hope and love.
BELMONT ON MISSION
Heather Daugherty,
Josh TenHaken-Riedel,
University Minister
Assistant Director of
And seek we must. Do not be afraid. You will see him.
Pharmacy Fellowship International (CPFI) , Nurses
Immersion trips are week-long spring break trips to that
Larkin Briley, Associate
offer students a chance to be immersed in a local WAY NE BA RN A R D, Lecturer
domestic culture and grow in understanding of the cares
Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Science & Math
and concerns of those communities. International trips are spring break and summer mission experiences in partnership with faculty/staff leaders that have either a general or discipline-specific emphasis.
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Christian Fellowship (NCF)
Spiritual Formation
University Minister, Director
LaReace Carr, University
of Missions and Outreach
Ministries Administrative
Christy Ridings, Associate University Minister, Director of Spiritual Formation
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Assistant
OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY MINISTRIES
615.460.6419 BELMONT.EDU/UNIVERSITYMINISTRIES
Belmont University is a Christian community. The University faculty, administration, and staff uphold Jesus as the Christ and as the measure for all things. As a community seeking to uphold Christian standards of morality, ethics, and conduct, Belmont University holds high expectations of each person who chooses to join the community. In compliance with federal law, including provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sections 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Belmont University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, military service, or sexual orientation in its administration of education policies programs or activities; its admissions policies; or employment. Consistent with applicable civil rights law, the University seeks employees of Christian faith who are committed to the mission of the University. The University has appointed the director of the Office of Human Resources to serve as coordinator of compliance with Title VII and IX issues and questions for staff and faculty. The Director of Title IX Compliance and Prevention Programs serves as coordinator of compliance for Title IX issues and questions for students. UMN-192832