2021 Lenten Devotional Guide

2021

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 Comfort, comfort your people, O God! Speak peace to your people.

Comfort those who sit in darkness and mourn,

Forgive us our sins and end the conflict in our lives. AMEN.

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 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 The following is a suggested guide for prayer during Lent: Pray for all Christians around the world; especially for those who endure persecution for their faith.

Pray for our nation and all those in authority.

Pray for Christ’s peace in the world.

Pray for the end of conflict and war.

Pray for justice for all people.

Pray for all those who engage in the ministries of the Church and especially for Belmont University.

Pray for those who suffer and grieve.

Pray for God’s transforming work in your life.

Lent 2021

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 through the practices of prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial, Christians are prepared to remember the death of Jesus on Good Friday and celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

This Lenten Devotional Guide is a Belmont community tradition that helps us to enter more fully into the season of Lent. 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. 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.

It has been a difficult year in so many ways. However, I am reminded as I complete this year’s guide of the gift that God has given us in one another and this community called Belmont. As always, we are immensely grateful to all of those who have helped to make this Lenten and Holy Week guide available to our campus community. This is a campus-wide collaboration that includes contributions from students, faculty, staff and alumni. As I read through each of these offerings, I recognize the gifts and graces that God has given to each of us and the way that we can encourage, inspire and challenge one another. I hope that your experience is the same as mine.

As we enter into this season, I share with you this prayer of consecration and strength for the season: O God, you know us through and through, you know the many choices we face each day. We choose between right and wrong; we choose between greater and lesser evils; we choose what will be important to us in life. As you strengthened Jesus to choose rightly when he was tempted in the wilderness, so strengthen us through your presence and Spirit that on this Lenten journey we would walk the paths most pleasing to you. Teach us anew in this season what it means to love and serve both you and our neighbor.

— Adapted from Bread for the Journey edited by Ruth C. Duck

Grace and peace, H EATHER GERB SC H DAU G HER T Y Rev. Heather Gerbsch Daugherty University Minister, Office of University Ministries

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A S H W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 7 Isaiah 58:1–12 | Joel 2:1–2, 12–17 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10 | Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21

Ash Wednesday

“Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:9-10 (NASB) The Season of Lent is a 40-day period of time, devoted to repentance and self-reflection that helps prepare hearts for the celebration of Easter. The Lenten season begins today with the observance of Ash Wednesday. Christians around the world will pause to begin their journey of reflection and offer their eager prayers for renewal. Some will even bear the ash-drawn mark of a cross written on their foreheads.

Today’s text is drawn from David’s reflection of his own sin and desire for renewal. Written in the aftermath of his affair with Bathsheba, his words reflect deep regret and shame along with his desire to be restored in the eyes of God. David asks God to “blot out, wash, and cleanse” his life. David asks to be re-created by the God of all creation. He longs to once again know the joy of a relationship with God, one that is not interrupted by the distance that sin creates.

On April 15th, 2010, a volcano erupted in Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland. The eruption spewed volcanic ash all across western Europe. As a result, air traffic was interrupted and 10 million travelers were stranded in the various airports across Europe. I was one of them. I was leading a mission team to Thessalonikki, Greece. Because of a weird set of circumstances, three of our team members were stranded in Munich for over a week. One of the complicating factors for us was the fact we could not access our luggage. We were stuck for a week, with only the clothes on our backs and the small provisions we had in our carry-on luggage. But something about that circumstance became quite freeing.

We were able to move about, travel and enjoy ourselves without the worry and headache of wondering if our “stuff” was okay. We were not “shackled” to our baggage.

How freeing would it be, if you no longer had to carry around the “baggage” of your past mistakes and failures? How much better would your life be, if you found complete forgiveness? What if God “re-created” you in a way that offers complete absolution? As you embrace the season of Lent, my prayer is that you would know the freedom from sin that only Christ can provide. Leave your baggage behind.

JON ROEBUCK, Executive Director The Reverend Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership

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T H U R S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 8 Psalm 25:1–10 | Daniel 9:1–14 | 1 John 1:3–10 Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? Of course, you have, but I mean have you REALLY looked at yourself?

It can be a humbling experience if we are not careful. See, mirrors reflect what is in front of them. Therefore, if we are standing in front of a mirror, what we will see is ourselves exactly as we are. I point this out not because I doubt your awareness of how mirrors work, but because seeing yourself exactly as you are is so important! Let us imagine that you and your friends have gone out to eat—pre-pandemic—and are having a great time. All of a sudden, you decide to get up from the table and use the restroom. Upon washing your hands, you glance up from the sink and notice a small piece of kale stuck between your teeth! You probably were not planning to have an existential crisis in a public restroom, yet here you are reckoning with the fact that your Crest-commercial-perfect smile is actually anything but!

Somehow, you pull yourself together and grab a business card from your wallet or bag, return your smile to its former luster, and retake your place at the table. You go on presenting to your friends as if your restroom experience was totally normal, yet all the while you’re wondering how long the now infamous kale had been there, why your “friends” never told you, and why you aren’t more thankful for mirrors.

Our passages today help underscore the importance of mirrors. In Daniel’s prayer for Israel, he calls to light the past actions of the Jews. They “have been wicked and have rebelled,” he says as he invokes God’s mercy and forgiveness.

As Daniel prays, he holds up a proverbial mirror to all of Israel and says, “God, here is all the bad stuff we did. We think we did not do it, and we are acting as if we did not do it, but we did. Please forgive us and be merciful.” Similarly, David requests God’s mercy and love as he asks God to “not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.” Even John in his letter to believers supports the importance of self-awareness when he says, “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” These three different passages are three different examples that emphasize the importance of mirrors and why we need to use them more!

Practically, I do not mean that we should walk around looking at physical mirrors all day. As we prepare to celebrate the most important mystery of the Christian faith, use this Lenten season as an opportunity to take a good, hard look in that figurative mirror and see how our subjective image of our actions and ourselves might differ from the objective reality. When we do this, we have to remember to do three things. First, be honest—deceitfulness in the face of objective reality serves no purpose. Second, be safe—sometimes diving into our past transgressions or noticing where we have fallen short can border on being destructive. Third, be comforted—know that when we stand in our authentic identity and bear the weight of our past honestly in front of the King of all Kings, he will not turn us away! Like Daniel said, he will “keep his covenant of love with those who love him.”

May you be honest and authentic in this season of Lent as we continue toward the celebration of the most honest and authentic act of love this world has ever known! Amen!

JOE MA N KOWSK I , Assistant Director Fitness and Recreation, Student Life

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F R I D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 9 Psalm 25:1–10 | Daniel 9:15–25a | 2 Timothy 4:1–15 Today’s passage from II Timothy 4 is a tough one. One of the most quoted Bible verses in our current society is Matthew 7:1a “Do not judge…” Yet, Timothy is instructed to correct and rebuke. And there are other such verses, such as in Luke 17, in which we are told to rebuke those who sin against us. Maybe the way to reconcile these things is also explained in this passage: Timothy is also instructed to “encourage­—with great patience and careful instruction.” In other words, we are commanded to admonish each other and keep each other on track, but we must do it in the right way (and with the right motivation).

The passage now gets even tougher: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” — II Timothy 4: 3-4 I won’t tell you what you should think these verses are telling us, and I won’t even tell you what I believe! But, I do suggest that in this Lenten season you search your heart and consider the following questions: •

Is the time referred to in the passage referring to our time?

•

Are the popular Christian writers and speakers of today telling us the truth, or are they popular because they’re telling us what we want to hear?

•

Is God’s word changing us, or are we changing God’s word to justify our choices?

•

Are we yielding to God’s authority as the Lord of the universe, or are we “leaning on our own understanding” (see Proverbs 3:5)?

•

Are we loving God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind, or are we hanging on to the world as much as we think we can get away with?

•

Are we taking seriously “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) or we giving too much credibility to the teachings of our pop culture, entertainment, politicians and media?

•

Are we willing to “endure hardship” (II Timothy 4:5) in speaking the truth or are we taking the easy way out?

•

Are we taking advantage of God’s promise to forgive us and not following his command to repent?

Psalm 25 says, “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior…” Jesus told us the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all the truth.” Pray for God’s direction in these matters and others as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection and our salvation!

DA N N Y BILES, Professor Mathematics and Computer Science Department, College of Sciences & Mathematics

S AT U R D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 0 Psalm 25:1–10 | Psalm 32 | Matthew 9:2–13 The most convenient and expedient way to feel good about yourself is to put someone else down. Throughout Matthew’s Gospel account, Jesus has one interaction after the next with the Pharisees, who—almost to a comical extent—just don’t get it. These overly religious and sententious leaders serve as the perfect foil to Jesus, with his ragamuffin friends and underqualified disciples, who desires “mercy, not sacrifice” and plainly states “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” (Matt 9.13). The house of cards game of comparison has come falling down: righteousness does not come through right action, but through a just God who spends time with the doers of wrong action. When the Pharisees ask about Jesus hanging out with these kinds of folk, Jesus responds, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

In the Lenten season, it is all too easy to slip into the Pharisaic mentality and confuse weeks of abstinence with weeks of righteousness; to confuse God’s desire for mercy with God’s desire for sacrifice. But the reason we fast is to celebrate Jesus’s sacrifice, not our own, as the ultimate act of mercy. In preparation for his sacrifice and his ministry leading up to it, Jesus fasted 40 days in the desert. Despite encountering Satan, temptations and his own human flesh, Christ emerged from the wilderness prepared to pursue justice and mercy among “the least of these,” (Matt 25.40).

Similarly, during this season of abstinence we align ourselves with ourselves, with Jesus and with those whom Jesus spent his time doing ministry.

Just as the most convenient and expedient way to feel good about yourself is through comparison, the most convenient and expedient way to feel bad about yourself is also through comparison. The Good News is: we remember and celebrate a God who desires mercy, not sacrifice; a God who calls the sinners, not the righteous; a God who lived, died and rose again for us!

CORY BISHOP, Program Assistant College of Theology & Christian Ministry

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S U N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 1 Genesis 9:8–17 | Psalm 25:1–10 | 1 Peter 3:18–22 | Mark 1:9–15

First Sunday of Lent

I remember reading Noah’s story in my picture Bible as a child. Snuggled in my mom’s arms, I imagined myself as one of Noah’s family, watching the animals walk onto the ship. At the end of the story, I would stand with Noah and gaze at the rainbow. “God’s covenant with us—his promise,” my mom told me. “He will never leave us or drown the world again.”

As an adult, however, my reality feels more like the people who don’t appear in those pictures: those drowned in the flood. It seems we’re never far from Noah’s world. Overwhelmed by suffering and death, the waters closing in around us.

Even worse: I often feel like I deserve the flood. My sins feel inexcusable, and my walk with Christ is mostly a stumble.

And yet, today’s readings remind us that Christ took the place of the drowned and dying so that we can take our place with Noah: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18, NRSV). Christ’s resurrection reverberates into Noah’s time, transforming flood baptism, destruction into salvation: “And baptism, which this [Noah’s story] prefigured, now saves you” (NRSV).

Even in the life of Christ, baptism bridges worlds human and divine. As Christ emerges from his own baptism in the Jordan, the sky splits and God speaks love and acceptance: “You are my Son, the Beloved” (Mark 1:11, NRSV). Baptism extends that moment of belonging to us all.

Of course, Christ’s resurrection does not end suffering in this life. In fact, immediately after his baptism, Christ faced trials alone in the wilderness. This is why Psalms 25 reminds us to turn to God for instruction and comfort in our journey of redemption: “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. . . All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees” (8-10, NRSV). God knows we travel difficult roads, that we feel like we’re drowning. But even in our suffering, God’s promise of redemption is available whenever we return to our baptismal repentance.

And so we come full circle, back to God’s covenant with Noah, which is also God’s covenant with us: salvation from the flood and healing from our suffering, a promise shining is as bright as a rainbow.

JAY ME Y EO, Associate Professor of English Department of English, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

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M O N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 2 Psalm 77 | Job 4:1–21 | Ephesians 2:1–10 This past year has been like no other in my life and not in a good way. This past year has been a year of despair, distrust and sorrow. In my nostalgic sorrow I have found myself sleepless, uncomfortable and distressed, prayerfully longing for a return to “normal.” Truthfully, I have been very focused on my problems and struggles (neither of which are worth complaining about). It has been, too often, about me.

I have found myself, like the psalmist, questioning and doubting God, speaking of Him as if He were somewhere else rather than with me. Like the psalmist, I fail to recognize that my doubts reveal His character and answer my questions.

The psalmist asks, “Has His unfailing love vanished forever?” Of course not, His unfailing love never fails! Not nearly often enough do I actually speak with God, praising Him and resting in the encouraging comfort of the remembrance of His promises, providence, power, might, holiness, wonder and redemption. How easily I forget who God is.

Eliphaz helps me to understand my lack of wisdom when he asks Job, “Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Where were the upright destroyed?” I forget that because of His great love for us God sent Jesus, the most innocent man of all time, to perish, be buried, rise and come again! I am prone to miss Jesus’s suffering in my preoccupation with my suffering. Despite my sins and transgressions, I am the object of His grace and kindness and created in, made alive in, raised up and seated with Christ. I am thankful that God is not only a God of justice and righteousness, but also a saving and redeeming God. In this past year, I have seen faithful sisters and brothers, each one His masterpiece, pursuing the good works of justice and righteousness, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Sisters and brothers faithfully ministering to the oppressed, poor, exploited and persecuted in the name of the justice and righteousness of Jesus. In this Lenten season, let these be precious reminders of the risen Christ who answers all questions and is our hope in our despair, our faith in our doubts and our joy in our sorrows. This past year has been a year of hope, faith and joy. This past year has been like no other in my life, and in the most amazing of ways.

G ARY AUSTIN, Professor and Chair School of Physical Therapy, College of Health Sciences

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T U E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 3 Psalm 32 | Genesis 4:1–16 | Hebrews 4:14–5:10 As you read this, it is a Tuesday. I was born on a Tuesday (though we won’t discuss how many have since passed).

According to the old rhyme, Tuesday’s child is full of grace. I have often been told I was full of something, just not always grace.

As I write this, it is early December, and to paraphrase Longfellow, we are beginning to hear the bells play their old, familiar carols of peace on earth and goodwill to men. Today I heard for the first time the story of how Longfellow came to write that poem.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s oldest child, his son Charles, enlisted to fight in a Massachusetts regiment in the Civil War. At this time Longfellow was already a widower, having watched his wife burn to death despite his efforts to save her. But he gave Charley his blessing. In early December of 1863, Longfellow went by train to Washington, D.C. Charley had been wounded at a battle in late November—a bullet entered one shoulder and exited the other, grazing his spine as it passed—and his father brought him home to recover, hoping he would be able to walk when he healed.

That Christmas morning, a mourning father heard the bells ring out: And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Certainly, the passages for today echo that despair. Job 5:18 tells us that God wounds and inflicts pain. But it also tells that God heals and binds up. And 1 Peter 3:8-9 tells us that in this broken world, God sends us to heal—bearing His grace, because (as the rest of the passage tells us) His grace has healed us. We will have trouble, from the world and from each other, but the backdrop of that turmoil highlights His grace. When we show grace—when with humility we exercise kindness not caring whether it is deserved—we heal our relationships and display God’s might and glory, advancing the day that Longfellow reminds us of: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

NATHAN GRIFFI T H, Associate Professor Political Science Department, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences · 8 ·

W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 4 Psalm 77 | Proverbs 30:1–9 | Matthew 4:1–11 These three readings juxtapose weariness and might. In the Psalm, the writer is in clear distress, trying this meditation and that only to have his spirit “gr[o]w faint.” But then, the writer meditates on God’s might: “[T]he very depths were convulsed … your lightning lit up the world.” Similarly, in Proverbs, the writer begins, “I am weary,” but quickly turns to God’s might, asking, “Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?” Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus is weak and hungry after fasting. However, it is the devil’s might that is first on display as he whisks Jesus from the temple to the mountain, showing him the splendor of all the world’s kingdoms. God’s might, in contrast, shows up in Jesus’s humility and rejection of worldly power.

So, how are you weary right now? Can you rest that weariness in God’s might? Can you discern the might of God from the might of this world? Here are two meditations on God’s might to try: The Psalmist refers to God parting the Red Sea for the Israelites escaping the Egyptian army, writing, “Your path led through the sea/your way through the mighty waters.” Imagine you are one of those Israelites, scared and running for this great split in the ocean. Perhaps the ocean floor, now exposed, is still mucky and sucks at your sandals. When you look up, the walls of water tower above you. You see the spinner dolphins and hawksbill turtles native to the Red Sea swimming beside you. You run your hand along the wall of water like a curious child. Can you feel the lengths God would go to, the seas He would part, in order to protect you?

In the Gospel, after Jesus’s temptation, the “angels came and attended him.” Imagine you are on that mountaintop.

Jesus has just been shown the glories of Ancient Rome and the reaches of the British Empire, and he said no. The devil, in frustration, leaves, and Jesus probably collapses. What must it have been like for angels to “attend” Jesus? Did they take human form or have shimmering wings? Did they bring him barley bread? Did they press a jug of water to his cracked lips? Did they hold him in a reassuring hug? Did they speak words of affirmation to him? Name your own needs now before God, and let yourself imagine His angels attending to them.

K RISTI A RTH, Assistant Professor of Law College of Law

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T H U R S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 5 Psalm 22:23–31 | Genesis 15:1–6, 12–18 | Romans 3:21–31 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. …”

— Genesis 15:13-14, NRSV One great thing about the daily lectionary is the more thorough reading of Scripture it prescribes. I have often read the beginning of this chapter of Genesis, because verses 1-6 are in the 3-year cycle our church uses. I’ve read it myself in public, and the lovely exhortation to “look toward heaven and count the stars” (15:5) is a favorite passage. Read in that context, it’s easy to see myself as an heir of Abraham, and my good fortune as a legacy of Abraham’s righteousness.

The complete chapter is more sobering. “A deep and terrifying darkness descended” on Abram (15:12), and it didn’t spare me either. The prophecy about his offspring doesn’t align with my family history, and I’m not so sure I’m one of Abraham’s heirs after all. Maybe my real tribe is “the nation that they serve” (15:14). If so, our four hundred years are up, “the iniquity of the Amorites” (15:16) is complete, and judgement is coming…

This Lent will have me thinking a lot about my own sins, but also the legacy of sin that supports me and gives me such a comfortable life. I can’t join in the psalm with the “offspring of Jacob” (Ps. 22:23) without forfeiting my place among the Amorites.

“You who fear the LORD, praise him!” (22:23) I do, and I will!

W ILLIA M HOOPER, Professor Mathematics and Computer Science Department, College of Sciences & Mathematics

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F R I D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 6 Psalm 22:23–31 | Genesis 16:1–6 | Romans 4:1–12 It’s a little jarring to read Genesis 16 and Romans 4 right next to each other. In Romans 4, Paul is recalling the faithfulness of Abraham, who heeded God’s call and left his familiar home to go on a journey, an adventure of faith. And also, as Genesis 16 tells us, Abraham stood idly by while his wife Sarah abused the enslaved woman Hagar. Over and over again, we are implicitly asked to reconcile these kinds of contradictions in our sacred texts. If we justify Abraham’s behavior in Genesis 16 by saying, “But he’s a model of faithfulness! He’s the father of the people of God! Look at how the Christian scriptures remember him!” we are in danger of taking God’s name in vain—God does not condone violence. The harder thing, and the necessary thing, is to hold these two pieces of Abraham’s story together, in tension that we refuse to neatly resolve. We can’t only remember his faithful following of God’s call; that would do a disservice not only to the complexity of his character and to the suffering of Hagar, but also to the fullness of what our sacred text tells us. It tells us unvarnished truths, and when we try to make those truths comfortable and comforting all the time, we are missing something. Abraham is a hero of our faith. And that hero is grievously flawed. These things can both be true. When we eliminate either part of the story from our memory, we have a distorted understanding of the past, and therefore a distorted understanding of the present.

This dynamic is true with things besides beloved characters in our sacred story. It’s true of us as individuals, and it’s true of us as a collective, as a nation. If we only remember the good, we are missing out on important lessons that can help us be better. If we only remember the bad, we are in danger of succumbing to self-defeat.

During Lent, we are invited to remember rightly, to think carefully about our lives, where we have fallen short of how we want to live and where we have lived up to our highest expectations of ourselves. We can hold both things in the same hand, trusting that God does the same, loving all the parts that make us up.

BETH RITTER- CON N , Lecturer College of Theology & Christian Ministry

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S AT U R D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 7 Psalm 22:23–31 | Genesis 16:7–15 | Mark 8:27–30 As a child, no matter where in the neighborhood I went to play or how far from home I might wander, I always knew when it was time to return home. When the streetlights in the neighborhood cast their yellow glow against the darkening evening sky, that was the signal to return home from wherever I was and whatever I was doing. However, on occasion, when my desires got the best of me, when I could not pull myself away from what I was doing, or when I might linger a little longer not wanting the day to end, I would not immediately return home. Even though I knew what I was supposed to do, I would instead remain where I was.

In those moments of disobedience, no matter how far from home I had wandered, I would hear my mother’s voice, cutting through the stillness of the night, overcoming the shouts of other children playing, to call me home. Whenever I was called home, I felt the tinge of guilt and a little embarrassment at being called home. I would grab my things and quickly begin the trip home only to find my mother standing at the door waiting on me to return. When I reflect on those moments, I am overwhelmed by the love of her actions. She would not let me stay where I was but would call me home and embrace me upon my return.

The season of Lent is filled with self-reflection and consideration of how God desires us to live more faithfully and fully in our relationship. At times, if we are not careful, we can begin to believe that we have wandered too far, been away from home too long and moved beyond God’s grasp. However, there God remains, finding us wherever we might be to remind us of how deeply God loves us and to call us home. One of the joyous moments we celebrate at Lent is that we never wander beyond the love of God. No matter where we find ourselves, either through desire or circumstance, God continues to call us from our self-ordained paths, from our desires or afflictions, from our worries and our detours. God is always calling us home. This is reason enough to praise God!

DAVID LATIMOR E, Faculty Fellow College of Theology & Christian Ministry

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S U N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 8 Psalm 22:23–31 | Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 | Romans 4:13–25 | Mark 8:31–38

Second Sunday of Lent

Whenever I want to begin a religious discussion with one of my Muslim friends, I will usually ask this question, “If I want to make sure that I am going to Heaven when I die, what must I do?” One evening, I asked Ilgar this question and he responded that I must believe the “five pillars of Islam” and obey the teachings found in the Koran. I then asked, “If I do this, will I be assured of a place in Heaven?” He responded, “No. You must wait until the day of judgement and Allah will weigh your good deeds and your bad deeds. If your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, then maybe you will get to go to Paradise. It is up to Allah to decide.”

Contrast this answer to the answer found in Romans 4. Paul tells us in verse 13 that God’s promise to Abraham “was not based on obedience to God’s law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith.” Verse 16 states that “God’s promise is given to us as a free gift…and we are certain to receive it …if we have faith…” Verses 24 and 25 assure us “that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead.”

Christ died in our place for our sins and “was raised from the dead to make us right with God.” The teaching of all other religions is that you must earn your way to Heaven based on your good works. It is all up to you and how good a person you are. You must strive to keep the laws, regulations, customs, etc. in order to get to Heaven. Christianity teaches that you can do nothing to earn your way to Heaven. The Bible says placing your faith in Christ as your sin-bearer and Lord will guarantee you a place in God’s Kingdom.

I hope that you have made your commitment of trust in Christ. If not, then what better time than this Easter to place your faith in Jesus to save you from your sins. May you experience new life found only in Christ, the One resurrected from the dead.

STEVE S., Missionary-in-Residence

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M O N D AY, M A R C H 1 Psalm 105:1–11, 37–45 | Genesis 21:1–7 | Hebrews 1:8–12 In a world where often find ourselves seeking for the next new thing to do or buy or experience, I find comfort in the promise of sameness, of steadfastness, of these scriptures from Genesis and from Psalms and from Hebrews. They all speak in some way of God keeping his promises to his people.

In this season of pandemic, where many of us have bouts with feeling isolated and anxious, it is easy to be fearful that promises will be broken. These scriptures are consolation and encouragement to remember the wonders God has done. I happen to be writing this on a dark day in December, dark literally as well as metaphorically. I don’t have the “fruit” of the promise in front of me in the moment, but I do believe he will uphold his covenant. These scriptures remind me of that.

When I have limited vision, constrained by what I can imagine and by my frailties of faith, I find strength in knowing that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob is remembering his promise to me. When I am struggling in relationships, questioning my calling and my worth, when the foundations of the earth (or at least my world) feel like they are giving way underneath me, these scriptures remind me that he will remain. He is a God who brings laughter.

He leads us through unknown places and shapes us to do his work in the world. He provides a sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He is not afraid of our questions, of our wrestling. He leads us toward our place of rest, of being included. He prepares us to be blessed and to be a blessing for others. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob anoints us with the oil of joy.

SABRINA SULLEN BER G ER , Professor Department of Social Work, College of Health Sciences

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T U E S D AY, M A R C H 2 Psalm 105:1–11, 37–45 | Genesis 22:1–19 | Hebrews 11:1–3, 13–19 God’s faithfulness to his people, outlined in Psalm 105, is rooted in the promise he made to Abraham, in the form of his son, Isaac. God’s promise was that through Isaac, Abraham would be the father of endless generations, and Isaac arrived, despite a long, arduous, and often unfaithful journey of faith by Abraham. As the Psalmist writes, He remembers his covenant forever. And we have seen the evidence of this promise, from Abraham to Jacob to Egypt to the wilderness.

Yet let’s pause for a moment and wonder what Abraham must have been thinking within the story of Genesis 22. Isaac was the embodiment of all of Abraham’s hope and joy and peace. However, God appears and asks Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering to him. Wait, what? What about the promise? What about all of the years of waiting for the start of the promised generations? How can this be what God asks now? How is this God’s faithfulness? Yet, we see that Abraham does not pause nor does he question this ask. With knife in hand, God halts the process and rewards Abraham’s supposed sacrifice with a replacement ram. Abraham finally shows some faith to try to match God’s promise.

We should be mindful of the symbolism of this all. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed on the cross in our place, just as the ram was sacrificed for Isaac, fulfilling the promise of God to his creation illustrated throughout Psalm 105. So where does that leave us during this Lenten season? Jesus asked us to take up our cross and follow Him, which leads us to a crossroads. What things are we holding onto that God has been asking us to sacrifice for His name? What do we need to drop by the wayside in order to pick up our own cross? Remember God’s forever faithfulness and trust that all is still good and promised for us.

And that’s how Hebrews 11 describes faith—the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. We await the day of full redemption, when Jesus’s sacrifice and resurrection fully render the promises of God and we can live in complete worship of Him. So consider what God is asking you to sacrifice and have faith that the promises of God can overcome any questions and doubts in this season. God was faithful and He will forever be.

T IM SCHOENFELD, Assistant Professor Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Sciences & Mathematics

· 15 ·

W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 3 Jeremiah 30:12–22 | Psalm 105:1–11, 37–45 | John 12:36–43 Needless to say, there have been moments in each of our lives where hurt has been so great that we think no matter what we do we could never overcome it. It is a nagging, festering and endless hurt that makes the deep of the Pacific Ocean look like a puddle on the sidewalk. Through the depth of hurt there is a light at the end of the tunnel—Hope. In Jeremiah 30:12-22 we learn of the seemingly incurable hurt the Jewish people found themselves in. They found that no matter what they did to help themselves nothing worked. That is also true for us. There is nothing we can possibly do ourselves to cure our hurt that will not prove fruitless. Our Hope is in God because He said in Jeremiah 30:16-17 that He will overcome EVERYTHING that is against us if we are faithful. He will always comfort those, who in faith and devotion, turn to Him to cure our hurt. In our “incurable hurt” we need to earnestly and unceasingly turn to God in prayer, worship and scripture. He is the light at the end of the tunnel.

John 12:36–43 we learn about The Light. When I think about days leading up to Good Friday, I sometimes get a sense of an ever-growing darkness and desperate need for The Light in our world. I start thinking of the multitude of sins that I not only have committed, but will commit, which were paid for by the blood of Christ. This just adds to this feeling of darkness in this humbling season. Jesus was sent as The Light in our world, The Messiah, but through His death His light was taken away. Though Christ does not physically walk among us anymore, His Spirit is like a flame living in us and we are called to reflect this light. I challenge us all to stay fervent in the Word and to reflect the Light to everyone we come in contact with.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending us the Light in your Son, Jesus. Help us to be reflections of Him to all the ends of the Earth. In all of our hurt, help us to always seek You, knowing that You are the hope that will overcome any depth of hurt we may encounter. In your loving and holy name. Amen.

JENNINGS GARD N ER , Customer Service Manager The Belmont Store

· 16 ·

T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 4 Psalm 19 | Exodus 19:1–9a | 1 Peter 2:4–10 Have you ever struggled with the pressure to be perfect? I sure have. Most of us navigate a world that demands the highest marks, ultra-productive days and the appearance of not having flaws. We put ourselves through so much unnecessary struggle and pain when we have failures, and we fall for the lie that if we aren’t perfect then we aren’t worthy of love and grace.

The scripture from 1 Peter 2 paints the portrait of a Jesus who actually did achieve the very thing we all seem to be striving for—perfection. Now, his perfection wasn’t measured by working long hours at his job or getting perfect grades, but by the quality of his love and devotion to God. Yet, despite having lived a perfect life he was still rejected by the world. For me, this is a wonderful reminder that the demand to be perfect has been taken away by Christ, the cornerstone of our faith. Peter reminds us that now we can freely live as a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.”

So what does this have to do with Lent? Well, many of us often choose to participate in the Lenten journey by giving up something. The purpose of this is to open up space in our lives that was previously occupied in order to more fully experience the presence and joy of God. Perhaps you’ve chosen to do something like this, and perhaps not. Regardless, it is not an act done with the goal of perfectly completing the Lenten journey with all its goals and hopes. Rather, it is the spirit of denying oneself temporarily for the benefit of the joy found when filling that space or time with an intentional pursuit of Christ.

So today, remember that God invites you, his “special possession” (yes, flaws and imperfections and all!), to experience more of his love, joy and light in this season. As you continue throughout Lent, take some time to dwell on the wonderful reality that God loves and cherishes you, even and especially when you aren’t perfect.

L A R K I N B R I L E Y, Director of Missions & Associate University Minister University Ministries

· 17 ·

F R I D AY, M A R C H 5 Psalm 19 | Exodus 19:9b–15 | Acts 7:30–40 Someone once said to me that Christians ought to be known more for what they’re for than what they’re against. In agreement, I pondered these words and deep in my soul tried to discern how this looked in my own life and in my spiritual community. As Christ followers, we hold true to the tenets of scripture and believe in the veracity of scripture.

Knowing this we join in with the gospel message that arms wide open and desires to meet people where they are and embrace them in love. This means then that I must consider how Jesus was and is “for” us and therefore we have to be “for” others, taking his message to those who may feel that the church is “against” them. In my own urban ministries with marginalized individuals who are daily encountering injustice through poverty, racism, homelessness etc. I think about the importance of demonstrating the fullness of the gospel which values and loves each of these individuals unconditionally. Most of my friends who I minister with are used to relationships that are conditional and dependent on what they can give. Consider Psalms 19 where we visualize the imagery of God pitching a tent for the sun and making the sun (and his son) available to all. The scripture says that nothing is deprived of its warmth. The passage goes on in verse 7 to say that, “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.” When I think of something that refreshes my soul, it is something that is done with pure intentions and meant for me to take delight in. We learn more about the statutes and precepts of God with words such as trustworthy, right, giving joy, radiant, pure, enduring forever. These words resonate with me so deeply as I work to advance the cause of Justice with Jesus as my leader. I want those around me to embrace these attributes as central to the gospel and understand that through Jesus they can feel joy, radiance and trust.

In that same passage of scripture we also see that the decrees of the Lord are firm and righteous. This speaks to the standards of Godliness that we are to uphold in our lives and the importance of leading a life that is repentant and holy.

I think at times we as believers can over-emphasize the need for repentance when we encounter someone who doesn’t profess faith in Christ or whose faith is tested. At the same time we may not speak enough of the many ways that Jesus invites us into fellowship with him through love, mercy and grace. Making space for both of these realities is where I seek to be. What a gift for all of us to fully embrace a transformative gospel that is for us, where Jesus at the center advocates for us and desires us to lead transformed lives. We all need to “die” to sin, but we also need to recognize the power of unqualified, unfailing love that welcomes us in.

MONA IVEY- SOTO, Associate Professor School of Education

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S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 6 Psalm 19 | Exodus 19:16–25 | Mark 9:2–8 THOUGHT: Anyone can have joy “on account of,” but Jesus had joy “in spite of.” — E. Stanley Jones Joy and Christianity sometimes seem to be differing thoughts. How else can one explain the gloomy and joyless expressions on our faces from time to time?

Jesus was called the Man of Sorrows, because he bore so much pain and suffering on his shoulders. But he was also a Man of Joy. What can we say about JOY? And how would we distinguish it from mere pleasure? Here’s how my good friend and colleague Professor George Vansant defined joy: •

Joy in internal, solid and light; pleasure is external,

•

liquid and gray.

Joy is reflective on the way to perfection; pleasure is deflection.

•

Joy is and will be; pleasure is a has-been.

•

Joy is sharing; pleasure is shearing.

•

Joy is character; pleasure is a condition.

•

Joy is you; pleasure is me.

•

Joy is expansive; pleasure is expensive.

•

Joy is a variety of blessings; pleasure is a variety of emotions.

The story of the transfiguration of Jesus is told in the Mark reading listed above. I can only imagine the joy that Peter, James and John felt when Jesus took them up to a high mountain. There Elijah (representing the Prophets) and Moses (representing the Law) met with Jesus in one great shining moment.

Mountains are mentioned often in Scripture. Mountains have a great allure for many people. Whenever I feel the need for Spiritual renewal, I go to the Sewanee Memorial Cross in Sewanee TN, sitting on the Cumberland Plateau overlooking the Franklin County Valley. The air is cool and the view is breathtaking and inspiring. The beauty of the mountains can fill one’s soul with reserves of peace and joy.

The solitude one finds in the mountains is, for me and for many, a tonic for what troubles us in our often turbulent and fast paced world.

For Jesus, this mountaintop experience marked the beginning of his journey to the cross.

Never let go of the “mountaintop” moments you can have each day wherever you are. Quiet moments spent with the risen Christ to receive the power to follow and live out your life as a faithful witness.

Prayer: God, thank you for taking me with you to the “mountains” where I can experience Your love anew. Amen.

DAVID GA RDNE R , Pastor Pelham United Methodist Church, Pelham, TN

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S U N D AY, M A R C H 7 Psalm 19 | Exodus 20:1–17 | I Corinthians 1:18–25 | John 2:13–22

Third Sunday of Lent

Are the Ten Commandments a set of ancient rules or a guide to experiencing a meaningful life today? Every “thoushalt-not” points to a life-giving “thou shalt.” Pastor Adam Hamilton teaches that these ancient words were given by a loving God who longs to protect us from harm while pointing toward a deeply meaningful and joyful life.

The year of 2020 challenged me to think differently about a lot of things. One of the most positive shifts was being more intentional about living out the third commandment: Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. In summary, you have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to God. Rest is so important that even God rested on the seventh day after he created everything.

My parents valued a strong work ethic. In fact, my father didn’t retire until he was 87 years old. Learning to set aside a day to rest has been a real challenge for me. Turning my attention from work and making space for worship, contemplation and rest has allowed me to deepen relationships with family, friends and with God. After tuning into worship on Zoom, we began setting aside Sundays (our Sabbath) for long walks, meaningful conversations, cooking together and sharing Sunday dinners. The Sabbath has become a time for soul feeding and rejuvenation. While I have not mastered resting on the Sabbath, I recognize that I need God’s help and guidance in this pursuit. I ask God to quiet my heart, give rest to my soul and help me be intentional with my time to find rest in Him alone.

I invite you to join me on this journey—pick one of the Commandments and consider how it can revive your soul and enlighten your faith journey in pursuit of a deeply meaningful and joyful life.

DEBBIE SP RA N G , Senior Director of Development & Alumni Relations Office of Development & Alumni Relations

· 20 ·

M O N D AY, M A R C H 8 Psalm 84 | I Kings 6:1–4, 21–22 | I Corinthians 3:10–23 “How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalms 84 connects the heart of the believer to the presence of God. David had desired to build a temple worthy of God’s presence, but because of failure and sin in his life, was denied the opportunity. His son, Solomon, was chosen to do so. Solomon understood that before “he covered the inside of the temple with pure gold” he must lay a firm foundation. This foundation allowed for building to occur, turmoil to be withstood, storms to be endured and provided a place where worship could occur. Whereas Solomon built a temple for God, we now have become his dwelling place. This means our priority must be to have a firm foundation in order to build upon.

Paul declared, “you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst.” He adds, “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

While this text may seem difficult, the challenge is clear, we need to build our relationship with our Heavenly Father on a good foundation. Lent is a time for all believers to ensure that our foundation is solid. We do this through reflection, prayer, repentance and self-denial. When we create a quiet time of reflection the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts about how we’ve been building. This allows us to see what will provide a reward or will be burned up. Self-denial and repentance allows us to ensure that we are building correctly. My prayer through this Lenten season is that our foundations are true and that we are building things that are eternal and impact our world with God’s love and grace.

· 21 ·

T U E S D AY, M A R C H 9 Psalm 84 | 2 Chronicles 29:1–11, 16–19 | Hebrews 9:23–28 Raise your hand if you hate housework. Dirty dishes, dusty surfaces, stained toilets—you clean them, and they just get dirty again. Some schedule “Spring Cleaning,” a weekend to beat the rugs, shampoo the carpets and wash the outside of the windows. There’s even a thing called “Swedish Death Cleaning,” which involves decluttering so surviving family members have less of that to do upon your passing; giving away things you would have left in your will, allowing your survivors to enjoy them while you’re still alive and organizing what you have left so your space is comfortable, tidy and inviting.

How often do we think about cleaning our Lord’s dwelling place? My church has periodic work days, when we pull weeds, do cleaning and maintenance, and discard broken furniture and dried-out markers. The purification of the temple mentioned in 2 Chronicles wasn’t just about routine maintenance and cleaning, or simply tidying up after a group of people had tracked in dirt or left personal belongings behind. This was Swedish Death Cleaning, BCE edition: preparing the Lord’s space to be comfortable and tidy, inviting Him to be present in His sanctuary.

As 21st-century Christians, it is easy to think of our churches as buildings where we come together to worship, serve, learn and pray; to recognize that we as believers are the Church, the body of Christ that performs His “Great Commission” on earth; and to repeat Paul’s image of our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), avoiding vices from smoking to overeating. God’s dwelling place, which is so lovely that the Psalmist “yearns, even faints” for it (Psalm 84:2a, NIV) is something beyond these finite constructions. This is not “a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one” (Hebrews 9:24, NIV), but a dwelling that defies human imagination, one that is beyond the most strenuous of human effort. Neither Murphy’s Oil Soap nor Windex are sufficient to maintain a space that is inviting to God. If God is “with you always” (Matthew 28:20), this is a standing invitation. We need to be ready for the presence of God every moment, everywhere. Let’s not wait for Lent to prepare God’s dwelling place, but engage throughout the year in spiritual Swedish Death Cleaning, removing everything that is unclean, and making His space comfortable, tidy and inviting for our Lord every day.

PA MELA HOWELL , Call Center Manager Office of Admissions

· 22 ·

W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 1 0 Psalm 84 | Ezra 6:1–16 | Mark 11:15–19 The story about Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple has always gripped my imagination. When we think about Jesus, we so often think about a passive, gentle, docile figure who spoke softly and never got angry. This Jesus has all the rough edges sanded down, never having a strong reaction or passionate outburst. But the Jesus we see in Mark 11 is quite the opposite—one who physically involved himself in the injustices occurring before him.

The marketplace in the courts had been set up as a sort of response to the supply and demand created by the Passover feast in Jerusalem. Thousands of Jews came from all over Israel and Judea to offer sacrifices, and they would purchase animals in Jerusalem instead of bringing them on the journey. But this story points out how a very normal practice had been distorted into something that was driven by greed and profit rather than worship. Money changers were taking advantage of others and it had ceased to be a “place of worship and prayer for all nations and peoples.”

What can this picture of Jesus teach us during this Lenten season? I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fair share of angry moments over the past year. Throughout the many ways that COVID has affected our lives and the power of anger driving recent elections and politics, it has been so easy to move throughout my days with an underlying sense of anger. But Jesus teaches us about an anger that empowers, and if attended and listened to can be force that transforms the world for good. Jesus gives us an example of allowing righteous anger to give us courage in standing up for the marginalized in society. He shows us that when we love something good and just, we should be willing to stand up for it.

Perhaps today as we reflect on this story of Jesus, I wonder if there is a place that God might be extending an invitation to listen to our anger. What injustice in the world cuts deep into your soul, and what might be your role in seeing that injustice alleviated? How might we together partner with the Holy Spirit in making the world a more just and loving place for people “of all nations?”

L A RKIN BRILEY, Director of Missions & Associate University Minister University Ministries

· 23 ·

T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 1 1 Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22 | Genesis 9:8–17 | Ephesians 1:3–6 In life we can expect to feel bogged down and overwhelmed. Rather than seeing our troubles as a consequence of life, what if in this season we begin to appreciate them as an invitation to come into the presence of the Holy One? Psalm 107 encourages us to cry out to the Lord in our trouble and come to know God’s steadfast love through our “Thanksgiving praise.”

Our praise, corporate or individual, does not need to be elaborate. Our collective desire to worship God is both ordinary and lavish. There is something so beautiful about recognizing and responding to God’s intimate knowledge of who we are and what, or who, we seek in worship.

We can take comfort in God‘s constant presence in our lives and circumstances— even those in which we feel so distant from the Lord. In Genesis 9, we see the imagery of the lasting covenant between God and humanity that calls us into a new era, a new relationship, and a new way of being with God. In this call, we can again, rest in God’s anticipatory knowledge of our seeking hearts.

As children of God invited into this new covenant we are encouraged to do something that is radically countercultural today: rest in the knowledge of our belonging. In Ephesians 1 we are reminded that we are called to be chosen and to live freely in this knowledge; we are the heirs to God‘s blessing of eternal life and Holy Devotion.

KAELA BUGGY, Class of 2022 College of Theology & Christian Ministry • The Jack C. Massey College of Business

· 24 ·

F R I D AY, M A R C H 1 2 Psalms 107:1–3, 17–22 | Daniel 12:5–13 | Ephesians 1:7–14 I come from a long line of storytellers. I am rooted in the southern tradition of sitting around the table well past mealtime recounting the experiences of my grandparents and great-grandparents. There are some stories that, no matter how many times they have been told, find their way into the conversation. I listen and laugh at these “golden oldies” as if it were the first time I heard them. They remind me I am part of a greater community. They connect me to those who have come before me. They remind me I am not alone. Stories are powerful.

The Psalmist reminds us of the power of stories. “Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story—those redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south” (Ps. 107:2-3). The Lenten season serves as both a time of reflection and of proclamation. We are reminded of the redemptive work of God through the cross. We are able to consider the ways in which this work is reflected in our daily lives. We are reminded, once again, that we are not alone.

We are also invited to tell our story. The Psalmist challenges the redeemed not only to acknowledge the goodness of God, but to tell their story of redemption. Perhaps you are like me and find yourself wondering if your own story will live up to the hype. If I haven’t been “delivered from the hand of a foe or gathered from another land,” is my story worth telling? However, the scripture reminds us that the story of God’s enduring love for us is worth telling and retelling. It will sound different for each of us, but it is in the telling of this story that we are reminded of its power. We are reminded that we are part of a greater community, that we are connected to those who have come before us, and that we are not alone.

During this Lenten season give thanks for the enduring love of God. Consider the ways in which you have experienced this love in the past week. Now, hear the challenge of the Psalmist and tell that story to someone today.

CHRISTY RIDINGS, Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate University Minister University Ministries

· 25 ·

S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 1 3 Psalm 23 | 1 Samuel 15:32–34 | John 1:1–9 In John 3, we see Jesus being sought out at night by a Pharisee, Nicodemus, who is trying to better understand His teachings. Nicodemus recognizes Jesus’s miracles are proof of his divine purpose. And yet, he struggles with Jesus’s description of spiritual rebirth. Christ explains that, “Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” At first glance, Jesus’s response may seem odd since Nicodemus has just given him a compliment. Nicodemus hasn’t even mentioned his problem yet. But the truth is that Jesus already knew what was troubling him. In John 3:3 the Greek word, äνωθεν, can be translated as “again” and also “from above” which allows for the misunderstanding by Nicodemus in this context. Jesus was talking about new birth “from above” while Nicodemus misunderstood him to mean a second physical birth. So while Nicodemus came seeking knowledge, Jesus gave him new life.

All the things that Jesus told Nicodemus was true. He had not been able to see the kingdom of God because he had not let God enter into his heart and life. Of course, Nicodemus studied the scripture and obeyed it. He was a religious man following all the regulations. But he had done all of this for himself, and not God. He had excelled in religion but he had failed at a relationship with Christ. My prayer is that we will not just do work in the Church but do the work of the Church. I pray that we put away false ways and easy truths and dive into an intimate, meaningful relationship with Christ. And my final prayer is that we will let God dwell fully into every area of our lives.

May the Lord bless you and keep you this season!

D.J. CA RR, Class of 2022 College of Theology & Christian Ministry

· 26 ·

S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 4 Numbers 21:4–9 | Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22 | Ephesians 2:1–10 | John 3:14–21

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Today’s readings excite me because of the familiar scripture that most of us can recite in our sleep, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, KJV). What a love! What a Savior! What a God! However, a couple of verses above this, Jesus references the Israelites’ experience with the poisonous snakes and how those bitten were saved by the serpent Moses was instructed to create so they can see it and be saved. I wonder why Jesus would bring up the snakes again. They are scary, dangerous and life-threatening—not the things I want to be reminded of before the discussion of God’s amazing love. It seems Jesus isn’t concerned with instilling fear and highlighting mortality. He wants us to remember this significant moment because those snake bites led people to “see and then believe” (John 3:14, MSG)—a lesson of faith.

With those snake bites, the Israelites were people headed towards death. Reminded of their mortality, they needed a savior. God already knew his ultimate plan to save all who believe, but he in this moment gives them a taste of what he had in store with Christ Jesus. Lent provides us an opportunity to truly come to terms with our own “snake bites.”

That’s why we’re asked to remove our distractions or overindulgences in things like food, gossip, shopping and social media and instead fill the spaces they occupy with reflection and prayer to “see and believe” our Savior.

When we commit to remove those things that distract us from our mortality and our need for a Savior, we feel the “bites.” Those “bites” can then be used to direct us to see and believe our Savior—to build a stronger faith and relationship. Then mortality does not become the focus, but the promise of everlasting life.

Lord, thank you for being rich in mercy, kindness and love. Help us always turn to see you and believe.

H EATHER FINCH, Assistant Professor of English College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

· 27 ·

M O N D AY, M A R C H 1 5 Psalm 107:1–16 | Exodus 15:22–27 | Hebrews 3:1–6 Bitterness Sweetened As I write this devotional during a time some might call “our winter of discontent,” to borrow from Shakespeare, it can feel like we, like the Children of Israel, are wandering in the wilderness, spiritually, if not literally, longing for something to quench our thirst. Even though, as Psalm 107 reminds us that we’re to “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever” (NIV), it is still easy to be overcome by the trials and tribulations that we face. Illness, death of a loved one, job loss or insecurity, the division and hatred that seems so prevalent around us; all these things can cause us to forget, or at least take our eyes off of God’s promise that God’s steadfast love will be with us forever.

The Exodus passage for today spoke to me in a powerful way in the imagery of “the tree” that God told Moses to throw into the bitter waters of Marah, the stream that the Children of Israel found after spending three days wandering in the wilderness without water. You can imagine the frustration the people felt at finally finding water, but not being able to drink it. I bet they did a little more than “grumble.” So Moses cries out to God on the people’s behalf, and God shows him a tree that when Moses throws into the stream turns the water sweet and potable. God goes on to make a covenant with them that if they will listen to God and do what is right, they will not suffer the plagues that God placed on the Egyptians because God is their healer.

While, as Warren Wiersbe points out, “the tree” in this passage was not intended to be a picture of the Cross of Christ (the emphasis is on trusting and obeying God), I, like the medieval commentators that Alan Cole writes about who “delighted to see here a reference to the cross, by which the bitterest of life’s waters is sweetened,” find this comforting image of the Cross of Christ. It is truly because of the sacrifice that God made through the death of God’s son on Calvary’s tree, that the bitterness of life and death can be made sweet.

T IM STEWA RT, Director Office of Service Learning

· 28 ·

T U E S D AY, M A R C H 1 6 Psalm 107:1–16 | Numbers 20:1–13 | I Corinthians 10:6–13 The Great Stumbling As I write this in December, I am reminded of the parallel rhythms of Advent and Lent. Both specifically set aside time in the church calendar for contemplation and reflection, compelling us to “go within,” to deepen the spiritual work that will lead us from darkness into light. But these church seasons also differ in important ways.

Advent, occurring at literally the darkest time of the year in our northern hemisphere, admonishes us to “wake” and “prepare” for the light that will break into our world in the form of God made flesh. We are caught spiritually sleepwalking, and we must rouse ourselves for the GREAT COMING, to wait in anticipation to receive the Christ.

In contrast, like the loud clap of a thundercloud, Lent hurls us in the darkness of our souls, with remembrances of our mortality and our most sinful nature, with admonishments to fully acknowledge how we have fallen short and given in to our inherent weaknesses and frailties. Rather than merely sleepwalking, we have been caught in the literal act of sinful behavior; overtly falling on our Christian journey. Music in minor keys, draped crosses and readings of our unworthiness frame this season. I like to think of it as the GREAT STUMBLING. We stumble, we get up. We stumble, we get up. This is the plot line that defines civilizations and peoples and humanity.

Indeed, this narrative is an apt summation of the entire Old Testament. Today’s readings remind us of this theme.

Psalms 107:1-16 and Numbers 20:1-13 harken back to the Israelite’s plight of enslavement and oppression in Egypt, when even as a newly liberated people they reverted to whiny, petulant and ungrateful children who were “hungry” and “tired.” Likewise, Corinthians 10: 6-13 reminds us of the many temptations and burdens life will bring to our doorstep, as well as our inability to avoid sinful responses.

And yet, even as we stumble, these readings also remind us that God’s love is unfailing, God will not give us more than we can bear, and God will provide a way out of the darkness. Lent reminds us that the light is always shining in our darkness; a good and forgiving God who is beside us at every stumble along the way. As we humble ourselves by facing our shortcomings, we also open ourselves to grace and redemption. The season that begins with ashes ends with resurrection.

SARAH FISHER G A R D I A L , Dean and Professor of Marketing Jack C. Massey College of Business

· 29 ·

W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 1 7 Psalm 107:1–16 | Isaiah 60:15–22 | John 8:12–20 “No longer will your sun set, or your moon wane; For the Lord will be your light forever, and the days of your grieving will be over.” Isaiah 60:20 I don’t like the dark. The dark conceals things- I can’t make out figures or faces. I feel alone in the dark. I have recently gone through period of grief in my life, after the loss of my grandfather and a severe brain injury to a friend’s child.

While grieving, I feel as if I am in the dark. I can’t see when the grief will end, and sometimes it feels as if it never will.

Then, passages like this come into my life and remind me who God is and who I am as His beloved child. Is God afraid of the dark or grief? Of course not. Who better to lean on in our fears and insecurities than God, who is afraid of nothing and powerful over all? I know this is easier said than done, but that does not diminish its truth. God is capable of anything and everything. Even if it seems impossible to us, God could accomplish whatever it is we have imagined.

Whether or not what we want is a part of God’s plan is a different topic, but it fills me with so much hope to know God can accomplish miracles. And, he is willing to bestow those miracles on us.

How great would a life be with no darkness, no valleys, no grief? It would probably be more joyous than we can imagine.

This is what God promises us; this is something we can attain, and this thought fills me with even more hope! How a wonderful is the life promised to us in the next. But, this was only made possible by Jesus’s suffering on the Cross.

Remember today how much Jesus wants us to experience eternal happiness with Him. You are loved, unconditionally.

O LIVIA A DAMS, Class of 2019

· 30 ·

T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 1 8 Psalm 51:1–12 | Isaiah 30:15–18 | Hebrews 4:1–13 “The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands.” — Martin Luther The theme in all of today’s passages is that God longs to be merciful and compassionate to us, but we must be in a posture of repentance and obedience to receive God’s compassion and mercy.

In Psalm 51, David cries to God in repentance but only after realizing his attempts to clean up his mess have made a bad situation worse. David has been confronted with his sin and begs God for mercy. In Isaiah, God chastises the Israelites for not repenting and trusting God: “if you had repented and waited patiently, you’d have been saved; if you had been quiet and trusted me, you’d have found strength.” The writer of Hebrews reminds the reader that even God rested after the work of creation and our ultimate reward is rest in God our savior.

Personally, I find it difficult to stop and rest whether it’s physical rest or mental rest. Silencing the voices in my head that convince me I should always be doing more is one of my greatest challenges. After years of seeing a chiropractor for regular adjustments to my neck and shoulders, the irony is not lost on me that my mental “shoulds” are wreaking havoc on my “should-ers.” I simply cannot bear the weight of all that I think I “should” be doing. I suspect I am not alone. Our culture does not value quiet rest, reflection and obedience. We value action, productivity and efficiency. We admire people who take charge and get things done, but this is not God’s way. Isaiah 30:18 ends with, “blessed are those who wait for God.” When we take matters into our own hands, at the very least we miss out on the best of God’s blessings. In David’s case, there were disastrous consequences.

How would it feel if you could crawl into God’s lap and rest for a while, letting go of all that you think you should do and be? I hope in this Lenten season, you are able to take on a posture of rest, repentance and humility while we wait for the joy of Easter. Look for ways to practice true Sabbath and just rest in the presence of God.

L EIGH HITCHCO C K, Honors Program Assistant Interdisciplinary Studies & Global Education

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F R I D AY, M A R C H 1 9 Psalm 51:1–12 | Exodus 30:1–10 | Hebrews 4:14–5:4 For humans paying attention, lessons from 2020 included the almost constant reminder that while we can make plans, those plans may have little connection to what comes tomorrow or the day after. Hopefully we learned something about being nimble when change comes, being willing and faithful when alterations are presented to us.

Hebrews is a book that is willing to describe the stark truth of being human and trusting God’s work in the world. This book remains one of mysteries, a biblical text that continues to confound those looking for certainty. Scholars still scratch their heads over its origins. And with all its puzzles it records, for those of us seeking to know God, some crucial ideas about what following Jesus, walking with God, looks like.

Today’s passage from Hebrews tells us about the choosing of priestly leadership, leadership that knows the experience of human weakness, of being tested, of not always succeeding. It emphasizes that this leadership position is not sought but that one is called to it. Here is where one of those crucial ideas comes in. The writer of Hebrews reminds the reader that Jesus was the best of the best of high priests. To be that, he lived without sin, and he lived not only knowing about but also experiencing all the challenges, problems, difficulties and heartbreak of being human.

Everything you and I encounter has been encountered by the one who became human to show us how it’s done.

Often, when I listen to people talk about Jesus they create a wide divide between the rest of the human race and him.

Hebrews does just the opposite. It puts Jesus right here in the same boat with us.

During Advent we focus on the coming of Jesus as a baby, completely vulnerable by choice as he entered the human experience. Our Lenten practices often call us to focus on the death of Jesus, his suffering and humiliation on the cross.

The writer of Hebrews invites us to pause long enough to also feel God’s company in the days between celebration and sacrifice. The days of ordinary human struggle and joy are also a place where following Jesus has his example at the center. Walk on, making the path as we follow the path of the one who loved us first.

JUDY SKEEN , Professor College of Theology & Christian Ministry

· 32 ·

S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 2 0 Psalm 51:1–12 | Habakkuk 3:2–13 | John 12:1–11 In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus is at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Jesus is about to begin his long walk to the cross and to prepare him, Mary anoints his feet with expensive perfume made of nard. Judas thinks this is a bad idea because he sees the dollar signs instead of the other ways in which the Mary’s actions have value. Jesus responds, saying the perfume will be for his burial, soon to come.

Although for us it is still two weeks until Easter, in the Gospel of John, Mary anoints Jesus’s feet the day before Palm Sunday. Soon we will remember Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem. Then he will spend time with his disciples, washing their feet and teaching them about the Holy Spirit, love and unity. In a few more days, we will observe Jesus’s long, arduous walk to the cross, and then we will rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection, but we are not there yet.

Let’s go back to our story of Mary and perfume. Pause a moment and think about Jesus’s feet. People in Judea often walked barefoot or in sandals and their feet needed cleaning, but they also needed care. Nard was used for medicine as well as having a lovely smell. People needed to have their feet cleaned so they would smell good. They also needed to have their feet taken care of. They needed the cuts and damage from walking rough streets and paths to be tended to. They needed their feet to be ready for more difficult and harsh days ahead. Yes, the perfume points to Jesus’s burial, but it also points to Jesus’s suffering. It is a balm to prepare his feet for the agonizing long walk, for the physical pain and suffering he would endure, for the nails that would pierce those feet.

But perhaps more importantly, this is about Jesus being made spiritually and emotionally ready for his way of suffering, his Via Dolorosa. Jesus will need to be courageous. He will need to choose to walk forward into danger and death rather than running away. His feet will take him on a journey that no one would normally choose. Mary’s thoughtful, extravagant gift of perfume for Jesus’s tired, worn feet prepared him for his suffering as well as his burial, and for that we bless her and give thanks.

ANN COBLE, Lecturer College of Theology & Christian Ministry

· 33 ·

S U N D AY, M A R C H 2 1 Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Psalm 119:9–16 | Hebrews 5:5–10 | John 12:20–33

Fifth Sunday of Lent

During the season of Lent we are offered space to prepare—40 days in fact. Depending on your tradition, this preparation may be accompanied by liturgical or familial customs. Whatever the method, this season is intended to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the continuation of God redemptive work. During this season we acknowledge that the preparation for the joy of resurrection comes only through the realities of the cross itself. It is purposeful and necessary preparation. It is the preparation for what is to come.

Our scripture readings for today remind us of the work of preparation. In Jeremiah the Lord declares “the days are coming when I will make a new covenant” (Jer 31:31) and in the gospel of John, a voice from heaven proclaims “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again” (Jn 12:28). But what about the time in between? What about the time between what is and what is to come?

To experience the tension of this question we needn’t look any further than Holy Saturday. We find this day infused both with the grief of Good Friday and the anticipation of Easter Sunday. It reminds us that preparation, this recognition that something is coming, is an essential part of the redemption story. It reminds us that the process or waiting…of preparing…is fertile ground for the seeds of faith to grow. We have been given the hope of Sunday and the gift of Saturday to prepare fully for what is to come. Now, I understand the urge to rush, to push through, to move through the process too quickly. After all, the uncertainty of the in-between is disconcerting. However, what will the days to come look like if we have prepared ourselves for them? How can the joy of resurrection Sunday be shaped by the preparation we do during Holy Saturday?

While we now have the knowledge of the resurrection, we still have the ability to prepare for its realities in our daily lives. My prayer for you today is that you find purpose and meaning in the preparation of this season.

CHRISTY RIDINGS, Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate University Minister University Ministries

· 34 ·

M O N D AY, M A R C H 2 2 Psalm 119:9–16 | Isaiah 43:8–13 | 2 Corinthians 3:4–11 A recurring theme that runs through many of the Psalms is the love for, and devotion to, God’s law. Metaphors compare the law to honey, gold or other valuable substances, and a constant plea is for God to not let the law depart from one’s mouth, to protect it in the heart, and to not let one stray from the statutes decreed in God’s word.

When I read these passages in Psalms, I am struck by this singular devotion. At the time of the writing of the Psalms, God’s law consisted of the statutes described in the Pentateuch—the Ten Commandments, plus several hundred other laws related to food, cleansing, atoning sacrifices, festivals and feasts. As I read, I cannot help but wonder what it was about the laws in these books that inspired such sincere desire and commitment among the Psalmists.

The Psalmists clearly understood that the law provided a great deal of insight to the character of God and His unrelenting holiness. The Psalmist also understood that abiding in God’s law provided a powerful witness, as stated in Isaiah. And, the Psalmist was aware of God’s promise of a savior. From the story of Adam’s fall in Genesis throughout the entirety of the Old Testament, God repeatedly states His promise to repair the wrongs, to heal the broken and restore life to His creation.

The Psalmist, however, was more than likely not expecting the savior God would eventually provide. Not a military leader, not a savvy politician, but a child born in a small village to poor parents. Not a conquering hero, but a humble carpenter. Not a proud leader bent on building an earthly empire, but a servant who died—freely and of His own will— in the ultimate act of love and sacrifice. A risen savior enacting a new covenant of righteousness and restoring us to life through His glory.

Man’s work faileth, Christ’s availeth;

Sin’s bonds severed, we’re delivered,

He is all our righteousness;

Christ has bruised the serpent’s head;

He, our Savior, has forever

Death no longer is the stronger,

Set us free from dire distress

Hell itself its captive led.

Through His merit we inherit

Christ has risen from death’s prison,

Light and peace and happiness

O’er the tomb He light has shed.

­—‘Praise the Savior, Now and Ever’, V.H.C. Fortunatus, ca. 530-600

JEREMY LA N E, Director of the School of Music College of Music & Performing Arts

· 35 ·

T U E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 Psalm 119:9–16 | Isaiah 44:1–8 | Acts 2:14–24 In today’s reading, Isaiah tells of a future in which the anguish and waywardness of the Israelites is redeemed (Isaiah 44). The words of Joel proclaim God’s promise to pour out His life-giving Spirit, enabling people to participate in supernatural acts (Acts 2:17-21). Amidst these declarations, the harsh realities of centuries of unfulfilled waiting likely created dissonance for the Israelites. During the 400 years that elapsed between the hope-filled prophecies of a coming Kingdom and the birth of Jesus, meditations on the Lord’s past faithfulness, prayers of longing and wavering anticipation emerged. Cries resounded from bodies worn out: where is our long-awaited Redeemer?

When fast-forwarding to the present, it is possible that sentiments similar to those of the Israelites can be felt in our souls. Exactly one year ago, online classes commenced as we unexpectedly embarked on a journey of virtual learning.

Since then, the grief and disorientation that COVID-19 has brought has intermingled with deep frustration at systemic injustice, political divisiveness and pain at spending the holidays without many we love. The happy-go-lucky clichés about God and spirituality often utilized seem to fall short of providing solace. Have you, too, found yourself in a season of lament, desperate for God’s provision yet uncertain of whether it will truly come?

Though hope may feel distant, may we look to the Gospels in remembrance of He who came and continues to come.

From the folds of humility and simplicity, Jesus entered the world. After 33 years of life and three years of ministry, Jesus was wrought with our sin and pierced within our condemning words, crucified on our behalf (Acts 2:23).

Darkness ensued for three days, a seemingly hopeless plight.

But then, in an act all too wondrous for us to comprehend, “God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). The promises made to the Israelites generations prior were fulfilled as our Savior conquered the grave and ushered in the long-awaited Kingdom.

In light of the heartache and yearning for renewal that many of us feel as we move through this Lenten season, may we identify with the long-suffering endurance of the Israelites. May we acknowledge the pain we feel, using it to better understand Jesus’s woeful ascent to Calvary. Not remaining there though, may we courageously remember God’s assurance in Isaiah 44:3 as we look toward Jesus’s resurrection: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.”

ALYSSA STEP HEN S, Class of 2022 College of Science & Math and College of Theology & Christian Ministry · 36 ·

W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 4 Psalm 119:9–16 | Haggai 2:1–9, 20–23 | John 12:34–50 As we begin to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, it is easy do only focus on the things that we “get” to go again and all our hopes for normalcy. We can go out to restaurants and concerts. We can easily see our friends and family members. We get to celebrate our lives. In this moment of excitement and hope, on this eve of normalcy, it seems appropriate for our minds to lead us to Haggai­—whose name literally means “festive.”

But perhaps the lesson to be gained from Haggai in this time of strife is not one of festivity and freedom, but one of the resilience and hard work required to rebuild. It is a lesson of priorities, expectations and promise.

Unlike the books of the prophets before him, Haggai’s prophecies come to us in a time after the exile and the destruction of Jerusalem. In a previous chapter, we see that Haggai has chastised the Israelites for focusing on rebuilding their own homes and lands before they set to rebuilding the temple and the community of God, and now, in chapter two, the Word of God comes through Haggai to address their communal sense of defeat that the temple they have created is nowhere near as grand as the one they had before. In these verses, we see that God has promised a temple better than the one before. This new temple, built from the ruins of a once great city by the hands of those who have gone through something incredibly challenging, will be greater than that of Solomon. Not because of the glory of its appearance, but instead because of the glory of what it can withstand—what it can endure—what it is able to survive. Essentially, God is teaching them a new “normal.” Rather than the richly-adorned temple of Solomon, this temple is filled with the strength and glory of God. It can withstand the shaking of the entire world, and its constancy, like that of God Himself, will give peace to the Israelites.

As we finally move out of the pandemic and come together again, take the time to evaluate what you once had and what your first steps will be. What will you rebuild first? What can you make stronger by shifting your focus from the ornate to the divine? Perhaps, by focusing on community and God, we can create something better than “normal” once more.

MI CHA EL HUDSON -WOOD, Learning Centers Coordinator College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

· 37 ·

T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 2 5 Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29 | Deuteronomy 16:1–8 | Philippians 2:1–11 We have a savior who intimately knows the in’s and out’s of the human condition, and who chose to come and dwell among us that we might share in his glory. This is exemplified in our passage of Philippians 2, specifically in the kerygma (Greek, meaning “proclamation,” referring to the salvation of Jesus Christ) found in verses 5–11. Paul reminds the church at Philippi and offers us today a succinct way of understanding the story of the gospel. For Jesus had the glory of God in his being and came in the form of man born of a poor teenage girl, and he lived this life humble even to the point of the most shameful of deaths on a cross. In this, God exalts him so that every being in heaven, earth and below the earth might confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Let us not lose the importance of the incarnation here. Jesus lived the human life, so he understands the daily life of work, hunger, fatigue, grief and pain we all experience. Yet, Jesus also knew the truest joy and the possessed the glory of God. He chose to live a human life to bear our burdens and to make all things right, that one day we might get to experience the true joy of unity with God and one another. Jesus already had the glory far before he entered the world as a newborn baby or exited the world on the cross, yet because of this deepest sacrifice we too can participate in this glory, and we too can find delight in fellowship with God. So in this Lenten season, let us enter into the words of Psalm 118. Let us join in the chorus of giving thanks, for God is, and always has been, good. Let us rejoice in the Lord’s provision, for his steadfast love endures forever. This enduring steadfast love is accessible to us in all of our moments, large and small, joyful and sorrowful, and even in the chaos of today. Let the gospel message not be lost in our hearts and minds and let us find encouragement in Christ.

BETH VIROSTEK , Class of 2022 College of Sciences & Mathematics • College of Theology & Christian Ministry

· 38 ·

F R I D AY M A R C H 2 6 Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29 | Jeremiah 33:1–9 | Philippians 2:12–18 As I was reading today’s scriptures, I was reminded how much I need His goodness and grace, but also how much my human desire to control leads me to lean on myself instead of the provisions of God. Both the passages in Psalm and Jeremiah discuss calling out to the Lord and tell us that he will answer. I can only speak from my own experiences, but many times I have felt like I am not getting much in terms of answers from the Lord.

Over the past few months, I have been wrestling with and discerning how I believe how God’s answers come to us.

Oh how I wish he would speak to me directly through a burning bush, but so far, those answers have come in different forms. I believe that at times the Lord does give us clear and specific answers and at other times I believe he leads us in the right direction; but allows us to choose the specific paths to take. I also believe this is very personal and Holy process, God has built each of us perfectly with our own decision-making processes, and I encourage you to reflect on your own experiences to learn what you believe for yourself in terms of how the Lord answers your call.

The process of learning to rely on God and not ourselves, is challenging and beautiful. It requires a humble and obedient spirit. This, by no means, is something I have mastered and honestly, I may never completely master it.

Philippians 2:5–9a offers us this: “adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus…He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross, for this reason God highly exalted him.” Trusting in God requires us to set aside our pride and humbly obey Him. When we do, we will be fully in His glory and grace.

Whatever answers you may be seeking in this season, I encourage you to remember that the Lord does answer, but it may be in ways we don’t yet understand. As we move through this season of Lent and prepare our hearts to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, remember Psalm 118:1: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, his faithful love endures forever.”

DERIA N HAMBLI N , Residence Director Office of Residence Life, Division of Student Life

· 39 ·

S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 2 7 Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29 | Jeremiah 33:10–16 | Mark 10:32–34, 46–52 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). Not only is the chief cornerstone the foundational element that solidifies symmetry, stability and structure, but it also orients a building in a particular direction. I think if there is anything evident about the character of God throughout Scripture, it is that the Lord delights in defying expectations and logic, and is ever present even in the most miniscule of details. I think this is what so captured my heart when I was sorting out my faith as a teenager—that even the experiences and narratives that might write us off as beyond salvaging, when hope seems lost—those can become key components of our calling and ministry to others. The story of Joseph immediately comes to mind, and the words he spoke to his brothers who betrayed him: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).

So often throughout Scripture, this is the theme: Circumstances are not promising. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are tossed into a furnace. Elijah poured water all over the altar that needed to be consumed by fire. Lazarus died before Jesus arrived. Moses killed an Egyptian and fled to the desert. Yet it is in the most dire of circumstances that God not only shows up with miracles and breakthrough, but God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness are put on display in a way that dramatically alters both one’s identity and direction henceforth.

I think we could all say that in some way, shape or form, this past year has held at least a few moments of doubt, disappointment or loss. In the midst of Lent, as we reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, may we create space to invite God into the stories and pieces of our life that feel fragmented, irreparable or buried in shame. Maybe one daring step forward in faith would be to imagine what those pieces might look like redeemed or resurrected, or how God might use those very wounds “for the saving of many lives.”

MEGAN MCNEES E, Student Support Specialist Bridges to Belmont

· 40 ·

Palm Sunday

S U N D AY, M A R C H 2 8 Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29 | Mark 11:1–11

For me, Palm Sunday is always one of the most liturgically powerful days in the church year. It begins with great fanfare—lively hymns and a boisterous procession that includes the waving of palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna!”

It ends in somber quiet with the reading of the gospel text that recounts Jesus’s last hours and ends with his body wrapped and lying in the tomb. Each year, I am struck anew with the realization that those who greeted Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna understood little about the Messiah and the way that God would restore, redeem and save them. I wonder if those people would have gathered for the welcome parade if they knew how this journey would end. My questions and wondering always lead me to ask how often I am like those who gathered by the roadside in Jerusalem, misunderstanding who Jesus is and what his life and death mean for me and for the church.

Our readings for today could not paint a clearer picture of the one whom God had sent in Jesus. A Messiah who would come not with military might to overthrow the oppressive Roman government, but instead a Messiah who would “make himself nothing…and humble himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7-8). More times than I would like to admit, I find myself thinking that I would rather have the strong and triumphant Messiah who could make the world what it should be by force. And so I am thankful for this yearly Palm Sunday reminder that God’s ways are not like mine.

As we step into this Holy Week and walk with Jesus to the cross, my prayer is that we what we read and pray will help us to remember who Jesus truly is—the suffering servant whose power comes not in might, but in humility and obedience—and understand more fully what it means for us as his disciples to become as he was and “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

H EATHER DAUG HER T Y, University Minister University Ministries

· 41 ·

M O N D AY, M A R C H 2 9 Psalm 36:5–11 | Isaiah 42:1–9 | Hebrews 9:11–15 | John 12:1–11

Monday of Holy Week

Isaiah and Psalms have long been nourishment to my soul. When I was five years old my family moved from Hamburg, NY to Las Vegas, NV. Shortly after that cross-country move, my parents divorced which shattered my world. Up to this point church consisted of listening to Bible stories while pasting paper figures of Jesus and other Bible characters in a workbook. We no longer attended church as my mom worked three jobs to make a living which for me began a decade of living a life ruled by rebellion, poor self-esteem and bad choices. I was a good person, an intelligent street-savvy girl surrounded by bad influences but my gut told me I needed to rise above. I wanted to succeed and believed I was capable.

Isaiah 42 illustrates that God chooses us. I vividly remember hearing my name called which was unnerving as a sixteen-year-old on my own. I experienced extraordinary evidences of God clearly speaking to me—a voice that cut through the noise and chaos around me and brought me comfort. This began a beautiful relationship with my Creator who chose me and still strengthens my walk.

As a parent of three young adults I recall times which felt like sacrifice. Throughout 2020 people made countless sacrifices. As disconcerting, inconvenient, heartbreaking and often costly as these sacrifices were, they are minimal compared to Christ’s sacrifice for us as He was unfairly condemned to die on the Cross. As we begin Holy Week and focus on the resurrection of our Risen Savior; let us dwell on the magnitude of His love, provision, protection and Eternal promise.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are promised eternal life which is comforting however we are not promised an easy life on earth. There will be highs and lows, sickness and health, mourning and laughing, anxiety and jubilation. During times of chaos I remind myself to slow down, pause and listen to what God is encouraging me to see, do or step away from—to Be still and know He is God (Psalm 46:10). A life-verse I utter often which guides my path is, “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Stop and Listen. Selah.

K I MBERLY AGEE , Assistant to the Dean Enrollment Services

· 42 ·

T U E S D AY, M A R C H 3 0 Psalm 71:1–14 | Isaiah 49:1–7 | I Corinthians 1:18–31 | John 12:20–36

Tuesday of Holy Week

About 20 years ago I read the book “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving. This book made me think, laugh, cry, question, doubt and wonder. There are many scenes from the book that have stuck with me over the years, but one scene takes place during Holy Week. John, the narrator, says: “I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished—I am terrified that, this year, it won’t happen; that, that year, it didn’t. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don’t believe in the resurrection, you’re not a believer.”

I thought about this when I read the scriptures for today, particularly the verses from John. These verses have passion and weight to them. There are several points of tension. There are thundering voices from heaven. There is judgement.

Jesus’s soul is troubled. He knew what kind of death he was going to have, and he was talking about it to people who couldn’t quite grasp it. I can’t quite grasp it yet, if I am being really honest with myself. We are told to give up our lives, to follow, to serve. There is death, with a promise of life. There is leaving, and hiding, and that doesn’t feel very comforting to read. There is an admonition to believe, so that we can become children of light, while in the next breath being reminded that the world is about to very dark for a time. It is a big ask, to believe this thing that has been foretold.

Like the narrator above, I too believe that the resurrection and Easter is the “main event.” But before we get to Sunday, we must live through this week of highs and lows, remembering the passion of Jesus and his love for the Father and for us. After the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday, and before the heaviness of Maundy Thursday, the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week often feel kind of quiet and lonely to me. There is a lot of time to think and to have that fear and wonder that the narrator describes above. Who is this Son of Man? And, how do I become, more fully, a child of the light?

SABRINA SULLEN BER G ER , Professor Department of Social Work, College of Health Sciences

· 43 ·

W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 3 1 Psalm 70 | Isaiah 50:4–9a | Hebrews 12:1–3 | John 13:21–32

Wednesday of Holy Week

My sophomore year, I had the opportunity to take Christian Doctrine with the life-changing and always wonderful Dr. Beth Ritter-Conn. On one particularly exhausting but beautiful spring day, she had us do an exercise. We must have been restless or mentally absent, because she had us all leave our desks and backpacks to go take a quiet 15-minute walk around campus by ourselves and then reflect on it. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thrilled when I heard the request. I’d been walking across campus all day and my back was tired from carrying the weight of the day in my backpack.

Thanks to my deep love and respect for Dr. Beth, however, I got up and went. As I wandered around the fountains and flowers of campus, I felt myself begin to stand straighter, breathe deeper and walk easier. I had forgotten that without the weight of books, stress and a computer on my back, walking could actually be a pleasant experience.

That class reframed a lot of things for me. First, it made me realize that when I can lay down the literal and spiritual burdens I’m carrying, I am free to enjoy God’s presence and creation in a whole new way. Rather than racing to class so I can drop the heavy load I’m carrying, I can walk with ease, listening for the voice of God in the trees and seeing His face in the friends I walk past.

It also spurred another thought- in Matthew 11, we are asked to bear the yoke of Christ, taking on a burden that though carries weight, is easy and light. Maybe the burden of sin that God wants us to lay aside is like the backpack, full of the ways we distract and hold ourselves back from running the race set before us. Maybe the burden of Christ is like the perfect pair of tennis shoes that fit like a glove, allowing us to walk further and run faster than we ever thought possible. It’s still a weight, but it drives us towards the cross instead of holding us from it.

As we move further into Holy Week, I pray that I can lay down my backpack and lace up my running shoes with this great community of witnesses that Belmont has given me as we join together in the race, looking towards Jesus who endured the cross out of His love and hope for all of us.

E MMA BUSHON G , Class of 2021 College of Music & Performing Arts

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T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 1 Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 | Exodus 12:1–14 | I Corinthians 11:23–26 | John 13:1–17, 31b–35

Maundy Thursday

“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (John 13:7) Jesus knew his actions on the first Maundy Thursday evening flew in the face of the ordered, stratified, hierarchical social structures of his day, and that his disciples would not realize until later what he was doing. He also “knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father,” and he “knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God” (John 13: 1, 3). As the Apostle Paul would later come to realize and write in his letter to the church in Philippi, “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6–8) Our challenge today is to live fully in this new reality, not to fall prey to the misuse of our status and power as a means for furthering our own agendas and wellbeing, but to submit ourselves to the common good, or as Paul also reminds the church in Philippi, to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility [to] value others above [ourselves], not looking to [our] own interests but each of [us] to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3–4).

As I write this devotion for Maundy Thursday 2021, it is the third week of Advent 2020, the week intended to usher us into a place of joy as we await the coming of the Christ child. Unlike happiness, which is completely dependent upon our circumstances, joy is the awareness that we are loved—completely, consistently and without condition. “Having loved his own who were in the world, [Jesus] loved them to the end” (John 13: 1). Jesus hoped his disciples would not only realize the fullest extent of his love, but that they would also follow his example to live out such love, both in word and deed, that others would recognize them as his followers. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34–35).

May the power of unconditional love so fill us with the confident awareness of who we are as Christ followers, that we give up selfish ambitions and vain conceit so as to love others as we ourselves have been loved.

WAY NE BA RN A R D, Lecturer Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Sciences & Mathematics

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F R I D AY, A P R I L 2 Psalm 22 | Isaiah 52:13–53:12 | Hebrews 10:16–25 | John 18:1–19:42

Good Friday

The most ancient manuscript we have of the New Testament is from John 18: “Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews? ...Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king! In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate retorted, ‘What is truth!?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He knew that whatever the truth might be, a wandering preacher now betrayed by some of his own people was not the one who possessed it.

Just a day earlier, Jesus had grandly claimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” But now all that confidence seemed ludicrous. It was not that all hope seemed gone; all hope was gone: “Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they slapped him in the face.” Jesus’s life is a dead-end, an epic failure ending in humiliation.

Unless.

Unless our world has gone so very wrong that when God comes in the flesh, we view him as worse than a devil, his teachings as worse than useless and band together to do him in. To the point where he is screaming out in anguish, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). Israel had known itself forsaken by God in the past, for God had allowed the Temple in Jerusalem to be destroyed and let God’s people be massacred. The Book of Lamentations records the tragedy without God ever saying a word to defend himself. And now the Word made flesh hangs on the bloodied cross as Psalm 22 plays out in real time: “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let God deliver him, since he delights in him.”

On Good Friday, we can follow the way of the world’s winners, whose success is secured by protective violence, comfortable religion and tight-fisted economics. Or we can decide to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus all the way to where the self-giving love of God is fully revealed.

TODD LAKE, Vice President Spiritual Development

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S AT U R D AY, A P R I L 3 Psalm 31:1–4, 15–16 | Job 14:1–14 | I Peter 4:1–8 | Matthew 27:57–66

Holy Saturday

Grief is a terrible thing. The year 2020 was an incredibly difficult time, and so many of us encountered loss in ways we had not before. So much loss. And because we were unsure of what came next, the grief was even more terrible.

Can you imagine how Jesus’s disciples felt on that dark day so many years ago? Their leader, who had promised to lift up the lowly, to establish God’s kingdom here on earth, had been brutally executed by the occupying Romans like a common criminal. And because Jesus tended to speak in parables and riddles, his disciples could not be sure of what came next. He had warned them he would leave them, but also promised that their grief would turn to joy. But the disciples did not know what was to come. Not yet. Truly it was the longest and darkest of days, a time of waiting and uncertainty, and a time of facing their own mortality.

Job understood this feeling. He wrote of the short days of a human life, that they come to an end laid low in the ground. He said that even a tree that is cut down can sprout again, but not a mortal human. When we are buried, we do not rise.

And so John tells us that Jesus’s body had been taken down from the cross and laid in a donated tomb. This day was the Sabbath, a time of rest and peace. And so the tomb remained undisturbed on this first Holy Saturday. Everyone was waiting, for the Sabbath to end so that they might prepare his body for a proper burial, for the hope Jesus had promised to sprout out of the dead ground, for something, anything, to happen.

The past year was marked by the same sense of waiting, grief and a vague hope for a vaccine that we knew would come eventually. How many unnecessary deaths before it came? How many ill people, how many jobs lost? It was not a grief without hope, but it was a time of waiting, a time of loss and mourning. Today you may have a better understanding of what Jesus’s disciples were living on that first long, dark Holy Saturday.

But take hope. The sun will rise again. There will be an end to our grief and tears, even if today it seems impossible.

Hope is not lost. Joy is just around the corner.

T ERRY KLEFSTAD, Associate Professor School of Music, College of Music & Performing Arts

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S U N D AY, A P R I L 4 Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24 | Isaiah 25:6–9 | I Corinthians 15:1–11 | John 20:1–18

Easter Sunday

I have two big Newfoundland dogs, each one bear-like in their size, who absolutely love walking in the morning. When I can pull myself out of bed extra early, we sometimes walk our neighborhood before dawn.

The stillness suggests the world has not yet awakened but we hear birds chittering here and there in trees along the street. Rabbits scavenging for breakfast scurry into bushes at the sound of our footsteps. Sometimes, we even catch a glimpse of our neighborhood skunk and we do our best to give him all the privacy he seeks.

I think about what awaits me on the day and I pray as I watch my dogs sniffing here and there excitedly greeting the day in all their dog-ness.

Usually, it is the Jesus prayer or a quite simple “Lord have mercy” that falls off my lips over and over again. I guess if someone were to overhear me, they might think me mumbling under by breath.

It is my way of blessing the day, of centering myself and remembering it is the mercy of God that will bathe the day.

Our scriptures for this holiest of days call our attention to the mercy of God. The Psalmist reminds us God is good and God’s “faithful love endures forever” as God becomes our salvation (Psalm 118:1–2, 21). In our Acts passage, Peter recounts for us the gospel in brief reminding us of the work of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, so that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43). Paul encourages us to set our minds on our lives hidden with God since we have been raised with Christ (Col. 3:1–3).

Then our Matthew text takes us back to the blessed dawn when mercy came upon all of us. The angel told the women who came to minister to Jesus’s body, “He is not here. He has risen” (Matt. 28:4). The tomb was empty because mercy was released upon creation.

I often think about that dawn morning when I am out walking my dogs. It is a way of remembering God’s mercy upon me, upon you, and how it comes to us and changes us in the Easter morning resurrection act of Jesus Christ.

To call for God to have mercy is to claim the Easter promise that as day reminds us whomever we are, however we have lived our lives, whatever weighs us down, Jesus Christ died for it, defeated it, rose to new life so we can have life anew, too. May you know the mercy of the resurrection on this Easter morning! He is risen for you and for me!

Lord have mercy!

DA RRELL GWA LT N EY, Dean and H. Franklin Paschall Chair of Biblical Studies and Preaching College of Theology & Christian Ministry

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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.

• Develop a sense of purpose in leadership and service.

WORSHIP

Ways you can be involved

Into.Nashville is a WELL Core-credit program that exposes

We continue to meet virtually this semester for weekly

students to the diverse communities of Nashville and helps

worship and conversation. Check out the University

students engage and embrace the most often neglected

Ministries website, Bruinlink and Blackboard for a

people of the community.

full schedule.

(No trips will be taking place Spring 2021)

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 students in on-campus community within their residence halls through small group and service opportunities.

2020 – 2021 FA I T H D E V E LOP M E N T OR G A N I Z AT I ON S , A F F I L I AT E D G R OUP S & G RA D UAT E F E L LOWS HI P S Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM), BUD Ministries,

SERVICE YEAR

Belmont Bridge Builders, Belmont Catholic Community

Service Year is an intentional Christian community right

(BCC), Belmont Full Gospel, Belmont Wesley Fellowship

here on campus. It’s an amazing opportunity to grow in

(BWF), Chadasha Gospel Choir, CRU, Delight, Every Nation

your relationship with God, make meaningful friendships

Campus Ministry, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA),

and serve in the Nashville community!

InterVarsity, Navigators, UKirk, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), Young Life, Christian Legal Society

BELMONT ON MISSION

(CLS), Christian Pharmacy Fellowship International (CPFI) ,

Immersion trips are week-long spring break trips to that

Nurses Christian Fellowship (NCF)

offer students a chance to be immersed in a local domestic culture and grow in understanding of the cares 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.

OF F I C E OF UN I V E R S I T Y M I N I ST R I E S STA F F Heather Daugherty,

Christy Ridings, Associate

University Minister

University Minister, Director

Larkin Briley, Associate

of Spiritual Formation

University Minister, Director

LaReace Carr, University

of Missions and Outreach

Ministries Administrative Assistant

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OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY MINISTRIES

615.460.6419 BELMONT.EDU/UNIVERSITY-MINISTRIES

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. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to: Lauri Chaudoin, Director, Title IX Compliance and Prevention Programs, Freeman Hall, 3rd Floor, 1900 Belmont Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37212. Phone: 615.460.5661. Email: lauri.chaudoin@belmont.edu. Leslie Lenser, Chief Human Resources Officer/Sr. Director & Deputy Title IX Coordinator, Office of Human Resources, Fidelity Hall, Room 426, 1900 Belmont Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37212. Phone: 615.460.6456. Email: leslie.lenser@belmont.edu.

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