Lent 2014
March 27, 2014

 Read Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32 

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil…. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. — Ephesians 4:25-27, 31-32 

The crafters of the lectionary know people well. Yesterday they got into our faces with the stern words of the prophet Jeremiah making me, for one, angry at the current state of the world in which we live, and today they remind us that we are children of a loving God who expects us to also be loving, no matter the state of the world. Paul tells us here that a little anger might be healthy but we need to guard against it motivating us to sin against those with whom we are interacting. In my case, the one with whom I am most angry is often me. I sense that I commit more sins of omission than commission—that may be true of others, too. 

In the complex, pluralistic world in which we find ourselves it is really hard to communicate meaningfully.  I say one thing; the listener hears something else perhaps because their perception of the world is so totally different than mine. I generally say what I think sometimes when it is not wise to do so.  Others cloud their speaking in guarded phrases fearing reprisal. Some lack confidence in what they think, feel, or experience and fear expressing their thoughts. We all have to make the effort to communicate with loving understanding. It is the only way we can find solutions to the problems that plague our communities and schools. 

As Christians, we have a framework for modeling communications that work. We are called to wrap our prophetic fires in love as Jesus did. It is one of the gifts we can give our schools, if we choose to invest ourselves in their successes. 

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, enable us to wrap our prophetic fire in your love. Amen.

The identities of students, families, or staff in stories that are shared in the devotions have been altered to protect their privacy. Any similarities between these stories and the experience of others are coincidental. No stories about students, families of students, or staff from Putnam Heights Elementary School are included in any of these devotions.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.