Lent
April 10, 2019
Scripture Reading: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! –Psalm 118:21-25
We followers of Christ read Psalms like the one quoted above an instantly see Jesus in the role of chief cornerstone. The readers of its day saw it as hope for the one to come who would save them from oppression. Jesus’ life on earth places us in a new but similar realm of hope. I find myself longing for the Kingdom of God ruled by love every time I listen to news reports of hate, violence, oppression, or lust for power no matter who it may hurt. During Lent we must wonder though if such a Kingdom is what we really want, or do we desire the ways of the world with just a pinch of Christ to save us from getting too close to falling off the edge of such idolatry.
The Hebrew Bible delves deeply into the distractions of idolatry. We of the modern era can tsk, tsk at our primitive ancestors in faith for their worship of graven images carved in stone or gold or other metal. We forget that idols advance with progress perhaps even faster than our ways of serving God. It is my observation that churches discover the latest and greatest ways of attracting new members borrowed from the world about the same time they lose sway in the culture.
Followers of Christ are called to not be of the world but in the world sharing the good news of a God of love who probably does not have a problem with the music we play or the audio-visual tools we use but does not see them as our primary focus. God cares about how we love God and love one another and how we work together as the Body of Christ in the world today charged with the responsibility of bringing about God’s kingdom on this earth.
Prayer: God who is Love bring us to such an awareness of the wonders of your love that we are driven to work toward its dominance in the world in everything we do. Amen.