Lent
March 13, 2018
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
How much emotional, spiritual, physical, social baggage do we carry around every moment of every day? I know I carry physical baggage. I do not climb stairs without holding on to a handrail for fear of falling even though I now have new knees on both legs. I have spent too many years stumbling around with undependable knees. While holding on to handrails is not the end of the world it is a good example of how our past shapes our here-and-now. Children who are given the subliminal message that they are not worthy have a deep hole to ascend to wellbeing. Making friends is hard for youth who both bully and are bullied. Spiritual scares too impact our wholeness. We all can take heart in Jeremiah’s words of God: No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
A lot of healing begins with forgiving. Forgiving others who may have caused us harm intentionally or unintentionally frees us to heal as does forgiving ourselves. None of us are perfect; all of us have at one time or another been a stumbling block to ourselves or another.
While I believe that God is all-powerful I find it unfathomable that God can remember our sin no more. Most likely I feel that way because I cannot let some things go. We should not project onto God our shortcomings. We should ask God to enable us to be more like the Lord.
Lent is a great time to practice all aspects of forgiving and just as important allow God to erase from our memories those things that hold us back from being who we really are which God declared good from our very beginning.
Prayer: Lord, equip us to be forgivers and forgetters of all that hinders us from serving you. Amen.