It is hard to believe, but I write this on February 18th, and Ash Wednesday is now past. One of my favorite services is the 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. communion that I shared with 28 of you on the Morning of the 17th. (David and John had even larger numbers from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. and from 6:00-7:00 p.m.)
In the course of that service I shared the Holy Communion 5 times. As I recall I served as many as 8 people and as few as two, plus myself.
Before serving, I shared a Psalm with each group, and I found a Lenten Message in each of them:
According to Psalm 139, God knows us better than we know ourselves: “Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O, LORD, you know it altogether.”
Psalm 51 pleads with God to “take not his Holy Spirit from us, and to put a new and right spirit within us.”
Psalm 32 declares, “when I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning.” It continues, “I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.” It also contains God’s promise that “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”
Psalm 19 begins by extolling God’s revelation in nature (verses 1-6), and God’s special revelation in the Law (verses 7-11). It finishes with a hidden gem with of a Lenten theme:
12 But who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
Finally, I shared Psalm 1: “Blessed is the one who walks not in the way of the wicked, nor stands in the ways of sinners, but whose delight is in the Law of the Lord.” When I read those words I cannot help but remember the summation of the Law made first by Moses (Leviticus 19:18) , then by Jesus (Matthew 22), then by Paul and James. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”(Galatians 5:14) “If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ you do well.” (James 2:8)
In Lent we recall the example of Luther who searched out himself before God. Some people do this by sacrificing something, like chocolate, or soft-drinks, or sugar. Some people add something. One friend is reading the entire Bible. Another has committed to spending time in prayer with his parents. How are you spending Lent? The Pastor