While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.
Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent because they are considered “Feast Days” rather than “Fast Days.” So, in that spirit, you are invited to take a day to feast on God’s inclusive love. You’re also invited to join KANSA* Collaborative Church for worship, stream live on Facebook.
Revelation 7:9-10 “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
Have you ever wondered what language we will speak in the heavenly realms? He escuchado que el idioma que vamos a hablar es el español. But maybe we will all have the ability to understand every language – kind of like God’s universal translator. The bottom line is that we are going to share eternity with people who are very different from us. Why are we so resistant to sharing earth time and space with those same people? I’m seriously asking the question. Why? (Feel free to comment.)
Prayer: Compassionate and Gracious God, all tribes and tongues will one day acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Alongside this, we know the truth proclaimed in Your Word that we are all created in Your image. Too easily we allow division based on culture, language, or race. Change our behavior and make us united. Let us focus on our shared status as Your creation and unite together over what we have in common and not fracture over how we differ. And help us to enjoy and celebrate the diverse cultural and linguistic expressions of faith now so we’ll be prepared to belt out “Salvation belongs to our God” when we all stand before the throne and the Lamb, who died to break down the walls. Amen.
Galatians 3:26-28 “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Prayer: Reconciling God, you have given us a new label, designating us as Your children. Human labels of ethnicity, race, gender, class, ability and status have no meaning to you. In your great love, you have united us together in Christ, yet we have held on to the old divisions. We have maintained the labels of the world and in the process have exalted some and disparaged others, all while cloaking ourselves with out-of-context Scripture to justify ourselves. Forgive us for diminishing Christ in those who are different from us. Forgive us for mirroring the world in our treatment of one another. Help us create a welcoming community, with you as our center, joined hand in hand in your love. We ask this in the name of Jesus- the wall-breaker. Amen.
Last night, I heard the words that I hear every Ash Wednesday: Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. We were asked to consider what these words meant to us this year. Initially, I thought about how this year exposed how vulnerable and weak we all are–our veneer of permanence being stripped away by a microscopic killer virus. But this year, I faced my mortality – not from COVID-19, but from a misdiagnosed bacterial infection that put me into a hospital bed for 4 days and included an episode of arterial fibrillation (A-fib). It was the first time in my life when I actually considered that my life could end. Though thankfully my A-fib was a one-time thing with no long-term effects, it was a stark reminder that indeed I am dust. I am a vapor. I am just a blip on the timeline. Life is short.
My A-fib episode has become a motivator. My body, though dust, is valuable and needs care and attention. What I put into my body matters. Movement matters. A healthy lifestyle matters. But no matter how much I do right for my body, it will at some point wear out. I am dust. To think differently is denial. I may delay the inevitable, but I will not be able to stop time.
My A-fib episode has also become a gift, shifting my attention from the temporary to the eternal. I am finite, God is infinite. And I am not “just” dust; I am dust that God formed and redeemed and filled. God’s Spirit is in this dust, moving me toward all that is eternal. And one day (later, rather than sooner, I pray), I will trade this perishable dust for an imperishable body on the day of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).
Life is short, but life need not be meaningless. As long as this dust has breath, I will not waste it on selfish interest, but do my best to live it each day for the One who loved this dust so much that he took on flesh, gave himself to death for me, and rose again. I will pursue loving Christ by loving others; I will endeavor to serve Christ by serving the “least of these”; I will seek Christ by seeking the kingdom of God and God’s justice. As long as this dust has breath.
Ephesians 2:13-14
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.”
Where have we gone astray? Walls of hostility still exist and barriers of racism, sexism, classism, and other -isms of our time still deny people access to the things that give life. Ibram X. Kendi, author of How To Be an Antiracist, writes, ” The heartbeat of antiracism is confession.” Confession is required to dismantle and break down all of the walls that continue to separate us. But true confession isn’t easy. It only comes through honest self-reflection. And it must be ongoing because the foundations of our walls have been laid deep in our minds and our hearts. Take a moment to consider the walls you create or maintain and get ready to make your confession before God. .
Prayer: Merciful God, as we enter this Lenten season, we are grateful for the way that you chose to bring unity and peace to people—through the gift of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, who broke down longstanding walls of prejudice and hostility between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. As good as this news is, we confess that we continue to divide people into groups of “us” and “them,” excluding those who are different from us and denying their human dignity. Forgive us when we create barriers rather than tear them down. Forgive us for pretending as if the walls do not exist. Forgive me for building and maintaining the wall that excludes __________ from your gracious welcome.
Holy Spirit, break the walls within me and open my heart to those on the other side. Bind us together in love and peace, forming us into a witnessing, welcoming and forgiving community of grace where no walls of exclusion and division can survive. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Romans 12:3
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.”
“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
This is the phrase that is spoken as ashes are imposed on our foreheads each Ash Wednesday. What does this mean to you? Have you ever thought of yourself as “not dust?” How did such thinking change your behavior toward yourself? toward others?
Prayer
I am a moment, but You, O God, are forever…eternal. The truth is…I can get all high and mighty, and when I elevate myself and think that I’m all that, I see everything and everyone as beneath me and I treat them like dirt. Today, You remind me that I’m dirt too—no better, no different than anyone else. Forgive me for my arrogance. Forgive me for judging others as “less than” me. Restore me to “sober judgment” so that I can be in right relationship with You and in right relationship with my neighbor. Amen.
Welcome to our 2021 Lenten Compact
This year, we are on a journey with Jesus who–says the Apostle Paul–broke down the dividing walls of hostility on the cross. Throughout his life, Jesus refused to live within the boundaries of existing social order. He regularly broke down the walls of exclusion as a demonstration of love for his neighbor–giving us an example to follow.
Throughout Lent, we will post daily Scriptures and prayers related to our theme. We will also post occasional links to stories and articles that identify the harm done by existing walls such as racism, sexism, classism, etc.
So, here we go. “Let the walls fall down.”
Every day, we witness and experience “walls” of hostility, division, exclusion, hatred, and ‘isms’. Most of us have participated regularly in adding bricks to the walls through our own attitudes, actions, words, and silence. Are walls inevitable in a broken world? Are we destined to tribalism and ongoing conflict? Is there any hope for healing and unity? Is reconciliation possible or is it a far-off dream?
We believe walls are constructed and maintained in order to advantage some and oppress others. We also believe that walls have no place in God’s beautiful creation. It is sin that separates us and divides us. Yet, the apostle Paul spoke of an end to the walls that have traditionally defined – and divided- human relationships. “For Christ himself has brought peace to us… In his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us…creating in himself one new people.” (Ephesians 2:14-15) As a result, in Christ, there is “neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female.” (Galatians 3:28). God is a “Wall-Breaker!” God broke down walls of exclusion; God is breaking down walls now; God will continue to break down walls until we are all reconciled to God and to one another.
This year, we are “Giving up Walls” for Lent–the attitudes and actions of division and exclusion. And in giving them up, we are going to resist rebuilding old walls or building new ones so we can more fully experience the new humanity that God established through the cross. So, join us on the journey.
Each day during Lent, starting February 17, 2021, we will post a Scripture and a Prayer to lead you into a time of reflection on the walls that we must break down.
We also invite you to join us on Sunday mornings during Lent (via our Facebook page) as we look at the ways Jesus modeled “Breaking Down Walls.” And we will become a “Wall Demolition Crew” in our community and our city–taking action to expose walls and dismantle them in the power of the Spirit. More information is available on our church website.
Together, let’s “Break Down Walls,” and live into being God’s new liberated–and liberating–people.
This year, Kimball Avenue United Church of Christ – along with the congregations of the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance (LSEA) – is fasting from individualism in order to build the beloved community. Throughout Lent, I will be writing occasional devotionals on issues that remind me of God’s call to “give up” personal and individual interests in order to promote the common good. I expect that I will address issues that touch on race, class, gender, economics, politics (both church and national) and more.
Paul tells us to humbly acknowledge the worth and dignity of others and to practice it by not watching out for our own interests, but for the interests of the others (Philippians 2:4). Jesus Christ is our supreme example. He gave up his own rights to be served in order to serve others. Our faith is expressed in relationship to others, serving, empowering and loving. Our own spiritual and social wellbeing is inextricably tied to the wellbeing of others. Together, we pursue mutual edification. And we not only seek the wellbeing of fellow-believers, but the wellbeing of the larger community as a witness of God’s love and the Kingdom of heaven.
This Lent, I have decided to follow the daily devotional from The Repentance Project that addresses the intersection of faith and racial reconciliation as a part of my ‘fast’ for community. Today’s reflection by Andy Crouch on the “three-fifths compromise” of 1787 (that counted slaves as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of apportioning the states’ representation and taxation), posed a pointed question that is directly related to the common good: In what ways do we currently treat human beings, our brothers and sisters who bear the image of the Divine, as “less than human” to increase the wealth and power of the few?
Yesterday, 1,700 striking workers at Wabtec in Erie, PA, agreed to return to work for the next 90 days while a long term collective bargaining agreement can be reached between the company (which builds locomotives) and the unions. Workers went on strike on February 26 after Wabtec proposed cutting wages of current and future employees significantly. While the union workers are happy to be back at work, the fundamental issues have not been resolved. In 90 days, workers could go on strike again.
“Whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.” 1 Corinthian 9:10
How we view and treat workers IS an issue of deep concern to God for life in God’s community. Whether it be laws regarding Sabbath or timely payment of wages, God protects the rights of workers. (See James 5:4) So, when we view workers as ‘human resources’ or “human capital,” are we not reducing them to mere cogs in the economic engine–less than fully human? When we refuse to pay living wages or only hire part time or contract workers without benefits, are we not advancing the same economic goals as slave-holders? And is not God grieved when workers are mistreated and oppressed in order to increase profit margins? Is not “community” destroyed when we pursue profit at the expense of our sisters and brothers?
We may have eliminated slavery, but we perpetuate the very economic system that required it in the first place. If we are to build the beloved community, we must lay a new foundation: No one is a “resource” or “capital” to be used for corporate gain. And people must always be given priority over profit.
This is the day when death is swallowed up in victory! This is the day of our freedom! Rejoice and be glad. By the power of God, we are holy and whole!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Tongue on Fire 