holy saturday 2018

Opening Prayer: As we stand between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Lord Jesus, help us to remember that you are always at work, even when it appears like nothing is happening.  So grateful for that!  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 23:50-56

Journal: Where do you feel in-between right now?  What do you think God is up to?

Reflection: But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (Luke 23:56)

     We make a great mistake if we skip over Holy Saturday in anticipation of Easter Sunday; for there is great care and intention in the timing of it all.  Space and time for rest and reflection are such necessary parts of the spiritual journey--and ones that are often neglected.  How can we possibly hope to grasp the depths and the beauty of what God is up to if we don't make time and space to consider it?  The fact is that God does some of his very best work when it appears that nothing is going on, and if we are not paying careful attention we are likely to miss it.  So let us make time and space this day for rest and reflection, knowing full well that God is up to something even in (and especially in) the in-between times.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that you are always at work, even when we cannot see it.  Work your good work in and through us this day.  Amen.

good friday

Opening Prayer: Father, hear our prayer and forgive us. Unstop our ears, that we may receive the gospel of the cross. Lighten our eyes, that we may see your glory in the face of your Son. Penetrate our minds, that your truth may make us whole. Irradiate our hearts with your love, that we may love one another for Christ’s sake. Father, forgive us.

Scripture: Isaiah 53:4-5

Journal: What does Good Friday mean to you?  Tell Jesus about it.

Reflection:

     good friday

you took up
our calamity
you carried
the heavy burden
of our pain
you were nailed through
for our rebellion
you were beaten to pieces
for our perversion
the many blows
that brought us wholeness
were reigned down upon you
you were torn apart
that we might be
sewn back together
by your wounds
we are healed
that is what makes
this friday good

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Eternal God, in the cross of Jesus we see the cost of our sin and the depth of your love: in humble hope and fear may we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

follow me

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I am still so divided.  I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, popularity, pleasure, power, and influence.  Help me to become deaf to those voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.  I know this will be a very hard road for me.  The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life.  I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions.  There are no times and places without choices.  And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.  Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place.  Give me the strength and courage to live my life faithfully, so that I will be able to taste with joy the new life which you have prepared for me.  Amen. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri J.M. Nouwen)

Scripture: John 21:18-19

Journal: Where and how is God leading you to places that you would rather not go?  What does following Jesus look like for you these days?

Reflection:

     follow me

someone else will dress you

and lead you where

you do not want to go

jesus said this to indicate

the kind of death

by which peter would 

glorify god

then he said

follow me

the aged 

it seems

are our guides

providing an image

of what it looks like

to really follow you 

lord jesus

it is a life

of total dependence 

and complete surrender

a life where

i can do nothing

apart from you

i go nowhere

unless you push me

i wear nothing

unless you dress me

i eat nothing

unless you feed me

i am only clean

when you bathe me

this is the life

you want for me

this is what it looks like

to really follow you

give me the grace

and the courage

to do so

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the courage and the faith to truly follow you, wherever it may lead, whatever it might cost.  Let me give myself fully to your care and your control.  For your glory.  Amen.

dying to self

Opening Prayer: O God, this call to die is so scary and unnerving; no wonder I try to control it.  The truth is that I can’t possibly die to self if you do not give me the courage and the grace.  Yet, that is exactly what you call me to.  So help me to surrender myself completely into your hands and trust you, wherever it may lead.  In the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Scripture: John 21:18-19

Journal: How is God asking you to dying to self these days?

Reflection: We try to control everything, don’t we?  Even our dying.  So when Jesus calls us to die to self, we immediately spring into action and start trying to figure out how we can do that.  The problem is that we are the ones trying to figure it out.  Thus, we are the ones trying to choose (or control) how and when and where we will do this.  Which is actually is a large part of our problem  

     Apparently, as you can see in this interaction with Simon Peter, we do not get a say in that process.  God does not ask for our vote and then act accordingly.  Dying to self is all about surrender, not control.  Therefore, he is the one who gets to determine what this dying needs to look like, as he did with Jesus.

     Dying to self—as modeled by Jesus—is neither selective nor discriminating.  I do not get to choose who or whether, the call to “Follow me” takes all judgment and discretion out of my hands.  Mine is just to die and to die and to die again.  Not out of begrudging obedience, but out of the deepest possible affection.  That is the goal—loving submission to whatever God desires.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for showing us what dying to self really looks like.  May we be more like you today.  Amen.

glorify your name

Opening Prayer: Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. (Psalm 115:1)

Scripture: John 12:23-28

Journal: What do your prayers look like these days?  How do these verses challenge that?  What does “Father, glorify your name” look like in your life right now?

Reflection:  Here is the true lesson of prayer: life is not about us.  It is so tempting, as we pray, to ask God to save us from this hour, whatever this hour may be.  To pray that God would deliver us from the hard things of this life.  But Jesus does not do this.  In fact, he does just the opposite.  If the hard things are the things that are apt to glorify God the most, then by all means bring them on.  God's glory is the point, not our comfort.

     It would be wise of me to learn this lesson as well.  I need not to pray that God would take away my suffering, or make my circumstances better, or easier.  I need to pray that He would be glorified, whatever it takes, whatever the cost.  Holy Week is evidence that it is the most difficult things of this life that tend to bring the most glory to God.  Maybe that is because it is so easy to glorify ourselves when things are going well.

     So next time my soul is troubled, what will I say?  Will I say, "Lord save me from this hour," or will I say, "Glorify your name!"

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for reminding us that life is not about us, and our glory, but about you and yours.  Help us to glorify your name in all we do, think, and say.  Amen.

holy week

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, today we join you on your ride into Jerusalem.  Today we hear the shouts of Hosanna!  Today we lay our coats and our palm leaves on the road, but we both know that once we get to Jerusalem everything will change.  For we know why you are going there.  You are going there to die.  And you invite us to do the same.  

     Give us the courage to ride with you this day and to walk with you this week.  Give us the strength to stay awake with you in the garden, to not abandon you in the melee, and to follow you closely all the way to Golgotha.  It is Holy Week, O Lord, so may we walk with you this week in full awareness of all that will take place—and why.  Amen.  (Journey to the Cross by Jim Branch)

Scripture: Mark 1:11

Journal: How are you feeling as Holy Week begins?  What is stirring within you?

Reflection:

            holy week

o jesus
as holy week begins
i find myself
anxious and afraid
of all that will
be required of me
in the days ahead

help me
lord jesus
to not just focus
on the dying
but also on
the being raised
to new life

help me to
always remember
that in the end
life wins

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, what was in your heart as you rode into Jerusalem?  What was on your mind?  What were your thoughts?  What were your prayers?    

     As we begin this Holy Week, may we be good companions to you on this journey of love.  Thank you for the depths to which you were willing to go in order to show us how deeply we are loved.  Amen. (Journey to the Cross by Jim Branch)

follow

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that life with you is really not that complicated.  You call us to listen to you and to follow you, even as you head toward the cross.  Give us the strength and the grace and the courage to do just that.  Amen.

Scripture: John 10:25-30

Journal: What does following Jesus look like for you these days?  What does it look like for you this season?

Reflection: Make no mistake about it, following Jesus always lead to a dying to self that cannot be avoided.  There is no following Jesus without following him all the way to the cross.  As we sit on the edge of Holy Week, what will this mean for you?  How is he asking you to die to self?  How is he inviting you to take up your cross?

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess.  Thou hast given all to me.  To Thee, O Lord, I return it.   All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and thy grace, for this is sufficient for me. ~Ignatius of Loyola