|
Dear Church,
I hope you are finding places to rest and renewal this week. Our rest is part of our call to work for the service of God and others and is important to our wholeness. And what we know is that the work that is to-come will take your wholeness and will take the whole of us.
As I write this week’s newsletter, I am struck by the fact that there are only two more weeks until Lent. For those of you who are new to the season of Lent, Lent is a 40-day period of reflection, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we observe in preparation for Holy Week and Easter. It starts on Ash Wednesday which- mark your calendars for March 5 to come get your ashes - and lasts through Easter Sunday. The season of Lent and our reflective practices will take some intentionality in your life. Good and sustainable change rarely happens overnight. So, I want to invite you to start thinking of your Lenten practices so that we can prepare to support each other on this holy journey.
As I discern to take on a new practice or prepare to fast (usually I interpret this as giving up a habit, because fasting with food is not always doable for me) but I always turn to scripture as I get started. And this week’s scripture is a really great one to get us started. It’s a scripture that I know many of us wrestle with and maybe more so than ever, it’s a text we should be in deep conversation with God and each other. It is the second part of Luke 6’s Sermon on the Plain that we discussed last week. We left off last week with Jesus telling us who we need to look out for, lift up, and how we also might need to pivot back to God through loving our neighbor. But then, Jesus takes it one step further reminding us that this life of faith is going to take intentional relationships, some discomfort, and all that makes up our community. Let’s read together is important text.
But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.
If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who ask of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your God is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. (Luke 6:27-38, NRSVUE)
Why I think this text is so important before Lent is that it pushes the boundaries of who we think we are and who we might become, and I very much hope that those two reflections alongside this scripture may help you discern some good Lenten practices this year. If I ask, who is my enemy and how can I pray for them, the answer may come out differently with each passing day. But the thing about our faith in our God, which includes our Lent practices and our prayer development alike, is that it is meant for broken yet loving people, not perfect beings. Remember participation not perfection is what God requires. Now sometimes reading scripture like ours today, and asking those hard questions, will mean we need to help ourselves first, before we can get to the praying for our enemies. So, maybe a Lenten practices of journaling for your mental health is how you will start to live out this scripture. Or sometimes you will ask who my enemy is and how can I pray for them, and you might name several people in your response for this season of life. If that is the case, I encourage you to think how might they all relate and maybe learn a little something deeper about yourself in the process. Two ways to live into this scripture and how you might discern some upcoming lent practices…of course, you could always just take the plain reading of this text and spend every day in Lent praying exclusively for your enemies. That is another good thing about our God, you are given all the space you need, to make this faith your own, while still being part of the many. It’s a beautifully complicated life we have with God, my friends.
This week I have just one set of questions for you that I hope you will engage faithfully and let me know how you feel.
· Who is your enemy?
· How did you identify them as such?
· How can you pray for them?
Friends, I hope you are having a loving and joy filled day. May you find rest in abundance and God’s love and grace in all you do.
Gratefully,
Stephanie
| 
