Day 11: When You Give...When You Pray...When You Fast

Every year, the first words of Jesus that we are given to read during Lent are the same (in the readings for Ash Wednesday). They come from the Sermon on the Mount, which is likely the teaching of Jesus that has had more influence than any other in the two millennia between the time that he first spoke these words and today. In this section of his sermon (Matthew 6:1-18–take a moment and read it now if possible), Jesus focused on spiritual practices and helpful and unhelpful ways to go about them. This is why we begin each Lent with them. During these days leading up to Easter, we rightly increase our attention on our spiritual practices, because we can't return to God with all our hearts while continuing to do things as we always have. Yet Jesus' words indicate his adamance about two things:

First, these kinds of practices are so good that they will always be part of the lives of those who follow him in any real sense. Notice that Jesus did not say, "If you give... if you pray... if you fast," but "when you give... when you pray... when you fast..." His sermon assumes what was true in his day–that anyone committed to a devout life with God did these things then, and also that his followers in the future would continue to do them now.

Second, despite how good these practices are, it's possible to do them in ways that are harmful rather than helpful–both to us and those around us. We can give, pray, and fast in ways that open the channels for God's grace to work in our souls, or we can do them in ways that close those channels off but still leave us appearing very religiously devout before others. Therefore, and this is Jesus' ultimate point in this passage, we should do these outward practices, but they miss the point without an inward openness to God.

For the next three weeks, we will dig in to this passage and these practices, focusing during the remainder of this week on "when you give," then next week on "when you pray," followed by "when you fast," seeking to find the most helpful ways that each of us can put them into practice in our lives today.

A Prayer for the Day:

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

The Streak Ends

Almost three months ago, I set out on an experiment for this year: that I would follow my own advice which I've made available to the world in Live Prayerfully to its farthest reasonable limit by praying in each of the three ways described there (with other people's words, without words, and with my own words) every day for a year. I had quite a streak going. Until yesterday.

One of the methods of praying with other people's words that I describe in the book is a practice that I've become very attached to over the last few years, fixed-hour prayer, which consists of pausing at set times of the day to pray with words that have been passed down to us, including psalms and the Lord's Prayer. The way I've presented it in the book is pretty common, with four times to pause and pray each day: morning, midday, evening, and night.

There's no question that there was quite a bit of fudging that has factored in to my being able to say that I'd kept this streak up for three months. It wasn't unusual for me to forget to pray my midday prayer, for example, until 4 or 5 p.m. Or, particularly with praying without words: multiple times, when I laid my head on my pillow to go to sleep at night, I realized that I hadn't done it at all during the day . So I tried to be aware of God's presence as I fell asleep and I let that count for the day.

The biggest fudges were two days when I didn't realize my neglect of praying without words as I laid my head on my pillow, and it only occurred to me when I looked at my clock around 6:00 a.m. the next morning. I rationalized, "Well, as long as I lay here for a minute and pray without words before falling back asleep and I haven't yet prayed morning prayer, I can still count this on the books as being for the previous day."

The fudges got me by until yesterday, when I pulled out my midday prayers around 1:00 p.m. and realized that I never said morning prayers, and I knew the streak was over. I had a bit of disappointment initially, but then was glad to think back through things as the day went on and pay attention to what has happened.

In the beginning of the experiment, praying in these three ways every day–including pausing at the four times each day, was such a big change from my normal routine that I spent a good deal of time thinking about how I was going to do the praying even before it was time to pray. There was anticipation involved. I had to find routine places, times, and methods for making it happen. I knew that praying without words would be the most difficult of the practices to find time for each day, so I was in the habit of taking the first opportunity that presented itself during the day to practice it.

I can look back over the past few weeks, though, and notice how those things had changed. The anticipation wasn't really there anymore. Rather than planning and feeling like I had my foot on the gas pedal in this experiment, I was coasting along. Rather than taking the first opportunity to pray without words, I was leaving it for the end of the day more often, which was resulting in the necessity of more fudging for the sake of keeping my streak going. The coasting continued until missing yesterday's morning prayer got my attention enough to help me realize what had been happening.

I realize that, in one sense, the entire streak is a bit silly. When I started the experiment, I admitted that–for this year–I was setting myself up to live as an intentional legalist, and I was okay with that. The purpose of the year-long experiment is to push my own advice to its limits and give me some things to write about; the purpose of the experiment is not that I'm encouraging anyone else to pay this much attention to how long their streaks last.

But on the other hand, for myself, I'm becoming fond of this brand of intentional legalism (or as Robert pointed out, perhaps it's better termed as methodism). I've not crossed the legalist line in the sense of thinking that God is disappointed with me because I forgot morning prayers yesterday. But the positive side is that without having publicly given myself these "rules" for how I would pray during these years, I would probably be doing as I had done in every previous year of my life: not making any plans ahead of time about how I would pray, not looking for the opportunities as they present themselves, and therefore not praying as often, and–much more importantly–not living as prayerfully.

So, on to a new streak.

–––

Something I've prayed this week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Prayer for the Second Sunday in Lent from The Book of Common Prayer)

[This is the 23rd post from A Year of Living Prayerfully]

Second Sunday of Lent

Readings for the Second Sunday of Lent:

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35 or Luke 9:28-43a

A Prayer for the Day:

O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 10: Enchiladas, Steering Wheels, and Following Jesus to the Cross

Two items caught my attention as Lent started last year. First, the picture above: Perhaps I’ve never enjoyed looking at a sign at a gas pump as much as I enjoyed this one. Promoted there, alongside the Marlboros and breakfast burritos, is–apparently–an opportunity to repent and hear a first-century Jewish rabbi’s call to deny ourselves, take up our own crosses, and follow him as he walked the road into his own unjust death.

Hey that sounds good. Oh, and let me grab a bag of Doritos to go with my three denying-myself cheese enchiladas. I think the man upstairs is pretty happy with me today! Maybe I'll even ask if they have any more sackcloth and ashes behind the counter when I get my cigarettes.**

The other attention-grabber was an article about churches offering drive-thru Ash Wednesday services. It's good for churches to begin to think beyond the way they’ve always done things, and much of the beginnings of my own Methodist heritage is based on how John Wesley was determined to preach in places that weren’t normal. But still…

 ”From dust you came and to dust you will return. Repent and believe the gospel… Yes ma’am, that means changing the entire course of your life… No ma’am, getting out of the car isn’t required to do so…. Say, is that Lady Gaga you have on the radio?… Okay, have a nice day [living exactly as you always have.]“

In their defense, there’s probably at least someone who has had an encounter with God right there in their car because of these churches doing this who wouldn’t have otherwise. I’m sure that I don’t know the whole story here, so I’m not offering criticism of these specific churches since I’m not there trying to figure out how to minister in their context as they are doing.

But, in general, in what kind of training are we involving people when we encourage them to begin Lent (of all times) without even bothering to get out of the car? Or, to put it another way, what percentage of people receiving an imposition of ashes while continuing to sit behind their steering wheel would we honestly expect to continue, for the rest of their lives, down the road of being whole-hearted, full-throttle followers of Jesus? Again, there may be some example of someone to whom that has happened, for which I’m grateful. But is such a case a natural, predictable result of the way we do things with God, or are they just strange exceptions to the rule?

Lent is a time for house-cleaning our souls, so that when we come to Holy Week and Easter Sunday, we’re prepared for the resurrection of the crucified Messiah to take more of its intended effect upon us. It’s a time to pay attention to how dis-oriented we have become in the ways that we have lived our everyday lives and to find ways that we can re-orient ourselves to the one who said,

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?

So if you and I got into the drive-thru line for our ashes to begin Lent this year, or picked up our Lenten enchiladas at the gas station, or whatever else it is that we may have done so far during this annual period of repentance and re-orientation, are the things that we’re doing of the type that naturally help us, by God’s grace, to become more likely and more able to follow Jesus with our own crosses in tow? Or are they things that just help us to feel religious while leaving the houses of our souls exactly as messy and disoriented as they were last Lent, and the one before, and the one before, etc.?

A Prayer for the Day:

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer **Credit is due here to Robert Pelfrey's sense of humor.

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 9: Your Followership Skills

As much as our culture emphasizes the need for leadership and the development of our leadership skills, Lent is an annual reminder to us that–at least during these days each year–our focus is rightly put on our abilities and skills as followers. Though we are quick to turn everything into a call to leadership, the statement from Jesus we've been looking at this week says nothing about growing the influence we have over others and everything about growing the influence that this Messiah-en-route-to-his-death has over us: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." Lent invites us to lay aside the urge to continue measuring ourselves by our competencies as leaders and focus instead, very honestly, on our competencies as followers of Jesus. Are we developing the abilities that will be required over the long haul in this daily journey of denying ourselves, taking up our crosses and following our king? Here are three essential areas in which we would be wise to continually develop our followership:

• Our Minds: How well do we know the story of this ancient Jew whom we claim to be following? I don't see how it can be possible to follow someone well while knowing very little about them. So how well do we know the stories of Jesus contained in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Once we try to learn them well, we will surely recognize that we need some help in understanding some of them, which will lead us to a second set of stories we need to learn well: those stories that shaped the thinking of our Leader himself, the stories of God, Israel, and the world in the Old Testament. If we desire to follow Jesus well, during this Lent and the rest of our lives, we must fill our minds with these stories, constantly letting them sink in more deeply.
• Our Habits: Do the habits that we have make it natural for us to follow Jesus toward the cross, or do they only serve as obstacles in the way of any efforts we make at followership? The things we do either open us up to God's work in us, or they close us off to it.
• Our Relationships: Denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following Jesus are impossible alone. We pay attention to the importance of relationships in leadership, but it is underemphasized when it comes to our abilities at followers. Which relationships that you now have help you to follow well? Which ones tend to get you off of Jesus' tracks?

A Prayer for the Day:

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 8: Take Up Your Cross–What it Means to Us

My father-in-law, a life-long devoted Christian, asked me a question I could tell he'd wrestled with for some time: "What does it mean for me to take up my cross?" Here was a phrase which he and I had both heard our entire lives as Christians, but which–when we're honest–is difficult for most of us to attach any practical meaning to in the way we live our day-to-day lives. I gave my best stumbling attempt to answer him, though I didn't feel like my attempt to do so was very helpful. It was a great question and is worth wrestling with.

The large majority of people who will ever read this face no immediate danger to their lives as a result of calling themselves followers of Jesus. There are millions of Christians around the world for whom that is not the case and to whom this statement of Jesus has a much more straightforward meaning: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it."

But what about the rest of us? How, really, are North American Christians in the 21st century supposed to take up our crosses and follow an ancient Jewish rabbi?

The things we commonly identify as our "cross to bear" are almost comical when held up next to what Jesus' statement would have meant to its original audience. Jesus meant he was going toward his death and anyone who wanted to follow him would likely be facing theirs as well; we mean things like someone in our office annoys us or that we don't get our way about something. The Free Dictionary (though perhaps not the most authoritative source in the world) defines the phrase, "cross to bear/cross to carry" as, "an unpleasant situation or responsibility that you must accept because you cannot change it." That's a huge reduction from the journey that Jesus intentionally took toward his death in Jerusalem. The gospels make it pretty clear that Jesus was trying to use stronger language than saying, "If anyone wants to be my disciple, they might have to accept something that's unpleasant."

But if that isn't the meaning of the phrase for us today, what is?

Perhaps there are two levels on which we can think about this:

First, one closest to the meaning which the disciples would have understood when they were with him on that night: Regardless of our time and culture, truly following Jesus involves risk. The call to take up our cross and follow the crucified and risen Messiah is more risky than dealing with an unpleasant situation or making a few minor adjustments to our ordinary lives. No, this is an invitation to a risky life in God's kingdom, which–until Jesus' reign is the only one left–will always have its points of costly conflict with the powers and ways of the world. As one of my modern-day heroes, Gary Haugen (president and CEO of International Justice Mission), says,

"Here is one choice that our Father wants us to understand as Christians–and I believe this is the choice of our age: Do we want to be brave or be safe? Gently, lovingly, our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can't be both."**

If we are in any way to let the original meaning of Jesus' statement shape its meaning for us today, we have to recognize that "Jesus is not leading us on a pleasant afternoon hike, but on a walk into danger and risk."*** Perhaps your risk includes becoming involved with work like that of International Justice Mission. Perhaps it means standing up against wrongdoing in your own community. Or perhaps you already have another idea of how your own following of Jesus could lead you into things that are not always safe and comfortable, but still important extensions of his kingdom on earth.

The second level is a bit more metaphorical, but still consistent with the message of the scriptures. As in Jesus' crucifixion, Paul describes sin being condemned in Jesus' flesh, when we follow him to our own crosses, sin will be dealt with in our bodies as well. This is a big subject, and an essential one for us to understand if we are to make sense of how the things we do each and every day relate to our participation in Christ's kingdom right now, but we must begin with the understanding that everything we do in our spiritual lives is done in our bodies, and that any habits–whether holy or sinful–are always embodied habits. Therefore, in the traditional readings for Ash Wednesday, when Jesus says, "When you give... When you pray... When you fast...," these are all things we do in our bodies in order to replace (actually the Bible says, to kill off) sinful habits by putting in place those more conducive to God's life in us. When we deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him, we resubmit any part of us that is unlike Jesus to be killed off so that his grace can continue its life-giving work in us.

A Prayer for the Day:

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer **See Haugen's book, Just Courage ***NT Wright, Mark for Everyone

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]

Day 7: Take Up Your Cross–What it Meant to Them

Once there was a popular political figure who, when it seemed like his reputation with the public was at an amazingly high level, gathered his closest group of associates in order to gauge their thoughts on his future. He asked them, "What is the public's opinion of my abilities?" These people he trusted responded by naming other successful political figures from history to whom he was often being compared in the press. This was a good sign. It meant the hopes and trust of the public in him were high. So, looking at the faces of his deeply trusted coworkers and friends, he asked the question he'd been waiting to ask them ever since they entered the political arena together: "And what about you? What do you think of my chances?"

The most powerful among them immediately spoke up and said, "You are destined to be the next leader of this nation."

"Let's do it," the esteemed leader responded decisively. "But keep it to yourselves for now. I already have our strategy planned: I will do things that will cause everyone currently in power to reject me. I will be humiliated in the worst ways possible. I will challenge their power so fundamentally that charges of treason likely await me–and the death penalty would be sure to follow."

The one who–just minutes before–had affirmed the leader's destiny now cried out, "You're out of your mind!"

"You, get out of my way, along with your accusations," the leader responded sharply. "You're only seeing things for your own very limited perspective."

Then he said loudly to his associates and anyone else within earshot,

Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?**^

–––

I hope this story rings some bells for you. Perhaps you are able to recognize it as an adaptation of a conversation between Jesus and his disciples (see Mark 8:27-38), though–if you're like me–you may have heard those passages for years without ever having been able to see the political (kingdom) aspects of what Jesus said and did.

When we read Peter saying, "You are the Messiah," we often interpret that as Peter recognizing Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, but that isn't what Peter meant by it, nor how the other disciples would have understood what he said. He was saying, in effect, "You are the one, anointed by God and foretold by the prophets, who will be able to lead us out of this mess."

The disciples were beginning to understand a small part of what Jesus' work was about, then seizing on that degree of understanding, Jesus tells them what was about to happen: that he would suffer, die, and rise again. To his disciples, this was inconceivable if he really was who Peter had just described. As NT Wright points out, this is like a captain of a football team telling his team that in the second half of the game he intended to let the opposing team score ten consecutive touchdowns. "Jesus seemed to be saying he was going to lose. Worse, he was inviting them to come and lose alongside him."^

None of the spiritual meaning we usually attach today to "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me" existed for Peter and the other disciples that night. Those were dangerous, incomprehensible, impossible to swallow words. Now that they recognized Jesus as the Messiah, every idea they had of what the Messiah should do was about to be shattered. And he was asking them to take the same path.

Does he ask anything different of you?

A Prayer for the Day:

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

Click here for this week's scripture readings.

*From The Book of Common Prayer **Mark 8:34-37, The Message ^Based upon comments from NT Wright's commentary, Mark for Everyone.

[This is part of 40 Days of Prayer: Daily Emails for Lent]