What makes a good leader? A good boss? A good partner? A good Christian? In a world with so many competing ideas of what’s worth imitating, it can be hard to know what God’s way is. The stories of King David’s anointing and Jesus’ healing of a man born blind remind us that God’s values are upside down from the culture around us. So how can we be sure we’re seeing things God’s way?
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How often do you ask God for what you want? For a lot of us, even the idea sounds wrong – as though we’re annoying the greatest being in the universe, making ourselves a burden to the one who has far more important things on their plate. But Jesus reminds us that God cares deeply about our needs and is aware of them even before we voice them. So… what are we afraid of? What’s holding us back for asking for good gifts from our creator?
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God created us to reflect God’s love to the world around us. What keeps us from faithfully reflecting God’s love? And how can we reconnect to God so we can once again show the world the same love we receive from God?
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How often do we associate religion with a list of don’ts? These prohibitions often seem to be the heart of religious life. But this first Sunday of Lent reminds us that God created us primarily for permission. God created us for freedom – and an essential component of real freedom is boundaries. How do God’s prohibitions orient us toward the true freedom God created us for?
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Despite the popular depictions, spiritual transformation is a process – more a journey than a singular experience. That being the case, how do we prepare well for a journey of transformation? What do we need to do to ensure we’re ready for the change that’s ahead of us?
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A faithful people lives in solidarity with the vulnerable. But what if we’ve already been living unjust lives? What if we’ve spent years ignoring the vulnerable? Moses’ final speech to Israel reminds us that with God, it’s never too late to be righteous. So how do we seek justice in our time and place?
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For a lot of folks, the heart of religion is spiritual practices like reading scripture or fasting. But God didn’t create us just to watch us do tasks. Practices aren’t the heart of faith – relationship is. What happens when our social relationships are unbalanced? What are the consequences for our faith? And how does God call us to heal that imbalance?
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Where do we find Jesus today? According to Jesus, we find him among the outcast and marginal. And that’s not a new idea – even for Jesus. Real religion, old time religion, the way God created us to be, looks like being a people who lives in solidarity with those who fall through the cracks in our society. So where do we find those people today? After all… that’s where we’ll find Jesus!
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Religion is far too often nothing but platitudes. How many times have you heard, “God has a plan,” or “It is what it is”? No wonder Marx called religion “the opiate of the masses!” But, at least for the prophet Isaiah, religion wasn’t meant to pacify. Rather, God’s arrival among us is meant to wake us up. No wonder God shows up among the marginalized, those most badly in need of justice! If we’re going to find Jesus, we’re going to find him among those who are most vulnerable.
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It’s easy to feel like we’re not doing enough – especially when it comes to faith. Are we praying enough, serving enough, giving enough? Isaiah’s Servant knows how that feels, which is why they remind us that what matters isn’t our ability or performance. Our faithfulness is made possible because of God’s work in our world. So how can we rest in God’s faithfulness – especially when we feel too small to accomplish God’s calling?
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