How did God get things done? How did Jesus? The answer is simple: enlist helpers, delegate. And the answer is still the same today. God/ Jesus still has much work to be done today, and just as before, there are needed willing people to help out. And, those people, among others, happen to be you and me. Yes, even if we don’t think we have much to give, much in the way of talents. God can make use of every single one of us--if only we will be open to the idea and listen to what He suggests. That’s what our meditation for today is about.

Scholars have long suggested that Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah at Caesaria Philippi was a kind of thematic hinge, a turning point, to Mark’s Gospel. Up until then, there was speculation, even among the disciples, as to who Jesus really was. But now, with Peter’s confession, this question has been answered, at least for the disciples. But then there was the question: ‘Okay, what kind of Messiah will He be? And, what will that mean to His disciples, those who follow Him?

Here, in today’s passage, this comes to a head, namely with the question of whether Jesus will be the Messiah of popular opinion and expectation--which Peter clearly is thinking of-- or whether He will be the suffering Messiah prophecies by Isaiah. And clearly, if He is to be the latter, there will be huge implications for His followers. They won’t be ‘in the train’ of a victorious and triumphant liberator, but somewhere else, which doesn’t sound at all exciting--which is exactly how Jesus describes it.

But then the crunch really comes down to this: are we willing to surrender our own ambitions and control, and let God take charge? But then, there’s that cost, the cost to following Him. That’s what it comes down to. But only in the latter, Jesus explains, will we truly find life and happiness. What a choice!

Growing up, one of my favourite hymns was #16 in the old blue hymnbook, “Abide with Me”. I know that many people now dislike it because of its association with funerals, but I liked it for my own reasons. Firstly, as an evening hymn it conveys a sense of one’s peaceful surrender come nighttime into the loving hands of our wonderful Saviour. And secondly, because it was the hymn that we sang at the close of Junior Choir practice each Thursday afternoon. Somehow it just seemed so fitting.

Our reading and meditation for today speak of us abiding with Jesus, and so this hymn seems to be a most appropriate counterpoint, an appropriate response, to that injunction of His, in that we are now asking Him to abide with us. To me, this is exactly what we should be asking every single day.

I guess that it is probably only natural that we humans get set in our ways--and somewhat impervious to change--but this is not always what God wants. We are told that God is about to do a new thing (see Isaiah 43:19), so maybe it would be best for us to be alert for it, see it, and embrace it. Something to think about, especially during this Lenten season when we remember what God in Christ Jesus has already done. Maybe He isn’t finished, and has yet something else ‘up His sleeve’!

Today’s meditation touches on what, for me at least, is a rather difficult question. In the Scriptures we are constantly advised to be humble, and yet, how do we do that while acknowledging and accepting praise or appreciation from others? The best way through this so far, for myself at least, is to accept that praise, even though I'm usually thinking that I am ‘just doing my job’ as far as I am concerned, but then willingly acknowledging that it is God who directs it and makes it possible. What’s your ‘take’ on this?

The problem with the folks in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was one of expectations. They really did not expect much from Jesus, and were, quite frankly, quite miffed when He went ‘outside the box’ as it were in terms of what they expected of Him.

I think that sometimes we, you and I, have the same problem with God. Perhaps, on occasion, we expect too much of Him, but I think that is probably rare. I would guess that far too often it is the opposite: we think too little of Him by way of expectations. When we have things like a common cold or a minor spat with a relative or neighbour or church member, we figure that it is much too little to ‘worry’ Him about. And, when it is some ‘big’ problem, like Canadian or American politics, or the war in Ukraine, or the Hamas-Israel war, we figure that it is too big. Either way, just as took place with that crowd in Nazareth, we underestimate what God can and will do, and, because of this lack of faith in Him, we don’t see quite the results that we might see otherwise. I pray that our expectations might be broadened, now and always. Amen.

I will always remember a leader of the Jesus People responding to a question at a coffee house. He was asked, ‘how did you find God?’ He answered, “I did not find God, He found me. It was not as if I was reaching up to God, but that He was reaching down to me when I could do nothing in or of myself to reach up to Him.”

Parallel to this line of thinking is that we ‘discover’ God through our searching and reading and pondering, or that we discover ‘the reality’ of who God is my means of our logic and investigations. The reality is just the opposite, namely that God reveals Himself to us, rather than us ‘finding’ Him in some way.

That is something of the thinking behind today’s passage. The apostle Paul alleges that Jew and Greek alike are trying to ‘find’ God through their own intellects, but are hampered by what their culture and religious backgrounds say about God. It is only as they put these aside and let God speak in His own way, and in His own truth, that they find out what is true about God. And so it is with us as well.

We are so accustomed to our ‘unhappy divisions’ that we almost take them for granted, which is rather too bad, and certainly what our Lord wanted. And yet, our differences and the variety that we offer in terms of our faith practice actually are helpful in certain ways. Not everyone has the same preference when it comes to worship styles for instance, and not everyone has the same inner need for the freedom of individual thought and choice on the one hand, or for a more fully defined and ordered regimen, on the other. Our differences therefore mean that there is a place for everyone. And so perhaps even more so, we can work together in harmony, knowing that our differences are really strengths that can be harmonized to build up and strengthen the entire body of Christ, the Church. Anyway, that is my thought.

An old song--from the Sixties I think--said “I got troubles, oh, oh”, and isn’t that the story of our lives. We all have troubles, sorrows, and difficulties. They are part of our everyday existence, so how do we deal with them? The apostle Paul in today’s Scripture passage has a suggestion, namely, to work together, both with each other and with God. And, while this may not make our troubles go away, it will certainly make putting up with them much easier.

The subject of today’s meditation is ‘focus’, namely the focus of our lives, which should, most naturally, be Jesus. However, I don’t know about you, but for me I find it far too easy to have my focus on pretty well everything else, the house, the news, the church, the community, the weather, you name it. So, what if we were to intentionally make Jesus the focus of the forty days of Lent? What would that look like?

So, here’s an idea: what if each of us were to take the Gospel passage for each Sunday, read it and then meditate upon it throughout the week, and meditate on it with a particular focus in mind, namely to speak to us about Jesus and help us to know and love Him better. For ease in doing this, I have listed the Gospel readings appointed for each Sunday, together with a ‘starter' about its theme. See what you think.

Lent 1 - (Mark 1:9-15) The Temptation of Jesus: He knows exactly what it’s like for us because He’s been there Himself.

Lent 2 - (Mark 8:31-38) Jesus call to us to discipleship: calls us to something bigger and better, but He leads the way

Lent 3 - (John 2:13-22) The cleansing of the Temple: Jesus, out of love, is grieved when we ‘mess up'

Lent 4 - (John 3:14-21) God's purpose: to save the world, but to do so, had to send (give) His Son

(John 6:1-15) Feeding of the 5,000: Jesus meets our needs, through our self offering

Lent 5 - (John 12:20-33) Jesus, by His death, draws us to Himself

If you thought that yesterday’s Scripture passage and meditation were daunting in their implication, just wait until you read today’s. It is one thing to submit to the usually distant pronouncements of government, but, to restrict our own rights and freedoms simply to accommodate others! Unheard of in our permissive, rights oriented, freedom obsessed Western world. And yet, Paul says that we should willing do this, given that Jesus did this--and more--for us! Yuck.

Having grown up on the Canadian prairies amid noise about discriminatory freight rates, unfair treatment from the federal government and the supposition that Confederation was actually ‘set up’ purposely to benefit central Canada, I have a natural and inbuilt hesitation about government. And the fact that I lived in central Alberta during the elder Trudeau era and its regressive oil patch policies doesn’t help a bit. And so, as you might guess, today’s passage from Romans is a somewhat difficult one for me. So, what you find is something of my ‘wrestling’ with it, my trying to come to terms with it. I hope you find it stimulating, and even helpful.

One of Charlie Brown’s characters once said, “I love the world, it’s just people that I can’t stand.’ And isn’t that true, at least with some people. But the catch is that it is with people, agreeable ones or not, that the Christian life is to be lived. And so the question becomes ‘how do we live with them?’ That is that question that today’s Scripture passage and meditation deal with. I hope you find them stimulating and helpful.

A pastor friend once said that when the word ‘therefore’ appears in the Scriptures, it is good to ask yourself what it is ‘there for.” In other words, what call to action is it making. In chapter 12 of Romans this word appears immediately in verse one, followed by a whole shopping list of suggested actions. Today’s passage only touches on a few of them, so it would probably be most enlightening to continue on and see what else is being suggested. This is just an idea, but perhaps a great one as we rapidly come upon the season of Lent and its time of self-examination.