Holding Fast

Here you can find the readings for Sunday, February 21 . A brief word about this website: On the upper right corner of the webpage you will see links to art that touch on the Scripture readings. Some art is centuries old, some art is more contemporary. Reflecting on the Scripture while viewing these images may help you see the readings in a new light. Below the link for art is a link for prayers that draw on the readings, helping us to see how Scripture reading shapes our prayer life.

Because the Gospel reading is the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness by the devil it is easy for us to think of this as a story of temptation. But when read with the other readings perhaps this is less a story of temptation than one of God's deliverance. After all, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit before being tempted, giving him strength as wisdom during his time of trial. The story of the Exodus, recounted in the "Hebrew Creed" in the Deuteronomy reading, is not primarily about the temptations Israel faced in the wilderness, but about how God delivered God's people. The Romans reading tells us that God's salvation is near to us, and while the devil does quote Psalm 91 for his own purpose it is nevertheless a prayer that reminds us God is our protector.

The readings below are not primarily about temptation or our tendency to succumb to it, but about God's patience with and nearness to us in the midst of our trials. Some of these readings easily fall into the "hard passages of the Bible" so I want to offer a word about them. The reading from I Chronicles may seem especially difficult: Why is God punishing Israelite citizens for what David did wrong? In the Bible's telling of the story of Israel the Bible refuses to believe that God is anything but intimately involved with the affairs and events of Israel. Is there a famine? Israel is receiving the just desserts for its sin. Is there a bumper crop? God is blessing us beyond our deserving! (One wonders what Noah would make of our global climate change theories!) Is there a plague or trouble in the house of David? We knew all along that the census was an affront to God! The census in I Chronicles was seen as infringing on God's leadership of Israel: The Lord is the shepherd, and the number of the sheep is important only for the shepherd and not a matter of concern for the sheep! So the plague that happened at this time must have been God's doing. The punishment David receives from his foes is likely the revolt his son Absalom led, which II Samuel tells us was the result of David's affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. Interestingly enough, the Chronicler makes no mention of David's affair with Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah or Absalom's rebellion, putting the best foot forward on David's life. Whether in joy or sorrow or struggle Israel refused to understand its life apart from the actions of God. How might we tell the story of our lives if we refused to distance God from what we have experienced?

Several of these readings mention Satan, who is not so much the embodiment of evil as much as a prosecuting attorney (of course, for many there is no clear distinction between pure evil and lawyers!). As a prosecutor Satan is simply bringing forward evidence or seeking evidence to build a case, as Satan does with Job. But while we are facing Satan, the toughest prosecutor/persecutor out there, we have a helluva (pun intended!) advocate: Jesus Christ, as the reading from Zechariah points to and John testifies to. How do we see God's presence with us in our trials? How do we see God's deliverance from these trials? How does being clothed with the righteousness of Christ help us to make Psalm 17 our prayer? For and interesting perspective on God's presence during our times of trials, see this short video by Rob Bell.

Monday, Feb 22
I Chronicles 21:1-17
I John 2:1-6

Tuesday, Feb 23
Zechariah 3:1-10
II Peter 2:4-21

Wednesday, Feb 24
Job 1:1-22
Luke 21:34-22:6

Read Psalm 17, a prayer for protection, each of these three days.