Lenten Blog 2009

During Lent the readings in the Jewish scriptures take us through the major Old Testement Covenants. Examining these covenants brings us to the point of our Baptismal Renewal on Easter Sunday. I have named the covenants as follows.

Lent 1 – March 1 -The Covenant of New Beginnings
Lent 2 – March 8, 2009- The Covenant of Faith
Lent 3 – March 15 – Living in Covenantal Community
Lent 4 – March 22 – The Covenant of Restoration and Healing
Lent 5 – March 29 - The Covenant of the Heart

On April 5th, Palm/Passion Sunday, we will explore the Covenant of the Passion.

Rather than opening up a new post for each Sunday, I will leave up a continual blog for Lent.

Here are some of my wondering wanderings for this coming Sunday.

The Covenant of Restoration and Healing
Service of Healing
Numbers 21:4-9 –
Grumbling in the Wilderness leading to The Snake in the Wilderness

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21
While there is certainly judgment for those who do not “believe,” that judgment does not come from the Son, but from the unbelievers’ own deeds. In this context, “believe” does not mean a bare intellectual assent to propositional statements, such as we would find in a creed or confession of faith. To “believe” is a matter of both experience and action. Jesus will be lifted up on the cross, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, so that people may experience his example of total devotion and self-giving love. Equally important, those who believe in Jesus’ example on the cross will also act out that example in themselves: they will do what Jesus does, and so “their deeds have been done in God,” and they will “come to the light.”


Lent 3 – March 15 – Living in Covenental Community – identification as covenant believer rather than as one endorsing the ways of the world.

Exodus – 20:1-17
Ten Commandments – Continuation of the Covenant
The Ten Commandments help us focus on the role of community – how do we live together by focusing on the needs of the other, not just our own. There is a self-identity as a believer in the covenant rather than in the ways of the world.

I Cor. 1:18-25 –
Making foolish the wisdom of the world

John 2:13-22
Jesus casting out the temple cheats
Jesus destroying the temple economy is about much the same thing – taking advantage of those who do not have the necessities of worship with a kind of company store mentality.