Journey of Lenten Discipleship: A Hiding Place

Here we are moving through Lent on our way to “new life” on Easter Sunday.  During the season of Lent we are invited to take a journey ... to look deep within ourselves to consider our spiritual lives and how we fall short of what God intends for us.  You may want to read the parable of The Prodigal Son for this week to prepare your heart for our Lectio with the Psalm.  Read Luke 15:11b-32.

This week, we are invited to embrace God as "Hiding Place."   I invite you to breathe deeply.   Take a few moments to center yourself on God and allow yourself to consider how God is your Hiding Place.   What does that mean to you?  Can you envision God in this way? 

Lent is a time when when we seek to walk the road of discipleship.  How can we recognize Christ in our midst?  How can we follow Christ?  We concentrate on the Journey of Discipleship through contemplative/reflective prayer practices such as Lectio Divina, Breath Prayers, Centering Prayer and Walking the Labyrinth …

As you breathe and settle into a place of deep gratitude within yourself, listen for the echoes of the deep love and care God has for you ... if other feelings arise too, welcome them all with this part of Contemplative Outreach's Welcoming Prayer ...

Focus, feel, and sink into the feelings, emotions,

thoughts, sensations, and commentaries in your body.

Welcome the Divine Indwelling in the feelings, emotions,

thoughts, commentaries, or sensations in your body by saying

“Welcome.”

If other feelings emerge, welcome them all as they come by circling back to this prayer as often as you need to.  If you find yourself doing this often consider exploring spiritual direction with a trained spiritual director whose gift is to be a companion on the journey of others.  Spend time with this welcoming prayer until you feel it is time to move from prayer into the sacred reading of the biblical text, and then ... Pray:

As I welcome you into my time of sacred reading with fear and trembling, O God, reveal yourself to me and fill me with grace and mercy.  Amen.   

Read Psalm 32 slowly, immersing yourself in the images of God that are held within this public psalm of praise ... praising God for who God is and praising God for what God does ... in "fear" which means awe and reverence, we stand before God, perhaps we stand IN God ... perhaps you might read this psalm out loud as you work through it ...

Our God, you bless everyone whose sins you forgive and wipe away. You bless them by saying, "You told me your sins, without trying to hide them, and now I forgive you.”

Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, and I groaned all day long.  Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, and my strength was gone as in the summer heat.

So I confessed my sins and told them all to you.  I said, “I’ll tell the Lord each one of my sins.”
Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.

We worship you, Lord, and we should always pray whenever we find out that we have sinned. 
Then we won’t be swept away by a raging flood.  

You are my hiding place! You protect me from trouble, and you put songs in my heart because you have saved me.

You said to me, "I will point out the road that you should follow.  I will be your teacher and watch over you.  Don’t be stupid like horses and mules that must be led with ropes to make them obey.”

All kinds of troubles will strike the wicked, but your kindness shields those who trust you, Lord.
And so your good people should celebrate and shout.

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect on the Psalmist sense of who God is.   Listen for a word or a phrase that draws your attention.   Repeat that word or phrase.  Ponder this Word or phrase through which God is speaking to YOU as you let the story unfold in your mind and heart.   Where does your word or phrase intersect your life where you are right now … as you feel yourself listening, not listening, obeying, not obeying, doing, not doing, speaking, not speaking, praying, not praying, fasting, not fasting ... How are you responding, not responding … make an honest assessment, where are you?

Read the passage again slowly and Respond.   Share with God how you feel about what you are hearing through your word or phrase.   Speak your word or phrase out loud and ask God to help you surrender to the word you have heard and the wisdom it holds as you explore its meaning for you where you are right now.   Take a moment or more to journal in the form of a "praise psalm."

Read the passage again and Rest.  Allow the presence of God to surround you and deepen your faith so you are able to surrender to God's call.  Rest until the peace of God settles into your soul ...

When you sense the time to move on,

Pray these words from the song, "You are my Hiding Place."

You are my hiding place, You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance, Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You
I will trust in You, Let the weak say, I am strong
In the strength of the Lord, I will trust in You.   Amen.

Now ... Listen to You are my Hiding Place on Youtube.  

Dear One,
Can you envision God waiting for you with love and forgiveness?
Can you envision running to a God with open arms?
Can you envision disappearing into a God who is your Hiding Place?

Lent 1: Called to Trust in God's Provision

This Blog Post is the gospel excerpt of Week 1 of the Lenten Bible Study I'm writing for Good News Adult Sunday School Class at Ashford United Methodist Church.  We will study this lesson together on March 13, 2011.  If you would like to have the entire 5-day Bible Study which integrates all four lectionary passages see the sidebar E-Blast for a link to my email address.  Send me an email and I'll send you a full printer-friendly PDF File as an attachment each week of Lent.  Thanks!    

The Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday, which is March 9^th this year.  This is a time to acknowledge our humanity, “we are dust and to dust we shall return.”    The season runs for 40 days, not counting Sundays until Easter Sunday.  Each Sunday during the season of Lent can be seen as a “little Easter.”   In many Christian communities, people who desire to join the Christian community prepare for Baptism.  They spend time learning what it means to be a Christian before they join the community of Christ-followers.   In some churches, the baptism is celebrated after dark during an Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, and in others, the baptism is celebrated on Easter Sunday.

For the general Christian community, Lent is a time we take to reflect on our own spiritual formation through prayer, fasting, repentance, self-discipline, simplicity, and mission.  An Upper Room resource called Companions in Christ defines Christian Spiritual Formation as “the process of being shaped according to the image of Christ by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the world.”  (12)   Many people refer to spiritual formation as “discipleship.”

                         

As we journey through Lent over these next few weeks, we examine and interpret the Scriptures in the context of “call.”  We are using the word to mean, in the words of the Harper Collins Bible Dictionary, “a general summons … [with] every Christian viewed as its recipient.”   What are we being called by God to be and/or to do?  How are we being shaped as we respond to the call.  How are we to respond?    

This week our Gospel passage challenges us to “trust in God’s provision.”  

The spiritual life can be characterized as a “journey.”  Our journey consists of movements toward God and movements away from God.  We can learn a lot about the journey from walking, or pondering a labyrinth.   Although the Labyrinth has been around in some form for ages upon ages, Christians embraced it early on and began walking it to the beat of their own symbolism.  From the 12^th to 13^th century, labyrinths spread into cathedrals and churches throughout Europe.  The labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral is the oldest intact labyrinth from the period.  Although the Cathedral at Chartres is more famous for the beautiful stain glass windows, labyrinth enthusiasts travel long distances to walk it on Fridays when the chairs are removed for the day.

When we walk the labyrinth, we naturally engage in a three-fold meditative process … we don’t make meditation happen, it just does.   This same process can be experienced in any time of walking “meditation.”  So, if you are able, get up and walk with our passage for the day!

The first movement on the labyrinth is inward.  In a labyrinth, unlike a maze, you cannot get lost for there is only one path in and the same path out.  We simply put one foot in front of the other and walk!  As we follow the path in, we RELEASE.  Ask yourself, “What it is that hinders me from hearing God?”  Spend some time in silence, surrendering yourself so that you can hear what God says to you.  If there is an issue that comes up during this time, acknowledge it, confess it, and let it go.  If it nags you, spend time in prayer, asking God to help you let go.

When we get to the center of the Labyrinth, we pause to listen and RECEIVE all that God has for us.  When you are ready, stop and pause on your walk.  Find a place to sit and open your Bible and your heart.  If you have made your way to a labyrinth, stop and sit in the center.  

Read Matthew 4:1-11               After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"  Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’"  Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’"  Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. 

Each year and every Lent, we read about the temptation of Jesus on the first Sunday.  This experience grounds the entire Lenten journey as we look evil in the face and say “no.”   The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness takes place just after Jesus has been baptized, just after God has said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."  No rest for the weary! 

The word translated temptation is peirazo {pi-rad'-zo}.  The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary tells us that in biblical writings, the word temptation can be understood in a couple of different ways.  In this passage, it refers to a challenging situation through which one overcome evil (sin) and is made stronger in faith.   (1108-1109)  

Read through the passage again.  After Jesus is baptized, he is “called.”   How would you describe the way that God called Jesus to the wilderness?    The biblical wilderness is a place of struggle.  We tend to think that struggle is not a part of the spiritual life, but that isn’t really true.  Often we must struggle in order to grow and to be ready for the next step.   Jesus began fasting as soon as he got to the desert … 40 days and 40 nights.  For the Jewish people, 40 is a symbolic number.   Remember Noah and the Flood waiting for dry land.  Remember the Israelites wandering in the desert as they fled the Egyptians looking for the Promised Land.  Waiting. Wandering.  Now the real test begins!

The “tempter” came and said … three temptations the tempter laid out in front of Jesus, hitting him at a physically vulnerable time.  The tempter wanted Jesus to question God’s nature and lose his trust in God’s provision.    How would you characterize each of these temptations and the way Jesus responds?   How is Jesus able to respond to God’s call?

1st Temptation:                                                                 

Response:

2nd Temptation:                                                                 

Response:

3rd Temptation:                                                                 

Response:

As you consider these three areas of temptation, which one do you struggle with?   As you consider the way Jesus responds to that temptation, how is God calling you to respond to your own struggles?  

Consider how you are being called to trust.  Where have you noticed God working in your life?  Where is God providing for you?  Are there things you are tempted to do for yourself … that God wants to do with you or for you?  

As you interact with others, how is God “showing up?”  Is there a theme emerging for you?   

After sitting with Jesus in the wilderness for awhile it is time to get up and start walking back “from whence we came.”  As you walk back to your starting point, notice how you have changed.  Take this time to RESPOND in prayer.   Allow the Spirit to strengthen you for the journey ahead.     

Perhaps the call to trust in God’s provision resonates with you but perhaps it doesn’t.  I invite you to spend some time thinking about where you sense the deepest call on your life this week.  As you seek to “respond to God’s call” are there any actions that you will commit to as a result of your study this week?

Read Psalm 32 as a Prayer to end this 1^st week of Lent … 

Psalm 32 CEV            (A special psalm by David)

¹Our God, you bless everyone whose sins you forgive and wipe away.

²You bless them by saying, "You told me your sins, 

without trying to hide them, and now I forgive you."

³Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, 

and I groaned all day long.

⁴Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, 

and my strength was gone as in the summer heat.

⁵So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. 

I said, "I'll tell the LORD each one of my sins."

Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.

⁶We worship you, Lord, and we should always pray 

whenever we find out that we have sinned.

Then we won't be swept away by a raging flood.    

⁷You are my hiding place!

You protect me from trouble, 

and you put songs in my heart because you have saved me.

⁸You said to me, "I will point out the road that you should follow. 

I will be your teacher and watch over you.

⁹Don't be stupid like horses and mules 

that must be led with ropes to make them obey."

¹⁰All kinds of troubles will strike the wicked, 

but your kindness shields those who trust you, LORD.

¹¹And so your good people should celebrate and shout.  Amen!

If music is a pathway to God for you, listen to this song called Trust, by Kristene Mueller, as you watch the video from Youtube ... Enjoy!

Remember ... If you would like to receive the full 5-day printer-friendly PDF version with all 4 lectionary readings integrated, see the Email Blast sidebar for email link.  Email me and I'll put you on my weekly distribution list.  Thanks!

Psalm 32: I confess!

Psalm 32  A Maskil (special or clever psalm) by David         (Contemporary English Version)

1 Our God, you bless everyone whose sins you forgive and wipe away. 
2 You bless them by saying, "You told me your sins, 
   without trying to hide them, and now I forgive you."
3 Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, 
   and I groaned all day long. 
4 Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, 
   and my strength was gone as in the summer heat. 
5 So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. 
   I said, "I'll tell the LORD each one of my sins."
   Then you forgave me and took away my guilt. 
6 We worship you, Lord, 
   and we should always pray 
   whenever we find out that we have sinned.
   Then we won't be swept away by a raging flood. 
7 You are my hiding place! 
   You protect me from trouble, 
   and you put songs in my heart because you have saved me. 
8 You said to me, "I will point out the road that you should follow. 
   I will be your teacher and watch over you. 
9 Don't be stupid like horses and mules 
    that must be led with ropes to make them obey." 
10 All kinds of troubles will strike the wicked, 
   but your kindness shields those who trust you, LORD. 
11 And so your good people should celebrate and shout.


Context:  Along with Psalm 51 and five others (7, 38, 102,130, and 143) Psalm 32 is one of the seven penitential psalms and shares several characteristics with them:  acknowledgement of sin, the knowledge that sin is against God, there is a desire not just to be forgiven but also to change, and a plea for God to help the psalmist change.   It is traditional to recite the penitential psalms as an expression of sorrow for sins committed or to confess a sinful way of life on the way to change.   They are recited often during Lent, the season of self-examination.  The word penance, which is a physical expression of sorrow, is closely related and one would expect that some form of penance would accompany a personal psalm reading.  Fasting, wearing sackcloth, and dusting ashes on the head are forms of penance.  Hebrew people expressed deep sorrow and repentance through these acts when they desired forgiveness for their sins.  

Psalm 32 follows a classic form for a prayer of confession:  1-assurance of joy in the Lord (verse 1),
2-confession of sin (verses 2-5), 3-deliverance (verses 6-7), 4-living with the Torah as instruction (verses 8-9) and 5-living in the joy of the Lord (verses 10-11).   At the same time, Psalm 32 is far more than a prayer of confession.  It is essentially a psalm of forgiveness and restoration.  The first verse, with its assurance of forgiveness, sets the context and invites us into the same examination of ourselves that the Psalmist, David appears unafraid to engage in … this Jewish King who is the man after God’s own heart.   If we confess our sins, we will be forgiven!  David shows a deep amount of contrition but also a deep trust in God’s mercy.

Paul refers to Abraham’s relationship with God, and interprets Psalm 32:1, 2 in the book of Romans (4:7-8) as he defends justification by faith and not by works.  He says, “David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness irrespective of works: ‘Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.’    If we confess our sins, we will be forgiven!   Justification by faith focuses on God, whereas justification by works focuses on the human being.  Read Romans 4 to see how Paul uses Psalm 32 to illuminate his thoughts on forgiveness.

Going Deeper:  Most people struggle with some form of sinful behavior … from laziness to cheating to gossiping to lying to even deeper sin … perhaps overlooking the abuse of one human being by another or even exhibiting some kind of abusive behavior yourself.  King David certainly struggled with the need for instant gratification.  In the end, sin is sin and there must be as many ways to fall victim to sinful behavior as there are people in the world. 

The biblical way of defining sin is “missing the mark.”  This is a rather vague way of talking about something that is so important in our spiritual life.  How do you define “sin?”  What sinful behaviors do you or have you battled in your own life? Are you winning that battle these days?  David seems to have learned that offering his brokenness to God was a way to be set free from the bondage of sin.  Letting Go!  How hard it is for you to “let go?”  How do you express your sorrow over sin in your life?  Have you asked God to forgive you and to help you overcome your struggles?  How is God working in your life to bring you freedom from your brokenness?  

What about confession and joy?  The writer of Psalm 32 makes a connection that many of us modern people fail to make.    We begin in sorrow for sin, but we confess.  As a result, we receive mercy, we are blessed with forgiveness.  This brings us joy for our relationship with God has been restored.  God becomes our “hiding place.”   How has God become your hiding place?  How is your joy expressed?

Pondering:  Perhaps the most famous penitential psalm is Psalm 51 which was written after King David schemed to have a good and decent soldier named Uriah killed so that he could take his wife Bathsheba.  Nathan has confronted him with his sin and Psalm 51 seems to be his immediate response. It is very closely related to Psalm 32 as they both show David to be a very emotional and passionate man … this man after God’s own heart!   Take a few moments to engage the first few verses of Psalm 51 with Lectio Divina … as you read allow the Spirit of God to flow over you and fill you … remember a time when you really needed forgiveness in the way King David does.  Allow the psalm to draw you deeper into God’s heart!

Psalm 51  To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Lectio=Listen to the words with the ear of your heart.   Read the words slowly, repeating them again and again, allowing them to linger on the tongue, savoring their beauty ...

Meditatio=Prayerfully listen as you read until a small portion of the psalm (a word or a thought or a phrase) begins to draw you deep within.  Turn your “portion” over and over in your mind and consider what God may be inviting you to think or feel or do or be … Write down what Spirit has given you so you can remember.  Stay with your “portion” and commit it to memory as your thought for the day …

Praying:   
Oratio=Spend some time in prayer responding to God’s invitation … allow prayers of confession, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praise, or ... to emerge in this time you are spending with God.

Contemplatio=When you runs out of words to say, simply rest in the presence of God, lingering with God in loving companionship … Amen!

You can find a good youtube video online “God is my hiding place.”