The Worst Question

 
A Lent buddy of mine is sending me a question a week to consider during these forty days leading up to Easter.

The latest:

What is your favorite question in the Bible? Least favorite? Most powerful? Most reassuring?

We agreed the answers would require a measure of time to sit with and listen for Divine Guidance though an easy favorite popped right into my selfish, self-focused, self-obsessed, greedy mind. 

Jesus asked it to a few, "What would you like me to do for you?" 

Way to go, Angela. (In case it lands as answer to the first question, I hope He smiled.)

This morning the next answer jumped off the page.

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 

and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?"*

These two verses are so troubling. "One of the twelve" means Judas was in the inner circle of the Son of God for three years. He watched Jesus heal the lame, sick, unhealthy by touch and word. He saw thousands of hungry sermon-listeners fed to full of barely an appetizer broke by Jesus' hands. He observed the wind, and waves die down in a tumultuous storm on a lake by Jesus' rebuke. He smelled the body of Lazarus, four days dead, when it came alive and walked out of a burial tomb at Jesus' command. He listened to Jesus teach the truths and heart of God which astonished the crowds with no notes. He heard Jesus pray for God's chosen people, future followers, the other eleven and for him. He felt Jesus' hands on his dirty feet when He humbly washed them. He looked into the eyes of the long-awaited Savior in the flesh and was loved. He even greeted Him with a kiss, the most intimate expression on their last encounter.

Don't even get me started on the way he "went to the chief priests". The chief priests? The highest-ranking religious leaders? These who earlier that day had "gathered and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him."** Plotted together to arrest a man by stealth and kill him? Excuse me?! Where is that written in the Bible as part of the chief priests' job description, acceptable to God? 

Back to the question - the terrible question. One later regretted (understatement), resulting in suicide. Who could bear the consequences of it? Were the thirty pieces of silver he gained actually enough satisfaction for the trade? Apparently so.

We are in the thick of Holy Week now, no turning back. As stated in my last post, the most important week of the year - it truly holds everything.

Kate Bowler put it this way, "Holy Week is a horror movie. And somehow, it's still holy. If it were a movie, we'd all be screaming at the characters: 'DON'T GO IN THERE!' But...in they go."

Isn't that the truth? We're going in too if we dare.

Let's.

Holy Week brings up a lot of questions worthy of our consideration. On this day, Spy Wednesday, the worst - in my opinion written above - can only lead a deep thinker to the obvious self-reflecting follow-ups.

"What would you sell Jesus for?" 

Money?

Power?

Safety?

Security?

Family?

I shudder to think what this heart is capable of here. But I must.

It's good to sit in it, this week in particular. Perhaps a set-up, preparation of the soul, expectant for the gift of newness promised just days away.

Join me?

Just for a little while...because Sunday is coming!

*Matthew 26:14-15

**Matthew 26:3-4

Best Week of the Year

 

Palm Sunday. 

It's kind of a big deal.

Holy Week finishes the season of Lent. For the next six days we will experience whiplash between the highest of highs of Palm Sunday and the lowest of lows on Good Friday.

All of Scripture and our life as the Church revolve around one theme: the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and His triumph over sin and death. We need a whole week to complete our Lenten focus, to pay attention to Jesus' last week on earth, the final days before His human life ended, and enter into the long-awaited celebration of resurrection and new life.

Palm Sunday kicks us off. I don’t know about you, but when I read through the Gospels and get to this day – happy and exciting as it is and should be - I always think, “No! I’m not ready. Not ready to let go of Jesus. Not ready to say goodbye.” I’m thankful we know the end of this story. But the disciples didn’t.

Yet it was a triumphant day for those in attendance that Sunday morning in Jerusalem. A King arriving on a donkey, the crowd waving palm branches, singing "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." We should do likewise. I hope your church had palms for you this morning.

Holy Monday – This day we remember Mary anointing Jesus’ feet in Bethany. The beautiful gift of lavish love and worship. This day we can reflect on what we offer to Jesus.

During this weighty week we become increasingly aware of the way our sin required the death of Jesus. The rhythm of confession and forgiveness is the practice in the life of a growing Christian.

Holy Tuesday – On this day, Jesus entered Jerusalem and headed to the temple. Upon arrival, witnessing those who were profiting from worship, changing money, selling goods, and profaning God’s holy place of worship, Jesus got mad. He overturned the tables and drove out the unrighteousness. He cleansed the temple.

And wildly, He stayed, spending the next days - His last - healing and teaching right there, so the temple could be used for God’s intended purpose: a place for the people to meet with God, learn about Him and worship Him. Amen?

Maybe on this day we can honor this day by cleaning our homes – top to bottom – in preparation. Making space for the holy to come.

Holy or Spy Wednesday – This day we remember Judas’ betrayal – for 30 pieces of silver. Perhaps we can assess our allegiances. At what price do we value Jesus’ life? Would we give Him up for money? For family? For power? For love?

Maundy Thursday – Maundy means commandment. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and declared a new commandment to “love one another: just as I have loved you, you are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Jesus puts this verse into practice by submitting to the scourging, humiliation, rejection, torture and excruciating death because of His great love for us.

The Last Supper happened on this day. May we remember and marvel that Jesus fulfilled and served Himself up as the Passover lamb that Jews had celebrated and longed for for generations. Spend a little time reading in Exodus?

Good Friday – the day to go to church. Please go to church this Friday. Christians must be together to remember together. It’s designed to be a time of mourning, prayer and repentance. We look on the cross helpless, both grateful and horrified. The bogus middle of the night trials. The scattering of the "believers". The rejection. The outrageous suffering and death of the innocent, the most loving. 

Of course, it will be somber and dark. As it should be. Lament is a very important element of our worship. May we feel all the feelings and confess deeply.

Holy Saturday – or Silent Saturday. Put yourself in the disciples' seats. What in the world just happened? The glorious Sunday resurrection has not yet – they don’t know it’s coming. They should, but they don't. Jesus' closest friends must sit in the silence of what they witnessed happen to Jesus and what happened in their own hearts (which was not pretty).

Holy Saturday teaches us to go through it. It’s a sacred time. So, take away the noise. No music, no media, no noise. Prepare for Easter quietly and reverently.

Because the Big Day – the most important – most glorious and happiest day of the year – is coming! Resurrection Sunday - our annual set apart day to marvel, worship and feast – together! Go wild! Sing! Dance! At church! Then feast.

Brothers and sisters, this is our week to shine. 

To pay attention and participate. 

To read along in the Bible tracking what Jesus was doing and saying those final days. 

To magnify the greatest week in history. The week that changed everything. 

To showcase Jesus, the One and Only, who rose from the dead, fulfilling prophecies and making all things new. Making you new.

Let's engage with gusto. Maybe we will be joined by the curious.

P.S. How about that plant in the above picture? It's called crown of thorns. Check your local florist or nursery to get yours. A beautiful visual. 

The Next Big Thing...

 

I love looking forward to something. A deadline reached, vacations, the next time my grandchildren will be on my lap, our kids all together, the end of a diet. But a top favorite is preparing for sacred holidays; intentional time spent in anticipation.

This is not news for those of you who have been reading around here for a while. It seems I've become the poster child for heralding the news when the next big thing on the holiday calendar is almost here. This is my job, and I love it!

Christmas is in the rearview mirror (sniff!), so Easter is on the horizon. 

Arguably the most important holiday in the life of a Jesus-follower, without Easter, there'd be nothing to hang our hat on regarding our faith and what we believe. It's a biggie.

Clearly our commemoration of the cornerstone of the Christian faith – the death and resurrection of King Jesus, our Savior - could (and should) this be the new most wonderful time of the year? Both holidays focus on Jesus and matter to our annual rhythm of life.  

During Advent, we watch for His comings to earth (the first 2000 years ago, the 2nd date TBD). During Lent, we walk the footsteps of Jesus to the cross of suffering all the way to the empty tomb. He is risen, hallelujah!

The true Gospel story is brimming with miracles and prophecies fulfilled which must never become humdrum or yada yada yada or less than awe-inspiring.

That said, doesn’t it deserve more than one Easter morning worship gathering and possibly a Good Friday service if we don’t get a better offer?  

Let’s back up a second before we buy a new Spring dress or plan an Easter egg hunt.

For Christians who are paying attention to the Church Calendar, we are about to move from Ordinary Time to Lent. 

To skip Lent and jump right into Easter is missing depth and richness leading up to the Big Day.

Like Advent (my 2nd favorite sacred holiday), Lent is a time to open the doors of our hearts a little wider and understand our Lord a little deeper, so that when Good Friday and eventually Sunday comes, it is not just another day at church, albeit an exciting one bursting with pastel colors and Spring flowers.

Unlike Advent, characterized by anticipation and eventual abundance, Lent is a more solemn season, meant to be like lament – to feel or express sorrow or regret for; to mourn over. One can't appreciate the light and the miracle of resurrection (new life!) without spending a significant amount of time remembering the dark side, the sin, the pain, the rejection, the suffering, the death.

Did you realize the majority of the Psalms are laments? It's important to give lamenting time to do its work in us.

Maybe consider practicing Lent a form of spiritual housekeeping: 

Praying (drawing close to God)
Fasting (denying self for a spiritual purpose)
Giving (to the poor what we don’t need)

If you want seasonal heart transformation and to present God with pure, meaningful worship on Resurrection Sunday, it must cost you something. All spiritual growth does. 

I guess you could consider this my annual invitation for you to open your calendar and heart a little wider. To approach Easter - the holiday that sets Christians apart - by entering a 40-day journey with Jesus on His path of suffering and death to purchase our salvation with an empty tomb. This is the stuff!

This could look like many things.  (more ideas below)

• Focused Bible readings.  Start with any Gospel. That's where the story picks up. In addition, there is no shortage of printed and digital devotional guides that will lead you to a heightened awareness of sin, repentance and appreciation. 
• Fasting from something you will truly miss daily (not something you hate, but something you love and think you can't live without - go big or go home!); denying yourself a pleasure (when you miss it, you trade that desire for prayer).
• Giving to the poor. Purging our souls of sin and self, also emptying our home of excess. What can we give away to benefit another (both money and stuff)?

If you've never done anything like this and are willing to experiment, I'm excited for you. You are in for a treat. It might hurt a little, but you won't regret your effort.

We can do this. We need to do this. When we decrease (fast), Jesus will increase, and our focus become sharper (any other 50+somethings out there need some clarity?).

Living Lent is not simply a religious ritual. It's so much better - this is about relationship, relationship, relationship. God wants more of us and the attention we give to sacred holidays is an outward sign of how much we give to Him. It matters. Our efforts will not be wasted.

Trust me, forty days of attentiveness to the cross of Jesus, His earthly ministry and words spoken WILL elevate your Easter Sunday celebration (what Easter bunny?) – and transform you too.  That, my friend, will surprise you the most. Don't miss it!

When you hit the final stretch - Holy Week - you are going to have so much to share with those around you regarding what you've experienced. How real and present God is. How sinful and helpless we are without Him. How mighty and loving Jesus is. 

And that's part of the point - spiritual growth and celebrating sacred holidays is never just for us, it's meant to be shared. It simply must be, or how will they know?

Then finally, when Resurrection Day comes, and Eastertide begins (50 days of Easter! More on that later), we will gather at church, and we will sing "Up from the Grave He Arose", "He's Alive", and all the other Easter songs with gusto! 

Let’s look forward to that day together.

Ash Wednesday, March 5, is day one. Plenty of time to be ready to begin.

Equally stimulating ideas:

Scour your playlists and listen only to faith-based songs. So many Easter selections to choose from (Hello Andrew Peterson's Resurrection Letters). Try Music Inspired by The Story too - gold!

Add a spiritual practice: memorize Bible passages, set specific prayer times and lengths, silence and solitude, prayer walking

Fast from: food, drink, media, headlines, criticism, shame

Pro tip: push through the first few days - they are the hardest! And take Sundays off for Sabbath rest.

Approach Matters

Typically, in January, readers of the Bible and wannabees make a new plan for how they will approach this effort in the new year. Hands up over here! There are no few options from which to choose.

Read through in a year

Read through in a year chronologically

Read the New Testament once, or more

Read a chapter a day

Read and study one book at a time

Read one passage from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament

Read a little OT, a little NT with a psalm and proverb for fun

Read it once a week

Read it every day

Read it first thing in the morning upon waking and the last moments of the day before sleep

Read it more than last year

Which one is for you? Pick one! God will bless each and every effort.

Are you like me and own a collection of copies of this holy book? I lost count many years ago when it became clear that my husband and I have our own library full here in our home (not to mention those in his office). His first children's bible and my first "student bible" given from our parents to us upon coming to faith in Jesus. 

Then we have various translations, some written in reading plan form, others including theological commentary, those with devotional thoughts sprinkled throughout, and (my favorite) ones that leave open lines for recording my own notes. 

Lucky Scott and I inherited a volume or two from his Bible loving grandmother - brimming with her handwritten sermon and study notes - precious indeed. 

Honestly, we are just Bible junkies. We love a new print - all colors, shapes and sizes. Giant FAMILY BIBLE coffee table size, medium not too thick or encumbering to take to church, pocket size to keep in purse or car in case of emergency need, and tiny oh so old treasures found in used bookstores. Paperback, leatherbound and hard cover. We'll take them all!

Does this anthology make us super spiritual and more holy than those content with one or two? Absolutely not. Collecting printed pages does not make one more blessed by God. Especially if they collect dust and are never or rarely read. 

Maybe you've prioritized anew scriptural consumption in 2025. Congratulations! I have too and am excited for us. No matter which "plan" or path you've chosen may I gently declare that nowhere in the pages inside is a decree that it must be read in a calendar year. Psh. Take as long as you like, just keep reading. Don't quit. 

If you're new to the whole of it - this ancient miraculously preserved text - you've embarked on an adventure. Not to oversell, but this glorious opus (bestseller of all time) has it all - drama, travel, war, romance, horror, good, evil, angels, villains, instruction, warnings, promises, poetry, beauty, jokes (did you know God has a sense of humor?), invitations to redemption, love, and a Hero (the very subject of the whole) who can be found present from first page to last. 

I've heard it described as a library of genres within itself. I call it the book of truth and wonder.

It's anything but boring. Or outdated. Or irrelevant to present day.

That said, the way we approach it matters.

Are we reading because as a Christ-follower we are supposed to? To gain knowledge? To add or maintain as a spiritual discipline? Are determined to prove it wrong? Or curiously prove it right? 

Hopefully, it's for love in effort to discover the contents of this love letter from the Creator of the universe; a genuine desire to understand it at the heart of the matter.

I've learned from many a teacher to begin each session with prayer. Critical for optimum understanding, I also find it helps to ensure a pure motive and the most enlightening experience to boot. Influenced by many, here is a compilation of words and requests I intimately ask of the Author before I open the cover. 

Teach me, train me. Discipline and disciple me. Correct where I've got it wrong. Delight me and thrill me.

Open up all my senses - eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to touch, nose to smell and mouth to taste the goodness inside.

Show me what's helpful, 

show me what's true. 

What is from you 

and what do I do?

Help me receive, understand, apply and obey, 

share it with someone and remember it along the way.

Lead me to the treasure of Your character on each and every page and form me into the image of the Subject of this book.

Amen.

Happy adventuring, my friends.

Entrusted

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the events of the day ahead even before it actually starts?

As I pray through a busy day in the morning, I consider the souls created in God's image with whom I will interact. 

Isn't that everyone, you ask? Yes, that's right.

Church ladies' breakfast in my dining room, visit with my sister and nephew, guests, host and mom-to-be of a baby shower, dinner with two longtime friend couples; one we're living life together with and one we haven't spent time with in decades, and many hours in the car with my husband. 

I wonder how each meeting and conversation will go. 

Will I enter each room with enthusiastic outward gaze, "Yay! You're here!" or will it be about me, "Oh hey! Here I am!", tilting the room in my direction?

Will I be able to read these rooms, looking into eyes, asking thoughtful curious questions with care or let my insecurities into the driver's seat shrinking back wondering if anyone will really care to engage, and wait to be approached?

Will I be a better listener than talker (anyone else interrupt much)? 

What can I lend to each life? How can I encourage? Where can I bring merriment (new year's goal!)?

Will I know when to speak up with confidence or with discernment resist unnecessary comment?

Entrusted. (Definition: charged or invested with a trust or responsibility; in the care of.)

Regardless how each scenario plays out, one thing is plain. I'm about to be entrusted with many people this day. God will entrust them to me. Risky on His part.

Which brings another question, "How will I steward this day - these people - for His glory and the benefit of others?" This is the goal of an apprentice to Jesus, you know.

I pray. I ask my Father in heaven to equip me to be His representative (showing what He's like) and His ambassador (present and able to do any sacred work needed). To give me eyes to see and ears to hear what He sees and hears. First, instruction from the Bible on what is required of me this day (and what's not). Then, how to best care for each individual in my care.

For this day - and every day - is not about me or you if we belong to Jesus. Our plans revolve around Him - the very environment we live in - as Paul describes in Colossians chapter one.

Read this passage loaded with Old Testament language:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 

For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, 

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created 

through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, 

that in everything He may be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 

and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether in earth or in heaven, 

making peace by the blood of His cross." Col. 1:15-19

I know. A word nerd could go nuts with this passage. 

The main thing I want us to see today is that everything in our life is about Jesus and He's in it all. He started it all, sustains it all and rules it all. 

Did I mention all of it?

What if we framed our daily responsibilities and interactions around this truth? What if we begin to see the souls entrusted to us each day through Jesus' viewpoint? Asking Him, "What do you want me to bring to this one today?"

It will require our attention and intention and maybe some rewiring to revert our thought process outward, off self. 

Start with prayer. We can know this is God's will and therefore, He will help us do it. Win win.

Later in chapter three of Colossians, Paul gives us specific direction on the how to. 

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you...anger, wrath, malice, slander, 

and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off 

the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. 

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, 

kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 

bearing with one another...forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you...

and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." 

Love is the main point, I think. To be loving in all things. Check your words.

One of my favorite authors, John Mark Comer, asks: "What is Christ trying to express to the watching world through your particular life?" What if in whatever we do or to whomever we speak, "we do (it) the way we imagine Jesus would do it if He were us... We must come to realize that following Jesus is the main point to life."*

Oh, you mean like we learned in the Colossians verses above?

At the end of the day, I took inventory of all the rooms I entered and conversations that took place within. I was surprised. Putting into practice listening and asking questions, I learned so much. And so many opportunities to encourage and speak hope and love presented.  

No personal agenda to include my opinion, no insecurity, no sucking the air out of the room with my self-driven neediness for attention or affirmation. 

It was glorious and I came away filled and better for it. No wonder the Bible teaches to "do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others (Phil. 2:3,4). Of course, so like Jesus. 

Entrusted. It's a Bible word peppered through the New Testament. It's a good word for us. Weighty. Risky proposition God has offered us for sure. Can we be trusted with what He's entrusted to us?

Will we receive it today and consider all interactions as assignments? Let's.

Bonus song for the day: Andrew Peterson | All Things Together (Audio Video) 

*Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, p. 152,153,203