Lenten blog | April 3, 2025

It must be personal

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for April 3rd:  Psalm 126; Isaiah 43:1-7; and Philippians 2:19-24.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

I think one of Lent’s primary aims is to make Jesus personal.  Jesus was an observant Jew.  It appears He adhered to Jewish dietary laws.  He definitely attended synagogue.  His Scripture would be what we commonly refer to as the Old Testament.  When Jesus condenses the Law’s 613 commandments down to two, they are both verbatim quotes from Leviticus (19:18) and Deuteronomy (6:5).  What is most exceptional about Jesus is that Jesus makes God personal.  This is not limited to speaking of God as “Father.”  In Jesus, God becomes one of us.  God enters our world in the full limitations and experiences of our humanity.  Jesus makes God personal because in Jesus God is us.
 
During Lent, our focus is upon the cross.  Jesus does not only die.  Jesus is executed.  Further, He’s not only executed; He is publicly humiliated and intentionally made to suffer as He dies.  If this were to happen to any of our loved ones, God forbid, we would be emotional messes.  After 2,000 years and ubiquitous crosses, we can tend to desensitize ourselves to the actual savagery of Jesus’ death.  Lent, however, asks us to return our focus, as Pilate says, “‘Behold the man.’”  This is such a famous verse it may even be familiar to you in Pilate’s Latin:  “Ecce homo.”  Jesus stands there in His bruised frame as one of us:  “‘Behold the man.’”  Jesus is born as one of us, lives as one of us, and dies as one of us.  His Incarnation is to bring God and us closer together.  It is to make God personal.  When Jesus dies, that personal connection should be at its strongest.  He offers all that He is for us.  This should be an emotional realization.

I remember a religious retreat I attended during my senior year in college.  I was almost certain that I would enter seminary the following year, but there remained a tad bit of doubt.  On the chapel wall, while on retreat, there hung a banner with Isaiah 43:1 printed on it:  “I have called you by name, you are mine.”  I think that banner sealed the deal for me.  I saw in it God’s personal call.  In context, this Isaiah verse is meant for all Israel, for all the people of God:  “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you …”  It’s personal for God with everyone.  Religion is not an institution.  Religion is the connection between God and us.  At its deepest, it must be personal.

When Paul today praises Timothy, he does so by emphasizing the personal nature of his disciple’s faith:  “All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.  But Timothy’s worth you know …”  Timothy stands out because of his singular focus on Christ.  For Timothy, faith is personal.  Jesus is personal. 

Time is running out for this season of Lent.  I hope that we are able to use these last weeks to make faith personal, to make Jesus personal.  I again invite you to attend our Lenten Retreat that will be held at the Sunderland Church this Sunday afternoon.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at the below address.  Let us give the afternoon to Jesus.

If you would like to join us for our online Bible study, please send an email to [email protected] for the Zoom logins.
​
If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.