Netflix released a program called “13 Reasons Why” this week. It’s the story of a teenage girl who took her own life and left a series of recordings telling the reasons she couldn’t go on, and the part that the people in her life played in her decision. 

As you might guess, it’s a pretty heavy show. There’s a lot of pain in the angsty teenage years, and this show doesn’t flinch away from laying that pain bare. I’m still thinking about the show in general. 

But there’s one scene near the end of the series that really got me. One of the characters says to another, “It’s got to get better – the way we treat each other.” I think that’s a prescription for the world right now. 

We seem to be living in a time when fear and division have the upper hand. There seems to be a general distrust and anger in the air. It’s in big things – like the chemical attack that took the lives of twin boys (along with most of their extended family) in Syria – and in small things…casual comments made by public figures that show disrespect or lack of caring. 

And I just feel like, it’s got to get better: the way we treat each other. 

And as followers of Jesus, we are meant to be leaders in this movement. It should make us seem weird to others. We should be THAT kind. 

The Scripture says:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:12-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is what we are meant to be. This is what we are meant to do. 

So as we approach Holy Week, may you be kind to others as well as yourself. May you know that God has been infinitely kind to you. May we all do better.  

I think it’s safe to say that no one would argue with me if I were to say that the Scriptures teach kindness to others over and over again. Jesus commanded us to love one another, Paul writes about bearing with one another in love, the Psalms tell us how good it is when brothers dwell together in unity. Even the books of law list commandments regarding the care of the widow, the orphan and the outcast. 

Caring for others is a big part of what it is to live in relationship with God, to follow Jesus, to be a person of faith. 

But what about oneself? A little over a year ago, Andrew Peterson recorded a song he wrote for his 13 year old daughter (there is a link to a video of him performing it live, at the end of the quote below – click on the blue text). My favourite part says this: 

Well, how does it end when the war that you’re in is just you against you against you?

You gotta learn to love, learn to love, learn to love your enemies, too. 

–Andrew Peterson, Be kind to yourself 

This idea – being kind to yourself – has become a part of my vocabulary. It’s what I say to friends and colleagues when they are beating themselves up over something. Or when they are feeling overwhelmed by the troubles of life. 

I’d argue that being kind to yourself is also part of a life of faith. God made you. 

The Psalmist writes:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭139:13-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God took time and care to create you just the way you are. Jesus stepped out of heaven; he was born helpless and naked, he grew,  taught and healed; he was betrayed, beaten and died in the most horrible way to save you. 

You are precious in his sight. 

So this Lent, be kind to yourself. Know that in doing so, you are honoring the God who made you and who saved you. And I will try to do the same. 

(Wordless Wednesday came early this week because I spent most of my evening cleaning the house and now I’m tired and feeling Wordless. Plus, this was too apropos to leave unshared.) 

I’ve been thinking today of one of the treasures I brought home with me from the recent tour of the Holy Land that I lead. It’s a little ceramic tile from this Armenian pottery shop that I visit every time I’m in the Old City in Jerusalem. 

This is what it looks like: 

It’s simple and not very expensive, but incredibly dear to me. You see, this is a verse that I came across when I really needed to know God was with me. I wasn’t looking specifically for this verse and I must have read it before, but I didn’t remember reading it. 

I remember praying for God to show me that He was with me and that He cared (not because I thought that He’d disappeared or stopped caring, but because I NEEDED to feel his presence just then). The next day, this verse came to me. 

And any time I need a reminder of his presence and his love, this is a verse I turn to. 
The thing about God’s word is that it is full of treasures like this verse. And I think God longs for us to discover them. 

So this Lent, may you open up the Bible. May you find the treasures within. May you know that God has called you by name, and you are His. 

So, I know this winter hasn’t been so bad. It’s been much warmer and less snowy than usual. And I know I’ve been away to sunnier/warmer destinations twice this winter. I really have no reasons to complain at all. 

And yet. 

It’s snow/sleet-ing out this evening. Possibility of extended freezing rain overnight. And it just…bums me out. 

I struggle with winter from about January 2nd until the last of the white stuff disappears completely. Even in a relatively easy winter season, I’m done with it long before the Weather Network finishes publishing winter weather warnings. And on a night like this, when winter is getting (I hope, I pray) one of its last storms out of its system, I find it hard to believe that Spring  is really on its way. 

(Maybe that sounds like a whole lot of unnecessary whining, but it’s where I’m at on a night like this.)

But the Bible says:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:3-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In other words: there’s a better day coming! Our hope isn’t a thing that dies – it is a living hope. A thing growing and being made new with each sunrise. A thing stronger than the cold and snows of winter. A thing that cannot be spoiled by a hard season or a dark day. 

Our hope is in the Lord, who broke the bonds of sin and death forever,  and he is the one we must cling to in the midst of a storm that threatens to overwhelm us. 

This Lent, may you stay the course. May you know the great mercy of God that gives us living hope in Jesus Christ. And may it sustain you even when the day is dark. 

(Because I seem to be short on words this week…and it’s Wednesday and this says enough.) 

¹⁴ He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:14 NLT

 

Tomorrow is the final class of a Bible Study series that I have been running with my friend and co-worker-in-the-Kingdom, the Rev. Rosemary Doran. We’ve been looking at the seven words from the cross – the things Jesus said in his final moments.

It’s been emotional and sometimes draining – to keep our eyes trained on Jesus during his suffering. To come back each week, to this horrible ending to his beautiful life. To keep him there, pinned and in pain, and not look away.

I think sometimes we avoid that. Who wants to focus on the suffering, after all? We know that the cross was a torturous way to die. We give thanks for what Jesus accomplished through it, but we don’t like to dwell on it too long. Good Friday service once a year is enough of that, thank you. As a congregant I know of once said, “It’s a bit of a downer.”

Yes. It is.

But there are also some incredibly beautiful lessons to be learned if we don’t shy away. And it has been profound to journey through Lent with these lessons confronting us each week.

This Lent, may you not shy away from the agony of the cross. May you know Christ suffered because his love was greater than all the pain he endured. May you know you are forgiven because he endured it.

 

I’ve taken a few days off from blogging as the dreaded jet lag and the last dregs of the cold I’ve been battling got the better of me. I find I write at night and the reality is that the past few nights sleep caught up with me too quickly! I’m going to trust that the rest I’ve taken was what I needed and was it’s own holy observance.

Today I feel blessed – sometimes in the life of faith we get used to all the good things that God brings our way and we kind of forget how blessed we are. It’s nice to be reminded.

It’s nice when that reminder comes from something that happened in your community of faith that you didn’t make happen – when you are blessed by the efforts of another leader. Today while I was preaching and leading worship with Geoff, our youth – under the leadership of one of our sustaining elders who has taught that age group faithfully for many years – were making an art installation.

They used Kraft paper and made a giant name-of-Jesus covering for the window in the youth room in our Christian Education wing. Coming home from another engagement this afternoon, I could see the letters from one of the upper windows in my house.

This is what it looks like on the inside:

The light shines in the darkness, my friends, and the darkness cannot put it out.

This Lent, may you know that you are blessed. May the name of Jesus show up in unexpected and beautiful ways in your life. May you continue to journey in His light.

(Because this just seemed to say it all today.)

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36:26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I had the opportunity to see Beauty and the Beast with friends this evening. I loved the 1991 animated Disney feature and have been excited to see this live action recreation for at least a year.

Sometimes, when you’ve anticipated a movie for that long, the reality falls far short of your hopes. I’m so very happy to say that this was NOT the case this time. The movie was every bit as enchanting and beautiful as I’d hoped it would be.

As a pastor, I tend to watch movies with one eye trained to see any glimpses of the Gospel that might occur. You’d be amazed how very often theological moments show up in film.

And I found myself deeply touched by the message of the transformative power of love in this movie. When Belle declares her love for the Beast, everything changes. The beast himself becomes human again, and the ruined, frozen wreck of his castle is restored to wholeness as the shimmering rays of the sun bathe it it golden light.

I admit it – I was moved to tears. It was an Easter Sunday moment. When love – the self-sacrificing love of Jesus – overcame the power of sin and death forever.

This Lent, may you know the transformative power of God’s love as embodied by Jesus, who is the Christ. May you journey through the sometimes dark and frozen days, with the confidence that Easter Sunday is coming…and it changes everything.