READ YOUR BIBLE during the 5th and final week of Lent (begins Sunday, April 2).

​Day 1 (5th week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!  (Psalm 130:2)
READ: Ezekiel 37:1-10
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.  He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.  He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’  I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’  Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’  I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
The word that comes to mind is macabre!  Or maybe the old spiritual: ‘Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.’  But there it is; in our Scriptures, a reading for the 5th week of Lent.  As macabre as it is, it’s an appropriate reading, since it helps us today look ahead to what Easter promises—new life.  We can and will ‘live again.’
But I want to focus on Ezekiel’s response to God’s question, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’  I imagine Ezekiel looking at that scene of scattered bones and thinking, ‘Absolutely not!’  A bunch of old dry bones live?  I don’t think so!  But, it was the Lord GOD who asked and you know he expected more from you than that.  Better not say much and wait to see or hear what God, the Lord of life and death, has in mind.  And so the prophet Ezekiel humbly replies: ‘O Lord God, you know.’
I love that response.  Sometimes I don’t trust myself to say the right thing—my faith is too weak, my mind too small to comprehend; better not say much and wait for God to show me the way.  ‘O Lord God, you know,’ is the best response I can muster. 
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Yes, there is new life and God can give it.  Are you willing to believe this for yourself today; for those around you?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God, you know and I wait for you to show me the way today.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 2 (5th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
READ: Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.  Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. 
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 
my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning. 
O Israel, hope in the Lord!  For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem. 
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This is one of the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120-134).  These psalms were prayed as Jewish pilgrims travelled up to Jerusalem for one of their festivals, especially Passover.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
As we approach the end of Lent we’re given a psalm of lament to pray.  Lament (i.e., complaint) psalms are common in the psalter and reflect the ‘ugly’ side of life.  Psalmists don’t pretend things are better than they really are and neither do they pretend they can handle the ‘ugly’.  They complain, sometimes softly, sometimes loudly; at times, briefly, at other times with many words.  Psalm 130 is brief and not too loud.  The pray-er is lamenting her/his iniquity that has blocked communication with God.  You’ll notice that the psalmist gets straight to the lament; no beating about the bush or attempts to show a mature spirituality.  He/she is in ‘the depths’ (a dire situation) and demands an audience with God.  “Lord, hear my voice!”  Which is repeated: “Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!”  And then comes an expression of trust in God’s willingness to forgive.  In fact, forgiveness is with God, suggesting first, that God alone can give us the forgiveness we need because God has it, and second, God can’t help but forgive.  Therefore, the pray-er waits for the Lord in confident expectation.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What is your lament (complaint) today?  Bring it to the Lord and be assured of his help.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord God with you is forgiveness and you’re always willing and ready to forgive.  May I live today as one who has been forgiven, one who is able to begin again and live freely.  In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 3 (5th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
READ: John 11:17-27
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.  Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’  Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?’  She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived in Bethany (just outside Jerusalem) and were much loved by Jesus.  However, when the sisters sent him an urgent plea to come because Lazarus was ill, Jesus deliberately delayed his visit until after Lazarus’ death.  I encourage you to read the whole story and not just the short paragraphs assigned for today and tomorrow.  This event took place shortly before Jesus’ arrest and in fact was the reason the Jews (the religious leaders) finally took action to end Jesus’ life.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
Martha can’t wait for Jesus to reach her home.  She goes out to meet him, leaving Mary, with the Jewish mourners, behind.  Her first words to Jesus are something of an accusation—if you’d come my brother wouldn’t have died.  She quickly softens that with an expression of trust—“but even now” God will still give you whatever you ask.  She leaves Jesus to figure out what she wants.  We then have a brief but powerful dialog between Jesus and Martha about the resurrection.  We can be sure that on Jesus’ mind was his impending arrest, death and resurrection, none of which Martha knew or understood.  But she did know and understand about a future resurrection of God’s people, and says so.  In response to her belief about a future resurrection, Jesus made one of the boldest claims in John—‘I am the resurrection and the life.’  He then asked a very personal question—‘Do you believe this?’
Martha’s response is the most complete statement of faith of anyone in John: ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’  It’s significant that the writer of John includes this statement that came from a woman, suggesting that women were not sidelined and ignored in the early church.  Martha’s faith is recognized and made known.  She is a bold witness for Jesus, right up to our time.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
What do you believe about Jesus?  Write your own statement of faith confession and shout it out.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Jesus, you encouraged Martha to proclaim her faith in you.  I thank you for her words and use them today as I worship you and claim my own belief: ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Day 4 (5th Week)
PREPARE TO LISTEN: Lord, hear my voice!  Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
READ: John 11:38-44
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’  Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’  So they took away the stone.  And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’  When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’  The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The prophet Isaiah promised that Messiah (God’s Servant) would come and command prisoners with the same words Jesus used to call out Lazarus—‘Come out’ (Isaiah 49:9).  I think John the Evangelist would like us to go back to the ancient prophet.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
‘Unbind him, and let him go.’  Jesus doesn’t say a word to Lazarus.  He’d been dead for 4 days and then walks out of the tomb at Jesus’ command, ‘Lazarus, come out!’  You’d think Jesus might want to say something to him, or give Lazarus a chance to speak to Jesus.  Instead, Jesus instructs the watching onlookers: ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’  I was intrigued and wondered about the people around me who need to be unbound (that is, set free) and then let go in order to live freely and fully.  We’re not meant to hold people close to us and impose our wills on them.  Our task is to offer free and friendly space so that others can go their own lonely way, as Henri Nouwen once suggested.  This doesn’t mean we all live isolated and individualistic lives.  Rather, it means we recognize that each person must, at the end of the day, travel their journey themselves; no one can travel it for them.  Each of us needs free and friendly space to travel our journey, shouldering our own responsibilities.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Are you willing to unbind the bound and let them, giving them free and friendly space to travel as only they can and must?
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Jesus, you called forth Lazarus and then asked others to set me free.  Help me set free the people you bring into my life today so they experience the joy of your salvation.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.
 
Palm Sunday, April 9
In preparation for Holy Week, I have chosen to end Lent with Palm Sunday.
PREPARE TO LISTEN: O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!  (Psalm 118:1)
READ: Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.”  And he will send them immediately.’  This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’  The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!’  When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’  The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In the church calendar, the Sunday before Easter is most often celebrated as Palm Sunday.  We remember the day Jesus made his final journey into Jerusalem on the back of an untrained colt.
MEDITATIVE WORDS
I loved Palm Sunday as a child and have many childhood memories, such as joyfully (and there is a lot of joy in this story) breaking off a real palm branch, not a few fronds, from the tree in the front garden and then being permitted to fidget and wriggle in church as I waved my branch around.  I also always loved (and still do) singing those hymns with the word hosanna in them.  Hosanna is a true singing word.  Repeat it over and over and you’ll start singing.  Hosanna means ‘save’ and was used mostly as an exclamation of praise shouted out to the conquering hero on return from a victorious battle.  The hero, however, would come riding into the city on a grand war horse, not a lowly donkey colt.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem in the posture of a conquering hero—except for the donkey.  That should have alerted the crowd that Jesus’ role was far more than rescuing Israel from the Roman occupiers.  I don’t think it did.  The problem is that too often we think of Jesus in a narrow role of rescuing me (or my country) from whatever is bothering us.  The donkey and its colt are a reminder that Jesus doesn’t come in ways that we anticipate or can event predict.  We’re called to follow a Savior who is different and who will rule in ways that are entirely unexpected, a way of peace not violence.  We’re called to expect the unexpected.
REFLECTIVE WONDERING
Attend to your expectations of Jesus in the world today.  Give them up and be open to surprise.
RESPOND TO JESUS IN PRAYER. 
Lord Jesus, you come in ways that are unexpected and surprising.  Help me willingly let go my expectations and be ready to welcome you, even as one I never anticipated.  Hosanna, Son of David.  Amen.
BE SILENT AND STILL: For a few moments, simply be in the presence of Jesus, who loves you, regardless.