(UN)Forsaken
This week marks our journey of Lent, the 40 day season of preparing ourselves for Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning.
I usually preach a series of messages on something like the spiritual disciplines or the meaning of the cross during Lent. Many Christians incorporate fasting or give up something for Lent to remember Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness. Other Christians might take up something, like a daily study. This year our small groups will study Dr. Amy Jill (AJ) Levine’s six-week study, “Entering the Passion of Jesus.” The study covers the last week of Jesus’ life, which was centered around multiple Jewish festivals. AJ is uniquely qualified to guide us through the Passion as we prepare for Easter. She is a world-class New Testament scholar who is famous for bringing personal insights from her Jewish background into the study of Scripture. Let us know if you’d like to join a small group; we’d love for you to journey with us.
As I prayed about a sermon series for Lent, a specific Biblical figure kept coming to my mind who, at first glance, really didn’t seem to make sense. So I reflected on the meaning of the season. What is the function of Lent? It’s a season to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ journey to the cross and into the tomb so we can rise with him on Easter morning. What does that mean in the trenches of life? Among other things, it should be a time when we seek repentance, reconciliation, restoration, and redemption in our relationships with others and our relationship with God.
So why did God so clearly keep bringing King David to mind as I prayed about the series?
King David’s name means “Beloved.” To me, he is the quintessential symbol of the human condition. He represents the best and the worst of each of us, all wrapped up in one. David was the youngest son of Jesse, the runt of the litter. Jesse couldn’t fathom that of all his boys, David would be chosen to be king. But David was who God chose. The most unlikely became known as the “… man after God’s heart.”
King David’s story teaches us how God not only chooses but also forgives the unworthy. David brought real harm to his family and friends, as well as God’s children Israel, the nation he led. His life was a mess. But David’s heart broke as he reflected on what he had done. David stood broken before the nation and before God and repented of his sin. And God forgave.
David’s story is filled with the themes of Lent. I believe God will speak through David’s story and lead us to seek repentance, reconciliation, restoration, and redemption with others and our relationship with God.
Traditionally David wrote the 150 Psalms, 1/3 of which are laments for what he had done. The Gospels tell us that Jesus’ last words as her hung on the cross were from Psalm 22, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” Easter revealed the truth of what God saw as he looked upon his beloved hanging on the cross. Jesus was unforsaken. Just as God’s Beloved who originally penned those words in grief and guilt centuries earlier. God’s beloved King David was unforsaken.
It’s my prayer that The Beloved, Unforsaken King’s story will lead us down the same path in the upcoming weeks as we prepare to experience a real resurrection this Easter.
In Christ, your pastor,
Bryan White