Lent Day 40: April 7--Easter Saturday

Lenten Reflection for Day 40

Date: Holy Saturday April 7, 2012

Author: Howard Shaffer

Bible Passage: Ezekiel 34:11–12 (NRSV)

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹² As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

Reflection:

Ezekiel was a prophet who lived in exile in Babylon and was there waiting for the Jews when those who were taken in captivity arrived. The exiles had been marched from their destroyed homeland to the capital of their conquerors as captive slaves. Imagine their despair!! Some or many may have lost faith, given up hope, and turned away from God.

But God had a plan for them! Their situation was due to their own making. Back home their leaders had turned from God and broken Commandment number one-Have no other Gods, worship no other Gods.

In the first part of the chapter for today’s reading, Ezekiel describes the sad and terrible history of the sheep. They were scattered and killed because their leaders failed them. The leaders were concerned with their own comfort and not their job as leaders.

In today’s verses, God assures the faithful that he has a plan, and he himself will rescue them.

Does all this sound familiar? Are we in a time when leaders have failed and the sheep are wandering? Do we have the responsibility to be new leaders who follow and spread God’s word? We can be assured that God has a plan for each of us and for the world.

That plan is Salvation through belief in Jesus Christ and eternal life!!!

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for being our shepherd when earthly leaders have failed us. Thank you for the guidance you have given us through the prophets, through Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, help us to be thankful all the time, and to be the leaders in faith, in the plan you have for us and for Community Lutheran Church.

A Light to the Nations

In Isaiah 49, (included in this Old Testament reading for January 16), the Lord tells the the servant that “I will give you as a light to the nations, so that my salvation might reach to the end of the earth.” What challenge does this text offer us? How do we become light to the nations?

In a dark and cold world, light is a powerful force. Much of our literature portrays light in a positive way. I think on a poem by Helge Stangnes, who writes

Come, let us light small lights for one another;

fires to ward off night in a wintry world

(Quoted in ‘The Nordic Light’, Natur Og Kultureforlaget As)

The call to us to be “light to the nations” is a call to be a positive force in a dark and dreary world. It is a call to spread God’s word of saving grace to people near and far. It is a command to show a different way, a way of light, in a world that is dominated by greed, self-interest and evil.

What are ways that you could be a light to the nations? It may seem overwhelming to deal with the problems we see around us. But is there a way that you could light just one candle, brightening someone else’s life and making a difference. Is there a way that you could bring the light of Christ into someone else’s life?

Prayer:

Lord, you call us to the difficult task of being a light to the nations. Guide us and lead us in lighting even one candle to brighten the darkness. Amen