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Lenten Reflection for Friday, February 28 
Asa Swain 

John 17: 9-19

⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them in your name that^* you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost,^*so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.^* 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.^* 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. 

This reading is from when Jesus is praying in the Garden at Gethsemanee. In his last moments alone before Jesus is to be arrested and crucified, I am struck that he prays to God not for himself, but for his fellow disciples that he is leaving behind. I am particularly struck by the explanation that “the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world”. I don’t think Jesus means that his disciples are divine, like himself, but instead as a reminder that the Christians the followed him were different than the other people who lived in the Roman world. 

I think we still struggle with this difference between Christians and non-Christians today. I went to a Listening Session on Sunday where one question was: “how should I be a Christian in this secular world?” It’s especially difficult when it feels like we live in a capitalist society where wealth equals happiness, and where all too often pop culture and mass media attack the behavior espoused by Jesus, loving the stranger, turning the other cheek, helping the needy. Coming to Holy Apostles reminds me that the value system taught by Jesus is not the same as the value system of the rest of the world. And maybe that is what Jesus means when he says “they do not belong in the world”. 

But I note that Jesus doesn’t ask God to take his disciples out of the world, to transport them to some heavenly paradise, but instead to protect them from the devil, while they speak the truth. And whether or not you believe in Satan, I think we can agree that there are many influences in the world that tempt us to sin, to be selfish, and to corrupt us with small transgressions. So while Jesus is not with us anymore, I am comforted that God is still watching over us, protecting us. And as Jesus loved us, even in his final days, I hope we can love each other. I am reminded of the quote from the poet Henri-Frédéric Amiel, "Life is short and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us."

Lenten Reflection for Wednesday, February 27 
Jan Hansen 

Philippians 3:12-21

12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal;^* but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Beloved,^* I do not consider that I have made it my own;^*but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly^* call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. ¹⁶Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

17 Brothers and sisters,^* join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. ¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship^* is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humiliation^* so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory,^* by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. 

Citizenship is a hot topic these days.  The fears and struggles of those living in a land where they are supposedly "illegal" should be familiar to all.  Even if one is "legal" there is a fear to safeguard passports and wait in LONG lines to get "REAL" IDs ( if one can find all the correct documentation!)  

In researching this REAL ID thing, apparently there are some with stars and some with American flags.  All very confusing and intimidating.  What a soothing reminder Paul gives - "BUT OUR citizenship is in heaven!"  Jesus supplied all the documentation needed for that citizenship for us on the cross.  And even though we can't get a REAL ID that is marked with the cross of Christ, WE are marked with the cross of Christ and must "press on towards the goal for the prize fo the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus."  

Sharing in the fellowship of his suffering with you this Lenten season,
Jan Hanen

Lenten Reflection for Wednesday, February 26 
Missy Trull
 

Hebrews 12:1-3

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^[a] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^[b] the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,^[c] so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. 

 I happen to be a pretty anxious person. I wish this were not the case, but alas, it is. There is a small list of things that help regulate or soothe my anxiety and one of those is running. Above all else, running reminds me to breathe. I run and I am connected to my breath and my body, and my head gets a break from all the worries—the dreadful futures I have imagined, the people I am convinced I let down, the task lists, the fears—and instead my mind goes blank. As I run, I relocate myself in both the strength and the limitations of my breath and body, and I can rest there, at least spiritually.

But running is hard! And tiring! And sometimes it is cold outside and my bed is so warm! So although I know it is a practice I need that keeps me grounded, connected to myself, and helps regulate my anxiety, it is still really, really hard to maintain.

So when our text today talks about “running with perseverance the race that is set before us,” in both a literal and figurative way, I get it. I think the writer might be deeply aware of the struggle of maintenance. Just as it is difficult to stay in healthy relationship with our own selves, it is difficult to stay in healthy relationship with God, and does seem to require some discipline. This week Mother Sarah and Mother Kimberlee sent out a note about Ash Wednesday and lent, explaining that this season is “a time to figure out the things in and on our hearts that are getting in the way of being in relationship with God.” This too seems to be the call of today’s verse: “lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely.”

And, the text says, “take heart,” for you are not alone. The book of Hebrews is often talked about as a sermon, meant to encourage an Early Christian community in a time of hardship. In today’s verse, we are invited to remember those who have come before us, people who have also given up something or took on a new spiritual practice to grow closer to God--Saints or family members, or friends, the “great cloud of witnesses” who are with us in spirit as we go through this season. And we remember those who are with us now, one another. I am thankful to be walking through this season in community with all of you. And then, finally, this verse invites us to remember Jesus, and how he “endured the cross for the sake of joy.” ...Joy? what “joy” is this verse talking about? The book of Hebrews presents, throughout the chapter, faith as vision into the heavenly world that is not-yet, but still-present among us. I believe this may be the “joy” the text is speaking of—the joy of experiencing the Kingdom of God, the joy of nearness to Christ and one another, the joy of soulful movements of the Holy Spirit, here and now.

So may we give-up or take-on what we know we must for the sake of this joy. And may we do so with the “cloud of witnesses” that came before us, our community present with us now, and the hope we hold for the Kingdom of God to become more and more present in this world.