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Lenten Reflection for Saturday, February 29 
Carrie Thomas-Carlson 

John 17: 20-26

20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,^* so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’  

The piece from the passage that first resonates with me most is the idea that God's glory shines through us because he made us and allows us to demonstrate and be seen in this glory. John reminds himself of this when he says: " ...Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world." --What better gift we can give back to God than for others to know him through us?

Secondly, I make direct parallels to a New Testament verse Isaiah 6:8 that I memorized as a child. The first time I heard it, I felt God was truly calling me: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' ” New International Version (NIV) Hearing Isaiah's ecstatic rejoinder to the Lord's invitation helps us imagine what spiritual awakening looks like. 

We see John now responding in a similar way to the way Isaiah did, with wholehearted conviction when he says, "²⁶I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ " We can imagine that both a prophet and disciple would follow the ebbs and flows of belief in all their days, but from these moments on they would both be committed to serving the Lord in action. We might waver in our everyday feeling but it is in our decision to follow Jesus's way that we truly become one with others and demonstrate the same love that he has shown for us.

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