D. N. W.

Today we are met with three simple, yet for me and I am guessing many others, terribly consternating words. Ironically, I worry about these words. I worry that I am not absenting myself enough from worry. Worry has this terrible tendency to double-back on me, and then I either get stuck, or out of desperation try and run away. These three words are some of the hardest that I hear Jesus speaking to me. When I think about what I posted on Monday about words and rocks, these three words are among the bigger of those rocks that roll over me.

Do not worry!

"Easy for YOU to say!!!" certainly echoes in my head from time to time when I come across these three words. The troubles of my day can seem all too overwhelming. No, they don't just seem that way. Often times they are. Troubles encroach, and I tremble with worry.

Bonhoeffer starts us down this road by highlighting the fact that we need to work on appropriately detaching from what we normally cling to for security: material goods and treasures. And we detach from them not just for the sake of detaching, but because in their absence we are faced with the truth of who we really are today. And it is in that moment, "now," that we learn to receive what God has for us: which is always exactly enough for us.

I am on the road of trying to figure out what this means and how I live into it.

What does it look like for you?

"Do not worry! Earthly goods deceive the human heart into believing that they give it security and freedom from worry. But in truth, they are what cause anxiety. The heart which clings to goods receives with them the choking burden of worry. Worry collects treasures, and treasures produce more worries...

Abuse of earthly goods consists of using them as a security for the next day. Worry is always directed towards tomorrow. But the goods are intended only for today in the strictest sense. It is our securing things for tomorrow which makes us so insecure today. It is enough that each day should have its own troubles. Only those who put tomorrow completely into God's hand and receive fully today what they need for their lives are really secure. Receiving daily liberates me from tomorrow."

- from his book Discipleship

Scripture to consider:

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house,

and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

Psalm 36:7-9

Prayer for today:

Lord, I place my worries in your gracious hand and live this day trusting that you are with me and that what I have is more than I need.

Amen

Tuesdays with Dietrich

Day 6 of Lent, and Bonhoeffer's question before us is one that I have frequently puzzled over, whether it's me asking the question of myself, or someone else trying to figure out this delicate balance. "Where is the boundary between the goods I am supposed to use and the treasure I am not supposed to have?" 401k's? Savings accounts? The expensive hobby? The beloved but unnecessary car? The lake house? What is it that I'm not supposed to have? And how in the world am I supposed to figure that out? I really do trust God, but I know that I'm also called to exhibit a high level of financial responsibility. Where do I rely on God? And where is it okay to rely on the things that are relatively trustworthy in this world?

Where Bonhoeffer lands is central: Everything depends on the heart, on you. I could be a person who has very little, materially speaking, and yet still be completely worried about and preoccupied with even the little that I have. On the other hand, I could be a person of enormous resources and means, and simply see all that I have as an extension of my heart and my life of faith -- stewarding the resources in my purview with the right levels of trust, gratitude, and responsibility. "It's not a matter of size."

Hopefully the point is clear: It's about the heart, and those things that we predispose ourselves to look to and draw from in situations of both need and gratitude. In Lent, we are trying our best to look inward, so that when we look out, we see God rightly as the only thing, the only One, worthy of our greatest trust.

"Goods are given to us to be used, but not to be stored away. Just as Israel in the desert received manna daily from God and did not have to worry about food and drink, and just as the manna which was stored from one day for another rotted, so should Jesus' disciples receive their share daily from God. But if they store it up as lasting treasure, they will spoil both the gift and themselves. The heart clings to collected treasure. Stored-up possessions get between me and God. Where my treasure is, there is my trust, my security, my comfort, my God. Treasure means idolatry.

But where is the boundary between the goods I am supposed to use and the treasure I am not supposed to have? If we turn the statement around and say, What your heart clings to is your treasure, then we have the answer. It can be a very modest treasure; it is not a question of size. Everything depends on the heart, on you. If I continue to ask how can I recognize what my heart clings to, again there is a clear and simple answer: everything which keeps you from loving God above all things, everything which gets between you and your obedience to Jesus is the treasure to which your heart clings."

- from his book Discipleship

Scripture to consider:

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand,

satisfying the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is just in all his ways,

and kind in all his doings.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

-Psalm 145:18

Prayer for today:

Lord, may my true treasure be knowing you and following you. May nothing stand in the way of your love for me and my love for you.

Amen

First Full Week Begins

The grinding power of the plain words of the Gospel story is like the power of millstones; and those who can read them simply enough will feel as if rocks had been rolled upon them.

- G. K. Chesterton

I don't know about you all, but when I have a sense that a huge rock is about to roll on top of me, my fight or flight instinct kicks in and, assessing in an instant that I can't possibly fight the rock, I flee. My guess is that, funny as the rock metaphor is, there is much of this instinctual activity at play in our Lenten journey, and probably the journey of discipleship writ large. There is a deep propensity to step out of the way of the rock coming towards us--to squirm out from in between those circulating millstones--to someplace a little more manageable. It's just natural to want to get out of situations that are uncomfortable for us, not to mention the situations that challenge the ways of life or practices we hold dear.

Lent is about banishing lies and self-deception. It's not about experiencing discomfort just for the sake of being uncomfortable. Not at all. The reason Lent has more than its share of uncomfortable associations is that we are seeking a raw encounter with the truth: and truth does not result in everyday comfort. We are trying to strengthen our ability to NOT run away from the rocks that will soften and tenderize us. And it is in that place of having been softened and humbled that we are most likely to encounter the deeper truth of ourselves and God.

Lest we think this happens all at once, though, we are reminded that there's a reason why Lent is so long! The path to the truth of oneself, and finally to the truth of God's sacrificial and redemptive love, is long and filled with unexpected turns. And here on Day 5, Bonhoeffer gives us a refreshing reminder that we need to start small, and start in a spirit of thanksgiving.

Question for the day:

What are the "small gifts" we receive from God each day?

"Thankfulness works in the Christian community as it usually does in the Christian life. Only those who give thanks for the little things receive the great things as well. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts prepared for us because we do not give thanks for the daily gifts. We think that we should not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be seeking the great gifts. Then we complain that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experiences that God has given to other Christians, and we consider these complaints to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the small (and yet really not so small!) gifts we receive daily. How can God entrust great things to those who will not gracefully receive the little things from God's hand?"

- from his book Life Together

Psalm to consider:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and do not forget all his benefits --

who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the Pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good as long as you live

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

- Psalm 103:1-5

Prayer for today:

Lord, open my eyes that I may see the giftedness of my life and let my life be a hymn of praise and thanksgiving.

Amen

10%, Minus Sundays

Four days down, and a reminder that, technically speaking, Sundays don't count in the 40 days of Lent. Part of it is just the way the calendar works, and part of it is tradition that has really deep roots in our Christian life of discipleship. Since it began, Lent has been marked by a very stringent and strident manner of observance: daily fasting, prayer, penitence, confession. All of these practices lead towards the goal of strengthening our resolution to follow Christ and take up our cross (Mark 8:34). And yet, some group back in the beginning of things was wise enough to realize that yes, indeed, we are human and can't possibly keep up this enormous effort for 7 out of 7 days. We need a break. And what is more, the theology of the Lord's Day was robust enough, building off of the even more ancient practice of Sabbath, that to be sullen and gloomy on a day in which the Children of God gathered to Celebrate the Lord's Supper in Holy Communion and Worship God with an Outpouring of Praise... well, that simply was not acceptable. Indeed, Luke 5:34 states: "You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?" And what stronger affirmation do we have of Christ's enduring and steadfast presence with us in all things than the celebration of the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion?

All this to say that, well, I'm a little off-base posting on Sunday (okay, late Sunday), but since I fell a day behind on Friday, we'll make it a clean slate by revving into the actual Day 5 tomorrow, Monday.

For those of us who received our *official* copies of Ron Klug's "40-Day Journey with Deitrich Bonhoeffer" today after worshipping at the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette, it will be great to have that resource and begin digging into it in the days and weeks to come.

There has been a swelling of interest in the 40-Day Journey, so even more copies of the book have been ordered, and will be available in the next two or three days for anyone interested in getting their own copy. Again, just shoot me an email: erik.wiebe@gmail.com

Our question of the day: (A good one to start off the week...)

In what ways are prayer and work related to each other?

"After the first morning hour [of prayer], the Christian's day until evening belongs to work. 'People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening' (Psalm 104:23). In most cases a community of Christians living together will separate for the duration of the working hours. Praying and working are two different things. Prayer should not be hindered by work, but neither should work be hindered by prayer. Just as it was God's will that human beings should work six days and rest and celebrate before the face of God on the seventh, so it is also God's will that every day should be marked for the Christian both by prayer and work. Prayer also requires its own time. But the longest part of the day belongs to work. The inseparable unity of both will become clear when work and prayer each receives its own undivided due."

- from his book Life Together

Consider these words from Scripture:

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and prosper for us the work of our hands --

O prosper the work of our hands!

-Psalm 90:17

Prayer for the day

Lord, when I go out to work may I go joyfully and with enthusiasm for the tasks at hand. May my work be good for me and good for others.

Amen

The Third Day

In another Lenten devotional guide, Bread and Wine, author Walter Wangerin discusses "mirrors" on this Friday, the third day of Lent.

"In mirrors I see myself. But in mirrors made of glass and silver I never see the whole of myself. I see the me I want to see, and I ignore the rest.

Mirrors that hide nothing hurt me. They reveal an ugliness I'd rather deny. Yow! Avoid these mirrors of veracity!

My wife is such a mirror..."

Relationships of close proximity, perhaps in a special way marriage itself, has a way of bringing to the surface those hidden and dormant capacities of our DNA. And often times those capacities aren't pretty. We have a way of twisting the best intentions into something that's a full turn in the opposite direction.

For one reason or another, coming into more of an awareness of this posture of humility in Lent has got me thinking about knees and kneeling. Whenever I think about knees and kneeling I think about our Catholic sisters and brothers who, often times, have an historical leg up on us Protestants in the areas of meditative prayer and the posture of penitence.

I'll always remember a dear couple my wife and I met while studying in Oxford. Devout Catholics, they were the first ones to talk with what really felt like rooted conviction that if they didn't start the day out praying (literally) on their knees, those days just didn't seem to make as much sense as the days when they did start out on their knees. The couple has since gone on to study in Austria, where, interestingly enough, one of the mottos of the school is to "study theology on one's knees."

At first blush, this may seem like a quaint form of piety that all of us Enlightened Protestants have since outgrown. "Why actually bend my body when I can simply pray in my mind?" But there's something to it. And I'm certainly intrigued enough to try and figure out more of what it's all about.

Bonhoeffer is certainly on track in this regard on Day 3.

We start with question:

In what ways might "prayer offered in the morning" be "decisive for the day"?

"This order and discipline must be sought and found in the morning prayer. It will stand the test at work. Prayer offered in early morning is decisive for the day. The wasted time we are ashamed of, the temptation we succumb to, the weakness and discouragement in our work, the disorder and lack of discipline in our thinking and in our dealings with other people -- all these very frequently have their cause in our neglect of morning prayer. The ordering and scheduling of our time will become more secure when it comes from prayer."

- from his book Life Together

Give ear to my words, O Lord;

give heed to my sighing.

Listen tot eh sound of my cry,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice

in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

- Psalm 5:1-3

Prayer for today

Lord, show me a time in the morning when I can listen to you for the day ahead and when I can talk to you for the day ahead.

Amen

In Good Company

There is nothing quite like having good traveling companions. I know this from my many experiences backpacking, trekking, and traveling. And I also know this from the many small groups, studies, and classes that I have been a part of. It's good to be on the road together, not just for support, but for the fact that we're much more likely to get somewhere that we wouldn't have gotten to on our own.

I'm feeling this way, already, about Bonhoeffer. For example, check out this essay, forwarded to me by my dad, where Brett McCracken reflects on Ash Wednesday and the Lenten journey, while also quoting Bonhoeffer, and, to my great delight, throwing in some quotes from an essay on Bonhoeffer written by Marilynne Robinson (author of Gilead, the '05 Pulitzer for Fiction). It's a great, quick read, and really helps to put in perspective all the "giving stuff up" talk that circulates around the Lenten season. Robinson writes of Jesus' own potent mix of power-in-self-denial that "He (Christ) is present even where he is forgotten and efficacious even where he is despised."

How in the world is grace so confoundedly incessant?

That's where Day 2 takes us in the 40-Day Journey, guiding us towards a readiness and an openness, not to our own self-constructed regimens, but to "God's Word for us."

We start with a question:

Are you satisfied in your present experience of prayer and meditation? What kind of time do you give to these activities?

"There are three things for which the Christian needs a regular time alone during the day: meditation on the Scripture, prayer, and intercession...

In our meditation we read the text given to us on the strength of the promise that it has something quite personal to say to us for this day and for our standing as Christians -- it is not only God's Word for the community of faith, but also God's Word for me personally... We are reading the Word of God as God's Word for us. Therefore, we do not ask what this text has to say to other people... but what it has to say to us personally."

- from his book Life Together

Consider these words from the Psalms:

How sweet are your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Through your precepts I get understanding;

therefore I hate every false way.

Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:103-105

Prayer for today:

Lord, draw me to your living Word and let it be for me food for the journey.

The Journey Begins!

Ash Wednesday always holds a bit of anxiety. The holidays are over, the year has opened to a brand-new page, and you can almost hear the binding on the new journal crack open. There's a blank page staring back.

There's a 40-day story to write during Lent, and the questions are familiar: Should I give something up for Lent? What's my plan for these 40 days? If I try and steer myself too much or be too harsh on myself, I know I'll run out of steam in a couple weeks. If I don't take Lent seriously enough, I'm missing the chance to actually get something out of it.

I don't know the forecast for these 40 days, and I'm the first to admit that I need some guidance, some encouragement. And I need some grace.

If you are in a boat that bears any resemblance to mine, the hope is that Dietrich Bonhoeffer will serve as a great guide for these 40 days. I have never walked with him this intentionally through Lent. But I trust him as a guide. Suffice it to say that Bonhoeffer was a courageous Christian leader during the Second World War, and his conviction, that our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ shapes every fiber of our being and molds every action we undertake, has pushed Christians for decades to encounter God at the very center of our lives.

Along these lines, the British essayist G. K. Chesterton once wrote: "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."

The hope for these 40 days is that we may all be led to a deeper encounter with God "at the center of life."

The book, "40-Day Journey with Deitrich Bonhoeffer", edited by Ron Klug, will be our guide. For those of you who have let me know you want a copy, they will be available on Sunday.

Until then, I will be posting the first couple of days worth of entries, albeit in a parred-down version.

So on Day 1, we begin with this question:

Do you sense there are places Jesus might want to lead you where you would rather not go? If so, where are they and what is holding you back?

"Those who follow Jesus' commandment entirely, who let Jesus' yoke rest on them without resistance, will find the burden they must bear to be light. In the gentle pressure of this yoke they will receive the strength to walk the right path without becoming weary... Where will the call to discipleship lead those who follow it? What decisions and painful separations will it entail? We must take this question to him who alone knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him, knows where the path will lead. But we know that it will be a path full of mercy beyond measure. Discipleship is joy."

- from his book, Discipleship

Consider these words from the gospel according to Matthew:

Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

Prayer for today:

Lord Jesus, only you know where my path will lead, but I trust that, even if I do not know either the way or the destination, you are with me and before me, and I follow you with joy.

Amen