Lent Devotional March 28, 2023

Lenten Devotional March 28, 2023

Scripture

Psalm 146

1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

Devotional

The Rev. Dr. Steve Shussett ’93

In the horror movie, The Invisible Man, no one could see the title character unless he was bandaged and clothed. His hands couldn’t be seen without gloves, but what he performed with them was evident to everyone.

The God we know in Jesus is love, not evil as with the movie villain. But God is even less visible than a chemically-altered scientist. Since Moses was told he could not see God’s face, we’ve been repeatedly told that “no one has ever seen God.”

What does it mean to be made in the image of God, if ours is the invisible God?

Paul writes that Jesus is “the image of this invisible God,” and in 1 John we read that “we know what true love looks like because of Jesus.” When we see Jesus we see God, and though we can’t see God, through Scripture we can see Jesus and his effect on so many.

Today, God’s Spirit still shapes the world. Those baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ, and Psalm 146 is just one link in the long chain of Scripture revealing what our justice-seeking God looks like. What it means for us to look like God in service of all those made and loved by God.

When we help free those imprisoned, whatever their chains, or lift up any who are bowed down, regardless of their burden, these are the effects of the Holy Spirit who daily shapes us into the image of the invisible God.

Prayer

Holy One, make us pure in heart by water, fire, and Spirit, that we might see you, and find you in everyone and in all things. But rather than as passive observers and guilty bystanders, who see you and say nothing, make us instruments of your peace and justice, that by truth and action all will know we follow Christ. Amen.

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