Lent: Friday, March 31, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 2:1-22

God was watching out for Moses from the time of his birth, and God had a plan for him. Moses, though, made some pretty big mistakes. He killed a man. Two of the greatest heroes in the Old Testament (Moses and David) are responsible for the death of someone. This point cannot be brushed over. Moses was not perfect, no man is, and we see that he committed a crime that many of us would judge as one of the worst a human could commit.

In spite of that, God had a plan for him. God desired to use Moses in spite of his mistakes. God desires to use each of us, no matter how far we think we may have gone, no matter what we may done. God can still use you, God can still do great things with you, if you will allow. He was going to do great things with Moses, used him to free His people. What will he do with you, if you will allow?

New Testament Lesson

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3

We all have different gifts and different callings; they are not the same. There is one thing, though, that we can all do. We can all love. It is the greatest of all the gifts of the spirit. Love is what our faith should produce. Jesus says that we are to love God and love our neighbor. From my tradition as a Methodist, John Wesley said that is the goal of our salvation, to have us live in perfect love, that perfect love of God and each other. That is what we should be striving for, to have God's love so fully fill us that His love overflows into our love of each other. That love, that is the trust evidence of the Christian life. That is the greatest of the all the gifts of the spirit.

Gospel Lesson

Mark 9:2-13

In this passage, we see Jesus in His full glory. This is Jesus as He truly is, glorious beyond words. We serve a savior worthy of our praise. He is not worthy just because of what He has done for our lives, but He is worthy simply based on who is. He is God! He is perfect! He is the very force of Creation, the one that Paul says holds all of Creation together (Colossians 1: 15-20). And He desires to know us personally. He is worthy of all our lives and all our praise.