Back to the Future: A Lenten Meditation

SCRIPTURE:  I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 ESV

THOUGHT: So much of Christian faith is about perspective, something I have learned the hard way. In my worst and most painful crisis, I had to coach myself many times a day – out loud at times – “eyes on Jesus, not on the waves.” Eyes on the waves lead to fear and panic. Eyes on Jesus gave perspective, and brought the peace I so needed.

My Old Testament professor taught that the ancient Hebrews had a way of living that embodied anamnesis, or remembering the saving deeds of God. God was concentric to everything – in the middle, he would explain, not on the fringe of life, or isolated in the ‘religion’ category, or even far away from us in the heavens. In this way, the ancient believers lived facing God-in-the-middle, turned toward God’s saving acts and God’s narrative of the world. As they faced their rich and relevant past, they literally backed into the future, rather than facing it, using remembering God as the sacred starting place.

We could use some practice with “taking heart” could we not? The Lenten season represents such a journey. With Christ’s incarnation, life, death, resurrection and second coming at the center of everything, we find our fears of the future subject to his larger narrative. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

PRAYER: God at the center of creation and redemption, help us find courage as we back into the future with your bigger story speaking more loudly to us than the voice of culture, or governments of this world. Help us “take heart” as we face your narrative of hope, rescue, and unconditional love.