Devotional scriptures for the fourth week of Lent: Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 and Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Psalm 32

1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”– and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

The Ministry of Reconciliation
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

The Parable of the Lost Son
1 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.
2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable:

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. ‘
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 ” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ “

Read: Psalm 63:1-8

Jessica Crawford, a first-year seminary student who is also a singer/songwriter, reflects on Psalm 63 in this original song:

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By Nicholas Detweiler-Stoddard, EMS student

Read: Isaiah 55:1-9

Sometimes Lent gets a bum rap for all its demands about giving up yummy food, The Bachelor and 24-7 Facebook updates. Today’s passage seems a little more appealing than all that Lenten fasting stuff. I like food and drink and I really like free food and drink. I would love to find out where I can go for this abundance of free “wine and milk” (which, by the way, is not a very appetizing menu, free or not)!

And yet, the invitations in this scripture, written as the voice of God, really are the same invitations of the Lenten season: “Why do you spend all your time and resources on food that cannot really fulfill true hunger and thirst? Listen here; eat what is actually good for you.” As much as this sounds like dietary advice from God (milk and wine, seriously?) it is really a call to do what we do when we fast. It is an invitation to give up our pursuit of things that cannot truly satisfy our needs so that we may, instead, find what actually fulfills us and “delight in its abundance.”

So, what good eats is God is calling to in Isaiah 55? The opening invitation is to eat free food we don’t have to buy. Sounds good so far. God’s second invitation starts to get at the heart of the matter: “Come on over and listen well so that you can really live. If you listen, you will be attractive to the world and people will flock to you, just as I promised and fulfilled for King David.” Okay, still sounding good. The last invitation is the one that really strikes home. “Go looking for the Lord. God isn’t far, you can find God.”

Now there is a message of hope! Our habits and our thoughts may not be exactly as high as God is aiming for, but if we go searching for the Lord, searching for the higher ways of living, God will have compassion. God will “abundantly pardon” our less-than-perfectness. Lent can be tough, but there is hope: If we search out and listen for God and the high thoughts and ways of God, we will find an abundance of good, attractive, free food to fill up on!