Resurrection Mercy: Lent Daybook 16
Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Stairway to Heaven, Julia Stankova - Source
Listen: Mercy Now, Mary Gauthier - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 70-71; Psalm 74; Jeremiah 4:9-10,19-28; Romans 2:12-24; John 5:19-29
Excerpts:
Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!
In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
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O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage. Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell. Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.
Your foes have roared within your holy place; they set up their emblems there. At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes. And then, with hatchets and hammers, they smashed all its carved work. They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated the dwelling place of your name, bringing it to the ground. They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
We do not see our emblems; there is no longer any prophet, and there is no one among us who knows how long.
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My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Disaster overtakes disaster; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? “For my people are foolish; they do not know me; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil but do not know how to do good.”
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For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not make a full end.
Because of this the earth shall mourn and the heavens above grow black, for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.
*
All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged in accordance with the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight but the doers of the law who will be justified. When gentiles, who do not possess the law, by nature do what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, as their own conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God through Christ Jesus judges the secret thoughts of all.
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“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out: those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.
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Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles your name. Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals; do not forget the life of your poor forever.
Have regard for your covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. Rise up, O God, plead your cause; remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.
—Psalm 70:4-71:3; Psalm 74:1-9; Jeremiah 4:19-22, 27-28; Romans 2:12-16; John 5:25-29; Psalm 74:18-23
Pray: On Thursdays during Lent, I invite you to sit silently for five minutes, praying only the ‘Jesus Prayer.’
The Jesus Prayer is one of the best-known traditions within Orthodoxy. It’s a short, simple prayer that has been widely used, taught, and discussed throughout the history of Eastern Christianity.
Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ,
Υἱὲ Θεοῦ,
ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλό
Its words say simply:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
have mercy on me the sinner.
As you enter this time of prayer, find a comfortable position. Quiet yourself. Don’t worry about inner and outer distractions. Notice them and let them point you toward the words of the Jesus Prayer. For example, “Oh, there’s my noisy neighbor. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner.” Or, in response to galloping thoughts about an upcoming event, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner.” Even, “My neck and wrists are sore from bending over a screen too long today. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner.”
If you’re able to sit quietly without distraction, notice your breathing and occasionally breathe in “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” and exhale “have mercy on me the sinner.”
Here’s a bit more about the history of the Jesus Prayer from Spirituality: an introduction to the Jesus Prayer by Patrick Comerford.
“In order to enter more deeply into the life of prayer and to come to grips with the Scriptural challenge to pray unceasingly, the Orthodox tradition offers the Jesus Prayer – which is called the “Prayer of the Heart” (Καρδιακή Προσευχή) by some Church Fathers – as a means of concentration and as a focal point for our inner life.
The exact words of the prayer have varied from the most simple possible involving the name “Jesus,” or “Lord have mercy,” to the more common extended form: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
I also appreciate this insight from Allison Backous Troy: Praying the Jesus Prayer showed me Christ via Faith & Leadership.
Do: Fast emojis & social media symbols this week; feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.
This week we’ll fast replacement symbols for language - emojis and social media “likes” - and feast on the language of lament and amazement instead.
Pay attention, in particular, to the Psalms in each day’s post. Gather words of lament and amazement to use throughout the day. Consider the characters in the other Scripture passages each day. Pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal responses they use. You can even keep a thesaurus handy throughout the week. Whenever you’re tempted to use an emoji or social media symbol, stop and with gentle curiosity ask yourself the following questions:
Where does the need to do this come from?
If this conversation was happening face to face, what is it I most want to say to this person?
If you discover that finding language (including silence and physical presence) especially difficult try this exercise:
Divide a piece of paper into four columns headed with the words “I’m sad with you”, “I’m amazed with you”, “I love this about you”, “I’m celebrating with you”. In each column write all the ways you know to convey each truth. Put this list where you can see it and revisit it. Intentionally use these worlds and phrases throughout the week.*
What do you notice about yourself and yourself and the way you relate to others in their experiences?
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1).