Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? (Isaiah 55: 1-2)
One of the devotions that I am reading this Lenten season is A Way Other Than Our Own by Walter Brueggemann. As perhaps the preeminent Old Testament theologian of the 20th century, Dr. Brueggemann challenges and delights in his expositions.
I was fortunate to have taken Old Testament theology with him during my second year of seminary in Atlanta. Later on, after he moved to Cincinnati, I was blessed to form a friendship with him. Our love of baseball and Jesus brought us together. He is a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan and I attended a Cards-Reds game with him. We sat in the 4th row behind the Cardinals dugout. I am not sure what excited me more ... sitting beside Walter or seeing Albert Pujols up close.
In one of the Lenten devotions he writes these words,
"Lent is a question, a gift and a summons. The questions of Lent are: What are we doing? Are we working for that which does not satisfy? Are we spending for that which is not bread? The gifts of Lent are free, gifts in the gospel that sustain life: free wine and milk, free water and bread, all the markings of sacrament. The summons of Lent is to bear new fruit. Do what is in sync with the God of the gospel, the God who has another intention for our lives, who wants us out of the rat-race of big is better."
Are you asking the questions of Lent? Are you receiving the free gifts of God's abundant grace and love? Are you bearing fruit through lives turned again toward God?
You are the God who disrupts our lives with an invitation. During this season of Lent, may we stop and may we start again: may we stop our strivings marked by greed and anxiety, may we start again the work of compassion and generosity. Amen (prayer by Walter Brueggemann).
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