February 19
Jeremy Bork is a volunteer cabin counselor at Camp Fowler and a student at Western Theological Seminary under care of Schenectady Classis.

1 Peter 3:18-22

We have begun a new season in the Christian year. After moving from Advent through Christmas and Epiphany, we find ourselves in Lent. It’s the time of the year when we remember and await the death and resurrection of Jesus. Like the life of a Christian, it is a season of living in the tension: of the already and the not yet, of life and death, of celebration and suffering. Some are living in this tension right now.

“Christ also suffered for sins once for all…in order to bring you to God.” We worship a God who suffers with us while drawing us toward God’s self—who invites us to be in relationship with God and with each other. To be in Christ is to be in union with all those who are in Christ. We are not alone. Lent is an invitation to be drawn closer to God and to one another, and this invitation invokes a response.

We’re all invited to participate in God’s redemption of creation. God has made and is making and will make all things new. Just as Christ was made alive in the spirit, we too are made alive in Christ. Looking to this hope, we live more fully into the present. Lent is a time to look at what the Lord has done and is doing and will do for the whole world.

Prayer: God of tension, when the brokenness and pain of this world seems to overpower joy and life, may we open our hearts, minds, and souls to see that you suffer with us. As you give us life through the Spirit, may we live more fully here and now, looking toward a future where you will wipe every tear from our eyes. Amen.

For this year’s Lent devotions, the days follow the Common Lectionary texts. Each author was invited to: 1.Read the passage.
2.Read a couple passages before and after the assigned day.
3.Do something else for the day, keeping the passage in mind.
4.Find a word/phrase/concept that connects with your own experience. Reflect on that.
You are encouraged to do the same.