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In case you missed it in worship this past Sunday, we challenged each and every one of you to save a life – and it’s not as difficult as it sounds. In just 14 days, you can make a difference by helping provide a lifetime of clean water for a person who would otherwise take his or her chances with contaminated mud holes and unsafe streams.

Throughout the season of Lent, we are encouraging everyone to get involved in the H20 Project Challenge. It’s a simple challenge: drink only water for the next two weeks. And for every drink you give up, take the money you would have spent and donate it to the cause of clean water. To help you out, you’ll find a collection of scorecards to keep track of your consumption. It’s really that simple.

The original idea is designed to run only two weeks, but we’re going to open up the entire season of Lent. You can take the challenge for two weeks and be done, or you can really brave the season and give up drinks for the entire 46 day journey! For the more adventurous, you can take your two week challenge a step further and recognize how privileged we are in this country by donating double the amount for every drink you decide not to give up and drink anyway. Ultimately, how you participate is up to you, but I invite you to keep in mind that we have a goal. The Outreach Committee has decided that we as a congregation have it in us to raise enough money to provide a community water pump through Church World Services. In order to meet this goal, we need to raise $1,000. I’ve seen the generosity of this congregation in action before, and I know that we can reach this goal and more.

However, before you reach for your checkbook to make a gift, I really want to encourage you to take on the challenge. Try going without anything but tap water for at least one week. Keep track of your money and bring it to participate that following Sunday during our special offering time in the service. Don’t just send your money, but take some time to imagine what it might be like to live without all of the privileges we know here in the U.S. You might find that living differently is every bit as rewarding as the giving itself – and maybe even more!

Walking the journey of Lent,

Clint

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Devotion for 8 April 2009

Mark 11:12-19

He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’

- Mark 11:17

Jesus angrily overturning tables in the temple makes for a great action movie, but what does Mark’s short clip really show us as travelers on a Lenten journey?  Jesus’ words point us back to the scripts of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 56:1-8 portrays God’s community as welcoming foreigners, gathering in outcasts, creating a house of prayer for all people.  Jeremiah 7:1-15 paints a dark picture for those who deal unjustly with their neighbors.

On this Wednesday before the dark night of Gethsemane, it is easy for us to fast forward and condemn the fickle Jewish crowds or curse the brutal Roman executioners.  Sometimes we even skip straight to “the good part” where we become righteous participants in the death of Christ – inheriting the hope of resurrection – forgetting the rest of the film altogether.

In our haste to create a blockbuster, we just might miss the message: create welcoming places for all people, or as we Disciples might say, “We really are ‘Better Together.’”  Scene by scene, like an acclaimed director, God crafts that vision of wholeness across the ages.  Isaiah called on the people to create a welcoming house of prayer.  Jeremiah warned against becoming self-righteous bouncers at the door.  Jesus brought that vision into the temple. From one generation to the next, God calls God’s beloved children to continue the story.

These final days of Lent give us a chance to pause, overturn some tables, rewrite the script, and live out our call as the stewards of God’s house of prayer.

Prayer:

Ancient God, Ever New,

Open us to risk, seeing as Jesus sees.

Transform our lives into houses of prayer.

In the name of the living Christ,

Amen.