Sit and Think of Jesus

Preparing for the Third Sunday in Lent: Three Days before Sunday (Year A)

Scripture

Psalter: Psalm 95

Old Testament: Exodus 16:1-8

Epistle: Colossians 1:15-23

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Prayer

Enduring Presence, goal and guide, you go before and await our coming. Only our thirst compels us beyond complaint to conversation, beyond rejection to relationship. Pour your love into our hearts, that, refreshed and renewed, we may invite others to the living water given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Reflection

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in[b] him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:15-20).

by Pastor Lindsey Funtik (originally published (October 11, 2020)

Sit and think of Jesus. 

Run your cloudy gaze over the black tumult of His hair,

swept to and fro by the 

Galilee breeze.

He could redirect gales and gusts 

without a thought,

but see Him close His eyes and 

relish what belongs to Him.

Think of His wildness, 

His power, 

the quiet way He placed both aside so as to have

campfire breakfasts with 

some ragtag nobodies.

Ponder calloused hands,

execution scars, 

tufty knuckles, 

a gentle touch--

did His fingerprints swirl, 

as unassuming and unique 

as ours?

Think of Jesus Christ--God, Holy and Saving.

Think of Jesus of Nazareth--God who gets it.

Sit and really think of 

brother

and rabbi

and King. 

Do you, like me, sag with relief to still find Him there, 

at the center of all things?

PRAYER: God of wilderness and water, your Son was baptized and tempted as we are. Guide us through this season, that we may not avoid struggle, but open ourselves to blessing, through the cleansing depths of repentance and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.

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More of Lindsey’s writings can be found here.