In this Lenten journey towards the cross and empty tomb, I continue to be reminded that, whatever else the Gospel is, it is God’s story. That’s important to remember; it is difficult to remain detached from story, since by its very nature story beckons involvement. Eugene Peterson says that theology as story becomes a “verbal [act] of hospitality”,[1] leading us not “to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves”.[2]
So in my Lenten meditation I have sought to see my story in God’s through contemplating Jesus’ seven sayings from the cross, and attending to some possible prayers that arise. Perhaps, amidst the pre-Easter flurry, you might also like to come aside and ponder with me.
- Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34)
How am I oblivious, Lord, to the ways in which I hurt, betray, dismiss, scoff, judge, malign, belittle, stymie, or show indifference to you? To others? What incarnations of ignorance does your forgiveness need to touch? - Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)
What is your promise of deep fellowship for me? What is the shape of our communion into which you are calling me? - Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother (John 19:26–27)
Who are you giving me to care for, Lord, to become as family? Who have you given as carers for me? - My God, My God, have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34)
In what ways am I experiencing your absence? Where do I wish you would just show up, God? What am I to do with this sense of abandonment? - I thirst (John 19:28)
What does your raw humanity, Jesus, mean for me? For my physicality? Whose thirst are you calling me to quench? What am I deeply thirsty for? - It is finished (John 19:29-30)
What has your cross, Jesus, ‘finished’, moved on, dealt with in my life? What remains ‘unfinished’? - Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46)
How is your consecration to the Father becoming my own? In what dimensions of my life is your love further wooing my unfettered devotion?
[1] Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2005), 5.
[2] Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006), 44.
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