If you’ve ever had to say goodbye to someone, you treasure the last words spoken. You remember what was said. You hold on to those final words. For Lent in 2021, we are focusing on the last words of Jesus from the cross. What did he say? What does it mean for us? How do those words change us? This week, we focus on the word “forsaken”. Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Invocation
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen!
Invitation Prayer
O God, everyone is from somewhere. But I’m in the middle of nowhere. I am a nobody. But you call my name, and I am somebody. Lord, do not forsake me. If no one else knows my name, I simply ask, call mine. Know me. Then I’m somebody. Amen.
Confession
Lord, I am a hollow tree. There is an empty space inside me. Gone is the passion and the energy. All that remains is an echo of what once was. Have you left me? Am I alone? I am a corpse without you. Lord, I am a hollow tree. Only you can fill the empty.
Word: Matthew 10:39
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Meditation
Jesus was in utter despair on the cross. But his anguish was not a surprise. Jesus wasn’t caught off guard by the pain of the sacrifice. He foreshadowed his death when he said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Only by dying in the soil does a seed sprout life. Only by loss is there gain. Only in forsaking, is one found again. The cruciform pattern of death and resurrection is our pattern in Lent. We daily “die to self” that God might raise a new person – forgiven, free, and shaped in the image of God. We follow this pattern, because One man first pioneered it. He lost all that we might have life. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” What must you “lose” today for Jesus’ sake?
Lord of the lost, it’s hard to sacrifice. I need your courage and strength. With these, I will leave all for you. Amen.
Sending
From Hebrews 13:5-6: “He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Come, O Lord, Amen.
*Today’s devotion is taken from It Is Finished by Jeff Cloeter, published by CTA – Christ to All at ctainc.com