Brothers and sisters,
I must confess something to you. I’ve never been able to stick with a Lenten devotional. Truthfully, I’m not good at sticking with any kind of devotional. Advent? Nope. Lent? Nope. Contemporary theologian? Not happening. Classic of the genre? I’m sure it would be great—if I could stick with it!
The thing is, I like the idea of a devotional. For those that may wonder what a “devotional” is, it’s most commonly a book that has short readings for a set number of days. The idea is that you read one part per day over the course of however long the book is. They’re usually themed to help you contemplate something in particular. And, again, I’d love to be the kind of person that can do a devotional, but I’m forgetful enough that I’ll forget to read it one day, then decide I’ll just read two entries the next day, which defeats the whole purpose of the devotional format (one reading per day). Inevitably, I forget multiple days in a row and suddenly I’ve got a week’s worth of readings I need to catch up on and so instead I just say, “I’ll try again next year.”
That being said, there are two devotional books that I have kept over the years. I still have not read them cover-to-cover, but they are both collections of spiritual writings by be-loved authors. Sometimes, I do think to pick them up and read a passage. Often, their writing inspires me. The first is an Advent devotional entitled, Watch for the Light. The second is a Lenten devotional entitled, Bread and Wine. I wanted to share a poem with you all in Bread and Wine that comes from Oscar Wilde, a renowned playwright, called, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (pronounced “Redding Jail”):
…And thus we rust Life’s iron chain
Degraded and alone:
And some men curse, and some men weep,
And some men make no moan:
But God’s eternal Laws are kind
And break the heart of stone.
And every human heart that breaks,
In prison-cell or yard,
Is as that broken box that gave
Its treasure to the Lord,
And filled the unclean leper’s house
With the scent of costliest nard.
Ah! happy those whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from Sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?
During Lent, if we will recognize our own sin, if we will allow our hearts to be broken by the good news of the gospel, we will find that sin has now power over us, that death does not have the final say, that life is worth the living just because Christ lives.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben