2nd Sunday of Lent 2020

First from CS Lewis in The Problem of Pain
"But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him (with that responsive love proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him; and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces. If we do not, that only shows that what we are trying to love is not yet God -- though it may be the nearest approximation to God which our thought and fantasy can attain. Yet the call is not only to prostration and awe; it is to a reflection of the Divine life, a creaturely participation in the Divine attributes which is far beyond our present desires. We are bidden to 'put on Christ', to become like God. That is whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not to little.

I have heard and read much in the past few weeks about being the beloved of God. Love is the driving force in the being of the Divine. The Lord God is on our side. Too often I forget this and feel that God is against me, that God is vindictive and harsh. Now this is surely what I deserve much of the time when I fail to live faithfully for God. But God is not 'out to get me' but wants to help me know God's love, care, compassion and good plan for my life. One of the books I read in Florida was titled The God-Shaped Brain by Dr. Timothy R. Jennings. Dr. Jennings is a psychiatrist whose emphasis throughout the book was that love is the divine law of life upon which God wants us to build our lives. I think of the Bible verse that goes something like 'God is love and those who live in love live in  God and God in them.'

Here is an appropriate prayer for the second Sunday in Lent from The Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God, You alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what You command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Bible lectionary readings for March 2-8 and a word selected for each

Genesis 12:1-4     bless
Psalm 121             keeper
Romans 4:1-5       believed
Romans 4:13-17   promise
John 3:1-17           wind
Matthew 17:1-9     fear
Jeremiah 3:15-25  heal