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Multimedia Lent Devotional – Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

March 11, 2025

2025:

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Allen Penton) – Jonah 3:1-10
  • Reflection (Karen Sculley)
  • Prayer (Jeanne Vick)
  • Videos: (Luke 11:29-32)
  • Music: “Compassion Hymn” (Keith & Kristyn Getty) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMR85VnEluM

Jonah 3:1-10 – “1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.”

Have you ever experienced something that completely took you by surprise? To be surprised by something means we were not expecting it. We were not prepared. We were caught off guard.

The people of Nineveh were surprised by the word of the Lord that Jonah delivered. It is clear from Scripture that Jonah did not expect the Ninevites to listen to him or to respond to his message. Tragically, he seemed to almost hope that they would be punished by God because Jonah simply did not care. Jonah was clearly surprised that the entire city humbled themselves and repented! And both Jonah and the Ninevites were very surprised by the love and mercy of God!

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus refers back to the people of Nineveh when he tells us that they “repented at the proclamation of Jonah.” In Luke’s second book, Acts, he tells us that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power … he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” Jesus beckons us to pay attention: “see, something greater than Jonah is here!” Even Jesus’ closest followers did not get what he was saying or doing. They did not understand what was about to happen, but soon God would surprise the whole world with the “sign of Jonah” in Jesus the Messiah’s life, death, and resurrection.

In this season of Lent, we are setting aside time to do some sober reflection on the gospel that Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated, and our response to that good news. N. T. Wright paints a vivid picture of the gospel: “Life has come to life and is pouring out like a mighty river into the world, in the form of a new power, the power of love. The good news was, and is, that all this has happened in and through Jesus; that one day it will happen, completely and utterly, to all creation; and that we humans, every single one of us, whoever we are, can be caught up in that transformation here and now.”

Jonah struggled to come to terms with the power and love of God. We struggle, too, because, although God’s steadfast love endures forever, our love and mercy are so very imperfect and incomplete. The good news of Jesus is that no one is beyond the reach of God’s power and love. Because we are human, there are undoubtedly parts of our hearts and minds that have yet to receive and embody this good news. May each of us slow down and reflect on where we need to do some serious repentance or sincere restitution. May we refocus and reorient our attention and priorities towards proclaiming and demonstrating Christ’s love and mercy for all.

2024:

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent:

Psalm 51:3-4, 12-17 – “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment … Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

A beautiful prayer is tucked into the middle of today’s Scripture: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” Asking God to restore the joy of his salvation is asking God to help us to turn back, to return to the place of shalom, the place of wholeness, flourishing, and delight. Although I took wrong turns on several occasions during my pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, on one particular day, several walking companions and I walked seven kilometers in the wrong direction under the blazing hot Spanish sun. The joy of the journey seemed to be evaporating at the same rate that my water supply was dwindling and the blisters on my feet were multiplying. When we finally emerged from wandering in the woods into a small town, it became clear that it would be futile to continue in the same direction. If we’d kept going that way, we would have only gotten even further away from our destination, let alone our lodging for the night. Despite frustration and exhaustion, there was nothing for it but for us to be willing to turn back. What happened after that is a story for another day. In our journey of life, how often do we think we can keep going in the wrong direction, that somehow doing whatever we want will lead to life or joy or peace? That’s not how life works. If we choose to, we can say, “I don’t believe in gravity” but our declarations and choices don’t change the existence and properties of gravity one bit – dropping the heavy package I’m cradling is going to hurt my toes, whether I believe it will fall downwards or not. God’s way is the way of wholeness, flourishing, and delight. No amount of saying, “I believe my own thing” changes the reality of how things work at all – God has set up life, the universe, and everything in such a way that we can live an abundant life, or we can go in another direction entirely. Jesus came that we could enter that life of wholeness, flourishing, and delight for which God created us. Are you willing to choose life? Come to Jesus!

2023:

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Glen Penton) – Psalm 51:1-2, 10-11, 16-17
  • Reflection (Judi Campbell)
  • Prayer (Don Vick)
  • Video: Luke
  • Music: “Wonderful Merciful Savior” (David Wesley)

Each short Multimedia Lent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during the season preceding Easter. Lent is a solemn 40-day period we observe as we seek to draw near to God prior to the great celebration of Easter. During Lent,

  • we intentionally practice sober reflection, serious repentance, and sincere restitution, in which we more fully recognize our brokenness as humans, looking always to Jesus Christ as our Savior and sanctifier;
  • we seek to live lives marked by simplicity, self-denial, and surrender, in imitation of Christ Jesus, who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before He began His public ministry;
  • we look for ways in which we express love for neighbors and nations in need in practical ways through generously giving of our time, talents, and treasures.

This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church

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