Biblical Exploration
5-Week Lenten Program
“I will water thee with my tears.”
- Isaiah 16.9
Just a few days into February, we will be in the season of Lent. We enter into this sacred season on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 6th) with a special worship service. On the following Wednesday evenings we hope you can join us for our 5-week Lenten program where we will explore the biblical expressions of water and of tears. Our journey will begin at the beginning … in Genesis with God’s Spirit moving over the waters of the deep. It will end in the last biblical book, Revelation, where God wipes away all tears. In between we will explore the ministry of water and tears and particularly in Jesus’ last words from the cross.
The ministry of water and tears in the Bible is a profound one. Water, that primal element necessary for all life, is a means of liberation – the parting of the Red Sea, Mary’s womb, baptism, the woman at the well, to mention only a few. Tears, that primal element of the human experience, are necessary for the full expression of human grief (sometimes even joy). You remember that bottle which David labeled as containing tears, and Mary's tears, and Paul's tears, and Christ's tears, and the harvest of joy that is to spring from the sowing of tears. Chemists will tell you that tears are made up of water, salt, lime, and other component parts; but they miss the chief ingredients – the acid of a soured life, the sting of a bitter memory, the fragments of a broken heart. A tear is pain in solution. Our programs will explore, discern and reflect on God’s presence in these primal elements.
Before each program, we will have supper together (6:00 PM and you don’t need to bring anything!). We will close each evening with 20 minutes of prayer and song. You are welcome to come for all or part of each week. Kendrick and I look forward to leading you during this Lenten season. Through our meals, program, discussion, prayers and songs, may we find the Bible’s ministry of water and tears and its gift of redemption.
Lenten blessings,
Susan
|
