Show Notes
In this first week of Lent, Case walks us through a reflection on the importance of starting within before engaging in the public square and offers a simple prayer of confession to helps us consider every aspect of our being before Christ.
Nuance’s Formed for Formation is a weekly liturgy to encourage all of us to be faithful to Christ in the public square. Join Case Thorp as he follows the Church calendar through the reading of Scripture, prayer, and short reflections on faith in all facets of public life.
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Episode Transcript
Theme for Reflection
We now come to the season of Lent.
In Lent’s embrace, we seek penitence, reflect on morals, our moral sense.
Human bounds, our limitations clear.
A savior sought to draw near.
Self-denial, a sacred call.
Preparation echoes Good Friday’s fall.
Easter looms a promise bright
in fasting’s hush or spiritual light.
Christian paths diverse in grace.
Some in fasting find their space.
Others, disciplines added, declare
the season’s essence, a communal prayer.
Psalm 22: 22-30
I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
A Reflection for the Public Square
Who are we to engage in the public square as Christ-followers? Can we really begin to engage others, casting a vision, a vision for God and God’s vision and speak without guile or hypocrisy?
Well, such questions lead me to a quandary. Yes, we are to speak out, to speak the truth and love about the various elements of our culture. But we are to start within before we go out. We are to start within before we go out. Lent is a season that allows just for that. Lent is a season of introspection, of confession of sin, a season of self-denial for the purposes of self-fulfillment by the Holy Spirit. May we be careful to start within before we journey out. The right heart is one who is focused on God first and then others.
God first. His holiness and our sinfulness.
God first, His grace and mercy towards us in our sin through the work of Jesus Christ.
God first, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and then, only then, do we ever so humbly share truth and love, reflecting the very penitent heart God has formed in us.
Galatians 2:19- 3:6
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Prayer
Join me now for a special exercise in prayer as we confess our sin in four unique ways:
Let us confess sin of the heart.
Now let us confess the sins of our minds.
Confess the sin of your tongue,
and confess the sin of your hands.
Let us continue again through the same four confessions. Confess the sin of your heart. Confess the sin of your mind. Confess your sin of your tongue, and confess the sin of your hands.
One last time as we move through the heart, mind, tongue, and hands, let us confess the sins of our hearts. Let us confess the sins of our minds. Together let us confess the sins of that tongue that gets us in trouble all too often. And now let us confess the sins of our hands.
Mark 1: 9-15
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
