Confession.
Our hands were unclean. Our hearts were unprepared.
We were not fit even to eat the crumbs from under your table.
Father,
My hands are skilled at all of the intricate little deceptions
and they are so clumsy at even the simplest acts of good.
What little I manage is sabotaged by my treacherous heart
which yanks the strings to turn all good deeds
to my own glory and honor
and thus robs You of even that scant tithe of the whole,
which, of all rights, should be Yours in its entirety.
My hands whitewash my actions and my lips lie.
Do not even entirely believe these confessions of guilt,
for I know my heart well
and even this may be some attempt to deceive the un-deceivable;
to defraud the eternal source of wisdom.
My heart is truly full of darkness,
which turns the slivers of good
into tools to manipulate others into admiring me, wretched me,
instead of the God who made me.
You, O Father, are worthy of praise.
You, who have created all that is,
have lent me any good that I might have,
if I might be so bold to say,
at considerable risk to Your investment.
For I have proved even less reliable than that slave
who took his talent and buried it.
I, who have instead embezzled it,
and turned back to You empty handed.
And You, it must be truly infinite, Your mercy,
for You came looking for us, traitors and thieves,
not to avenge Your wrong, which was Your right,
but to shower us in mercy.
All glory is Yours, Father.
All good that is done
is done by You alone.
Kill in me all that steals glory and saps praise from You
and change my intractable heart into a straight road,
a smooth conduit for You.
Readings based on N.T. Wright’s Lent for Everyone and the Jesus Storybook Bible
[column columns=6]Day#8 / 2nd Wednesday of Lent:
Mark 6.14-29
“The girl no one wanted” pg. 70
Day #9: Mark 6.30-44
“The forgiving prince” pg. 76
Day #10: Mark 6.45-56
“God to the rescue!” pg. 84
Day #11: Mark 7.1-23
“God makes a way” pg. 92
[/column][column columns=6]Day #12: Mark 8.22-9.1
“Ten ways to be perfect” pg. 100
Day #13: Mark 9.2-13
“The warrior leader” pg. 108
Day #14: Mark 9.14-29
“The teeny,weenie true king” pg. 116
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