Here is the full Lenten Devotional through Palm Sunday. I'll add Passion week later. I went through my sermons from mostly this past year and creating a Lenten devotional from the main message from each week.
I'll probably post each day separately, as well. But this is the whole thing if you want to copy it off.
Dreaming Toward Resurrection
A Lenten Journey of Reconciliation
Lent 2026 Devotional
Rev. Walt Pietschmann
Ash Wednesday – February 18, 2026
Easter Sunday – April 5, 2026
Table of Contents
Ash Wednesday, February 18 – Create in Me a Clean Heart
Thursday, February 19 – Return with All Your Heart
Friday, February 20 – The Fast God Chooses
Saturday, February 21 – At the Table with Sinners
First Sunday in Lent, February 22 – Wilderness and Identity
Monday, February 23 – What the Lord Requires
Tuesday, February 24 – Salt and Light
Wednesday, February 25 – Our Refuge and Strength
Thursday, February 26 – Ministry of Reconciliation
Friday, February 27 – A New Thing
Saturday, February 28 – The Father Who Runs
Second Sunday in Lent, March 1 – Transfigured Vision
Monday, March 2 – Faith Like Abram
Tuesday, March 3 – Set Your Mind
Wednesday, March 4 – The Fig Tree and Patience
Thursday, March 5 – Prayer That Listens
Friday, March 6 – Courageous Welcome
Saturday, March 7 – Holy Longing
Third Sunday in Lent, March 8 – Bearing Fruit
Monday, March 9 – Living Water
Tuesday, March 10 – Forgiving Seventy Times
Wednesday, March 11 – The Greatest Commandment
Thursday, March 12 – The Good Samaritan
Friday, March 13 – Treasure in Heaven
Saturday, March 14 – Humble Service
Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 15 – Joy of Homecoming
Monday, March 16 – New Creation Living
Tuesday, March 17 – Light in the Darkness
Wednesday, March 18 – Shepherding Love
Thursday, March 19 – Standing in the Gap
Friday, March 20 – Costly Grace
Saturday, March 21 – Dry Bones and Hope
Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 22 – Losing and Finding Life
Monday, March 23 – Anointing Love
Tuesday, March 24 – Servant Leadership
Wednesday, March 25 – When the Grain Falls
Thursday, March 26 – Covenant Written on the Heart
Friday, March 27 – The Man of Sorrows
Saturday, March 28 – Waiting in the Silence
Palm Sunday, March 29 – The Humble King
Monday of Holy Week, March 30 – Clearing the Temple
Tuesday of Holy Week, March 31 – Watching and Waiting
Wednesday of Holy Week, April 1 – The Cost of Betrayal
Maundy Thursday, April 2 – Love One Another
Good Friday, April 3 – It Is Finished
Holy Saturday, April 4 – The Great Silence
Easter Sunday, Apirl 5 – Resurrection Morning
Ash Wednesday – February 18, 2026
Scripture: Psalm 51:10–12; Genesis 1:26–28; 2 Corinthians 5:19–20
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
Lent begins not with triumph, but with truth. Ashes mark our foreheads in the shape of a
cross—dust touched by grace. We are
reminded that we are fragile, finite, and yet made in the image of God. The same God who formed humanity from the dust
also breathes reconciliation into our fractured lives.
The world teaches us to deny weakness. Lent invites us to name it. The world teaches us to accumulate and defend.
Lent invites us to surrender and trust. The world teaches us to divide. Lent reminds
us that in Christ, God is reconciling the world—not counting our trespasses or
the debt we owe against us, but entrusting to us the ministry of
reconciliation.
We begin in honesty. Where has joy
been found since Christmas? Where has
sorrow lingered? Where have relationships frayed? Where have we contributed to injustice,
indifference, or silence?
Ashes are not a symbol of despair. They are a sign of beginning again.
This is not a private journey only. We repent not only of personal sin, but of
social brokenness—of prejudices ignored, injustices tolerated, creation
despoiled. We step into Lent as
ambassadors of Christ, daring to believe reconciliation is possible in us and
through us.
The journey to resurrection begins with courage: the courage to tell the
truth about ourselves and to trust that God’s steadfast love is greater still.
Reflection Questions:
- What in my life feels disordered
or out of alignment with God’s reconciling love?
- Where is reconciliation needed—in
my relationships, my church, my community?
- What might it mean for me to live
as an “ambassador for Christ” this Lent?
Thursday – February 19
Scripture: Joel 2:12–13; Matthew 6:1–6
“Return to me with all your heart.”
Return implies we have wandered. And
wander we do—not always dramatically, but subtly. We drift toward self-protection, distraction,
resentment, and spiritual numbness.
The prophet Joel calls not for performance but for authenticity: “Rend
your hearts and not your garments.” Jesus echoes this in the Sermon on the Mount. Pray, fast, and give—not to be seen, but to be
transformed.
Moderate religion is comfortable. Lent is not about comfort. It is about realignment, a re-ordering of our
lives.
To return to God is not to grovel, but simply to come home. It is to remember who we are: image-bearers
called to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly. It is to remember that faith is not a badge we
wear but a life we live.
Perhaps the question for today is simple: What has quietly replaced God
at the center of my life? Achievement? Anxiety? Outrage? Security?
Returning is less about distance traveled and more about direction faced.
God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast
love. We do not return to a harsh
taskmaster, but to a reconciling Father, a welcoming Christ, a Spirit who
reshapes our longing into holy longing.
Reflection Questions:
- What subtle drift in my life
needs correction?
- Where have I confused religious
appearance with spiritual depth?
- What would wholehearted return
look like for me right now?
Friday – February 20
Scripture: Isaiah 58:6–12
“Is not this the fast that I choose?”
Isaiah refuses to let fasting become self-centered spirituality. True fasting loosens the bonds of injustice,
shares bread with the hungry, shelters the unhoused, and refuses to hide from
human suffering.
Lent is not spiritual self-improvement. It is spiritual reorientation toward neighbor
and world.
If we fast from chocolate but feast on resentment, we have missed the
point. If we give up luxury but ignore
injustice, we have misunderstood the invitation.
The prophet’s vision is bold: when justice flows, light breaks forth like
the dawn.
This is the Church I dream of—a people who do not merely welcome the
marginalized but champion their causes; who stand firm in acknowledging the
dignity of every human being; who say no to systems that reduce people to
commodities.
The fast God chooses restores community. It repairs breaches. It rebuilds ruined cities.
Perhaps this Lent is less about subtraction and more about
addition—adding courage, adding compassion, adding advocacy.
When we align our lives with God’s justice, we become, in Isaiah’s words,
“repairers of the breach.”
Reflection Questions:
- Who benefits from my comfort? Who is harmed by my indifference?
- What injustice might God be
asking me to confront this season?
- How can my Lenten practice bless
someone beyond myself?
Saturday – February 21
Scripture: Luke 5:27–32
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners. He sits at tables others avoid. The scandal is not merely that he forgives; it
is that he shares meals.
Repentance is relational. It is
not shame-driven isolation but restored belonging.
The Pharisees were not wrong to care about holiness. They were wrong to confuse holiness with
separation. Jesus reveals a holiness
that moves toward brokenness, not away from it.
The Church must wrestle with this question in every generation: Are we
more concerned with guarding our boundaries or widening the circle?
To repent is to change direction. It is also to change posture.
Whose table have we avoided? Whose
story have we dismissed? Whose presence
unsettles us?
In Christ, God moves toward us in our fractured state. As recipients of that grace, we are sent
outward—not as judges, but as fellow travelers.
Lent invites us to become the kind of people who sit where Christ sits;
alongside the lonely, the unwelcomed, the disfigured, the widow, the outcast,
the broken, the disenfranchised, the foreigner, the immigrant, the stranger in
our midst, the orphan, and those with whom we disagree.
Reflection Questions:
- Who in my life feels “outside”
the circle?
- Where might God be asking me to
widen my welcome?
- How has Christ met me at a table
of grace?
First Sunday in Lent – February 22,
2026
Scripture: Luke 4:1–13
Jesus enters the wilderness “full of the Holy Spirit.” The wilderness is not evidence of God’s
absence but often the place of God’s shaping.
The Tempter’s voice is subtle: Turn stones to bread. Claim power. Secure safety. Each temptation offers a shortcut around
trust. Each suggests that identity must
be proven rather than received.
We know these temptations well. Feed
your hunger at any cost. Protect
yourself above all else. Accumulate
influence so that you will not feel vulnerable.
Yet Jesus resists—not with bravado, but with Scripture. He remembers who he is.
Lent invites us into wilderness spaces—not to punish us, but to clarify
us. What voices compete for your
allegiance? What shortcuts look
appealing? What fears drive your
decisions?
The Church, too, faces temptation: to chase relevance through power, to
secure safety through exclusion, to measure worth through numbers or influence.
But our calling is different. We are ambassadors of reconciliation, not
architects of dominance.
In the wilderness we discover whether we trust God enough to live
differently.
Temptation is rarely about dramatic evil. It is usually about distorted good. Bread is good. Safety is good. Authority can be good. But when they replace trust in God, they
become idols.
The wilderness strips us down so we can remember who we are: beloved
children of God.
Reflection Questions:
- What temptation most persistently
competes for my trust?
- Where do I seek security apart
from God?
- How might wilderness be shaping
rather than punishing me?
Monday – February 23
Scripture: Micah 6:6–8
“What does the Lord require of you?”
Micah cuts through religious excess. God is not impressed by extravagance if
justice is absent. No performance
compensates for indifference.
To do justice.
To love kindness.
To walk humbly.
Justice is not merely charity; it is the repair of systems that harm. Kindness is not weakness; it is covenant
loyalty shaped by compassion. Humility
is not self-deprecation; it is living grounded in God rather than ego.
Moderately progressive Christians often care deeply about justice—and
rightly so. But Lent presses us deeper:
Do we love justice or do we love being right? Do we walk humbly even with those who disagree
with us?
Humility does not silence conviction. It refines it.
A church shaped by Micah does not confuse political noise with prophetic
clarity. It listens before speaking. It serves before criticizing. It examines itself before condemning others.
To walk humbly is to remember that we, too, are recipients of mercy.
The cross will later show us what justice and mercy look like
intertwined. For now, Lent asks us to
align our daily steps with this ancient calling.
Reflection Questions:
- Where is God asking me to act
more justly?
- Do I love kindness as much as I
love being correct?
- What would deeper humility look
like in my daily life?
Tuesday – February 24
Scripture: Matthew 5:13–16
“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”
Jesus does not say “try to become.” He says “you are.”
Salt preserves and flavors. Light
reveals and guides. Both operate
quietly, faithfully, persistently.
Salt loses its saltiness when it blends in so completely that it makes no
difference. Light hides when fear
overcomes courage.
The Church does not exist to dominate culture, nor to disappear into it. We are called to presence—faithful presence
that embodies reconciliation, generosity, courage, and mercy.
What if being salt means preserving human dignity wherever it is
threatened? What if being light means
exposing injustice without dehumanizing those who perpetuate it?
Light does not shout. It shines.
Sometimes our witness is as simple as refusing cynicism. Sometimes it is as bold as standing against
prejudice. Often it is lived in the
small, unseen decisions to forgive, to include, to speak truth gently but
firmly.
The world does not need louder Christians. It needs luminous ones.
Reflection Questions:
- Where might my faith have grown
dim?
- How can I preserve dignity in a
polarized world?
- What small act of light can I
embody today?
Wednesday – February 25
Scripture: Psalm 46:1–3
“God is our refuge and strength.”
The earth changes. Mountains
shake. Waters roar.
The psalmist does not deny instability. Faith is not denial. It is anchoring.
We live in a time of shifting institutions, anxious headlines, and deep
cultural fragmentation. Fear is profitable in such a climate. But Lent reminds us that fear is not our
foundation.
If God is refuge, then we are free to act courageously. If God is strength, we need not grasp for
false power.
A church rooted in refuge becomes a refuge. It offers stability not by resisting change,
but by grounding change in love.
We are not called to control the shaking. We are called to trust through it.
Silence becomes essential here. In
quiet, we rediscover steadiness. In
prayer, we hear again the voice of the One who holds history.
The psalm ends with an invitation: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Stillness is resistance against panic.
Reflection Questions:
- What fears most disrupt my peace?
- How might stillness strengthen my
courage?
- Where can I become a refuge for
someone else?
Thursday – February 26
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17–21
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.”
Reconciliation is not sentimental. It is costly. It requires transformation.
Paul reminds us that God has entrusted this ministry to us. Not to the powerful alone. Not to clergy only. To all of us.
We are agents of a new creation.
This begins personally—allowing Christ to reshape our grudges, our
assumptions, our defensiveness. But it
does not end there. It extends
outward—into families, churches, neighborhoods, civic life.
Reconciliation does not erase truth. It insists on it. But truth is spoken for healing, not
humiliation.
Imagine a church known less for what it opposes and more for how it
reconciles.
New creation is already unfolding. Lent helps us participate rather than resist.
Reflection Questions:
- Where do I resist becoming new?
- Who needs to hear reconciliation
from me?
- How can I embody healing without
avoiding truth?
Friday – February 27
Scripture: Isaiah 43:18–19
“I am about to do a new thing.”
We often cling to the familiar—even when it no longer bears fruit. God speaks through Isaiah to people nostalgic
for the past and fearful of the future.
Do not remember the former things. This does not mean dishonor tradition.
It means do not idolize it. Dream of a church and church members who
honor the past while embracing the future. Because the Spirit Holy who moved in former
generations is not finished yet.
Sometimes churches fear change because change feels like loss. But sometimes change is resurrection in
disguise. Can you perceive it?
Newness often begins small—a conversation, a courageous decision, a
widening of welcome, a step toward justice.
God’s work is not nostalgia. It is hope.
Reflection Questions:
- What “former thing” might I be
clinging to?
- Where do I sense God’s newness
emerging?
- How can I respond with courage
rather than fear?
Saturday – February 28
Scripture: Luke 15:11–24
“While he was still far off…”
The father sees before the son arrives. Grace moves first.
The younger son rehearses repentance as transaction. The father interrupts with embrace.
Repentance matters. But grace
precedes perfection.
Lent can become heavy if we forget this. We examine ourselves not to earn
love, but because we are loved. Notice
too: the elder brother stands outside. Resentment
can distance us just as much as rebellion.
Which brother are you most like this season?
The Church must reflect the father more than either son—watchful,
hopeful, ready to run toward those returning, and patient with those struggling
to rejoice.
Resurrection joy begins in this posture.
Reflection Questions:
- Do I struggle more with rebellion
or resentment?
- Can I trust grace before earning
it?
- How might I reflect the father’s
welcome this week?
Second Sunday in
Lent – March 1
Scripture: Luke 9:28–36
The disciples glimpse Christ transfigured—radiant, luminous, unmistakably
divine. And yet the voice from heaven
does not say “Build here.” It says, “Listen to him.”
Spiritual mountaintops are gifts. But
they are not permanent dwellings. We are
given vision in order to sustain us for valleys.
A moderately progressive faith values insight, understanding, thoughtful
theology. But Lent reminds us that
illumination must lead to obedience. Listen
to Christ.
Listen when he speaks of loving enemies.
Listen when he speaks of taking up the cross.
Listen when he speaks of mercy triumphing over judgment.
Transfiguration is not escape from suffering. It is preparation for it.
Reflection Questions
- When have I experienced spiritual
clarity?
- How does listening differ from
merely agreeing?
- What valley might require courage
right now?
Monday – March 2
Scripture: Genesis 12:1–4
“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Go…’”
Abram is called into uncertainty. No
map. No guarantee of outcome. Only promise.
Faith, at its core, is movement rooted in trust. Abram leaves familiarity not because the
future is clear, but because God’s voice is compelling.
Christians are to value discernment, thoughtfulness, and careful
planning. These are gifts. But sometimes discernment becomes delay. We wait for perfect clarity before acting.
Abram reminds us that obedience often precedes understanding.
Lent is a season of holy movement. It may not require geographic relocation, but
it does invite interior relocation—shifting allegiance from comfort to courage,
from predictability to promise.
What is God asking you to leave? A
habit? A resentment? A narrow imagination of what church can be?
To go where God sends is not reckless. It is relational. Abram’s courage rests not in self-confidence
but in covenant with God.
The Church, too, must sometimes step forward without full assurance of
success. We move toward justice before
knowing how it will unfold. We widen
welcome before calculating risk. We
speak reconciliation before consensus forms.
Faith walks.
And along the way, God shapes a people.
Reflection Questions
- Where might God be inviting
movement in my life?
- What comfort holds me back?
- Do I trust promise enough to step
forward?
Tuesday – March 3
Scripture: Colossians 3:12–17
“Clothe yourselves with compassion…”
Paul describes discipleship as dressing each morning. Compassion. Kindness. Humility. Patience.
These are not abstract virtues. They
are daily garments.
In polarized times, we often clothe ourselves in suspicion or
defensiveness. We armor up rather than
open up. But Paul calls the church to
something radically different: relational maturity shaped by Christ’s peace.
Let the peace of Christ rule. Not
your anger. Not your need to win. Not your anxiety.
Peace ruling does not mean silence in the face of injustice. It means that even when confronting wrong, we
do so from steadiness rather than hostility.
Compassion listens before labeling. Kindness refuses cruelty disguised as
conviction. Humility remembers that we,
too, are learners.
The Church’s witness falters not because it speaks too much about
justice, but because it sometimes forgets to embody gentleness alongside it.
Lent is wardrobe inspection. What
have I been wearing lately?
Gratitude becomes the thread holding everything together.
Reflection Questions
- Which virtue needs strengthening
in me?
- Does Christ’s peace guide my
responses?
- How can I consciously “put on”
compassion today?
Wednesday – March 4
Scripture: Luke 13:6–9
The fig tree is barren. The owner
is ready to cut it down. The gardener
asks for time.
God is patient.
In a culture of immediate results, fruitfulness feels urgent. Churches measure vitality. Individuals measure productivity. But growth cannot be forced.
The gardener tends, fertilizes, waits.
Lent is patient cultivation. We do
not measure spiritual growth in dramatic leaps but in slow ripening.
Where do you feel discouraged about lack of fruit? In prayer? In justice efforts? In reconciliation attempts?
God’s patience with us should shape our patience with others.
Perhaps the tree is not dead. Perhaps
it simply needs tending.
The Church must resist the temptation to abandon what grows slowly. Real transformation—personal and
communal—takes seasons. Give it time.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I need patience with
myself?
- Who in my life needs patient
tending?
- How can I cultivate growth rather
than demand it?
Thursday – March 5
Scripture: Matthew 7:7–12
Ask. Seek. Knock.
Prayer is active engagement with God, not passive resignation. To ask is to admit need. To seek is to pursue alignment. To knock is to expect response.
Jesus assures us that God is not reluctant.
Yet prayer reshapes the one praying. We begin asking for outcomes; we end
discovering transformation.
In dreaming the church to be more aligned with Christ, prayer is not
peripheral. It is central. We do not simply strategize; we discern.
The Golden Rule follows—do to others as you would have them do to you. Prayer and ethics intertwine.
The more we pray, the more we recognize shared humanity.
Reflection Questions
- What am I truly asking of God?
- How does prayer reshape my
desires?
- Where can I embody the Golden
Rule today?
Friday – March 6
Scripture: Romans 12:9–21
“Overcome evil with good.”
This is not naïveté. It is courageous discipleship.
Paul names real hostility—persecution, enemies, wrongdoing. Yet retaliation is not the answer.
To overcome evil with good is to refuse to let darkness dictate behavior.
This requires deep grounding in Christ. Otherwise, we mimic what we oppose.
Injustice must be confronted. But
the spirit in which we confront it matters.
Bless those who persecute you.
That may be the hardest Lenten discipline of all.
Reflection Questions
- Where am I tempted toward
retaliation?
- What would overcoming with good
look like?
- How does love resist becoming
hatred?
Saturday – March 7
Scripture: Psalm 42
“Why are you cast down, O my soul?”
Lent allows space for interior dialogue. The psalmist speaks to his own soul—naming
sorrow, yet summoning hope.
Faith does not eliminate sadness. It
refuses to let sadness have the final word.
We live in complex times. Climate
anxiety, political tension, institutional fatigue—these weigh on the soul.
The psalmist remembers worship, remembers community, remembers God.
Hope sometimes begins with memory.
Reflection Questions
- What weighs heavily on my soul?
- Where have I experienced God’s
faithfulness before?
- Can I speak hope gently to
myself?
Third Sunday in Lent – March 8
Scripture: Luke 13:1–9
When tragedy strikes, people instinctively ask why. Jesus refuses
simplistic explanations. Those who
suffered were not worse sinners. Instead
of assigning blame, he calls for repentance—not as guilt, but as awakening.
Repentance is not about speculating on others’ failures. It is about examining our own lives in light
of God’s mercy.
The parable of the fig tree follows. A tree is given another chance. Time is extended. Care is offered.
Jesus holds urgency and patience together. Change matters. Growth matters. But grace surrounds the invitation.
In a world eager to categorize, condemn, and weaponize suffering, Christ
calls us inward before we speak outward. Where do we rush to judgment? Where do we assume moral superiority?
Lent is not about perfecting others. It is about softening ourselves.
And yet repentance is hopeful. The
gardener believes fruit is possible.
So does God.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I rush to judge others’
circumstances?
- What change is God cultivating in
me?
- How does grace shape my call to
repentance?
Monday – March 9
Scripture: John 4:7–15
Jesus crosses boundaries—ethnic, religious, gendered—to speak with a
Samaritan woman. Living water flows in unexpected directions.
The disciples are absent. The
conversation is intimate, disruptive, transformative.
Christ’s ministry consistently crosses lines society maintains. Lent asks us: what boundaries remain
unquestioned in our lives?
Living water is not tribal. It is
abundant.
Perhaps the Church’s calling in this moment is not to retreat into
homogenous comfort but to lean into courageous encounter.
To drink living water is to become a source of refreshment for others.
Reflection Questions
- What boundaries shape my
relationships?
- Who might God be calling me to
engage?
- How has Christ refreshed my soul?
Tuesday – March 10
Scripture: Matthew 18:21–22
Peter wants clarity. “How often
should I forgive? As many as seven
times?” Seven sounds generous. Jesus answers with holy excess: “Not seven
times, but seventy-seven.”
Forgiveness is not arithmetic. It
is orientation.
We often treat forgiveness as a transaction—offered once, maybe twice,
but certainly not endlessly. Yet Jesus
reframes forgiveness as participation in God’s own mercy.
This does not trivialize harm. Forgiveness does not erase accountability. It does not deny boundaries. But it refuses to let resentment become the
architect of our lives.
Lent surfaces old wounds. Some are
fresh. Some are inherited. Some are collective—harms carried by
communities and systems. The work of
reconciliation cannot happen without truth. But neither can it happen without
forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not forgetting. It
is choosing not to weaponize memory.
In a polarized world, grievance becomes identity. Christ offers a different path—freedom rooted
in mercy.
We forgive because we have been forgiven. We release because we have been released.
Seventy-seven times is not a number. It is a posture of grace.
Reflection Questions
- What resentment still lingers in
me?
- Where do I need clearer
boundaries alongside forgiveness?
- How has God’s mercy shaped my
ability to forgive?
Wednesday – March 11
Scripture: Mark 12:28–34
“What is the greatest commandment?”
Jesus answers without hesitation: love God completely, and love your
neighbor as yourself.
The scribe responds wisely, recognizing that love surpasses ritual
precision. Jesus tells him, “You are not
far from the kingdom.”
Not far.
Love is the measure of proximity to God’s reign.
Yet love is not sentiment. It is
allegiance. It is embodied commitment to
the flourishing of another. It is
refusing to reduce people to caricatures. It is choosing dignity over dismissal.
In church life, it is possible to defend doctrine passionately and yet
fail at love. It is possible to champion
justice publicly and yet neglect tenderness privately.
Lent calls us back to center.
Love of God fuels love of neighbor. Love of neighbor reveals love of God.
If love becomes abstract, it loses power. If love becomes partisan, it loses
credibility.
Christ gathers us into a love that is expansive, courageous, and
practical.
The kingdom draws near wherever love becomes visible.
Reflection Questions
- What competes with love in my
daily life?
- Who is difficult for me to love?
- How can I make love tangible
today?
Thursday – March 12
Scripture: Luke 10:33–37
The Samaritan stops.
Compassion interrupts schedule. It
risks misunderstanding. It crosses
boundaries.
Jesus tells this story to reframe a legal question. The issue is not defining neighbor. The issue is becoming one.
The priest and Levite likely had reasons. Fear. Urgency.
Ritual obligation. But compassion overrules convenience.
In our time, suffering often arrives through screens. We scroll past images of need. We are informed but not transformed.
The Samaritan draws near. Compassion
is proximity.
Lent invites us to notice where we have insulated ourselves from
discomfort. Whose pain do we
rationalize? Whose struggle feels
inconvenient?
Mercy is costly. It spends time
and resources. It risks vulnerability.
But in showing mercy, we resemble Christ.
Go and do likewise.
Reflection Questions
- Where have I passed by suffering?
- What keeps me distant from those
in need?
- How can compassion become
habitual rather than occasional?
Friday – March 13
Scripture: Matthew 6:19–21
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Jesus invites examination—not guilt, but clarity.
Treasure is not only money. It is
attention. Energy. Affection. Anxiety.
What occupies your imagination when you wake? What do you defend instinctively? What loss would undo you?
Lent gently exposes misplaced treasure.
Earthly treasure promises security but delivers fragility. Heavenly treasure—justice, mercy,
reconciliation—endures.
This is not a rejection of material life. It is a re-ordering of priorities.
The Church must ask this corporately as well. What do we protect? Buildings? Reputation? Comfort? Or do we invest boldly in compassion,
inclusion, and service?
Hearts follow treasure.
If we want hearts shaped by Christ, we must invest where Christ invests.
Reflection Questions
- What does my time reveal about my
treasure?
- Where might I redirect energy
toward God’s kingdom?
- How does generosity reshape
desire?
Saturday – March 14
Scripture: John 13:12–15
After washing their feet, Jesus asks, “Do you understand what I have
done?”
Foot washing unsettles hierarchy. The
Teacher kneels. The Lord serves.
Discipleship mirrors this posture.
In a culture obsessed with status, kneeling feels counterintuitive. Yet Christ’s authority is revealed in
humility.
The Church must continually rediscover this. Power in the kingdom does not elevate self; it
lifts others.
Lent strips pretension. It invites
quiet service unseen by applause.
To kneel is not to diminish oneself. It is to align with Christ.
Reflection Questions
- Where is God inviting me to
kneel?
- What pride resists service?
- How does humility strengthen
community?
Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 15
Scripture: Luke 15:1–7
A shepherd leaves ninety-nine to search for one.
Heaven rejoices over restoration.
The math seems impractical. Yet
love is not driven by efficiency.
The lost sheep does not find its own way back. The shepherd searches.
This is the heart of God.
The Church that reflects Christ must reflect this urgency. Not merely welcoming those who arrive, but
seeking those who feel forgotten, alienated, or wounded by the church itself.
Joy defines this parable. Restoration
is celebration.
Do we share heaven’s joy when someone returns? Or do we quietly question their belonging?
Grace is extravagant.
Lent moves us toward Easter joy by reminding us of the joy of being
found.
Reflection Questions
- Who feels lost in my orbit?
- Do I celebrate grace freely?
- How can I participate in
restoration?
Monday – March 16
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.”
New creation is not merely future promise; it is present reality breaking
in. Paul does not say we will become new
someday. He says in Christ, we are
becoming new now.
Yet newness is rarely dramatic. It
is often subtle, unfolding slowly in habits reshaped, conversations softened,
assumptions challenged, courage strengthened.
Moderately progressive Christians often long for systemic change—and
rightly so. But systemic change begins
with transformed people. New creation is
not only social reform; it is spiritual renewal that spills outward into
justice, compassion, and humility.
The old self clings to defensiveness, self-righteousness, scarcity
thinking. The new self trusts grace,
practices generosity, and risks vulnerability.
What might new creation look like in your daily life? Perhaps it is listening more than speaking. Perhaps it is confessing when wrong. Perhaps it is stepping toward someone you once
avoided.
God is not in the business of cosmetic religion. God is in the business of resurrection.
And resurrection always begins in places that looked finished.
Reflection Questions
- What old pattern is Christ
reshaping in me?
- Where do I resist becoming new?
- How might my renewal bless
others?
Tuesday – March 17
Scripture: John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Darkness feels powerful. Headlines
amplify it. Injustice entrenches it. Division feeds it.
But darkness is absence, not substance. Light has substance.
The Gospel does not deny darkness. It announces that darkness does not win.
Light shines quietly but persistently. It exposes lies without humiliating. It clarifies confusion without shaming. It warms without consuming. It sings without shouting.
To follow Christ is to become carriers of that light. Not harsh floodlights of condemnation, but
steady lamps of truth and mercy.
Where does darkness seem most thick around you? In political hostility? In environmental neglect? In economic disparity? In loneliness?
Light does not retreat because darkness exists. It shines precisely there.
Lent trains our eyes to notice where we can shine—not perfectly, but
faithfully.
The smallest light in a dark room changes the room.
Reflection Questions
- Where does darkness feel
overwhelming?
- What steady light can I offer?
- How has Christ’s light met me
personally?
Wednesday – March 18
Scripture: Psalm 23
“The Lord is my shepherd.”
The shepherd leads, restores, accompanies.
Even in valleys.
Psalm 23 is not sentimental poetry. It is defiant trust. Valleys exist. Enemies exist. Yet the table is set. The cup overflows.
A church that dreams of being better at following in the way of Christ is
shepherded, not self-directed. It
listens for guidance rather than manufacturing vision from anxiety.
Where are you walking through shadow? Illness? Fatigue? Discouragement? Institutional uncertainty?
The Shepherd does not eliminate valleys. The Shepherd walks through them with us.
Lent reminds us that accompaniment is holy. We are called not to fix every valley, but to
walk beside one another within them.
Surely goodness and mercy follow—not occasionally, but all the days.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I need shepherding?
- Who might need my steady
presence?
- Can I trust goodness in uncertain
terrain?
Thursday – March 19
Scripture: Ezekiel 22:30
“I looked for someone to stand in the gap.”
To stand in the gap is to intercede—to step between harm and healing,
between injustice and repair.
The prophet laments the absence of such people.
A reconciling church stands in the gap. It does not inflame division but works toward
restoration. It does not ignore
injustice but confronts it with courage and humility.
Standing in the gap is costly. It
invites misunderstanding. It resists
simplistic narratives.
But someone must stand.
Perhaps that someone is you—in your family, your workplace, your
community.
Lent asks: Where is the breach? And who will step into it?
Reflection Questions
- Where is there a gap in my
community?
- What risk might faith require?
- How can I stand without
self-righteousness?
Friday – March 20
Scripture: Luke 7:36–50
Her love is extravagant.
The woman who anoints Jesus disrupts polite religion. She weeps, she kneels, she pours costly
perfume.
Love does not measure carefully.
Those forgiven deeply love deeply.
Perhaps one danger of respectable faith is restrained gratitude. We forget how much we have been forgiven.
Lent rekindles awareness of grace.
What would extravagant gratitude look like? Generous giving? Bold advocacy? Tender mercy?
Love that flows from forgiveness cannot remain contained.
Reflection Questions
- Have I forgotten the depth of
grace given to me?
- Where can gratitude overflow?
- What costly love might I offer?
Saturday – March 21
Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1–14
The valley is full of bones—dry, scattered, lifeless. Ezekiel is asked an impossible question: “Can
these bones live?”
The prophet does not answer with optimism or despair. He answers with humility: “O Lord God, you
know.”
Exile had drained hope from Israel. Identity felt fractured. The future appeared sealed shut. Yet God commands the prophet to speak—to
prophesy breath into what seemed beyond repair.
We know valleys like this. Congregations
weary from conflict. Communities
fractured by polarization. Justice
efforts stalled. Personal dreams
abandoned. Sometimes the dryness is
external; sometimes it is interior.
The Spirit does not deny the dryness. The Spirit enters it.
Breath—the same breath that animated creation—moves again. Tendons form. Flesh returns. Life stands up.
Lent teaches us to name the bones honestly. But it also trains us to speak hope
courageously.
We are not naïve about brokenness. We are faithful about possibility.
Resurrection does not begin on Easter morning. It begins whenever God breathes where we had
given up.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I see dry bones—in
myself, in the Church, in the world?
- Do I dare believe renewal is
possible?
- What hopeful word might I speak
into a barren place?
Fifth Sunday in Lent – March 22
Scripture: John 12:20–33
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies…”
Jesus speaks of loss as the pathway to fruitfulness. Clinging preserves the seed but prevents
multiplication. Surrender appears like
failure, yet it becomes abundance.
This is resurrection logic. It
contradicts our instincts.
We cling to control, reputation, certainty, comfort. But Lent gently loosens our grip.
What must fall in order for life to grow? Perhaps it is the need to be right. Perhaps it is fear of change. Perhaps it is a version of church that once
served well but no longer bears fruit.
Jesus does not romanticize loss. The
cross is real. Yet he trusts that God
brings life through surrender.
We often work tirelessly for reform. But reform without surrender can become
exhaustion. The grain must fall not in
despair, but in trust.
Death is not the final word. But
dying—to ego, to fear, to control—often precedes renewal.
The Church flourishes not by preserving itself at all costs, but by
offering itself for the sake of the world.
Fruit grows in surrendered soil.
Reflection Questions
- What am I holding too tightly?
- What might grow if I released
control?
- Do I trust God’s resurrection
logic?
Monday – March 23
Scripture: John 12:1–8
Mary anoints Jesus with costly perfume. Others protest waste. Jesus calls it love.
Devotion often appears impractical. It does not calculate return on investment. It pours itself out.
Mary senses what others miss: suffering approaches. Her act becomes preparation.
In our efficiency-driven culture, love is often evaluated by measurable
outcomes. But some acts are sacred
precisely because they are extravagant.
Lent invites us to recover holy attentiveness. Where is Christ present before us? In the suffering neighbor? In the anxious child? In the weary elder?
To love well is not wasteful.
The fragrance fills the house. Genuine devotion cannot be contained.
Perhaps we hesitate because we fear judgment. But Christ receives what is offered freely.
Extravagant love prepares us for costly discipleship.
Reflection Questions
- Where might I offer uncalculated
love?
- What keeps me from generosity?
- How does devotion prepare me for
suffering?
Tuesday – March 24
Scripture: Mark 10:42–45
“Whoever wishes to be great must be servant.”
Greatness kneels.
Jesus contrasts worldly power with kingdom authority. Domination controls. Servanthood restores.
The Church must continually examine its posture. Do we seek influence for prestige, or for
service? Do we protect position, or
empower the vulnerable?
Servant leadership is not weakness. It is strength disciplined by humility.
In polarized times, leadership often amplifies ego. Christ redefines leadership as self-giving.
This challenges clergy and laity alike. Titles do not confer greatness. Love does.
Lent reshapes ambition.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I seek recognition?
- How can I lead through service?
- What does greatness look like in
God’s kingdom?
Wednesday – March 25
Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31–34
A covenant written on the heart.
God promises intimacy, not mere obligation. The law internalized becomes love embodied.
Religion easily becomes external compliance. Lent presses inward. Is faith shaping my instincts, or merely my
public identity?
When grace writes upon the heart, compassion becomes natural. Justice becomes reflexive. Forgiveness becomes possible.
This is transformation deeper than behavior modification.
The new covenant is relational.
Reflection Questions
- Is my faith internal or external?
- What shapes my heart most deeply?
- How is God writing upon my life?
Thursday– March 26
Scripture: Isaiah 53
He was despised and rejected.
Isaiah’s servant bears grief, carries sorrow, absorbs violence.
We often prefer triumphant images of God. Yet Scripture offers vulnerability at the
center of redemption.
The suffering servant does not retaliate. He absorbs cruelty and transforms it.
The cross exposes systems that crush the innocent. It reveals the depth of human injustice. Yet it also reveals divine solidarity.
God does not stand distant from suffering. God enters it.
For a church committed to justice, this matters. We do not confront injustice from superiority,
but from shared humanity. We resist harm
without becoming harmful.
Sacrificial love is costly. It
risks misunderstanding. It chooses
faithfulness over vindication.
The servant’s wounds become healing.
Reflection Questions
- Where do I see suffering ignored?
- How does Christ’s vulnerability
reshape strength?
- What might redemptive love look
like in conflict?
Friday – March 27
Scripture: Psalm 130
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.”
This is not polite prayer. It is
desperate honesty.
The psalmist waits—more than watchmen wait for morning.
Waiting stretches faith. We wait
for justice. For healing. For change. For reconciliation.
Hope does not eliminate depth; it anchors within it.
Lent teaches patient trust. We do
not rush from Good Friday to Easter. We
linger long enough to feel longing.
Yet the psalm does not end in despair. “With the Lord there is steadfast
love.”
Morning comes.
Reflection Questions
- What depths am I navigating?
- How can I wait without
surrendering hope?
- Where do I see signs of dawn?
Saturday – March 28
Scripture: Hebrews 12:1–3
Surrounded by witnesses, we run with perseverance.
Faith is not solitary. Generations
before us endured exile, persecution, doubt.
They trusted resurrection beyond evidence.
We grow weary. Institutions
falter. Cultural tides shift.
But we are not alone.
Christ endured the cross “for the joy set before him.”
Joy sustains endurance.
Lent strengthens perseverance not through denial of hardship, but through
fixation on hope.
Reflection Questions
- Who has modeled faith for me?
- Where is endurance required now?
- How does resurrection sustain
perseverance?
