As I’ve been going on my walks in the late afternoon or going to the grocery store in the early evening, I have noticed a change. The days are certainly not as short as they were. I noticed it before last Sunday’s time change, but now, it’s blatantly obvious that the days are longer. And believe or not, the word “Lent” comes from an old English word that means springtime and the lengthening of days.
Last Sunday, we were reminded in Deuteronomy what the LORD did for the Hebrews in Egypt and in the desert: God delivered them from slavery and provided nourishment for them. And as Moses was giving his final stump speech to the Hebrews, he told them to remember what the LORD did for them in the past so that they would gratefully respond to the LORD’s work in the present by taking care of each other: Providing food and water, clothes, housing, etc. Because their ancestor, Jacob, was a starving and wandering Aramean (Deut. 26:5), they were to treat their neighbor (friend or stranger) as their own family in this new land.
This week, the Revised Common Lectionary takes us to Genesis 15 where Abram has an encounter with God. And God promises a vast land to Abram, the same land that the Hebrews were on the verge of entering in Deuteronomy.
Interesting to note, there is a thread in these scriptures that continues throughout the Season of Lent: Food and Drink. Deuteronomy talks about the “first fruits” to offer back to God in a land flowing with milk and honey. Genesis mentions Abram’s sacrificing of several different animals- Heifer, goat, ram, turtledove, and a young pigeon-after which God tells him that the land between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates River are his and his descendants (Gen. 15:18).
All that being said, in Lent, we traditionally give up something. Sometimes, that is food. And when we go to the Word of God and read of food and water in it, we are reminded that God’s Word is nourishment for our souls.
Christ’s Love,
Pastor T. Wes Moore