BREATHE a reader for lent INTRODUCTION HOW TO USE THIS READER Inhale - Read the Text In this reader, we invite you to encounter God through each daily text. Each week has a theme that is structured around an instance of God’s revelation in the Old Testament. The chosen passages illuminate how Jesus breathes new life into these promises. Week 1 – God’s Breath of Life Week 2 – The Noah Covenant Week 3 – The Abraham Covenant Week 4 – The Gift of the Law Week 5 – The Gift of the Priesthood Week 6 – The David Covenant Week 7 – Holy Week Take your time reading, or “inhaling,” each day’s text; it’s not a race to “get through” each day. Read to become immersed in what God is saying to you through his God- breathed Word. If you find yourself behind, give yourself grace. Instead of backtracking and reading missed texts, continue with that day’s reading. Reading Scripture each day is a practice that requires intentionality, patience, and perseverance. Traditionally, Sundays during Lent are considered “feast days.” Although they are certainly a part of Lent, they are not included in the 40 days of Lent. For this reason, consider taking a break from using this reader on Sundays. Reserve Sundays for a time of celebration with your family and friends. Exhale – Respond to the Text After each Scripture reading is an opportunity for you as the reader to respond, or to “exhale.” Each day has a suggested prayer called a “breath prayer.” This kind of prayer is an ancient Christian practice that utilizes the rhythm of our breathing to focus our thoughts on God’s presence. To practice this prayer, inhale when you think about the name of God, then exhale when you utter the plea or petition. In Hebrew, the word for “breath” is hevel, which also means “meaningless” or “fleeting” (see Ecclesiastes 1:2). Breath prayers remind us of how fleeting our lives are. As we employ this practice, we’re reminded that our breaths are numbered. Breath prayers also center our thoughts on God’s continual presence. Since breath prayers are short and easy to remember, we can carry them with us throughout the day and frequently repeat them. It’s an easy way to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). We encourage you to use the examples provided or to write your own. Resources - You Are Not Alone Wrestling with suffering and death is difficult. We know that the themes in this reader might conjure complex emotions and thoughts. If at any point you would like to speak to someone, we want you to know that we are here for you. Please visit our care page for resources and contact information. Above all, we hope that this reader invites you to meditate on Christ’s presence. May you be reminded of Christ’s triumph over sin and death, and may you welcome Christ’s new breath in you. BREATHE A READER FOR LENT The meaningful moments of our lives are often measured in breaths. When life is so beautiful, it’s as though our lungs can’t inhale deeply enough: the satisfied sigh after finishing a rewarding book; the deep inhalation when we first learn how to swim; the gasp of surprise at a breathtaking sunrise; the awed breath we loose when our child breathes her very first breath. But when life is painful, our breathing takes on a different dynamic: the sharp intake of breath at the prick of a needle; the labored breaths after a terrible accident; the gasp at a horrific news headline; the slow exhale when a family member breathes his very last breath. Inhale. Exhale. For the Church, Easter is the time of the year for new breath. When sin and death threaten to stifle us, Easter reminds us to breathe again. At this climactic point in the Biblical narrative, God’s people loose a breath they didn’t even realize they were holding. The first breath that Jesus breathed upon his resurrection is the adamant declaration that death couldn’t win. Easter is the celebration of the breath of life that Jesus has given us. However, in a rush to arrive at this part about Jesus’ breath of life after death, we tend to skip over the painful breaths Jesus breathed before death. In order to fully understand and celebrate Easter, we must confront the truth that death came before new life. Pain came before the joy of resurrection. Jesus, fully God but also fully human, had a limited number of breaths. They were counted. Crucifixion was a slow, excruciating process, and the final cause of death would inevitably be suffocation. As Jesus hung on the cross, in terrible agony, we can imagine the disciples anxiously counting the seconds in between Jesus’ breaths. Which exhale wouldn’t follow with another inhale? Finally, after hours and hours of this heightened dread, “with a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last” (Mark 15:37). There were no more breaths to count. There is no greater trauma than death. Because of this, we have the tendency to avoid thoughts about suffering at all costs. We fall into a routine of paying bills, doing laundry, and changing diapers, and anytime death so much as enters our minds, we quickly shove it away. Suffering of any kind makes us uncomfortable. We avoid counting our own breaths. Inhale. Exhale. But there is beauty when we acknowledge the fact that our breaths will one day cease. When we stare death in the eye, we confront the wrongness we all innately feel toward it. We recognize that death, while real, should not have the final say. In the Christian calendar, Lent is a declaration that you are going to die. During this season, believers all over the world confront death personally. We choose to acknowledge and accept the brevity of our lives. It is a time when we recognize that the fact that our breaths are numbered is all our fault. “The wages of sin is death,” writes Paul (Romans 6:23). Because we have all sinned, we have brought death upon ourselves. We were made from the dust of the earth, and God breathed life into our lungs. But one day we will be reduced to ashes and our breathing will cease (Gen. 3:19). It is for this reason that many believers put ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. The ashes remind us of our sins and their devastating consequences. Because of your sin, you are going to die. Nobody gets out of here alive. Inhale. Exhale. But Lent also reminds us of the hope we all have in Christ. Lent concludes with Easter Sunday, a powerful reminder that God’s “yes” to life is louder than death’s “no.” Easter is about God’s vindication. It’s about God’s triumph over death and our subsequent triumph that will occur in the future. Christ is the first fruit of the resurrection, and we are promised to follow (1 Cor. 15). The wages of sin is both spiritual and physical death, and in order to fully conquer death, God will reverse both of sin’s dire consequences in our lives. It is through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that our spiritual death is reversed; it is through Christ’s resurrection that our physical death will one day be reversed. Christ’s past is our future. Inhale. Exhale. During this Lenten season, inhale God’s promises. Reflect on the beautiful, albeit short, life that God has given you. As you exhale, think about how fleeting your life is. Someday a breath will not follow. You are going to die. Then remember Easter. Remember that Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection. Think about how God’s life will one day fill your lungs when you are brought back to life. That long-awaited breath declares that the crucified and resurrected Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us, not even in death. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. DAY 1 Ash Wednesday Isaiah 58:1-14 (The Voice) Eternal One: Tell My people about their wrongdoing; shout with a voice like a trumpet; Hold nothing back: say this people of Jacob’s line and heritage have failed to do what is right. And yet they look for Me every day. They pretend to want to learn what I teach, as if they are indeed a nation good and true, as if they hadn’t really turned their backs on My directives. They even ask Me, as though they care, about what I want them to be and do, as if they really want Me in their lives. People: Why didn’t You notice how diligently we fasted before You? We humbled ourselves with pious practices and You paid no attention. Eternal One: I have to tell you, on those fasting days, all you were really seeking was your own pleasure; Besides, you were busy defrauding people and abusing your workers. Your kind of fasting is pointless, for it only leads to bitter quarrels, contentious backbiting, and vicious fighting. You are not fasting today because you want Me to hear your voice. What kind of a fast do I choose? Is a true fast simply some religious exercise for making a person feel miserable and woeful? Is it about how you bow your head (like a bent reed), how you dress (in sackcloth), and where you sit (in a bed of ashes)? Is this what you call a fast, a day the Eternal One finds good and proper? No, what I want in a fast is this: to liberate those tied down and held back by injustice, to lighten the load of those heavily burdened, to free the oppressed and shatter every type of oppression.