“Oh, Love, How Deep,” verse 5 (ELW 322)
Devotion
For us by wickedness betrayed,
for us, in crown of thorns arrayed,
he bore the shameful cross and death;
for us he gave his dying breath.
I never cease to be amazed at the means human beings devise to hurt one another, both physically and emotionally. The crown of thorns is one such innovation. It mocks the claims that Jesus is "king," and it causes him physical pain as he wears it. Crucifixion is similarly creative: a slow and torturous death, as well as a public one, reminding anyone who sees it of the power of the Roman Empire. What would it be like to channel the energy that creates instruments of death into working for good in the world? When the prophet Isaiah envisions the beating of spears into pruning hooks, he expresses a similar longing to channel the energy put into creating instruments of death into the forging of the tools that sustain life. This Lenten season, consider how your energy is used: does it go toward holding onto grudges? Toward dreaming up the most hurtful thing to say to one who has hurt you first? Or is your energy used for the deepest, broadest, highest kind of love you can muster?
Prayer
O God of love, we know too well the many ways in which we have used our energies to work for death rather than good in our world. May the depth of your love for us in Jesus inspire and empower us anew to channel our energies in the ways of life and hope. Amen.