the fourth sunday in lent
the PRAYER …
Bend your ear to our prayers, Lord Christ, and come among us. By your gracious life and death for us, bring light into the darkness of our hearts, and anoint us with your Spirit, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
the READING …
As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
the DEVOTION …
There had never been a person like Job. Blameless. Upright. Fearing God. Turning away from evil. And because of that, he had it all. Wife and kids. Livestock. Servants. But in the blink of an eye, it was gone. All of it. “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” And when friends came, each asked the same question. “What did you do to deserve it?” This week, it’s the disciples’ turn. They see a man along the way. Blind since birth. And they ask Jesus the question. “What did he do? What did his parents do?” And Jesus replies, “That’s not how it works! That’s not how any of this works!” This man was born blind for the same reason anyone is born – blind or otherwise … He was born to be loved! Loved by god! Loved by you! And being loved, he was re-born to love! Not in re-turn, but, simply, in turn …
Bob Barndt, pastor