Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Worship: Noon, soup meal follows; 7 pm, soup meal at 6 pm.

Reading: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Psalm 91:11 “God shall charge the angels to keep you in all your ways.”

            During  Jesus’ days in the wilderness, he was urged by the tempter to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. The pinnacle was the southeast corner of the containing wall surrounding the Court of the Gentiles. Here the temple mount fell away steeply into the valley of Kedron, at least the equivalent of fourteen stories below. Interestingly, in this third trial, the tempter quotes scripture, specifically Psalm 91, the psalm chosen for the first week in Lent: “God will charge the angels to keep you…” (How startling and curious to realize that even scripture can be manipulated to beguile us away from God’s way.) Jesus refuses to tempt God to refute the laws of gravity on his behalf, and the tempter departs. Then, - Matthew and Mark report, but not Luke, - then the angels do indeed come to Jesus and minister to him.

O God of the desert, you have promised to send your angels to guard us in all our ways. May we always trust your promises, so that we may walk fearlessly through all the wilderness times of our lives. Amen

·       Write down something that threatens to lure you away from abundant life in God.