GOD CAN
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for you are my praise. Jeremiah 17:14
Four year old Sarah was telling a friend about her baptism. “After I was all wet, Pastor traced a cross on my forehead.”
“I don’t see any cross,” her listener said.
“But God can,” Sarah replied.
When the ashes of Ash Wednesday welcome us into the discipline of Lent, we begin that 40 day journey of repentance and renewal confident that “God can”. God can bring life out of death. God can join water and word. God can combine ordinary bread and wine with the real presence of Christ. God can fashion a new beginning and a new people in Christ. God can redeem sinners for the work in the Kingdom of Love and Mercy.
Sarah was too young to know the full implications of that water, those words, and that sign. But over time with God’s grace active in those who cared about her, she grew to trust that the promise of God in Christ was for her. She learned to serve God’s purposes. She lived knowing that nothing is impossible for God.
Prayer: Lord, in the waters of baptism you claimed me as one of your own. Grant me the grace to persevere in the disciplines of Lent this season. Help me to think of others first and to pray for them. Help me to be generous, especially to the “undeserving”. Help me hunger for peace and justice and a right relationship with you. Amen.