Uri Brito

On April 1, 2019 By Uri Brito In Scribblings 1

Lenten Journey, Day 23; Bare Minimums

Romans 12:11: Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

You know that on a journey you don’t have the luxury of bringing everything you want. Lent is about bare minimums and re-evaluations. What do I need? Where do I see myself at the end of this journey? What kind of person will I be? What kind of person am I now? What areas have I indulged that has not brought me closer to Jesus but taken me farther away? This is a season of self-examination. Don’t end this journey the same way you started. Journey to Easter more satisfied and self-aware than you have ever been.

On March 30, 2019 By Uri Brito In Worship 1

Lenten Journey, Day 22, Hospitality

Romans 12:13: “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Paul says we should seek to show hospitality; that is, we are to be on the lookout for showing hospitality. It is amazing that the Church today is eager to fulfill all sorts of proclamation duties, but hospitality remains hidden in the gift closet; unused. But our journey is always more pleasant when we walk together. Hospitality builds union and communion and mutual encouragement. “Let’s grab coffee.” “Come on over for some dessert.” “Join us for pizza.” It can be as simple as that. In these last three weeks of Lent, look at your calendar and try to have one family over a week for dessert or coffee or a meal. Try it, and you will see how joyful your journey will be during Lent.

On March 29, 2019 By Uri Brito In Worship 1

Lenten Journey, Day 21, Lent as Biblical Type

What is Lent? we may ask. Every year as we enter into this season, we need to look at it afresh. It’s a season of profound healing to many; a season filled with echoes of forgiveness. Lent is the penitential season of the Church. Lent is the purple of royalty. Lent is the desert before the promised land of the Resurrection. Lent is the wilderness prison for Israel and simultaneously the way out of the wilderness. Lent teaches of the incurable disease of sin and yet the cure for sin. Lent is the long wait Jacob endured for Rachel. Lent is the “Thus saith the Lord,” when the devil whispers, “Who said ye shall be like God?” Lent is the sacrifices of incomplete priests and the exile of a perfect man so that we might be set free. Lent is the love of injustice poured on a just Man. Lent is fasting with hope. Lent is giving up idols and turning to the true icon of God, Jesus Christ. Lent is finding joy in the midst of suffering.

On March 28, 2019 By Uri Brito In Worship Like

Lenten Journey, Day 20, Steadfast Love

Jonah 2:8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Death is painful, but you know what is more painful—going through death trusting a false god. This is again Jonah’s theology coming through in this prayer of repentance inside the belly of the creature. He knows that the Ninevites pay regard to vain idols. He knows that without Yahweh their death experience will be filled with misery. He knows that their death will have no resurrection to life. And by living in such a way, the Ninevites have abandoned any hope. But Jonah is hopeful, and Yahweh remembers Jonah in his affliction. And Jonah remembers God.

Lent ought to bind our lives to the steadfast love of God. Idols cannot bind us to true love. Any earthly possession can be lost, but the love of God is treasured in God himself who is love. Jonah sought out an unwavering love in his deep distress and love rescued him.

On March 27, 2019 By Uri Brito In Theology 1

Lenten Journey, Day 19, God is not Silent

Psalm 50:3: Our God comes
and will not be silent.

God’s judgment is a great comfort for the Christian. God’s voice is a great comfort for the Christian. In this Lent, we need to give thanks to God for not allowing the monologue of evil to triumph. In God’s world, the voice from heaven shuts the voice from hell. The crucifixion appeared to be a sign that finally God’s voice was silenced by the seed of the serpent. But Easter’s voice came like a thunderous proclamation and declared once and for all: Our God comes and will not be silent. Lent prepares our voices to join in the chorus of the empty tomb.

On March 26, 2019 By Uri Brito In Wisdom 1

Lenten Journey, Day 18, Crucified Lives

Mark 15:21: Simon from Cyrene happened to be coming in from a farm, and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

We live crucified lives. To live crucified lives is to live the life of Simon of Cyrene who was compelled to bear the cross and later joined the mission of the Kingdom. We must bear the cross with integrity in this world. It is our calling. You do not need to be perfect to carry the cross, but we must be willing to bow before the cross to bear it. Sometimes we are first compelled to bear it before we humbly submit to its beauty and grace. Bearing the cross is no easy task. It is draining, tiring, exhausting and humbling. And this call is what makes the Lenten journey so compellingly engaging.

Lent drains our dependence on self and calls us to look to Another for aid. As Watts so powerfully reminds us:

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

On March 25, 2019 By Uri Brito In Worship Like

Lenten Journey, Day 17, Sin’s Table

Psalm 141:4 Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.

On this 17th day of Lent, we are called to eat the right things. The meal of the wicked is tempting. At times, we salivate over it. Our flesh hungers for a table outside our Father’s house. But in the end, we become what we eat and we will be more thoroughly equipped to fight sin when we remember that the table ofevil is never ultimately satisfying. As Marva Dawn writes concerning sin: “Always its pleasure will turn to dust in our mouths.” The poet David says, “Let me not eat of their delicacies.” The Season of Lent is a call to eat at God’s table and to turn away all worldly delicacies. Lent is a call to fast from the wrong foods and eat the delicacies of Yahweh’s garden.

On March 23, 2019 By Uri Brito In Theology 1

Lenten Journey, Day 16; Rejoicing in the Prodigal

Luke 15:21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

The response of the older son is like his younger brother’s. The younger brother was blind in sin and disobedience, the older brother is blind in disrespect and self-righteousness. He was so busy thinking of his own affairs and his rights that he missed what was happening before his very eyes. The older brother is a picture of the Pharisees of the day. Here was Jesus transforming lives, giving sight to the blind, giving hope to the hopeless, and changing everything in their midst, and the Pharisees could only see these people in light of their un-redeemed, unchanged status. The key to this passage is his rationale: “‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command.” This was precisely the same way the Pharisees acted: they boasted in their accomplishments. But if they had up to that moment lived up to all of God’s commandments, they had failed to live up to one: to rejoice over the finding of one lost sheep.

In this season of Lent, when we see people around us experiencing “resurrection moments;” when we see them in moments of real heavenly delight, the only appropriate response is to feast: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad…”

On March 22, 2019 By Uri Brito In Wisdom Like

Lenten Journey, Day 15; Confessing before pointing fingers

Genesis 3:12: The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

The first duty of a Christian is to confess his own sins before pointing the finger. All of us bring something destructive into our relationships—our sin. And if we think blaming others or our circumstance is the answer, we have deceived ourselves. Maybe we are the problem. Maybe we don’t see ourselves with clarity. Maybe we love ourselves more than our spouses. Maybe we love our little kingdoms more than God’s cosmic kingdom. That’s the level of honesty that God expects from us. The other person may be guilty. He/she may be the cause of your pain, but at some time you must realize that shifting the blame on others is not the solution to your own problems.

The Gospel imperatives are clear: Admit. Confess. Renew. Restore. You cannot help others unless you have been helped by the Gospel truths. Do not allow the pain inflicted upon you by others to keep you from doing and living the way God intends you to live; to know and to love those God calls you to know and love. Do not allow the sin of others to paralyze you from living your Christian confession.