Opening Prayer
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’
blood and righteousness!” O God, if I could
anchor my hope in those word alone, what
a change I could make in my own life, in
my home, in my community, in my world!
And, so, I’m hoping, Lord. WE are hoping,
Almighty One. You promise that if we abide
in you, that you will abide in us and change
the world for the better through us. You
have called us for this moment to witness
to the power of holy love and soul-changing
relationships with Christ and with one
another. Teach us to anchor our hopes in you
and to seek your face in every person we
encounter. Amen.

Scripture
1 Corinthians 1:27-31
“Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose
people that the culture overlooks and
exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’
to expose the hollow pretensions of the
‘somebodies’? That makes it quite clear that
none of you can get by with blowing your
own horn before God. Everything that we
have—right thinking and right living, a clean
slate and a fresh start—comes from God by
way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the
saying, ‘If you’re going to blow a horn,
blow a trumpet for God.”
(The (MSG) by Eugene Peterson)

Meditation
The earliest Christian churches was established on the radical
concept that the most learned, financially endowed, or socially
elevated people were NOT automatic leaders. Rather, the early
movement of Christianity invited rich and poor, young and old,
Jews and Greeks, women and men, and servants and masters
to the common welcome table set by Jesus Christ. Further, it
was often those of lowest estate who had heard and embraced
the miraculous stories of Jesus and shared them in places
where various people gathered. Church was the setting where
social, racial, class, and gender-role barriers were left at the
door so that all could learn of and worship God in spirit, equity,
and truth. The hope inherent in the Jesus Way was and is that
those whom society deems as “nobodies” were as anointed, as
beloved, as worthy of salvation, as important to Almighty God
has the “somebodies” who were elevated only according to
human standards.
Does your faith community and social circle reflect that
inclusion today? Are people of the lowest socio-economic
status seated as equals in worship and leadership in your
church? Does your congregation reflect the diverse races,
classes, and circumstances of everyone in your city or town? Do
you regularly hear voices of people who are poor, immigrants,
people of other races, people under 25, or LGBTQIA people in
your worship and Bible studies? What would it take this Lenten
season for your faith community to make lasting connections
with those you have previously excluded?

Closing Prayer
Dear loving God, we are grateful that we are all “somebodies”
in your kingdom. And we admit that we tend to exclude
people whose lives, cultural and ethnic locations, orientations,
economic realities, ages, and first languages are foreign to us.
We confess that we have made “nobodies” out of members
of your family whom you created in your divine image. As you
forgive us, remind us of your calling and pester us, God of
Love, that we may build more bridges and mend more rifts
that divide your human family. Help us to honor those we
deem “different,” as we remember that we are “different” too,
and that is only your grace that makes us all “somebodies” in
your eternal home of welcome. Teach us to love boldly and to
put that love into actions that change the world. In the name
of our Savior, the Christ, Amen. ... See MoreSee Less