The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

— Luke 18:11-13

The season of Lent can be a time of giving up superficial vices, such as sugar or chocolate, but it can also be a time to take a deep dive into our own souls to determine what things are separating us from God. Modern minds often dislike the idea of grim Lenten penitence, but the practice can be compassionately reframed in our time as self-improvement. The Pharisee in today’s reading sees no need for self-improvement. He believes he is righteous because he fasts twice a week and tithes faithfully. The tax collector, on the other hand, is honest with himself and admits his faults. He is in despair over the things that separate him from God because he longs to be closer to his loving Creator.

Jesus tells this parable to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt” (Luke 18:9). He knew that they were being unrighteous by judging others while thinking they were above reproach. Twelve-step work refers to this type of approach as taking someone else’s inventory. Step Four instead requires a fearless and searching moral inventory of ourselves, a time for an honest and transformative examination of our own faults.

When I worked this step in Al-Anon, I was like the Pharisee, pointing out other people’s faults and congratulating myself on being so virtuous. I was soon dismayed to realize that my people-pleasing tendencies were actually dishonesty and fears that held me captive and were harming me and separating me from God. I still take inventory on a regular basis, and it humbles me when I realize how many defects of character I need
to release.

Reflect: In this prayerful season of letting go, can you offer up your fears and detrimental patterns to God and ask for release?

I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

— John 17:4-6

For many years, I practiced my faith on my own, thinking I’d be just fine without attending church. I was in my thirties when I realized my isolation was not working. I was in exactly the same place in my spiritual growth as I had been when I stopped attending church. I realized I needed community. When I began attending church regularly, my faith started growing by leaps and bounds. I grew even closer to God after joining a religious community where we all help each other along the road to our home with God.

In this passage from the Gospel of John, the disciples witness the Son praying to the Father, asking God to glorify him “with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” The prayer is part of the Farewell Discourse, and it occurs after the Last Supper, the night before the crucifixion.

In praying to God, Jesus shows us that he and the Father are one, but they are also part of a relationship between the coequal and coeternal persons of the Trinity. Jesus’ human nature calls upon his divine nature and reveals a truth that is difficult for human minds to comprehend: One God and yet three distinct persons.

Jesus also shows us how we should pray. He is fully divine but also fully human, so he needs to ask God for strength just as we do. And he prays in community, just as we should.

Reflect: How has your faith community helped deepen your connection with God?

I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

— John 17:15-19

The reading for Evening Prayer today continues Jesus’ prayer after the Last Supper.

He is preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection, and he asks God to protect them after he returns to the Father. Their faith in Jesus is a dangerous thing. In their willingness to continue his ministry, they might face imprisonment, torture or death.

So why do they continue to follow Jesus?

Why did so many believers in the early church choose the road that often led to their own death? Why did they bring their friends, their family and even their children into a movement that risked retaliation from the murderous oppression of the Roman Empire?

Why do we continue to believe, after more than 2,000 years?

Why did I choose to follow God in a secular society where it’s considered “ignorant” or “backward” to be religious? Why did I risk ridicule and humiliation by being a churchgoer while working in Hollywood and being surrounded by non-believers? Why didn’t I choose the easy route of shunning religion in order to fit in with the “cool” people?

I believe we are called to continue Jesus’ work for the same reason the early believers did: we have encountered Jesus, and we have seen the truth. We have experienced the vast, infinite love of God in our own lives, and we are willing to make sacrifices to live as God wills us to live.

Reflect: What are some reasons that you follow Christ? What are some sacrifices you have made to be a follower of Christ? Are there sacrifices ahead?

I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you.

— John 17:20-21a

In this text, Jesus continues his prayer, the longest of all his prayers in the Gospels, and asks God for an intimate closeness between him and all believers “that they may all be one.” It is always fascinating to me that in that time and place, the Messiah did not come as a king or a great warrior. He didn’t speak of power and war and the conquering of enemies. He came to earth as a poor man who spoke about compassion and relationship, which are things modern minds find familiar, but ancient minds may have found confusing. If this Messiah has come to save us, they may have thought, then how does he expect to overthrow the Roman Empire with only talk of love and connection?

In 2001, the Community of St. John Baptist helped found an orphanage in Cameroon, West Africa, called the Good Shepherd Home. The motto of the home, which cares for more than a hundred children on a regular basis, is “May we all be one.” You can see that motto all around the home on plaques and painted on walls. A sign above the main door features these words with a painting of Jesus holding little children on his lap.

Jesus’ prayer shows us what God wants from us. His words and actions in the Gospels make it clear that God yearns for us to live in peace as one human family, loving one another as he loves us. Episcopal Relief & Development’s work is grounded in interfaith and intercultural collaboration. They work with core Episcopal and Anglican partners, in addition to other faith-based and secular partners, using an approach that is grounded in compassion and respectful of the dignity of all human beings. Transcending theological and political differences builds a stronger force of change than division and exclusion ever could.

Reflect: Can you picture a world in which divisions have ceased and we consider every human to be our family member?