Lenten words for the day from N. T. Wright, based on Romans 8:26-30:
Paul sees the prayer life of the church as the means by which God can come and share the pain of the world….Many times individual Christians, and whole churches, feel that they don’t really understand why they are in such pain, why they are facing such problems. Sometimes people find themselves in such a condition that they say they can’t pray. They find it impossible to put into words the struggle and turmoil that they feel. At precisely that point, says Paul, the Spirit is groaning inarticulately within them.
We have God calling to God, and God answering God. God the Spirit, dwelling within the suffering church, is calling to God the Father, the creator….
The Church is thus called,…to be a company of people in whose experience the pain of God and the pain of the world are held together, so that the world may be redeemed….
(And so,) the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed.
Pray with us and in us, Holy Spirit, that, being ourselves assured of your healing presence, we may bear the image of Christ into the world. Amen.