Lent Devotional

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About Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Rooted in the Reformed tradition, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is committed to the formation of women and men for theologically reflective ministry and to scholarship in service to the global Church of Jesus Christ.

Become a Student

Certificate Programs

Special Programs

Faculty

In addition to their on-campus duties, our faculty are experts in their fields and are available to preach and teach. Learn more about their topics of research and writing and invite them to present at your congregation or gathering.

Events

The Seminary hosts a wide range of events—many of them free!—on topics of faith including church planting, mission, vocation, spiritual formation, pastoral care and counseling, archaeology, and many more. Visit our calendar often for a listing of upcoming events.

Visit PTS

Interested in the Seminary? Come visit us!

Stay in Touch with PTS

Sign-up to receive the Seminary's newsletters: Seminary News (monthly), Church Planting Initiative (monthly), Continuing Education (monthly), World Mission Initiative (monthly), Metro-Urban Institute (quarterly), and Kelso Museum. Alums, there's also one for you!

Lenten Devotional March 7, 2021

Scripture

Jeremiah 6:9-15

9 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again over its branches. 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed, they cannot listen. The word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. 11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the gatherings of young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken, the old folk and the very aged. 12 Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the LORD. 13 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 14 They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. 15 They acted shamefully, they committed abomination; yet they were not ashamed, they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the LORD.

Devotional

The Rev. Rebecca Reeder ’19

“They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” I am struck by these words as I write in the midst of widespread social unrest, and I wonder where the battle specifically for racial equity will be by the time this devotional is read. I hear God shouting these words from Jeremiah 6 about our own society, in which deep wounds and ongoing intergenerational trauma have too often been treated carelessly. Too long the refrain, “Peace, peace,” has been proclaimed when there really was no peace for the wounded.

I also hear God convicting us all that we often treat the wounds of Jesus carelessly—we throw them about as though the cross were a weapon instead of representing Jesus present with the least of these. Yet, as we move closer to the cross this Lenten season, we discover anew that every wound of our own that was treated carelessly, as well as every wound of others whom we ourselves have treated carelessly, is borne in the wounds of Christ. So let us lay both our wounds and our carelessness once more at the foot of the cross, be assured of God’s justice and mercy, and then follow in the way of Jesus by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.

Prayer

Loving and gracious God, as we journey through this Lenten season, give us ears to hear your word and eyes to see where injustice continues to be rampant. Give us a holy unrest to continue caring for the wounds of your people until Christ’s peace reigns supreme. In name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lenten Devotional March 7, 2021

Scripture

Jeremiah 6:9-15

9 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again over its branches. 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed, they cannot listen. The word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. 11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the gatherings of young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken, the old folk and the very aged. 12 Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the LORD. 13 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 14 They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. 15 They acted shamefully, they committed abomination; yet they were not ashamed, they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the LORD.

Devotional

The Rev. Rebecca Reeder ’19

“They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” I am struck by these words as I write in the midst of widespread social unrest, and I wonder where the battle specifically for racial equity will be by the time this devotional is read. I hear God shouting these words from Jeremiah 6 about our own society, in which deep wounds and ongoing intergenerational trauma have too often been treated carelessly. Too long the refrain, “Peace, peace,” has been proclaimed when there really was no peace for the wounded.

I also hear God convicting us all that we often treat the wounds of Jesus carelessly—we throw them about as though the cross were a weapon instead of representing Jesus present with the least of these. Yet, as we move closer to the cross this Lenten season, we discover anew that every wound of our own that was treated carelessly, as well as every wound of others whom we ourselves have treated carelessly, is borne in the wounds of Christ. So let us lay both our wounds and our carelessness once more at the foot of the cross, be assured of God’s justice and mercy, and then follow in the way of Jesus by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.

Prayer

Loving and gracious God, as we journey through this Lenten season, give us ears to hear your word and eyes to see where injustice continues to be rampant. Give us a holy unrest to continue caring for the wounds of your people until Christ’s peace reigns supreme. In name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

About Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Rooted in the Reformed tradition, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is committed to the formation of women and men for theologically reflective ministry and to scholarship in service to the global Church of Jesus Christ.

Become a Student

Certificate Programs

Special Programs

Faculty

In addition to their on-campus duties, our faculty are experts in their fields and are available to preach and teach. Learn more about their topics of research and writing and invite them to present at your congregation or gathering.

Events

The Seminary hosts a wide range of events—many of them free!—on topics of faith including church planting, mission, vocation, spiritual formation, pastoral care and counseling, archaeology, and many more. Visit our calendar often for a listing of upcoming events.

Visit PTS

Interested in the Seminary? Come visit us!

Stay in Touch with PTS

Sign-up to receive the Seminary's newsletters: Seminary News (monthly), Church Planting Initiative (monthly), Continuing Education (monthly), World Mission Initiative (monthly), Metro-Urban Institute (quarterly), and Kelso Museum. Alums, there's also one for you!