The Sanctuary for Lent 2022

By Danielle Buwon Kim

Devotions by Danielle Kim for each day of Lent.

The Sanctuary for Lent 2022 contains brief readings for each day in Lent, from Ash Wednesday through Easter Day, including a suggested Scripture, a short devotion and a short prayer—all based on the Revised Common Lectionary. This annual favorite helps readers faithfully journey through Lent as they prepare to experience the joy of the Resurrection. Along with being a great congregational resource, it is an excellent gift for family, friends, and those your congregation connects with through outreach.

Larger font for ease of reading. Sold in packs of 10, booklets are designed to fit in a #10 envelope, enabling churches to include them in Lenten mailings and making it easy to share with visitors and others the church seeks to reach during Lent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: Dec 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781791022600

Danielle Buwon Kim

Danielle B. Kim is Associate Minister of Adult Discipleship at Custer Road UMC in Plano, TX. Danielle is an immigrant from South Korea, and spent her later childhood in Houston, TX. Her passion is in authentic discipleship, and innovative reading the Scripture from diverse perspectives including immigrant and Asian American feminist perspectives.

Book preview

March 2, 2022

ASH WEDNESDAY

Living in the Most High’s shelter,

camping in the Almighty’s shade,

I say to the LORD, "You are my refuge, my stronghold!

You are my God—the one I trust!" (Psalm 91:1-2)

Imagine a sanctuary. You may picture a church, where majestic stained glass shines upon you as you are sitting in a beautiful long pew. You may even think of a nonprofit organization such as the Global Sanctuary for Elephants, which offers a place for abused elephants so they may live free of bondage once again. Whether it is a majestic church or a safe place from abuse, we all need of sanctuary in our lives. You may be reminded of the Holy of Holies from the Old Testament, the most sacred area of the ancient Jewish temple, where the high priest encountered the presence of God.

To the psalmist, the sanctuary is the shelter of the Most High. It is a place to take a deep breath when there is a threat and constant terror of destruction. It is a place to feel assured and affirmed, secure in the protection God offers. To the psalmist, the sanctuary is the shade of the Almighty, where one can enjoy the proximate presence of God. The constant reminder of the divine presence under the shadow of God is a great gift of comfort for those who are suffering under the heat of life. Where in your life do you feel the threat and the anxiety of destruction? Where is the sanctuary in your life that you can experience as the shadow of God’s presence?

God, help me to find sanctuary in my life,

where I can shelter in the comfort of

your constant presence near me.

March 3, 2022

Because you’ve made the LORD my refuge,

the Most High, your place of residence—

no evil will happen to you;

no disease will come close to your tent. (Psalm 91:9-10)

I used to teach high school students, and oh boy, their bodies may have been in my classroom, but quite often they were not with me. Sometimes, we find ourselves living in a completely different world than the one our own physical body occupies. Being in a sanctuary means not only that we enter it, but that we enter in such a way that we become fully present and mindful of this safe place. We may notice not only safety and comfort in the sanctuary, but also some difficult aspects of our lives that we would rather not face. As we are becoming aware of God’s presence in the sanctuary, we may be more aware of all the good, the bad, and the ugly of ourselves.

But even so, in the sanctuary, we experience the protection of God’s affirmation. The evil of shame and the pain of feeling less than have no place in the sanctuary. When we are in the sanctuary, making the Most High our dwelling place, we are proclaimed worthy of God’s presence. When we make God our refuge, we are declared to be God’s own who deserves God’s protection from such pain and scourge.

As you walk into the sanctuary today, and as you center yourself in the presence of God, what do you notice about yourself? What do you notice about your life? You are affirmed as God’s very own, worthy of God’s presence regardless of any merits, shortcomings, or wrongdoings you may have.

(breathe in) God, I welcome your affirmation

(breathe out), and let go of myself in your presence.

March 4, 2022

Because he will order his messengers to help you,

to protect you wherever you go.

They will carry you with their own hands

so you don’t bruise your foot on a stone.

You’ll march on top of lions and vipers;

you’ll trample young lions and serpents underfoot. (Psalm 91:11-13)

As we face various challenges living in this world, we may find ourselves seeking solutions, answers, and meaning to cope with them. When we are in a sanctuary, standing before the presence of God, our thirst for such answers may become even more apparent. The psalmist is also disturbed by the reality of threat and danger, searching for the way to be relieved and set free from the snare of death.

As the psalmist is searching for the way, the answers for his troubles,