It is the 5th day of Lent today, and I am thinking about the fragility of life. I am mourning with a former student, and current friend, of mine who lost her mother this weekend.
Lent is based on the idea of journeying for 40 days, as Jesus did, in the wilderness. Jesus suffered in the wilderness, undoubtedly felt great pain, and ultimately triumphed, in the desert, over the temptation He faced. So, in Lent, we too journey for 40 days. We are journeying through a wilderness of sorts. The thing we must remember that the wilderness of Lent, though meaningful, is still just a manufactured wilderness. The 40 days each year are crucial in our development, but we have created, in some sense, the wilderness that we journey through. And?
The reality is that there are real wildernesses that we will have to traverse in our lives. My friend is currently facing such a wilderness with the loss of her mother. The real wilderness is nothing like the manufactured wilderness. The Lenten wilderness is a time of training for us, so that, when we are facing down a true wilderness we will not lose heart. We can remember that the Christ walked through a real wilderness and triumphed, and we can remember that we have walked through the Lenten wilderness and survived. That the Lenten wilderness is manufactured does not detract from its meaning. It serves a purpose, even as real, dark wildernesses do.
Rest In Peace - Susie Johnson
PEACE
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
4th Day of Lent - A Day Late
Normally I wont be posting on Sundays, as Sundays are not part of Lent, but since I was traveling yesterday I didn't get a chance to post.
One of the things we have to be careful of while we journey through Lent is the temptation to get lost in our brokenness and miss out on the victory. That's why it is good once a week, on Sunday, to exit Lent for a short time and celebrate the resurrection. We are sorry for our sin, and for our failures, but we also celebrate the reality that the Christ has offered Himself up for us as a sacrifice for our sins. He has defeated sin by His death, and the power of death has been broken, because God, The Father, has raised Jesus back up from the dead.
This past week as I sat in, what really boiled down to, a systematic theology conference, I was shocked in some moments about the negativity with which a few people view things. Some of them even seem to doubt that in the end the Christ will return and that there will be a great resurrection. (To be fair systematic theologians view things in far more complicated views, but you get my point.) This same kind of negativity could infect us during Lent. That is not to say that we shouldn't reflect on sin and failure, nor that we shouldn't engage in the difficult journey through the wilderness. However, we must always remember that Christ frees us from sin and that we are forgiven. Reflection and repentance is one thing, getting bogged down in the mire of despair is quite another, and seems to me to be the antithesis of faith. So, let us be repentant and reflective, but also people of joy.
PEACE
One of the things we have to be careful of while we journey through Lent is the temptation to get lost in our brokenness and miss out on the victory. That's why it is good once a week, on Sunday, to exit Lent for a short time and celebrate the resurrection. We are sorry for our sin, and for our failures, but we also celebrate the reality that the Christ has offered Himself up for us as a sacrifice for our sins. He has defeated sin by His death, and the power of death has been broken, because God, The Father, has raised Jesus back up from the dead.
This past week as I sat in, what really boiled down to, a systematic theology conference, I was shocked in some moments about the negativity with which a few people view things. Some of them even seem to doubt that in the end the Christ will return and that there will be a great resurrection. (To be fair systematic theologians view things in far more complicated views, but you get my point.) This same kind of negativity could infect us during Lent. That is not to say that we shouldn't reflect on sin and failure, nor that we shouldn't engage in the difficult journey through the wilderness. However, we must always remember that Christ frees us from sin and that we are forgiven. Reflection and repentance is one thing, getting bogged down in the mire of despair is quite another, and seems to me to be the antithesis of faith. So, let us be repentant and reflective, but also people of joy.
PEACE
Friday, February 24, 2012
3rd Day of Lent
What does repentance look like? Today I had lunch with three great people. They are all part of a long term situation that does not require a complete explanation here, but the situation got me to thinking. Are there times in our lives when we have to seek repentance not because of something that we have done, but because we are part of a situation that requires repentance to be sought? What if, because we are part of the community of Jesus, we have to ask forgiveness for things that others in the larger community of Jesus have done?
To be honest I firmly believe that this often must happen. There are times that people need to be given the opportunity to forgive, and the people who should be seeking the forgiveness are not available to ask for the forgiveness, or simply refuse to do so. My flesh does not want to do this. My flesh does not want to have to get involved with things that I am not personally responsible for. Yet we are not just individuals moving through this world, that's a very selfish idea, we are part of a community. As members of a community we have to, from time to time, take the initiative in making sure that repentance is sought and forgiveness is pronounced. It requires us to be humble, and to put aside our own selfish desires. It requires that the Spirit be at work in us.
PEACE
To be honest I firmly believe that this often must happen. There are times that people need to be given the opportunity to forgive, and the people who should be seeking the forgiveness are not available to ask for the forgiveness, or simply refuse to do so. My flesh does not want to do this. My flesh does not want to have to get involved with things that I am not personally responsible for. Yet we are not just individuals moving through this world, that's a very selfish idea, we are part of a community. As members of a community we have to, from time to time, take the initiative in making sure that repentance is sought and forgiveness is pronounced. It requires us to be humble, and to put aside our own selfish desires. It requires that the Spirit be at work in us.
PEACE
Thursday, February 23, 2012
2nd Day of Lent
Today I'm traveling, so this will be short.
Today, for me, is probably the hardest day of Lent, because it feels like a let down. In some strange way Ash Wednesday is always a great spiritual moment for me. In both the service yesterday morning and the service last night I felt the presence of the Christ in a very real way. Perhaps in the act of confession we find a deep thankfulness within us that some how resonates deep within the heart of Jesus. We often express our gratitude for the sacrifice of the Christ through words, or thoughts, or even by our actions. What if, though, the truest expression of our thankfulness to a self-sacrificing God is that we we sorry for the things that brought Him to that sacrifice?
PEACE
Today, for me, is probably the hardest day of Lent, because it feels like a let down. In some strange way Ash Wednesday is always a great spiritual moment for me. In both the service yesterday morning and the service last night I felt the presence of the Christ in a very real way. Perhaps in the act of confession we find a deep thankfulness within us that some how resonates deep within the heart of Jesus. We often express our gratitude for the sacrifice of the Christ through words, or thoughts, or even by our actions. What if, though, the truest expression of our thankfulness to a self-sacrificing God is that we we sorry for the things that brought Him to that sacrifice?
PEACE
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
1st Day of Lent - Ash Wednesday
Once again we are staring down the Lenten season. For several years I have tried to blog every day of Lent and have had only moderate success. Ash Wednesday provides the opportunity for us to focus our Lenten time. Each year in our faith community, Zoe, we not only agree as individuals to give up (fast) something for Lent, but we also agree to take on something that will help us to grow closer to The Christ. I would urge each of you to consider adopting this idea.
Ash Wednesday is a day of confession and repentance. Whether or not you choose to participate in Ash Wednesday or Lent I would urge you to at least stop and consider confession and repentance. In our tradition, the Church of the Nazarene, we have often shied away from the idea of continual confession and repentance. This, no doubt, has to do with a, somewhat, incorrect understanding of "Christian Perfection". We have come a long way in our understanding of sanctification, but still there is a reticence to confess and repent. Perhaps it would be beneficial to remember that John Wesley, whom we often cite, continued to repent even after his "heart-warming" experience. We would affirm that when a disciple is filled with the Spirit they do not have to sin, and could, in fact, choose to never intentionally sin again. However, as 21st century disciples, we often "sin" corporately. For example, how many of us really worked to stop the genocide in Darfur? Do we tirelessly demand that everyone in the world have clean drinking water? My point is simply this: Even the most spiritually disciplined disciple, filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Jesus to flow through his/her life, is not so "perfect" that they should never stop to reflect on the brokenness of the world, and their part in it. Even if you would disagree with me, you would at least acknowledge that what Christ did for us, not only on the cross, but also during the Wilderness Temptation is worth remembering.
PEACE
Ash Wednesday is a day of confession and repentance. Whether or not you choose to participate in Ash Wednesday or Lent I would urge you to at least stop and consider confession and repentance. In our tradition, the Church of the Nazarene, we have often shied away from the idea of continual confession and repentance. This, no doubt, has to do with a, somewhat, incorrect understanding of "Christian Perfection". We have come a long way in our understanding of sanctification, but still there is a reticence to confess and repent. Perhaps it would be beneficial to remember that John Wesley, whom we often cite, continued to repent even after his "heart-warming" experience. We would affirm that when a disciple is filled with the Spirit they do not have to sin, and could, in fact, choose to never intentionally sin again. However, as 21st century disciples, we often "sin" corporately. For example, how many of us really worked to stop the genocide in Darfur? Do we tirelessly demand that everyone in the world have clean drinking water? My point is simply this: Even the most spiritually disciplined disciple, filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Jesus to flow through his/her life, is not so "perfect" that they should never stop to reflect on the brokenness of the world, and their part in it. Even if you would disagree with me, you would at least acknowledge that what Christ did for us, not only on the cross, but also during the Wilderness Temptation is worth remembering.
PEACE
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