Lent: The Misunderstood Season

This past Wednesday, many Christian churches observed the beginning of the season of Lent.  That Wednesday is called Ash Wednesday, and I shared a little bit about it in a previous post. 

As we go into this Lent season, I've noticed over the years that there are a number of misunderstandings about this season of the church year.  So I would like to take up a few posts and speak to some of the things that you may or may not know about Lent, in the hopes of clearing up some of those misunderstandings.

The first one for today is that Lent is all about focusing on our sins, and basically, just making ourselves as miserable as possible.  In the eyes of some, Lent almost seems to be a time to wallow in how poor and miserable we are as sinners, to take every sin and turn it over in our minds, so that we get downright miserable thinking about our sin.  I'm not sure, but perhaps the hope in this is to make our sin seem so repugnant that we simply stop doing it.

So let's clear up this misunderstanding.  It is true that we tend to have a focus on our sin during this Lent season, but for many churches and Christians, it is not more focused than at other times of the year.  The thing with Lent is that we think about our sin because we realize that we have been bought at a price, that of Christ's own suffering and death on the cross, and His victorious resurrection from the dead.  So we think about our sin, not to make us miserable, but because we recognize that Jesus died to take away that sin.

Now, another part of the Lent focus is one that is actually also found throughout the year in so many Christian churches.  As we recognize that Jesus has died to forgive our sins, and that He gives us that forgiveness freely, part of our response is to battle against that sin in our lives.  Here's where it gets a little tricky, though.  Because sin is a much deeper problem than just what we do or fail to do, because it is a condition in which we are born in this world, we will never overcome it, no matter how hard we may try.  We may have times in our lives where we seem to have it under control, and then it will suddenly reassert itself.  We can never overcome it on our own, which is where the cross of Jesus comes in.

But the real reason we focus on it is because the season of Lent points us to a very important truth for our lives: God is a God of forgiveness.  God's idea from the very beginning was that no single human being would have to suffer judgment and condemnation for their sin.  If you read John 3:16-17, you see that God sent Jesus in order that the world would be saved and forgiven.  Thus, when we focus on our sin during the season of Lent, it is always to point us to the fact that we have been forgiven by God through Jesus and the cross for that sin, no matter how bad it may have been, and no matter how much we may continue to struggle with it in our lives.

So the focus on our sin isn't to wallow in misery, but to recognize our forgiveness in Jesus.  So as you journey through this Lent season, I pray that you are reminded of your forgiveness which Jesus has purchased just for you, and which you share with every other Christian in the world!

Another of God's Lessons

Please forgive me if I don't make a point very quickly to this blog post.  It's one of those things that is a pretty difficult concept to put into words and to make it make any kind of sense.  So please bear with me.

Yesterday, I was driving from my gym back up to work after my run.  I happened to get behind this white car with a neighboring state license plate.  This car was going a few MPH under the speed limit, and didn't seem to really be paying too much attention to the road.  When we came up to a stop sign, the driver waited for another car to go through, even though the white car had the right of way.  And then, to make matters worse in my eyes, this car was going almost exactly along the same route that I was taking back to work.

I admit that I was very frustrated.  The driver of the white car didn't seem to be too aware of the rules of the road.  That driver also didn't seem to really care much about how his/her driving impacted others, at least in my eyes.  But I remember a thought entering my mind right about the time we pulled up the four way stop, a thought that really unsettled me.

Isn't that exactly how we must seem to God?  Think of it.  He created us, and in doing so, He established a number of "rules" of life in how we should live with each other.  And yet, as you venture through life, don't you come across a number of people that just seem like they aren't aware of the rules of life?  And even if they happen to be aware of them, how many seem to still do their own thing, regardless of the situation or who may be around?

To send Jesus not only to live among people who are like that, but to actually be patient with them, to want them to know that they are His very own, and that He loves them, seems to defy any kind of sense of logic.  I have to admit that I will probably never love the driver of that white car.  And yet, God is so very patient with us when we are like that driver.  When we don't seem to know the rules of life, God is still patient with us.  When we do our own thing and don't really care how it affects other people, God still looks to be patient with us, and to forgive us.

I have to admit that I will never fully understand that attitude of God toward us.  Sure, in my life, I'll find glimpses of it coming to life.  But then, I find myself looking for that opening so I can just get away from the white car drivers of my life.  I may not hold it against them once I'm past them, but while they are in my sights, I sure don't seem to be very caring or compassionate or patient with them.

Can you relate to that?  Does thinking about how God would react toward that other person affect the way you react toward them? 

Ash Wednesday

Today is the one day of the year that you are somewhat likely to see someone at work, school, or walking down the street or in the store with a big cross of ashes on their forehead.  Why is that?  It's because today is the Christian holy day known as Ash Wednesday.

What is Ash Wednesday?  Well, for starters, it's the day that kicks off the season of Lent for many liturgical based Christian churches.  Every year, on the Wednesday that comes 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, the Christian church enters the season of Lent.  Over the next few days, I'll further explain a bit about this season of the church year.

But what is Ash Wednesday, and why the ashes?  Well, it all begins with how God was at work when Jesus suffered and died on the cross.  In that action, Jesus (being both the one true God and fully human at the same time) died with the sin and sins of the entire world.  All the sin and sins of the world died with Him as He carried them into death.  And then, in rising back to life, Jesus declared Himself to be more powerful than our sin and even death itself.

So first of all, Ash Wednesday is a reminder that God has dealt with our sin.  In several places in the Bible, God speaks of Himself as a consuming fire, and as a refining fire.  Basically, what gets consumed in God's presence is all that is sinful.  Sin is burned away and reduced to ash when it comes before the God who calls Himself a consuming fire.

As Christians, we understand that God has consumed our sin in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.  In that action, our sin has been consumed, as though it is now ashes in the sight of God.  Therefore, the ashes that many Christians wear on their foreheads today is a mark of our full and complete forgiveness in the sight of God, because of Jesus and the cross.

That's ultimately the meaning of the cross of ashes.  The person who wears them is declaring to the world that they are one whose sins are as ashes in the sight of God.  By wearing those ashes in the shape of the cross, they are also declaring that God has done this for them through Jesus and the cross, and that they are forgiven sinners because of that loving action.

Radical Grace

I regularly get the opportunity to speak with individuals about the Bible.  This is one of my greatest joys, especially when I get the chance to meet regularly with a person or group of people, where we can build upon the things that we talked about before.  And one thing that I really take a lot of joy in is talking about God's grace that He gives so freely to us.

As I've read more of the Bible, and as I've come to a greater understanding of God's grace, I've also come to realize just how radical and even controversial that grace can be.  The root of the word that we translate as grace comes from the Greek word "charitas", from which we get our word charity.  Just imagine if you were to read through your Bible, and every time you encounter the word grace, you replaced it with charity.  Do you think that it might make a difference in how you understand those different Bible verses?

That's the thing that I have grown to see about God's grace, and that I still find myself struggling with.  Grace is, by its nature, undeserved.  We never do anything to deserve charity.  Instead, it's something that is given to us because we have such a need.  When this comes from God, it means that God gives us freely of those things that we do not deserve.  God forgives us, even though we have done nothing to deserve it.  God makes us His own people, even though we are rebels and sinful and want to exalt ourselves.  God gives us an inheritance of a life that never ends with Him, even though we daily sin by our thoughts, words, and actions, and even though, at the heart of who we are, we are sinful.

To believe that we do absolutely nothing to receive God's grace is downright humbling, and even offensive to us as humans.  We want to believe that we do something, even if it's simply choosing to believe in God.  We want to think that we have to understand God and His grace before we can receive such grace.  We simply cannot stand that God would give love and forgiveness freely, without any action or activity on our part.

Grace isn't so difficult to understand, at least in terms of what it is.  That God freely gives His grace to usis really what is so challenging.  And that's why, in the end, it has to be that way.  You and I, as humans, simply cannot fathom that God would give such priceless treasures so freely, and so the only course left open to God is to give them in that way.  Thanks be to God for His grace!

For God, For Others, Both, Or Neither?

One of the more interesting discussions that I have with people tends to revolve around the reason that we do good thing in life.  As you can imagine, every person seems to have their own idea on why they do the good that they do in life.  For some, it comes from their desire to please others, or to do what others expect of them.  For others, it comes from a desire to do the good that God would expect of us.  And yet, for others, they may not actually care too much one way or the other if they do good, or if it impacts others.

This is actually a line of thought that I have been having for some time.  So I'll start out by posing a brief question, and then showing the different ways that we could answer it.  The question is: Do we do good things for God, for others, for both, or for neither?  How we answer this question says a lot about how we understand God and how we understand life.

If we tend to do our good things for God, then usually we try to tie up those good things in some way with proving that we are good to God.  We do something nice for our neighbor, and we expect God to "reward" us, or think that we have earned some kind of points in His eyes.  The reality is, there are a number of places in the Bible that we could look to support this view.  We hear Jesus saying that if we give a cup of water to one of His followers, we have done it for Him.  That would seem to suggest that the good we do is done for God.

At the same time, we could also say that we do good for the benefit of our neighbor, and not necessarily directly for God.  After all, does God need that cup of water that we give to someone else?  That hardly seems likely.  Therefore, we did something good for the benefit of our neighbor.  God doesn't "gain" anything from our action, and so the primary beneficiary is our neighbor.

Of course, there is always someone out there who will say that the same action of giving a cup of water is done both for God and for the neighbor.  While God does not directly benefit from the cup of water, it fits in line with His desire that we love our neighbors as ourselves.  It directly benefits our neighbor because it is an action of love and care, which helps to build up the community in which we live.  It shares godly love with others, which is something that both God and our neighbor desire.

There are always those who will try to answer this in another way, though.  They are the ones who say that God has made them right through Jesus, and that's all that matters, and so they don't "have" to do good for their neighbor.  While it is true that faith in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is what makes us right with God, having security in that relationship does not excuse us from our earthly relationships with one another.  This is where we don't do them directly for God, but a refusal to do them is also to live in such a way that is contrary to how God created us to live life together, which is simply another way of saying that we live in sin.

So why do you do good in life?  I hope these thoughts help you think that question through and bring a little clarity into the difference between doing good for God and doing good for others.

Reaction to the News: When the Goverment places Demands on Faith Life

Let me start off by saying that, in my own personal mind, as well as that of the church body that I represent, I/we typically prefer not to have to make statements about governmental type issues.  With that said, every once in a while, there are particular issues that simply cannot be left without giving input, insight, and sharing my/our thoughts without betraying my/our conscience.

For those who keep up with political things, you know that universal health care has been a goal of the government for quite some time.  Our current President has been seeking that goal as part of his term in office, and this is an admirable thing.  However, when the governing officials seek to put parts of that program in place which go against the faith and beliefs of people, our particular belief is that they then have overstepped their boundaries.

The current issue that is at hand is not that the government wants to provide universal health care.  That effort is applauded.  The issue at hand is when there are provisions in that program which clearly betray faith and belief.  Can you imagine passing a health care law that would require the Amish to bring in surgery and other technology into their society, and then having them simply accept that without any protest?  Hardly.  And so the same thing goes when the government includes the necessity of providing abortion-causing provisions into their health care plan.

I and my church body commend the government for wanting to provide for the needs of everyone in our country.  However, when that same government forces individuals and groups to include things that go against their faith and practice, they must be resisted.  As I and my church body believe that God creates life when conception first takes place, being forced to provide drugs that would kill that new, precious life simply cannot be accepted.

I applaud the leader of my church body for making a statement before Congress today to express our beliefs and consciences.  My prayer is that our elected leaders hear the cry of many Christians (and perhaps many others) and recognize that they can achieve their goal of universal health care without including provisions that betray the conscience of many.  I had to admit that I will always remain skeptical of their ability and willingness to do this, and simply hope and pray that our God will continue to shower His grace upon His people, who seek to follow in the way that He created us.

Being Truly Human

As I've mentioned before, I do a lot of reading.  Some of it is required reading, especially those books that I have to read as I study for my Doctor of Ministry degree.  Over the past week, I just finished a fascinating book, called "Theology is for Proclamation" by Gerhard Forde.  For those who want to take a deep look at the relationship between systematic theology and preaching, this is a good (albeit academic) book.

One point that Forde made has really made me think quite a bit.  He talks about Jesus being true man.  We confess that belief in the Apostles' Creed, where we confess that Jesus is both true God and true man.  But I found his thoughts on what it means to be true man (for Jesus) utterly fascinating.

When God created man, the first man and woman "knew" who they were in relation to God.  God was the creator, and was "above" them.  But when they were tempted by the serpent, he caused them to think that they could strive to be like God.  After all, that was the temptation.  "You could be like God, knowing good and evil."  By taking that step, the man and woman "fell" into sin by over-reaching their role in relationship to God.  Previously they had been His loved and perfect creation.  But now, in their lives, they sought to be like God, thus exalting themselves to a place that was never intended for them.

Here's where Jesus being true man then really strikes home.  In His entire life, Jesus never once sought to be more than what He was in relation to God the Father.  Jesus was the Son, and never sought to rise above that.  Jesus was completely human, and never sought to be more than that as He lived in this world.  Even when it came to the Father's will for Him, Jesus did not question if the Father really knew better than He did about what was best for Jesus.  Instead, Jesus willingly accepted what the Father's will was, even though it meant being betrayed, abandoned, persecuted, beaten, and put to death.

That's what it means to be truly human, at least as I understood it from Forde's thoughts.  And that actually makes a lot of sense to me.  When we question God, in one respect, we are trying to tell God that we know what's good for us better than He does.  When something happens in life and we complain to God about it, we're saying that we know what God should and shouldn't do in our lives.  Each of these, and there are many more examples of things we do like this, show that we simply cannot remain merely God's created, loved creation, but instead, we strive to be God in our lives to some degree or another.

Being truly human means that we recognize that we live completely at God's mercy and by God's grace.  Our trouble is that we simply cannot see what God is accomplishing when things happen in our lives that we don't like.  If we knew what God was accomplishing when we were suffering, or when a family member was hurting or dying, we'd probably be a bit more able to accept our place in our relationship with God.  However, because sin has cut us off from that connection, we are left with no alternative but to seek out the place of God.

As I said, I'm fascinated by this thought.  I've tended to think about Jesus becoming like us as a human being, and have rarely given thought to the fact that Jesus came to be truly human, and what that means for us.  I'm thankful for Forde for making me think about things like this.