Lent

"Lent is like an ellipse: It is a single entity with a double focus. The Forty Days are (a) a time for probing consideration of our human condition, including sin and its deadly consequences for both individuals and society, and (b) a time for an equally intense consideration of the new possibilities offered to us in Jesus Christ and their implications for practical living... We begin with penitence: an acknowledgment of our rebellion against God and our alienation from God's whole creation. We move on to the fruits of repentance: the amendment of life that results when we turn around and by God's grace head in a new direction."

-Laurence Hull Stookey, "Calendar: Christ's Time for the Church"


Usually when I think of Lent, I think of it as a time of deprivation. A time that's solemn and only worth the pain because we know that Easter is coming. Curiously, this year Lent has felt a bit like New Year's Day to me, which is a far sunnier outlook than I've had before. Some of my weaknesses have become glaringly obvious to me in the past month or so, which sometimes gets me down. However, I feel as though betterment is not only imperative, but also possible. An exciting thought.

The quote above was printed in our church bulletin this morning, the first Sunday of Lent. In the sermon, we looked at Matthew 4: 1-11, which is when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting. Satan tempted Jesus with three things: bread (after all, he'd been fasting for 40 days!), honor and an easier way to do things. And of course, Jesus resists temptation.

Our pastor pointed out that these three things are actually good things, and that most things we're tempted by are good things, gifts from God. The danger in these good things is confusing that which is good with that which is ultimate. We tend to seek the gifts rather than God, and we seek to obtain these treasured good things on our own rather than trusting that they will come by God's hand, on God's timetable.

What are the good things that you seek? I seek approval and praise. Affirmation. I want it at every opportunity and in every venue possible, which is interesting, because I often don't believe that I will ever actually attain it. I seek affirmation before I seek God, which, in the end, renders me incapable of experiencing the rich, satisfying affirmation that is of God. Instead I am left grasping for anything and everything else, hopelessly hoping that my desire might be quelled.

Well that was wholly depressing. Such is the state of mankind, but lent is not all about being depressed. As the quote above states, the focus of Lent is twofold; sobering reflection is necessary, but it is incomplete without a turning away from ourselves and toward God, "amendment of life." The truth is that because Jesus died and rose again, I am no longer a slave to my desire for affirmation. Sometimes it feels like it controls me and I act as though I am a slave to it, but in reality, I am able to change. I am able to seek God first.

I think it's most appropriate that Lent comes at the beginning of spring. After the desolate winter (at least, that's how winter always feels to me), there is new life and with that, hope. May this Lent season be a thoughtful, fruit-bearing one for you.