Today is Ash Wednesday.
Today marks the beginning of Lent.
And for some of us…that might not mean a whole lot.
Odds are, if you’re like me and grew up in the Church of the Nazarene or any other “Protestant” church denomination, the season is unfamiliar. I know that my earliest recollection of the season was summed up in a few questions:
What’s with the black smudge on the forehead?
How is giving up a commodity like soda going to strengthen my faith?
And most predominately:
Isn’t it something only the Catholic or Orthodox Church celebrate?
And like I did, maybe you have or still question who Lent is for.
Is it for the Catholic Church?
Or is it for the Orthodox?
Well, I think I can answer that question. If Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of your life…
Lent is for you.
Simply put, if Easter Sunday is the day in which we celebrate what was accomplished on the cross, we can look at Lent as the preparation for the party.
Lent is a time in which we are challenged to recognize that our sins have separated us from God and that it cost Him His one and only Son to close the gap. It’s a time of reflection on life. And it’s about reframing our focus on how we live it.
And for forty days we attempt to do what Christ did before us. As Matthew would write, after Jesus was baptized:
Matthew 4:1-4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temped by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
In its simplest form, Lent is about fighting off temptation from the “stones” in life that attempt to distract us from God and understanding that we are reliant in Him. It’s about doing what Jesus did as He was led through the wilderness.
Are you following along here?
Lent connects us to Jesus.
Just as Jesus spent forty days reflecting on His need for God, for forty days we are called to do the same.
And on Ash Wednesday we are reminded of a sobering reality:
Genesis 3:19
…for dust you are and to dust you will return.
Physically, we don’t live forever. Eventually our physical bodies that came from the ground will return to the ground. And let me add insult to injury here for a moment by adding to this reality by reminding us of what James would write to the church:
James 4:14
What is life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
We don’t live forever. And our lives are short.
Yikes.
Ouch.
However, let us not forget the beauty of it all. God gave life to that dust. And it’s not just a life that we experience once our bodies return to dust. It’s a life that God intends for us to live right now. It’s a life that Jesus, Himself, brought and described when He said:
John 10:10
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
It’s a life of joy and praise.
A life of grace and mercy.
A life of service and blessing.
And so, with our mortality in mind, we are reminded that we are absolutely, entirely, and completely in need of God for this type of life…now and forever.
Do you recognize your need for and dependence on God?
Do you understand that without Him, you’re just dust?
If Easter is the party and Lent is the party preparation, what are you doing to make sure that the celebration is one that you will never forget?
As you do some of your own wilderness venturing, how is the tempter tempting you?
Maybe there is a “stone” in your life that is distracting you from God’s provision?
While I’m not necessarily asking you to give up a specific commodity for the season, I will ask this of you…
Reflect.
Reframe.
Refocus.
Fight.
Lent is the season to do just this.
Lent is for you.
Or better yet…
Lent is for God.
-Pastor Cody
