pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Lent


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Idols

Is there a commandment we struggle with more than the commandment against idols? Today the idea of an idol has grown to represent a wide variety of things: money, possessions, job, position or status, physical beauty, authority, time…  Our own ‘idol’ can really be anything we place before or above God.

It is a fine line sometimes between providing for our families and accumulating wealth or between doing a good job at work and pouring oneself into the job in the pursuit of a promotion.  But when one is in a right relationship with God, then one knows in their hearts when they are nearing or have crossed that imaginary line.

The command against idols is the only command that also has a punishment attached.  Perhaps God knew people would wrestle with this one!  God warns that He will punish out to a person’s fourth generation if one bows down to idols.  However, God also promises that He will love your family for a thousand years if you love Him and follow His commands.  Quite a difference!  Must be important.

In this holy season of Lent, may we spend a little extra time looking at the idols we have in our lives.  May we seek God’s strength and presence so that our idols become less and He becomes more.

Scripture reference: Genesis 20: 4-6


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With the Spirit

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit.  For forty days, Jesus was tested.  Today this forty day period of testing is represented by Lent, which is under way for us.

Lent began a few days ago with Ash Wednesday – a day when we put ashes on our forehead and acknowledge that we are mortal.  In many places, the ashes were imposed with a prayer to create a pure heart and a steadfast spirit within each child of God as they received the ashes.  This is to prepare us for the journey of Lent.

During Lent we are especially in tune with our faith.  In tune with God as we seek His strength and love as we honestly face the sins we wrestle with.  In tune with Holy Spirit as we accept the conviction of our sins and as we use the Spirit’s guidance away from our sins.  In tune with Jesus as we pursue His example of a holy life and as we accept grace and forgiveness when we fail.

If we delve deeply and reflect honestly, our self-examination during Lent will reveal spaces to grow and will enrich our lives of faith.  Our spiritual disciplines will yield much fruit in this season when we practice them faithfully.  We cannot do this on our own.  May we depend on the Spirit to lead, guide, and empower us to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, yielding a willing heart and mind bent on a better relationship with Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Scripture reference: Mark 1: 8-15


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Our Call

Today is Ash Wednesday.  Today Lent begins.  Lent is a time designated as a time of preparation.  Spiritual disciplines such as self-examination and repentance, self-denial, and fasting couple with practices such as prayer and reading and meditating on God’s Word to help us prepare ourselves for Easter.

Lent is often a time we choose to give something up.  This is a form of self-denial.  When we crave or notice what we chose to give up, we should draw close to God in prayer.  We are reminded that we are dependant on Him.  Fasting is another way we can deny self and draw closer to God.  In the same way, when we feel the hunger we draw close to God in prayer and seek His strength.  In one of the devotionals I read, the author wrote, “Fasting is an offering to God to overcome being and doing what we want so that we may be and do what God wants.”  We become less so that He can become more.

Lent should also be about other things we choose to do for God.  In today’s reading from Isaiah God calls us to feed the hungry, to care for the poor, to loosen the bonds of injustice, to free the oppressed.  God is seeking a just and fair world, a world where all are loved equally and where all have enough to meet their needs.

You and I have a role to play in this world that God wants to see.  Both personally and corporately we must be involved in healing our world.  Us as individuals and our churches as a whole can do much to restore this world.  Whether one person at a time or one issue at a time, God’s people must make a difference in this world.  It is our call.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 58: 1-12


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Piety – Inward and Outward

In Matthew 6 Jesus offers some tips on how we should and shouldn’t do a few things.  He advises that when we give to the needy, that we don’t make a big show of it.  He suggests that we even go so far as to give with one hand without the other even knowing about it.  He advises that when we pray we go into a quiet room.  He advises that when we fast we wash our face and make ourselves appear healthy so that others do not know we are fasting.  Jesus tells us that God knows all we do in secret and will reward us.  He is cautioning the religious leaders who like to stand before men when they pray or give.  Jesus says they have received their reward – just recognition from men.  Jesus concludes by summarizing why we should give, pray and fast as he advises – because then we are storing up treasures in heaven.

At first I thought this an odd reading on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Lent is traditionally a season of self-examination and reflection, a season where we give something up or choose to do something ‘extra’ for others.   But then I realized the cautions of Matthew 6 are for us too.  Today is a day when many will wear the mark of the ashen cross on the forehead as a reminder of our faith.  If the cross on our forehead is simply a mark of religious piety, then we have already received our reward in full too.  If it is a personal reminder of the inner transformation taking place then it is between us and God, not as a show for the world.  If our inner change is leading to greater worship and praise of God and into humble acts of kindness to our  fellow man, then we are beginning to store up those treasures in heaven.  Now it is not about keeping score on a secret scorecard.  It is about living as a child of God.  As with Abraham, it is through right living that we too are counted righteous.

The ashen cross on our forehead can also be a conversation starter.  If a non-believer asks about it, we can explain the meaning.  In our church we use Psalm 51:10 as we administer ashes: “Create in your child a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within him/her.”  Lent is a season of giving to God and of sacrifice to remind ourselves of the repentance we must offer.   The ashen cross is also a mark of ownership – to say that we belong to Christ.  Ashes are used to remind us that we are mortal and also that Jesus chose to die for our sins.  As we go through our day today, may we allow that inner light of Christ to shine forth.  May the cross we bear in our heart (and maybe the one we bear on our forehead too) be a sign of our inward piety and may it also be a reminder that we are called to be spent in faithful service to our God and to our fellow man.