Philippians 3:17-4:1 “Join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.”
We bragged about what we had given up for Lent: soda, sweets, and television were the primary things we had decided to forgo. Our reasons why were a bit cloudy. Some of my fellow classmates cited how many Dr. Peppers they drank each day, some talked about the weight they wanted to lose, for some of us it was because our youth pastor had told us to give something up, while some were doing it because a friend was doing it and that friend needed them to do it, too. I distinctly remember the focus on deprivation. We were going to deprive ourselves. We were going to SACRIFICE.
Our conversation throughout those six weeks was splattered with moaning and whining and struggling and cheating. And then it was the Monday after Easter…there were stories of all night television-watching, and those who had given up their two daily sodas came armed with four, and the candy-sacrificers were prepared with extra bags to make up for what they had missed out on during the past six weeks. We had sacrificed. We had deprived ourselves. And now, thank goodness, that was over and we could get back to normal.
This deprivation may have been well-intentioned, but it missed the mark and I don’t think we learned much from the exercise. Our mindset of deprivation was missing something, and so nothing had changed. We had not changed. What we were missing was LOVE. Approaching Lent from a mindset of love rather than from deprivation is a massive shift. It shifts the focus from us and our guilt to God and our repentance.
This is a shift that is essential because, while the season does end in death, that death is freely chosen. In Lent we prepare for the massive gift that is Jesus Christ, God incarnate, giving his life freely for us. This gift is an act of such pure, radical, unyielding love. It is a love that changes everything. It transforms and conforms and saves. And so the season of Lent is ultimately a season of great love. How do we truly turn, and embrace this shift to love?
We can begin with reflection:
Who do you most love?
What do you most love?
Where has your love gotten off track?
What in your life needs re-ordering?
Where do you need to repent?
Repentance is one of those big church words that can feel really uncomfortable, and so I invite us to think about it as a reflection and reordering to take stock of our lives, and a chance to see where we’ve gone off course and how we can set our lives back to right. Repentance is God’s action within us. Repentance allows us to properly and appropriately order and express our love because, through the process, our priorities are re-ordered.
We step back, we reflect and assess, we confess, and we commit to doing better. Not because of fear or of punishment – but because of LOVE. We know, come Easter Sunday, we will celebrate the life and the extreme joy that are the resurrection of Christ. Let us prepare for this great, gracious, and all-changing love by reflecting, repenting, and reordering, so that we can be truly ready for the celebration of the greatest love of all.
Prayer: Loving God, we often adore the things that are not right for us, while neglecting the things that are. Help us be honest participants in our own lives, that we may awake to God’s action within us, challenge ourselves where needed, and open more channels by which love may truly reach us. Amen.
KELLIE LISI 