From Ashes to Newness
We are just about done with the first full week of Lent. Like me, many of you have not been raised in liturgical traditions that followed this yearly 40-day trek to Easter weekend, but were at least aware of the season. It remains a bit of an unexplored region for me, and I like looking into new ways to grow in faith.
As a kid, I had a fairly limited view on the whole Lent thing:
Friends walked around for a day at school with a smudge of ash on their foreheads
I heard we were supposed to give up something we liked for those days, like cartoons or chocolate
Somehow it was tied to Mardi Gras celebrations, which seemed more fun
At its heart, Lent is a yearly time set aside between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday for reflection, preparation, repentance along with acts of service, and generally slowing down enough to glimpse deeper issues in the still-dark days of winter. I’ve grown to look forward to this time with myself and with God.
The duration is 40 days. You probably know how key numbers play a role in the God story. Three reflects the trinity. Seven hints at days of creation and much more. Twelve tribes and apostles. The number 40 shows up quite often:
It rained for 40 days on old Noah
Moses herded sheep 40 years and also was up on Sinai with God for 40 days
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years
Caleb and Joshua spied out the promised land for 40 days
Goliath hurled daily challenges to the Jews for 40 days
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness 40 days
There were 40 days between the resurrection and Jesus’ ascension
Lent’s 40 days also gives space for new neural pathways to form and stick. We know by experience that any habit, diet, exercise routine has a better chance of success if at least six weeks are linked up. Part of the intent of Lent is to invest enough time so as to resharpen a believer’s spiritual edge: To see Jesus in fresh ways, to examine our lives in close terms, and to chart paths of service worth our time.
In the 40 days where quiet times of considering BIG questions are carved out of busy lives, a good parking place for a day can be found in the Garden prayer of Jesus the night his passion begins. Remember the scene? In an olive orchard, with enemies closing in and having asked three closest friends to stay alert and pray with him (and they doze off), Jesus agonizes, wrestles with emotions, confronts fear and dread.
In Mark’s account of the moment, Jesus prays,
Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.
“Abba” is akin to “daddy” in our times. A term of closeness, endearment, trust, and security. Jesus reaches out to his heart’s home and states his faith that the Father can do whatever he wishes done. He lays out his honest anguish then quietly slips it beneath the heart and will of the One he calls Abba.
In the midst of darkness, saturated with fear and desired outcomes, stands trust.
That’s Jesus. That’s also you.
One thing to ponder on this Lenten morning is the resounding truth behind his prayer and ours: The God of all is our Abba and everything is possible for him. He invites our “asks”, both the trivial as well as the profound, then to take however small steps into the realm of trusting his will.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews captures this closeness with God in the midst of troubles. Part of ch.10 reads like this.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.
By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
One truth and three applications stand out in this slice of scripture and are worthy of a Lenten morning’s attention.
First, the Big T truth.
…we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus…. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him
Jesus removed all barriers and swung open a door to the unimaginable. What freedom any child of God enjoys to run right in to his presence, in the heart of God’s house, trusting in his moves on our behalf. Imagine crawling up into Abba’s lap and pouring out your heart. That’s the invitation.
Then the three places where this access washes over to daily life.
Personally, holding tightly to truth strong enough to trust in spite of the winds of circumstances.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Interpersonally, saying to a friend, “Come on! Let’s chase Jesus in what he’s doing locally.” Keep on until it becomes a habit hard to ignore.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
Then, Corporately, don’t just show up to church only to leave during the last song, but engage and be a change agent for the kingdom growing deep and wide in your community. Recognize this is a team game played individually, and every one of us is important.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
These 40 days design a path toward Easter which is the launching pad for all we do. Whether or not you choose to pursue any Lenten routines, consider the reminder and admonitions from Hebrews.
From our access and welcome from Abba Father through Jesus we are free to run to his arms any time of any day, full of trust and hope
Never to do this alone, look for ways to keep those folks in your life alive to joining in on the fun of being Jesus’ hands in your world
And commit to a community of faith, not as a spectator but as a participant, bringing your gifts to the group and looking for ways to encourage others
That seems worth our time. Below is a prayer to close from Richard Foster. Consider folding that into today’s time with Abba.
Today, O Lord, I yield myself to You. May Your will be my delight today. May You have perfect sway in me. May Your love and grace be the pattern of my living.
I surrender to You my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions. Do with them what You will, when You will, as you will.
I place into Your loving care my family, my friends, my future. Care for them with a care that I can never give.
I release into your hands my need to control, my craving for status, my fear of obscurity. Eradicate the evil, purify the good, and establish Your kingdom on earth.
For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Music for the week
Bad Jokes, Sure, you betcha
Two crows were in a field when they noticed a figure that looked like a man in the distance.
"See that over there? What is that?" asks the first crow.
The second crows takes a long look and then says, "That's a scarecrow. Looks authentic, doesn't it?"
"How can you tell it's a scarecrow and not a person?" replies the first crow.
"Look at its hands," says the second crow. "It's not holding a cellphone."
**************
An accordion player is driving home late one night after playing a concert. He's tired and hungry so he stops at an all-night diner for a bite to eat.
Halfway through his meal he realizes that although he locked his car doors, his accordion is in the back seat, in plain sight!
He rushes out to his vehicle but he is too late. The windows are already smashed and someone has thrown in two more accordions.
(sorry, Big Rans. I like when you play :) )