Happy Monday!
I’m beginning today with a perplexing word-of-the-week…
Sacrifice
I’ve never really understood Lent. It’s that 40-day preparation for Easter that begins this week on Ash Wednesday.
My particular church community doesn’t emphasize Lent, so my impressions of it come from folks who seem intent on letting everyone know what they “gave up for Lent.” Seems like there ought to be a merit badge or something.
Jon Swanson tells me that Lent is rooted in the notion of fasting, and that the appetite created by giving up a favorite food reminds us to trust God to meet our true needs. I don’t know about you, but I need that reminder a lot.
I thought about telling you what I intend to give up for Lent, but I’m not going to do that. In Matthew 6, Jesus is pretty clear about the “merit badge” approach to sacrifice. “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (verse 1)
Later He speaks specifically about fasting (vs. 16-18). “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
My bald head is already shiny enough, so I think I’ll skip the oil. But I do want today, this week, and the weeks leading to Easter to remind me to listen a bit better, be a bit more grateful, and focus a bit more on the sacrifice of the cross.
I don’t comprehend that kind of sacrifice. Maybe that’s a place to begin.
Have a great week.