Most precious Savior, you gave your life for the world upon the cross, bless your church and all who bear your name that we may follow your path of true sacrifice. Teach us to give our lives to you in thanksgiving and to serve our neighbor in their hour of need. By your grace strengthen our faith and trust in you. Amen.
One of the long traditions of Lent is people trying to identify something they want to give up. Often in this process they transform the season of Lent into kind a New Year's resolution for Christians. Unfortunately, that reduces Lenten discipline to numerous trivialities rather than a time for reflection, learning and real Christian growth.
The origins of Lent are tied to the preparation of converts for baptism at the Easter vigil service. In a time when numerous Christians were coming to faith as adults rather than being baptized as infants this made sense as it defined a time of preparation, training, learning for converts concerning what life as a Christian involved. It was an opportunity to make sure people understood the essential theology and confessions of the church and what those meant for living.
Today that idea of training and learning is often lost as people give up chocolate, ice cream or soda for Lent. Or maybe return to an earlier era when one didn't eat meat on Fridays. Rarely, however, do I hear of people making choices connecting them to Christ other than a quick plea for help with their diet. What is a person to do?
We can start by "giving up giving up." By this I mean we can let go of the idea that God is asking us some type trivial sacrifice. Instead we need to regain Lent as a journey to the cross and rediscover that what we are being asked to sacrifice is empty images of self improvement for the image of a life like Christ's. As Luther says we are to be "little Christs." What he meant by that is that our lives are to conformed to Christ's life. We are to live for God and our neighbor as Christ has lived and died and lived for us. We let go of our self-centered seeing and allow our eyes to remain fixed on Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to conform us to Christ's will and way of living.
To be a "little Christ" is to surrender our lives to God. The Holy Spirit thus recreating us in all things so that in seeing us our neighbor can see Christ revealed. It is allowing God's Word to address us in our brokenness and sinfulness as flesh and blood saints, constantly, healing us as sinners so God's grace is revealed and many may believe.
Let us not cheat Lent of its profound purpose of driving us forward towards the cross. Let us lay down "Our" broken lives and all the ways we have trivialized Lent and in doing so may we "Give Up Giving Up" and completely surrender to Christ. Then seeing the meaninglessness Christ has taken from us may we discover the glorious new life we are given as servants of God's divine purpose. In discovering true surrender we become joined to the sinners who entered Lent seeking a new life and were transformed by God's Word emerging from the waters of the Easter Vigil baptism as a new creation and saints.
One of the long traditions of Lent is people trying to identify something they want to give up. Often in this process they transform the season of Lent into kind a New Year's resolution for Christians. Unfortunately, that reduces Lenten discipline to numerous trivialities rather than a time for reflection, learning and real Christian growth.
The origins of Lent are tied to the preparation of converts for baptism at the Easter vigil service. In a time when numerous Christians were coming to faith as adults rather than being baptized as infants this made sense as it defined a time of preparation, training, learning for converts concerning what life as a Christian involved. It was an opportunity to make sure people understood the essential theology and confessions of the church and what those meant for living.
Today that idea of training and learning is often lost as people give up chocolate, ice cream or soda for Lent. Or maybe return to an earlier era when one didn't eat meat on Fridays. Rarely, however, do I hear of people making choices connecting them to Christ other than a quick plea for help with their diet. What is a person to do?
We can start by "giving up giving up." By this I mean we can let go of the idea that God is asking us some type trivial sacrifice. Instead we need to regain Lent as a journey to the cross and rediscover that what we are being asked to sacrifice is empty images of self improvement for the image of a life like Christ's. As Luther says we are to be "little Christs." What he meant by that is that our lives are to conformed to Christ's life. We are to live for God and our neighbor as Christ has lived and died and lived for us. We let go of our self-centered seeing and allow our eyes to remain fixed on Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to conform us to Christ's will and way of living.
To be a "little Christ" is to surrender our lives to God. The Holy Spirit thus recreating us in all things so that in seeing us our neighbor can see Christ revealed. It is allowing God's Word to address us in our brokenness and sinfulness as flesh and blood saints, constantly, healing us as sinners so God's grace is revealed and many may believe.
Let us not cheat Lent of its profound purpose of driving us forward towards the cross. Let us lay down "Our" broken lives and all the ways we have trivialized Lent and in doing so may we "Give Up Giving Up" and completely surrender to Christ. Then seeing the meaninglessness Christ has taken from us may we discover the glorious new life we are given as servants of God's divine purpose. In discovering true surrender we become joined to the sinners who entered Lent seeking a new life and were transformed by God's Word emerging from the waters of the Easter Vigil baptism as a new creation and saints.
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