Lent – a time to be bold

The Bible offered early Christians some clues about how to live faithfully. Not in a ho-hum kind of way. Not in a complacent way. Not with a “who cares”, “whatever” kind of attitude. It’s that kind of “comfortable” approach that has gotten the church into trouble over the last century.

The early Christians, who grew complacent over time, were called to live their lives in a way that brought again into focus the purpose and meaning of it all. The strategy?

Watch for the similarities here: Israel spent forty years in the wilderness learning to trust in God. Elijah spent forty days in the desert before hearing the still, small voice of God on the same mountain where Moses spent forty days listening to God give the law. There was also Jesus’ own forty days in the wilderness – a period of preparation between his baptism and his ministry during which he was sorely tested by the devil.

How can you miss the number 40 days/years – a period of time that was hard, that was awful, that was necessary?

So, the church announced a season of Lent, from the old English word lenten meaning “spring” – not only a reference to the season before Easter, but also an invitation to a springtime for the soul. Forty days to cleanse the system and open the eyes to what remains when all comfort is gone. Forty days to remember what it is like to live by the grace of God alone and not by what we can supply for ourselves. (Read the excellent chapter on Lenten Discipline in Barbara Brown Taylor’s book “Home By Another Way”, p.66)

In popular spirituality, the strategy is to give up something for Lent, like stop eating chocolate. While helpful to fast in order to clear the mind and shed fat, another strategy is to start doing something. Do something that would mean stepping outside your comfort zone. Rather than stop doing something (that may be unhealthy), what about start doing something new, something daring for the Lord, something that pushes you beyond what has been normal for you?

Start a new devotional book. Discipline yourself to a time of prayer each day. Read through a book in the bible. Start exercising. Volunteer for something in the church, or at the food bank. Stretch yourself. Get uncomfortable. Talk to someone you’ve never talked to before but seen almost every week in church. Try something that you have been afraid of doing even though you know it would be for the better. Take a risk!

When W.H. Murray led the famous Scottish Expedition to climb Mount Everest in the 1950s, he reflected afterward with his oft quoted piece of wisdom: “In the moment a commitment is made, then Providence moves too.” In other words, when you commit to doing something – even if it’s risky, scary – God goes with you and resources are provided. We don’t do reckless things and twist God’s arm into action; rather, when we are bold it’s like dropping a pebble into the sea of God’s grace: The ripples move outward creating more space for God’s grace to envelope and hold.

But if we don’t take the risk, if we don’t seize the moment, God’s Spirit and grace remain trapped in our comfortable, complacent routines – energies that eventually dissipate and move elsewhere.

May your Lenten discipline, whatever it may be, reflect boldness and a commitment that calls upon the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Blessings on your journey,

Pastor Martin Malina