Loving Lent

Loving Lent
I love Lent. I need a time of intentional self-reflection, a reality check, and a time to refocus my spiritual life by committing anew to the basics: prayer and fasting, reading God’s Word, worship, and serving others. And this Lent, we are on a journey together toward a deeper love for God and our neighbors.
“Is not this the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” Isaiah the prophet declares that God is in the liberation business. God liberates us from isolation from others, especially those in need. God liberates us from our need to secure our own lives, to sustain ourselves while our neighbors suffer without. God frees us from selfish pursuits and a lack of concern for the family next door. This is LENT: a time when GOD prepares us for death and resurrection. Dying and rising, daily renewal, daily cleansing, daily rebirth is the way of Jesus. In Lent we will hear gospel stories of how Jesus overcomes the powers of evil, injustice, corruption, deceit, and suffering in order to bring goodness, justice, light, and hope. He is tested, as we are, to deny GOD by denying others access to the life we have received. Will Jesus retreat from the world to live a pure and blameless life before GOD? Or will Jesus commit to love this world with a divine and holy love that serves all people according to their needs by giving his life away? And will we commit to this same sacrificial service through acts of prayer and generosity?
This Lent we are exploring “The Jesus Creed” by Scot McKnight. We are asking, “what does it mean to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength; and to love our neighbors as ourselves?” How do we express this kind of love everyday as a community of faith? Does our worship service reflect our love and devotion for GOD? Does it invite an out-pouring of love that is personal and joyful? Does worship direct you to give every thought, every moment, every physical action, every emotion and affection to GOD? Scot McKnight wrote, “I can think of no better illustration of what genuine Christian worship is all about: Worship happens when I comprehend (1) who I really am before God---a love-violating sinner, (2) how faithful and gracious God is to his sacred commitment of love for me, and (3) how incredibly good God is to open the floodgates of that love to me.” This Lent, consider how your worship life reflects your affection and gratitude toward God the Father. Consider what it means to forego or avoid worship, what it means to worship only when it suits your own schedule or plans. Its sort of like skipping Thanksgiving dinner or the family reunion or the weekly phone call to “that one you love”, isn’t it? Worship is an act of love, no less significant that your wedding anniversary or your child’s birthday. At least it’s that significant to GOD. Isaiah and the Psalmist and even Jesus would agree, however, that how you worship is less important than that you worship GOD. For the worship of GOD includes loving our neighbors, loosing the bonds of injustice, and feeding the hungry poor. This Lent, may you become faithfully devoted to Jesus’ creed to love God and love others.