February Jottings...

Feb 1, 2015
2 min read

Time DOES fly when you are having fun! Looking at the calendar I have been here 3 months now and yet it seems like it was just yesterday that Judi and I had our first Sunday with the folks at Cole. Also looking at the calendar for February, halfway through the month is Ash Wednesday which signals the beginning of Lent. Lent, of course, then leads us into Holy Week and ultimately Easter, which will be in early April.

We are working out the details to have a joint Ash Wednesday service with the Oak Grove and Simpson-Gillespie churches and maybe some others. We are also exploring a special project for Cole folks to focus on during Lent. Keep an eye on the weekly church bulletin and listen to the Sunday morning announcements for the details on those things.

I don’t know if anyone reading this follows the practice of giving something up for Lent. I know of folks who have given up items like smoking or chocolate. I wonder if anyone has ever given up the internet?

The theory behind the practice is that self-denial shows God our seriousness and, like when fasting, allows the cravings we might experience to re-direct our hearts and thoughts towards God. In practice a lot of the people I have known who have approached Lent this way go into it with more of a works righteousness mentality. That is, gaining God’s favor by how well we perform our religion. Others have done it simply because it is what Christians do during Lent. They don’t think about it. They just do it.

It is this same mindset that has led to Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). The idea of Mardi Gras is we need to celebrate and party to excess on Tuesday because starting Ash Wednesday we are going to have to do without.

If anyone wants to celebrate Lent by practicing some form of self-denial I would never discourage that. I would simply ask for some self-examination. Are we doing it for the right reasons? What I WOULD encourage for Lent is prayer and reflection and introspection during this time leading up to Easter. What are the sins with which I am currently struggling? What does scripture have to say about them? What does it mean that Christ died not only for the sins of the world to be forgiven but MY sins? In what ways would my life look differently if I were more serious about following Jesus?

I find Advent and Christmas a very meaningful time of the year but Lent and Easter I find even more meaningful and compelling. Before I became a Christian in my sophomore year of high school, Christmas was the most important holiday of the year. After becoming a Christian I found myself looking forward to Easter more. The proportion of Scriptures that focuses on Jesus’ death are significantly more than those

that focus on his birth. Lent is a period developed by the church to help believers get that same proportion right in their hearts and minds. I am glad I get to experience Lent and Easter this year with my brothers and sisters at Cole Memorial.