Finding God During Lent and Easter

 

Lent is Not What You Find in a Dryer!

Christmas has Santa Claus. Easter has the Easter Bunny. Apparently Lent is not a big enough deal for an imaginary sidekick. Or maybe it’s just hard to commercialize six weeks of introspection and self-denial. But don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.

After all, if you don’t know why you need to be saved, it’s hard to celebrate a savior. If you don’t know why Jesus died, it’s hard to celebrate his resurrection.

American travelers who have spent some time in poor and oppressed countries often find they have a greater appreciation of the Fourth of July. In the same way, Christians who have spent some time thinking and praying about spiritual poverty and oppression have a greater appreciation of Easter.

 

The church has traditionally set aside the forty days prior to Easter for this purpose. Fasting, or “giving up” a certain kind of food or other pleasure, is used as a spiritual discipline to help with this focus. The idea is that whenever we want to do what we gave up, it should remind us to think about the vastly greater sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, and why it was necessary.

 

Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Lent provides a time for self-examination. Some people spend all their lives climbing the ladder, only to discover that it’s leaning against the wrong tree. Lent is a time to ask yourself if your ladder is leaning against the right tree.

 

It’s a time to look ahead.

• Where will your life wind up if you continue on your present course?
• Is that where you want to go?

Lent is a time to re-evaluate your priorities and your relationships – especially your relationship with God.

 

If you’re honest, there’s a good chance your self-examination will turn up some things that are not the way you would wish them to be. Certainly there will be some things that are not the way God wants them to be. Without going into theology, that’s why Jesus had to die.  That was the only way those things could be cleared out of the way of our relationship with God.

 

The Bible puts it this way: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only son [Jesus], so that whoever believes in him should not die eternally, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

• Because Jesus died, payment was made for our sins.

• Because Jesus rose from the dead, we can be raised to a new life, with new power to become the people God created us to be.

But it’s not automatic. We can only take full advantage of what Jesus did for us if we take time to think about it and apply it to our lives. 

 

That’s the gift of Lent. Don’t throw it out, like the stuff from the dryer.

 

Want more information about accepting Jesus' gift?

 

Lenten Lunches

Wednesdays, February 27th through March 20th

12 - 1:00 PM

 Enjoy a light lunch and short meditation.