Theological Musings for Ash Wednesday from Pastor Thad... “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 As we prepare for Ash Wednesday and our Lenten journey, I find myself in a dilemma. It revolves around giving up or taking up something for Lent. My son, Liam, asked me yesterday what I was giving up for Lent. I was caught a little off guard because neither his mother (also a Lutheran pastor) nor I have ever been very keen on the concept of giving something up for Lent. The fact that he asked the question supports my sense that most people give something up because “everybody does it.” Such thinking makes it less of a spiritual discipline and more of an empty, even hypocritical act that draws attention to the self rather than pointing the self toward the cross of Christ. So I told him I don’t give things up for Lent... ”it has no meaning for me”…or words to that effect. Liam, something of a bulldog in his own right, proceeded to ask what I was TAKING UP. This has been both his mother’s and my go to answer for getting people to think about blindly giving something up for Lent. (Clearly he pays attention.) I came back to the same answer. I usually do not take anything up for Lent either. It doesn’t work for me. It’s just an empty act for me. He accepted my explanation, but I’m proud to report that it did not change his mind (we are raising our children to think for themselves—yay!). He not only shared what he is giving up for Lent, but just exactly how it will help him to focus on God. (Proud papa am I!) Alas this interchange, while great from a parental point of view, has left me convicted as a disciple of Christ. So I revisited the idea of taking something up for Lent. It is only empty if it does not connect me to God, specifically through the cross of Christ. So here is a step of accountability for me as I announce, in writing no less, that I am taking up daily prayer using the prayer beads we made at our Faith and Family Event in February. As I look to the Ash Wednesday service I am reminded that failure will come. There will be days that I “forget” or am “to busy” to take up my prayer beads. However, those may be the most important days of my Lenten journey. It will be on those days that I must remember that I cannot do it alone, that Christ gives me the strength AND forgiveness to follow him. It is those days that I MUST see the cross of Christ where he paid the price because I could not. So whether you are denying yourself or taking up some kind of cross (Mt. 16:24) this Lenten season, ask yourself “why?” If the answer does not help point you to the one who died for you and the cross on which he gave up his lie, maybe you too can learn from my youngest. You know what they say, “out of the mouths of babes…” and sometimes even teens!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 02:38:01 +0000
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