Last Wednesday,
March 2, which was actually Ash Wednesday, my wife entered a grocery store
after attending worship. She wore a cross
of ashes on her forehead, and when the clerk at the store saw her ashes he
asked, “May I ask, what are you giving up for Lent?”
We are now in the
church season of Lent. Traditional,
liturgical Christians around the world observe Lent as the 6 ½ weeks before
Easter when we focus on the trials, we focus on the opposition, and we focus on
the suffering and the death of our Lord Jesus.
Lent is a time when Christians hear a special call to repentance for our
sin and our rebellion against God, sin which caused Jesus’ trials and sufferings
and death.
Many Christians begin
the season of Lent with an act of penitence, or repentance, through the
imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday. Ashes are a traditional sign of repentance,
showing sorrow for our sin and a desire to change our lives. (For example, consider Daniel 9:1-19,
especially verse 3.) Often, many
Christians follow the imposition of ashes with a time of self-denial, or
fasting. I have friends who give up
chocolate, or alcohol, or TV during Lent.
Some, rather than giving something up, instead add a spiritual
discipline.
However, focusing
only on our repentance, and focusing only on our acts of self-denial, can give
a mistaken impression about the reason for Lent. The Lenten observances of Christians are not
supposed to point to what we do for
God. Lenten living should help us
understand even more what God has done for us. Lent is about God’s love for us
in Jesus. And, God’s love for us costs!
While
reading my home devotions one day last week, the assigned Gospel reading
included John 13:34. “A new command I give you: Love
one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Have
you ever wondered why Jesus calls this a “new commandment?” The ‘old' commandment states, “. . . love
your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
This was God’s command through Moses to the people of Israel in Leviticus
19:18. When Jesus is asked in Mark 12 about the greatest commandment, He restates this Old Testament
command. “29 ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (Mark 12:29-31)
God’s
people had known the ‘old commandment.’ But, in the upper room, on the night he was
betrayed, Jesus adds something new. We are not just to love our neighbors as we
love ourselves. We love others the way
that Jesus loves us. Please, consider the
depths of Jesus’ love for us. Consider how
Christians now have a higher calling.
Paul
shared with the Christians in Rome. “But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. (Romans 8:8) What
Jesus gave up for us was His life! Jesus
intentionally took on the difficult job of dying for sinners. When we practice self-denial during Lent, we begin learning the depths of Jesus’ love
for us.
The Apostle, John,
writes in his first epistle, “10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear
friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:10-11) Jesus sacrificed His life and died for us
because He loves us. You see, LOVE
COSTS! Fasting and self-denial
teach spiritual discipline. But, again,
Lent is not about our discipline, it is about God’s sacrificial love for us in
Jesus and how much it cost.
Remember, John
does not just teach about Jesus’ love for us.
He calls us to respond. “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought
to love one another.” Therefore, let me make a suggestion about your
Lenten observance. Perhaps along with,
or perhaps instead of, giving up something for Lent, why not learn about Jesus’
love by seeking to follow His example? Find
someone to whom you can show sacrificial love.
Do you know someone who at this time especially needs your kindness,
your patience, your forebearance, your forgiveness? Perhaps you know someone it is difficult to
love. Maybe you know someone needing
forgiveness, or someone who needs someone to listen, or someone who is facing a
great trial (such as the Ukrainians). Jesus paid His life to love us. A good way to observe Lent is to learn God’s
love for us by loving others.
The young man in
the grocery store asked Kathy, “May I ask, what are you giving up for Lent?” In
many ways, choices about Lenten observance are personal. Kathy indicated to me that rather than giving
up something for this season, she is seeking to add to her life in ways to grow
her faith.
How are you
observing Lent? Is there time for you to
choose to show sacrificial love to someone in the name of Jesus? If you do choose this kind of sacrifice, your
faith will grow in understanding God’s gracious love for you.
A Child of God, Thankful
that God Loved Me So Much He Paid the Cost of My Sin!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. This past week
Kathy and I spent time with family and friends in Florida.
·
We traveled to Jacksonville on Saturday and
Sunday, March 5 and 6, and saw old friends, including families from our
previous congregation, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. (These pictures don’t
include our visit with friends Richard and Dolores Wilson.) https://photos.app.goo.gl/NDUV38pdStxka6CS6
·
Sunday through Wednesday we traveled to Seminole
State Park, in Donaldsonville, GA, north
of Tallahassee, FL, with my sister, Martha, and brother, Stephen, and their
spouses. Here are a few pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/VDTJnkzWB12bVp7v7
P.P.S. Yes, we did some fishing.
·
On Thursday, March 3, I fished in Orange Lake
again. The Lake is full of weeds, but I
learned some things and caught a couple of bass. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/TbWNcr4Zh5RA2C4D6
·
On Monday and Tuesday, my brother, Stephen, and
my brother-in-law, Mark, went fishing in Seminole Lake, using kayaks. We caught a few. https://photos.app.goo.gl/WR1VzYe6DiUtFJzi8
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at
the end of August 2019 from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired
many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued
writing. However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys
Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior
pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who
asked to receive it. (Though I am now serving again part-time at St. John
as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you
understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish
to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my
distribution list. My e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our
Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
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