Lent and the shock of our system

I wrote yesterday  I feel out of whack going into Lent. This has been a busy few weeks. 2 trips to Louisiana/Mississippi and another one coming up next week (heading down to do ordination stuff..even more stressful). I found out yesterday  I need to have my wisdom teeth removed before the trip. I just hope I am not driving 14 hrs while still dwelling in In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida land.

Don't worry Mom, I wouldn't do it.

But as much as my schedule is hectic and my life is seemingly turned upside down, I have to remember the way faith in Christ and patterning my life after His is a shock to the whole secular enterprise that we dwell in.

 

The downward descent into the awareness of a deep need for holiness reframes the mind more than the necessary business is ordering my life right now. Lent isn't just about the awareness of sin, but the recognizing the sharp hold that it has in our lives. Lent makes me think about sanctification and how we grow closer to God. I think part of our ongoing journey of perfection doesn't take us away from the reality of sin, but brings us closer into realizing what each of us could do if we didn't know God.

My friend Aaron always says "Each one of us has just enough hell inside to light the whole world on fire".  For me, Lent is the confrontation of sin in the midst of the redemptive life with Christ. We confront sin by the active recognition that because of justification, it no longer has a hold on our lives. The moment we tell the Devil he can't control us, we get into a fist fight with him....and the Devil brings a knife.

We need the patterns of spiritual discipline to meet this battle. Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and intense scripture. Wesley called these "the means of grace". Because of the Means...the devil looses that fight, and realizes he brought a knife to a gun fight. Jesus wins that one for us.

So this Lent, think about where you could have been at without Jesus. Jesus is what free's us...nothing else.

The song that brings so many of these emotions to me is the old hymn On Jordan's Stormy Banks. This hymn speaks of Lent and the shocking reality of Jesus Christ and our place with him.

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.

All o’er those wide extended plains,
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns,
And scatters night away.

I am bound for promised land,
I am bound for promised land.
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.

No chilling winds nor poisonous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness, sorrow, pain and death,
Are felt and feared no more.

When shall I reach that happy place,
And be forever blessed?
When shall I see my Father’s face,
And in His bosom rest?

 

Comments

[lupe]

during lent, our church choir sings a hymn about Mary's point of view when she sees Jesus on the cross. it is a beautiful hymn and i always cry when i hear that song (hymn). please tell me the name of that song (hymn) so i may share it with my friends.

thank you.