On Lent

Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights with his body outstretched across the ground as he pleaded to God to not destroy the nation of Israel after they done the vile thing of prostrating themselves before a golden calf that they worshiped as god. He had no food or water and I'm sure felt very alone in his suffering. He was not one of the ones prostituting himself to an idol, yet he groaned in deep intersession on their behalf hoping that his prayers might appese the wrath of God. Was God satisfied with Moses because of the time he spent or because of the great pain he must have endured going without food, or did God look favorably upon Moses, and therefore grant his request, because of the sincerity of his heart and his upright life? Are not we told, have we not memorized, the other verses that say that God does not merely require the pure blood of the sacrifices of sheep and goats but that he desires a broken and contrite heart? These are the things that the Lord will not despise.

In our 40 days before Easter, our Lenten sacrifices in and of themselves are not pleasing to God. Do we think God wants to pat us on the back and say, "job well done" when we suffer the pains of not eating chocolate or watching T.V.? Is not the only sacrifice that was ever truly pleasing to God that of Christ on the cross? The thing I have been meditating on these last few days is that what we give up for God is worth nothing and means nothing if it is not a reflection of an inner heart that is contrite and broken over sin. It is only the broken heart that is capable of receiving the grace of faith to believe and make personal the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. I'm thankful for the sermon I heard at church this last Sunday that initiated me thinking of Lent in this way. I have only participated in Lent for the last three years and I think I have mostly only thought of the season as a way to merely remind myself of Christ's passion. It is good to have a reminder and to be thinking of these things consciously on a daily basis, but even then I didn't always do an inner reflection on my own sin and the price that was paid for my redemption, which is by far much more important then just trying to not do x,y, or z.

If we suffer anything during the sacrifices we make for lent I hope it will be not that only of an aching stomach, a bored mind, or a sweet tooth not satisfied but that of a broken heart as we grieve our continuance in sin and the death of Christ. If we do so then the Easter celebration of resurrection will be so much more a profoundly joyous occasion, and we might even forget about the chocolate we stored away to have when our fasting is over!