The Second Sunday of Lent
This is the second Sunday of Lent. Last week we began talking about repentance and humility, saying that repentance begins with humility. I want to pick up those themes again this week, paying particular attention to the humility of Jesus.
The 40 days of Lent parallels the 40 days that Jesus went without food in the wilderness. So one of the ways we identify with Jesus’ suffering is by giving up things. Whether its food or TV or gossip, we deny ourselves particular comforts and pleasures as a way of remembering what he endured.
Of course, our little sacrifices are symbolic at best of what Jesus surrendered on our behalf. He gave up far more than food. He gave up his life. And still more than that, he gave up his seat at the right hand of God and condescended to become a man.
This is the humility of Christ: He had nothing to gain; yet he gave up all he had.
I don’t know about you, but when I compare my life to this kind of humility, I see how self-protecting and self-promoting I can be. And this is why repentance begins with humility: Because even my repentance can be motivated by self-protecting fear and self-promoting pride.
Regarding fear, I turn from my ways because I dread consequence or loss of approval from others. Regarding pride, I tell myself that I need to turn from my ways because “I’m a good Christian, you know, a pastor even. I gotta’ stop lying or being lazy because I don’t want to be like the liars and slackers. I’m not like that.”
Natural repentance begins and ends in self. Spiritual repentance begins and ends in God.
Evan commented on the blog last week that often we don’t even know what we need to turn from. We need God to shed light on our lives just to be able to see where it is that we are in need of repentance. What Evan is saying is that it begins with God.
This is why we give things up and devote more time to reflection during the Lenten season, because we are trying to make room in our lives for God to shed some light. And God will shed light into the dark corners, but that kind of light can only be received with humility.
So we look to Christ, who did not fear even in the face of death, and who did not act out of pride even though he was always right. His was a life of perfect humility.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-8
The 40 days of Lent parallels the 40 days that Jesus went without food in the wilderness. So one of the ways we identify with Jesus’ suffering is by giving up things. Whether its food or TV or gossip, we deny ourselves particular comforts and pleasures as a way of remembering what he endured.
Of course, our little sacrifices are symbolic at best of what Jesus surrendered on our behalf. He gave up far more than food. He gave up his life. And still more than that, he gave up his seat at the right hand of God and condescended to become a man.
This is the humility of Christ: He had nothing to gain; yet he gave up all he had.
I don’t know about you, but when I compare my life to this kind of humility, I see how self-protecting and self-promoting I can be. And this is why repentance begins with humility: Because even my repentance can be motivated by self-protecting fear and self-promoting pride.
Regarding fear, I turn from my ways because I dread consequence or loss of approval from others. Regarding pride, I tell myself that I need to turn from my ways because “I’m a good Christian, you know, a pastor even. I gotta’ stop lying or being lazy because I don’t want to be like the liars and slackers. I’m not like that.”
Natural repentance begins and ends in self. Spiritual repentance begins and ends in God.
Evan commented on the blog last week that often we don’t even know what we need to turn from. We need God to shed light on our lives just to be able to see where it is that we are in need of repentance. What Evan is saying is that it begins with God.
This is why we give things up and devote more time to reflection during the Lenten season, because we are trying to make room in our lives for God to shed some light. And God will shed light into the dark corners, but that kind of light can only be received with humility.
So we look to Christ, who did not fear even in the face of death, and who did not act out of pride even though he was always right. His was a life of perfect humility.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-8
posted by Will | 3:42 PM
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