On Lent

This is late, but better late than never.

Call to Confess our Sins, 2/14/2016

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, which began last Wednesday.  Lent is the 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays, when the focus is the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus, His obedience and self-denial as our spotless substitute sacrifice.  The gospels give us this account of the temptation of Christ, right at the beginning of His ministry, right after His baptism, to emphasize this.  Jesus came to do what we were supposed to do: renounce the devil and his works, turn from sin to God.

Lent can easily become focused on what we do for God, what we give up, and many reject Lent because of this.  We are not Lent fanatics here, but if we keep our main focus on what Jesus did for us, it is a helpful season indeed.  

The main thing about Christmas is what God did for us in the Incarnation of Christ.  And we give each other presents, too.  The main thing about Lent is what God did for us in the obedience and sufferings of Christ.  And we consider how we could be following Christ more closely in obedience and self-denial, too.  

Not with superficial fasts that trivialize God’s call to put off the old man of sin.  Not with a morbid, nazel-gazing worm theology that doesn’t look to Jesus Christ our Savior.  But looking to the word as we always do as our rule of faith and life.