Over at the Fuller website I have a blog post up, “Lent, Reconciliation, and the Mission of God.”
The great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber writes, as he reflects on the Christian celebration of God’s good news, “To the Jew the Christian is the incomprehensibly daring person, who affirms in an unredeemed world that its redemption has been accomplished.”
Lent brings us face to face with our incomprehensible daring… (Read the rest here)
your post is a great reminder of the work of reconciliation already accomplished, and it’s not all about “me.” here in the west we often seem to think God’s work is focused on individuals instead of the whole of creation, thus we become self-centered consumers instead of other-serving followers. maybe we western Christians should give up consumer Christianity for Lent and find ourselves telling the wonderful reconciliation story everywhere we go and in whatever we do.
thank you for this reminder.
There is no season at which it is more important to remember these things than at any other. Do you suppose we are okay to forget them for the rest of the year. ‘Lent’ is the past tense of ‘lend’. Period.
I’m with you by conviction, but serving those who observe the cycles with a bit of theological meat to chew. Hope that’s o.k.
You and I both know that it’s still Easter.
Ha! Can’t stop you. Personally, though, I’d want to discourage them from observing the cycles. Why? Because the thoughts and ideas celebrated at certain times can easily get corralled in those times — domesticated and restricted.
I understand where you are coming from and yes that is a danger. But as one who use to never observe the cycles but now do, I do not feel I get stuck in the rut of Lent being only at a certain year. The tension of living in Lent/ Holy Week/ Easter/ Advent–year round is something I need to be intentional about–just like I needed to be intentional about living that out before I observed the Christian calendar. In fact, I find that the Christian calendar helps jar me awake from falling into the usual stride of the mundanity of life. I get caught up in my daily routine, my prayer life and spirituality becomes somewhat predictable throughout the year. But the Church seasons awaken me to remember–yes, I do need to repent, I do need to carry my cross, I am waiting for the Savior’s return. The domestication and restriction of Christ and our faith is not limited to those who observe the liturgy but is also done in subtle ways by all of us.
And while I have many friends who are like you who do not see the Church seasons as helpful, I would hope for the sake of us who do find a deeper walk with Christ through the seasons of the Church calendar, you would not discourage us.
The best Lenten practice one can take on is one that so informs the individual, that it affects living beyond the 40 days of Lent. Certainly, such opportunities are always available, but the “formal” aspect of participating in the cycles connects us in community. There is an equal danger (to domestication and restriction) of being too individual-centric.
Jesus was formed by seasons and cycles…And he was not tamed by it!