1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” Today's episode talks about the purpose of Lent and how you can make this your best Lent ever! It has some great ideas of how to spend this Lenten Season. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
A New Lenten Journey
1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”
Some other versions added the word “him” or “God” to this verse as well. We love Him because He loved us first. I chose this verse this morning because I wanted to talk to you about Lent. Lent can be a time when we sacrifice as a way to show God our love for Him. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and we will begin the Lenten season. I remember when I started looking at lent in a different light. When I was growing it up it was always “What are you giving up for lent?” Most people I knew gave up chocolate, candy, or sweets. And that is not a bad thing, as that is a real sacrifice from many people. As I got older, I started to understand that Lent was so much more than just giving up chocolate. I remember people talking about how lent is a season of conversion. It is a time to acknowledge the ways we have turned away from God and to find ways that we can turn our hearts and minds back towards God.
I remember I watched a YouTube video of Father Mike talking about how we prepare for Lent. (Click Here for video) He talks about how sometimes we give up things that we don’t even like. For instance, he knows someone who gave up watermelon in the winter in Minnesota. He talked about how we can sometimes do a twofer. Where we have been wanting to lose weight, so we decide to give up snacking for Lent. This is not a bad thing, it's just if that you might be missing the point. What is the point of Lent? This is a season of purification and enlightenment. The purification part is when we ask ourselves, what is still in our lives that we can’t have in our lives if we want to follow Jesus. The second thing, enlightenment, we ask ourselves, what are the ways in which I need to follow after Jesus and start confirming my life to His? Do you see how giving up M & M’s might not get us closer to these two things?
Father Mike mentioned that Jesus often talks about Prayer, Fasting & Almsgiving. He suggests we pick one thing in each of these categories and do that thing, but do it really intentionally. What is one way you can grow closer to Jesus through prayer this lenten season? What about listening to the Gospel for 15 minutes a day, or reading it and just sitting with it for 15 minutes? This is a way you could grow closer to the Lord. Spend a few minutes asking God what He is calling you to for prayer this lenten season. The next is fasting. The church is only requiring us to fast Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. What do you want to fast from during lent? Your fast doesn’t have to have anything to do with food. It could be a social media fast, checking your phone all the time, TV, or something else that you can get out of your life to help purify your life. Ask the Lord to help you decide. The third thing is Almsgiving. This doesn’t have to be money. It could be giving of your time. Father Mike had this great idea of writing a note of encouragement to one person each day during Lent. I did this one year and the people that received them were very appreciative. Make the list in advance and then take a few minutes each day to send out that note. It doesn’t have to be a card in the mail, it could be a nice email or a FaceBook message or a text message. One important thing Father Mike said also was that it doesn’t have to be intense. It doesn’t have to be super hard. We already talked about how the purpose of Lent is to grow closer to God, not to torture ourselves.
I also heard two other ideas for lent that I wanted to share with you. The first one I heard on the Big Life Devotional podcast (episode #540 “Making Space for Jesus”). (Click Here for podcast) Pamela Crim talked about 40 bags for the 40 days of Lent. The idea for this is that we make more room in our lives for what God has planned for us by getting rid of our “stuff” that is cluttering up our lives and our houses. Each day you go through some part of your house and find something to give away or throw away. It does not have to be a whole bag; it could just be one item. It could be things you don’t use anymore, but it could also be something you do like and use, but someone you know has mentioned that they also really like it. God does not want us to be attached to our material possessions. He tells us in Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This would be one way of showing God that you are making space in your life and your home for all he has to offer.
The second new idea for lent that I read about on Aleteia.org in an article title “How my Lent of love has created my love of Lent,” by Maria Garabis Davis. (Click Here for article)In this article, she talks about how she realized that Lent was not so much about what you are sacrificing as it is about who your are sacrificing for. Giving up your favorite sweet is never easy, but think about how much easier it would be if you were giving it up with the intention of healing your friend’s illness. She talks about how the notion of the connection between sacrifice and loving others is something that is portrayed over and over again by the saints. So, at the beginning of lent she makes a list of 40 names and assigns them each one day of lent. Each day she prays for that person and offers up whatever sacrifices she can for that person. I just love both these ideas and so I wanted to pass them along in case you were looking for something different to do this Lenten journey. Whatever it is you decide to do, I hope this Lent brings you closer to God and deepens your relationship with Him.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to show up how you want us to spend this Lenten Season. Reveal to us what we need to give up that is getting in the way of us living the life you want us to live. What do we need to give up to help purify us Lord? What is one thing we can add to our day for the next 40 days that will help us grow closer to you? Lord, we just ask that you put on our hearts what you would like us to do. We want to partner with you during this lenten season. We love you Lord and you are amazing. We hope to take this time to give you back a little of the love you give us. We are so grateful for you! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I hope these next 40 days are a blessing for each one on you and that you are able to use this time to grow closer to God. I look forward to bringing you another witness tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!