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| January - February 2008 | Volume 57, Issue 1 |
"Although we praise our common Lord for all kinds of reasons, we praise and glorify him above all for the cross [Paul] passes over everything else that Christ did for our advantage and consolation and dwells incessantly on the cross. The proof of God's love for us, he says, is that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. Then in the following sentence he gives us the Biblical ground for hope: If, when we were alienated from God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son, how much more, not that we are reconciled to him, shall we be saved by his life?" (see Romans 5:6-11)
John Chrysostom (347-407)
What do you know about the season of Lent? Some may think of Lent as a Roman Catholic practice that has no place in the Presbyterian Church. Others see it simply as the time before Easter. Lent matters and it affords us a wonderful opportunity to consider what Jesus Christ has done for us through his life, death and resurrection. Do you practice a holy Lent?
To answer that question you may want to ask yourself one question: Does the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus have any meaning for you as you go about your life? Let's face it in our world there is a lot of noise out there drowning out the good news of Jesus Christ. We can easily get focused on following a path that differs from the path Christ lays before us.
Lent is a time to reconnect with our faith. No matter how strong or weak you think your faith is, Lent is time to look back and look forward; to push back against the forces that seek to pull us in different direction; to welcome the rebirth that comes through faith; to drink of the living water which satisfies our thirst; to open our eyes to the truth of who Jesus is; to affirm the new life that comes through Christ and to walk triumphantly with Jesus into Jerusalem and then humbly follow the path to the cross.
Below are some suggestions to help you practice a meaningful lent
- Worship with us every Sunday if you are able. Active worship in a
community can help you reconnect to your faith.
- Pray regularly - habitually - intentionally
- Consider fasting from something you will miss. Fasting is an ancient
practice of the church. Fasting is not a means to lose weight or stop
a bad habit (although there is nothing wrong if those things happen
as well). Rather fasting is a means by which we might discipline ourselves
to intentionally focus on what Jesus life, death, and resurrection mean.
- Read scripture daily. Take a book of the Bible, the Gospel of Mark
for instance, and read though it as many times as you can over the weeks
of Lent. Note the Sunday Morning Adult Bible class is presently studying
Mark and you are welcome to join us.
- Or you might memorize a passage of scripture that has special meaning
for you. I'm not speaking of a verse or two, but a story, a lesson from
Paul, or a psalm that has been meaningful for you.
- Find something you can do to make a difference in your community and make it a regular practice. Visit a lonely neighbor. Make contact with some of our homebound members. Become a volunteer with a service organization like Meals on Wheels, ProJeCt of Easton or like-caring groups within our community.
