Time to Focus
The seasons of the Church year provide us with a variety that makes our journey of faith both more interesting and more relevant. It is easy to get into a rut with our lives whether we speak of our life in the secular world or our kingdom journey. But Advent brings us a time of hope and expectation. Christmas brings us an opportunity for celebrations of love, joy and wonder. Epiphany offers a time for God to reveal Himself to us. And Easter brings us the ultimate thankful knowledge of Christ’s victory on our behalf.
But now we are in those 40 days of Lent. What does the Lenten season offer us as we journey along? Well, it certainly isn’t a time for festive celebrations and fanfares. It is a season that offers a change between our glimpses of Christ during Epiphany to our blinding revelation of a resurrected Lord. To the world, I suppose, Lent looks like a second winter arriving at the end of winter. Many observe Christians during Lent as giving up certain joys and desires. We can be seen as moving into a dark, solemn monastic withdrawal from the world. And some of that is true.
But these 40 days afford much more for us as stewards of the faith. In general, the season of Lent gives us a time to focus on ourselves as we simultaneously focus on Christ. This may seem counter to much of our journey of faith when we are called to focus on Christ and our neighbor, while basically denying ourselves. But the focus on us during Lent is not a time to pat ourselves on the backs. No, it becomes a time to examine just how sinful and unworthy we really are. As we study the Ten Commandments we see that all of us have trouble keeping any of them for any length of time. It soon becomes obvious that we are not worthy to come before God, much less be noticed by Him. By our own efforts we are lost in the wilderness surrounded by life’s temptations luring us further from our Creator. But fortunately I’ve peeked ahead and read the end of the story. Christ wins a complete victory and pulls us out of the fire.
This revelation of our unworthiness and our need for Christ to save us moves us to a life of thankfulness for the love and actions of our God for us, His wayward children. So, the season of Lent when truly set aside for focus and understanding can humble us, but ultimately get us back onto track in our role as stewards. It is a good time to break bad habits and begin new ones. Studies have shown that it takes 6 weeks to develop a habit. Think about this when dieting or trying to quit some vice. If you have ever done this and only tried for a few weeks you probably did not have very good results. Well the 6 weeks of Lent give us a golden opportunity to get back into some spiritual habits that we all know are good for us. A few that come to mind are: regular Bible reading and daily devotions, daily prayer, getting involved in that committee or activity of the Church that you know God has called you for, growing in your financial giving (perhaps moving toward tithing), joining a Bible study group or Sunday school class, getting back to regular worship, or reaching out to your lost neighbor and sharing the good news you have found in Christ.
During these 40 days of reflection that God has given to us let us all make the best of them for growth in our faith and our understanding of God’s purpose for us here at this time. We have been called, equipped and will be nourished and strengthened in our journey. And our journey is lighter when we all have company on the road. So, roll up your sleeves, reach out to one another and use the gifts our Father has blessed us with, in His service.
John Piper
For the stewardship committee