The beginning of April marks the midway point on our Lenten journey together. Ash Wednesday is a slipping memory and Holy Week is just over the horizon hinting at the cheers, jeers, and tears. It is a good place to take stock of where our hearts are on this 40-day journey.
Historians credit Socrates with saying, The unexamined life is not worth living. This statement contains much truth, but we need to modify it as it relates to the church.
The unexamined faith is not worth proclaiming. Many look at Christianity through the lens of their political affiliation or sporting team allegiance. There are winners and there are losers, and there is a great divide between the two. The only way to make sure you are on the right side of the gulf is to obey every law to the letter (even a few rules we made up). The truth of the matter is, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith” (Romans 3:23-25, NRSV). If we could gain forgiveness and eternal life though the law, there would be no need for the cross.
Brennan Manning speaks to this when he writes, “The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.”
The truth of this life journey appears when we stop believing we can earn God’s love by our accomplishments or the accolades of others. Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality, Maundy Thursday speaks to our frailty, and Good Friday exposes our need for grace. Let us not grow weary on this voyage, because it finds its completion in the shadow of an empty tomb and the eternal hope of resurrection. May we dwell in the “extravagant and furious love” of God as we walk forward toward Jerusalem.
In Hope and Confidence,
Pastor Dave
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