Lent: When You Want to Skip To The End
I have a confession to make: I have a tendency to skip to the end of the books and read the last page. I also pre-read plot summaries of movies before I watch them in order to avoid the tension and suspense while watching.
I would prefer to skip to the end and enjoy the nice tidy finish rather than endure working the difficult conflict.
Lent is difficult for me because it is the exact opposite of skipping to the end. It is staying in the hard parts.
It is 40 days of taking an honest look at the truth of my heart and the world. And then, without skipping to Resurrection Sunday, taking those things to the tomb and burying them.
The number 40 is intentional. It is numeric symbol of new birth and transformation. Women are pregnant for 40 weeks as a new life forms inside them, the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land, and Jesus fasted for 40 days after His baptism to prepare for His ministry.
The process is messy, slow, and hidden. It is a story where you have to go through a tomb to get to the best ending.
Lent reminds us that “becoming” always involves the death of something. New life can come no other way.
God has always known that the way for us to find New Life, in Him, starts with admitting how things truly are. Being honest about the state of both the world and our own heart reveals our deep personal and corporate need for Jesus.
I wish that there was an easier way. I wish that we did not have to look at our poverty to find new life. I wish that we could be independent and still find Jesus. I wish it did not involve a tomb.
But, it does not work like that.
The way towards transformation is acknowledging how things truly are. Reality is hard but it is also our friend.
You cannot hold onto your life, your ways, your rebellion, your control, your independence, or your sin AND hold onto Jesus. You have to let go to receive. You have to go to the tomb and bury that which is keeping you from God. You have to admit that things are not right and Jesus is your only hope.
Lent helps us do just that.
Looking at your own sin, acknowledging the brokenness others have caused you, admitting that things are wrong and unjust in the world, that you have caused others pain, and that our societal systems have caused pain is hard and it is heart-shattering.
Saying out loud, “This is not how it is supposed to be!” is the first step towards dying to the old world and receiving the new Kingdom, the new life, and the gift of the Spirit offered by Jesus.
This Lent, especially this pandemic Lent, I invite you to surrender your tendency to say that everything is fine, drop to your knees in confession, enter the tomb, and allow Jesus to lift you up and heal you in the process.
Jesus has already done the dying and resurrecting part. He has gone before you and His invitation is to follow Him, through the tomb, and do the same.
May you be reminded of your deep need for Jesus and may you be given enough courage to stay in the process of transformation and not try and skip past it to the end. May you find new life this Lent.