Thursday after Ash Wednesday - February 27
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Luke 9:22-25
I struggle with the notion in Deuteronomy that we will be rewarded with a
long life if we obey God’s commandments. How many innocent children die
every day? Their death cannot be a punishment for their behavior or their
parent’s behavior. We all know very good people whose lives were tragically
cut short – where was the fulfillment of this promise for them?
I love the Gospel of Luke. It is so poetic, so beautifully written. And the
language is so strong – we are urged to “deny [our] very self,” to “lose [our]
life” for Jesus’ sake.
Loving unconditionally and sacrifi cing yourself for others is really hard. We
might need to come face-to-face with long-held beliefs that have become
part of our identity. A free-market capitalist might need to embrace social
programs. Someone who is pro-choice might need to embrace that life at all
stages should be protected. A marriage traditionalist might need to learn to
understand that love does not have the same “man & woman” boundaries
that they do.
Those are not easy things for people to come to terms with. However, I
think that is what Luke means when he says we must “lose our life” for
Jesus’ sake. My favorite Lenten tradition is to give up something deep inside
ourselves that in some way prevents us from losing our life for Jesus. Last
lent I “gave up” passing judgment. If you think that sounds easy, you should
try it – you might be surprised just how much you fi nd yourself passing
judgment from day to day.
Q: When do you fail to love unconditionally? Where could you be more forgiving?
Do you fail to give people the benefi t of the doubt when they make a mistake? Do
you sometimes have a short fuse? Are you impatient? Indifferent? How could you be
more patient, kinder, more inclusive, more empathetic? Find those little things that are
so part of your fabric that you don’t even realize you do. Once you fi nd that part of
yourself, try to give up that part of your life for Jesus.
I struggle with the notion in Deuteronomy that we will be rewarded with a
long life if we obey God’s commandments. How many innocent children die
every day? Their death cannot be a punishment for their behavior or their
parent’s behavior. We all know very good people whose lives were tragically
cut short – where was the fulfillment of this promise for them?
I love the Gospel of Luke. It is so poetic, so beautifully written. And the
language is so strong – we are urged to “deny [our] very self,” to “lose [our]
life” for Jesus’ sake.
Loving unconditionally and sacrifi cing yourself for others is really hard. We
might need to come face-to-face with long-held beliefs that have become
part of our identity. A free-market capitalist might need to embrace social
programs. Someone who is pro-choice might need to embrace that life at all
stages should be protected. A marriage traditionalist might need to learn to
understand that love does not have the same “man & woman” boundaries
that they do.
Those are not easy things for people to come to terms with. However, I
think that is what Luke means when he says we must “lose our life” for
Jesus’ sake. My favorite Lenten tradition is to give up something deep inside
ourselves that in some way prevents us from losing our life for Jesus. Last
lent I “gave up” passing judgment. If you think that sounds easy, you should
try it – you might be surprised just how much you fi nd yourself passing
judgment from day to day.
Q: When do you fail to love unconditionally? Where could you be more forgiving?
Do you fail to give people the benefi t of the doubt when they make a mistake? Do
you sometimes have a short fuse? Are you impatient? Indifferent? How could you be
more patient, kinder, more inclusive, more empathetic? Find those little things that are
so part of your fabric that you don’t even realize you do. Once you fi nd that part of
yourself, try to give up that part of your life for Jesus.
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