Scripture & Thought
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
This season of Lent raises for us the idea of paschal spirituality. This is an odd word and may be unfamiliar to us, but it has significance as we seek to begin this journey well. It comes from the Hebrew word which carries in part the meaning “from death to life.” It has in mind the journey of Jesus, who became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, and whom God raised from the dead.
The death and resurrection of Jesus is the very center of our faith. We live as disciples of Jesus. The way of Jesus is marked by a daily death to sin, selfishness, and dishonesty – in other words, all that is contrary to Christ.
Our Christian faith is always personal but never private. During this Lenten journey we must ask ourselves, “What is my net influence on the community of faith?”
We respond to God’s forgiveness with a life fully surrendered to God. As Christians we no longer work to protect our personal rights, but now we fulfill our responsibilities, our service to Christ.
Our life in Christ is anchored in hope and always looks forward. We ought to attract people to our faith quite literally by the fun there is in being a Christian. And mature Christian faith appreciates the rich variety of personalities who make up the church. We regard persons as “free.” So, we stop trying to control and manipulate each other. This may be the hardest lesson of all, for sometimes we try to secure our own faith by forcing others to look and act just like us.
May God help each of us to examine our own lives, and to what degree are these marks of the way of Jesus evident in our lives?
Prayer: Father, as we begin this Lenten journey, we pray your watchful care over us as we seek to overcome evil by the power and grace of the Spirit. Through our sacrifices of self, make us more like Jesus, in whose name we pray.
Amen.