Wednesday, March 1, 2017

A Good Spiritual Scrubbing for Lent


Lent – the word means “spring”, the ideal reminder of rebirth and renewal as we look to our joyful celebration of the resurrection of our Lord on Easter. It is fitting that Lent this year begins on March 1, as our thoughts turn to spring, even if they were already there with our unseasonably mild February.

Lent is a time of preparation, 40 days, not counting Sundays, that lead us to Easter. Lent is not about giving up pizza or ice cream or Facebook.  Lent should be a time for serious, somber, sober reflection and renewal. It should be a time for each of us to do some spiritual housecleaning. It should be a time for us to remove the clutter— all those things that get in the way of faithful discipleship.

We’ve all got spiritual clutter in our lives. The apostle Paul even provides us with lists to help us identify the clutter: envy, greed, lust, anger, strife, quarreling, factions “and things like these”. Unhappily, the past year has revealed how easily we add to the clutter hatred, racism, bigotry, sexism, and intolerance, as well.

It is time to clean up, time to clean out. It is time to sweep out the detritus of our sinfulness, all those ways we turn from God. It is time to rid ourselves of clutter to make room for what Paul calls “the fruits of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness and self-control. These are the characteristics that mark a faithful disciple of Christ. These are the things we are called to work on during Lent, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the new life we’ve been given in the resurrection of our Lord.

It was the Psalmist who prayed, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin… Create in me a clean heart and put a new and right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51) The Psalmist understood his need for a good spiritual scrubbing. His words provide us with a reminder that we too need a good scrubbing.

Giving up chocolate or texting for Lent won’t do it. Rather, we each need to step back, take a long, hard, honest look within, and let the light of Christ show us those places that need cleaning. Barbara Brown Taylor has written, “In the presence of Christ’s integrity, our own pretense is exposed; in the presence of Christ’s constancy, our cowardice is brought to light; in the presence of Christ’s fierce love for God and for us, our own hardness of heart is revealed.”

It is Lent. It is time for a good spiritual scrub. It is time for us to come humbly before God and acknowledge our waywardness, our lukewarm faith. It is time for us to pray with the Psalmist: the Lordinstructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

Blessings for a most Holy Lent,
Pastor Skip