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“What are you giving up for Lent?”
... is a question often asked on Ash Wednesday as Christians around the world step into this season of repentance, prayer and attentiveness to God. I must confess that I have often resisted this Lenten invitation to “give up” something and instead often chosen the more comfortable path of what I might “take on” for Lent such as a new spiritual practice like daily scripture reading, contemplative coloring or intercessory prayer.
This Lent; however, I am feeling nudged to "give up" the gnawing negativity that can so easily seep into my spirit and instead lean even more deeply into Christ's call to love ... not just my neighbors that I like and who are like me, but also my "enemies." This is no pie-in-the-sky, kumbaya, touchy-feely love. It is a gritty, sacrificial love-in-action that calls us to serve where the greatest needs are - even when it is not in our own personal "best interest."
Love is feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, tending to the sick, and visiting the prisoner. (Matthew 25:31-40). Love calls us out of our carefully crafted comfort zones and into the messy business of meeting the practical needs of the world. Jesus modeled this sort of deeply sacrificial love as he ate with sinners, included the outcast and offered forgiveness over and over and over again.
So... if I long to walk in the way of Jesus, what am I willing to “give up” this Lent in the name of sacrificial love, limitless forgiveness and radical inclusion?
Maybe I could give up...
free time so I can visit a lonely neighbor,
food from my pantry to feed someone in need,
money to help with medical bills for a struggling family,
assumptions I have made about those with different political views,
buying something I "want" to help with what someone else needs,
making insulting and demeaning comments about others,
my own smug self-righteousness,
and so, so much more.
As we journey together through Lent this year, maybe we can “give up” the temptation to envy, boast or dishonor one another and instead lean into the arms of God’s never-failing love.
Ultimately, the bottom line is not what is most profitable, efficient or comfortable.
The bottom line is love.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Cor 13:4-8)
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