Lent can be a tough sell. From Ash Wednesday (March 2) right through Easter, the church asks us to do penance and renounce pleasure and deny ourselves in preparation for the great feast of Easter. It can feel like a time to double down on our piety and dial up our devotion.
But what if God wants something else entirely from us?
Here is something I have come to believe: The things we typically give up for Lent–the chocolate, the cigarettes, the social media–these are not the things that are wrong with us. Not really. Not deeply.
Our fundamental problem? Our deepest dilemma?
We are religious. And religious people are the worst.
Religious people often seem smug, self-involved and seriously sanctimonious. Religious people organize crusades, burn witches, grumble, gossip and cuss each other out over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. Religious people major in the minors, traffic in trivia and are passionate about the petty.
Do you know how I know all of this? Because I am a religious person. I have spent my entire life around religious people. I know exactly how we can be.
And I know something else: I know that Jesus dreams of better things for religious people like me. Jesus wants me to live a life devoted to what matters most. Jesus wants me to judge less and share more. Jesus wants me to be a little less self-involved and a little more focused on the needs of our neighbors.
Jesus wants me to get over myself. For his sake. And my own.
And that very invitation will be our focus for the season of Lent. From now through Easter, our Sunday morning scripture readings will attend to the particular problems of religious people. Together, we will hear the gracious invitation to do better, to grow in love, to become the people God knows we can be.
Get over yourself! (For God’s sake)
Join us for Lent at College Hill Presbyterian Church.
But what if God wants something else entirely from us?
Here is something I have come to believe: The things we typically give up for Lent–the chocolate, the cigarettes, the social media–these are not the things that are wrong with us. Not really. Not deeply.
Our fundamental problem? Our deepest dilemma?
We are religious. And religious people are the worst.
Religious people often seem smug, self-involved and seriously sanctimonious. Religious people organize crusades, burn witches, grumble, gossip and cuss each other out over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. Religious people major in the minors, traffic in trivia and are passionate about the petty.
Do you know how I know all of this? Because I am a religious person. I have spent my entire life around religious people. I know exactly how we can be.
And I know something else: I know that Jesus dreams of better things for religious people like me. Jesus wants me to live a life devoted to what matters most. Jesus wants me to judge less and share more. Jesus wants me to be a little less self-involved and a little more focused on the needs of our neighbors.
Jesus wants me to get over myself. For his sake. And my own.
And that very invitation will be our focus for the season of Lent. From now through Easter, our Sunday morning scripture readings will attend to the particular problems of religious people. Together, we will hear the gracious invitation to do better, to grow in love, to become the people God knows we can be.
Get over yourself! (For God’s sake)
Join us for Lent at College Hill Presbyterian Church.