Let me begin by sharing a few life lessons I have gained over the years.
- Pastors need to know basic copying machine maintenance.
- The easiest way to fall asleep is to not try to fall asleep.
- Major life decisions should not be made between the hours of 3-5 AM.
That last point is an interesting one to me. Why? Because it seems that if I am awake between the hours of 3-5 AM that everything I have ever worried about, considered, or troubled over is strikingly present in my mind. Not only that, but it seems at those hours that the issues that creep into my contemplation are so overwhelming that I wonder if I will even be able to function when I do actually get out of bed.
Those hours are something of a mystery to me. Why is my mind so busy at that point? Is it that I am processing more than I that of which I was consciously aware? Most likely. In some ways it is as if my mind is the continual, running evaluation and commentator on the events of life of which I am directly and perhaps indirectly aware.
I have also come to the conclusion that Lent as a season is, for the Christian, very much like those odd hours. If we embark on a truly introspective Lenten journey, we might find that this season is a trying, emotional, hard to decipher moment in life. Lent is a season in which we meet ourselves all to clearly. In that season we might try to place ourselves with Jesus and the disciples only to discover that there is so much more going on. We find ourselves confused and overwhelmed by the challenges that following Jesus can entail. We also find the true paradox that following Jesus might be more straightforward than we care to admit because in following Jesus (even in its straightforwardness), the rest of the world becomes more complicated.
Lent is a season of troubles. Introspection, examination, and a call to faith and, often, repentance. But it is not a time where the major life decisions should be made. Considered, yes. Dwelt upon, yes. Made? Not so much.
Here’s why. Lent is just a part of the Christian journey that we return to each year. It culminates in Easter which is supposed to be the story from which we do make our final decisions on life and faith and how that might influence our living.
Consider the Gospel of Mark (my personal favorite, if I am honest): in this Gospel the disciples follow Jesus “immediately” and stay close to Jesus for 8 chapters. Yet by chapter 8 the disciples, though still with Jesus physically, begin to withdraw from Jesus. By chapter 14 the disciples will have abandoned him altogether.
Further, within this short but complex Gospel, Jesus continually instructs the disciples and those around him to “not tell.” This instruction seems odd, because as witnesses to something great, the disciples would likely want to tell. They would want to tell what Jesus can do, what he says, and how the dead rise, the sick are healed, and the Kingdom has drawn near.
Yet Jesus keeps asking them to refrain from such activities. Why? Because they don’t have all the pieces. Not then, and not during Holy Week. It is only after the resurrection then they are told to go and tell. Why then? Because with Easter, the fullness of Jesus’ message is revealed. Now that all the pieces are there the ability to make an educated decision is available.
Yet, metaphorically and perhaps literally, by the time of Holy Week, the disciples are ready to bail out on Jesus. And they do. They will come around later, but they didn’t see it through and, like those 3-5 AM hours, they have to recognize that they made decisions when they needed to be listening and pondering.
Early in the Gospel of Luke, the author relates a story that is one of the few conversations in the Gospels between Jesus and Mary: “His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:48b-51)
I love the imagery of Mary pondering (as some translations read) these things. It suggests that she doesn’t fully grasp just what this child Jesus is (as if any of us would), but she is keeping mental note of him – pondering, wondering, and compiling the information.
Which is what my mind apparently does in the early morning hours. It is also what Lent is designed to do: we are to ponder. Deeply, perhaps passionately, but truthfully ponder upon Jesus and our own journey of faith.
Let me invite you into this Lenten journey. If you haven’t taken advantage of this time know that there is still time to do so.
Pastor Charles