Lenten Worship
Published in the Omaha World Herald’s “From the Pulpit”
March 12, 2023
Reverend Eric L. Jay
“Lenten Worship”
The season of Lent is a season of devoted meditation on the sufferings of our Lord Jesus and His death on the cross. Jesus did many miraculous things during His earthly ministry. However, the miracles of relief from temporal tribulations are not why Jesus came into His fallen creation. Jesus came to die. He came to suffer for the sins of humanity that have brought about the sufferings and death of this dying world. He came to die our death only to prove He is the King of life who crushes the grave by rising again to give us new and eternal life through faith in Him.
It is a common practice to give something up during Lent. Many times, people give up some kind of indulgence or something they know isn’t beneficial for mind, body, or soul. While self-denial and sacrifice are a central part of Lent, we should always be mindful of what truly pleases our Heavenly Father who sees the hearts of all men as they really are. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” – Psalm 51:17
Looking to the selfless life of our Lord, Jesus, we see that His emptying of Himself to God was not for the sake of His own piety or His own benefit, but rather for the benefit of the whole world, of sinners, and even those who would crucify Him and whom He would pray for as they drove the nails into His hands and feet.
When we look to our crucified Christ, we should be compelled in this season of penitence to give of ourselves to God not for the sake of our own self-righteousness, for we have none if we are honest, but for the sake of our neighbor.
American Bishop Fulton J. Sheen beautifully articulates the proper focus of Lent. “We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and putting to death the lusts of the flesh are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charitable love. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego through which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is God’s arrival that is the important event.”
God has promised that if we are faithful to repent, He is faithful to forgive. Christ has instructed us to forgive as we have been forgiven and to be merciful even as our heavenly Father is merciful. This is our Lenten worship.