Hammer on Anvil '

A recent Lenten reading from Reliving the Passion was my inspiration for today's blog. To say it gave me food for thought is an understatement.

The reading was about when Jesus stood before the high priest Caiaphas, after Judas had betrayed Him. Caiaphas demanded to know if Jesus thought He was truly the Son of God -- the Messiah. And finally Jesus answers quietly, "I am. And you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:61-62). At this Caiaphas becomes dramatically indignant, tears his robes and accuses Jesus of blasphemy.

Walter Wangerin, the author of Reliving the Passion, focuses on an aspect of this scene that I had honestly never thought about. He wonders at how Jesus picks this time (of all times!) to publicly declare that He is the Messiah. "From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus charged those who experienced His power to say nothing about it."

True enough. The following are examples of Jesus telling people to be quiet about His identity:

• And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And He strictly ordered them not to make Him known (Mark 3:11-12).
• And they brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged Him to lay His hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one (Mark 7:32-36). 
•  And all were weeping and mourning for her, but He said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand He called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And He directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened (Luke 8:52-56). 

In other words, says Wangerin, 

When He was at the height of His ministry (as the world assesses height, as the world assesses greatness), He demanded that no one say He was the "Christ." When He was dazzling crowds, confuting enemies, causing shepherds and lepers and kings to ask, "Who is this man?"; when masses were "astonished beyond measure, saying, 'He has done all things well, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak!"; even when Simon Peter explicitly confessed, "You are the Christ" -- Jesus commanded them "to tell no one about Him." Apparently none of this was the real work of the "Christ."

This is the part that got me:

The world might have expected a warrior-king, someone triumphant in its own terms. A winner, you know. A number-one, against-all-odds, pride-inspiring, tear-in-my-eye, flat-out, all-round, good-guy winner! A hero. Only when that characterization is rendered absurd and impossible does Jesus finally accept the title "Christ."

Only when all human ideals of who Jesus should be are hopelessly abandoned does Jesus claim, "I am." Not when He is being surrounded by crowds and everyone is oohing and aahing about His miracles, but when He is standing before Caiaphas. Beaten, stripped naked, and in chains.

My dear friends, we must remember that Jesus came not as a militant, in-your-face hero. He came to die. And He didn't come to die so that you could live in the lap of luxury and claim that He wants you to be rich. He is our example, and we are to follow in His footsteps. That's why Jesus says in Luke 9:23 that if anyone wants to come after Him, they must deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him. We are to be identified with Him in His death if we hope to be united with Him in resurrection (Romans 6:5).

Proponents of the prosperity gospel are way off base, my friends. Don't believe their lies and get sucked into that abominable mind-set that Christians should have an abundance of material wealth. Search the Scriptures for yourself, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth.

In this holy season of Lent, may we all remember this:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

Let us pick up our cross and follow Him.

While growing up I was fairly sheltered.

I remember a time after graduation when I asked my dad to go out one Saturday night. He said I could go and I no longer needed to ask. I just needed to tell him where I would be going. Then I asked when I needed to be back and he looked at me and said, "Brandon, you have graduated now. We have church in the morning, so use good judgement." I'm pretty sure my mouth was wide open and I was screaming in my head, "NO! You tell me when I have to be back!"

This sheltering spilled over into many areas of my life, including my knowledge of what happened at other churches. I grew up in an independent Christian church and just thought that everyone "did church" the way we did.

This is why I was so confused one Wednesday night after church when we went to Wal-Mart and I saw a bunch of people walking around with dirt on their foreheads. I wanted to go wipe it off or let them know. I mean, when my face is messy, I like for people to tell me!

They were of course just coming from an Ash Wednesday service to kick off lent (some people kick off lent on Fat Tuesday with beads, and other things that I just don't feel comfortable putting here).

I always found Lent a point of fun in school. It was interesting to go around and ask my Catholic friends what they gave up for Lent and then watch their expressions as I told them I wasn't observing it.

But the longer I have thought about it the more I like the idea. Lent is a period of 40 days (excluding Sundays) to give up something and spend more time in prayer and devotion to God. That's not a bad idea at all. In fact, too often in our culture we consume too much. A period of fasting (whether from certain foods or something else) would do us good.

Too often Lent isn't taken seriously or it becomes a point of stress. "Oh man, I ate pork again!" or "Blast I watched 31 minutes of TV and I was only going to watch 30 a day!" If ya mess up, then brush it off, and get back on the horse.

So I'm just going to say I like Lent and I think it's great to observe even if you aren't Catholic. How can a large group of people fasting from things to focus more time on God and His work be a bad thing for America. Don't do it because all your friends are doing it. Don't do it because "I'll be a bad Christian if I don't." Do it because you want to genuinely grow closer to God.

Do it because you want to spend the next 46 days (including Sundays) seeking out God's will and carrying it out.

Participate in Lent because you believe God is calling you to something amazing and you want to see what He desires for your life.

In conclusion: No I'm not Catholic. I will not be having a Ash Wednesday service. I will be participating in Lent this year because I think it will be good for my connection with God and I am always a fan of seeing that grow.

Good evening everyone!
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenton Season. It ends on Easter Sunday. Many people think that only the Catholic religion observes Lent, but the truth is many people do. I am one of them. Growing up, I watched my mother give up sweets, cakes, candy, cookies and the like. As I got older and understood what the Lenton Season was all about I too gave up sweets. It became a tradition with us.
So, what is Lent all about? It is about sacrifice. It is about building your relationship with God. It is about strengthing your faith. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." (John 3:16) Jesus came to save the world. He sacrificed His life for you and for me! He was obediant to the Father and took on the sins of ALL so that we may have life. So, fasting from a particular food, habit, or doing more than your norm seems like a small sacrifice to me.
This Lent is no different for me. I gave up sweets, red meat and soda. This year I am adding exercise. I have always felt better after Lent is over. My goal for this year though is to continue with my sacrifice long after Lent is over.
If you have never tried to fast and pray for 40 days, let me tell ya, it is well worth the sacrifice!
Have a very blessed weekend!
Cheryl

Have you ever done something that was a waste of effort? If I was asking about a waste of time, someone might suggest video games, which is something I spend more time on than I should. When I think of a waste of effort, I think of putting all your energy into something and nothing come of it. Like completing a project for a competition, only for your partner to bail out before. Maybe weeks of training to run a race, only to be sick that day. For me recently, to work on a college class only to be told that it doesn't apply toward anything. As a Latin phrase puts it: parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus; literally, a mountain give birth to a silly mouse, idea: "all that work and nothing to show for it."

Today was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. When I was a kid the only thing I knew of Lent was that it was the time before Easter and meant that for lunch on Fridays, it would be fish sandwiches. I didn't like them then and I still don't now. I also knew that it meant a time when many would give up something; things like chocolate, soda, etc. What is the purpose of this fast? Is it merely just a requirement to follow? The prophet Isaiah wrote that the Israelites began to see fasting as such. They asked of God, "Why have we fasted and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?" (58:3) They missed the focus of fasting, what God wanted them to do with the time.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains fo injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (6-7)

All the effort the Israelites put into their fasting and assemblies amounted to nothing because their focus was misplaced. So, if you participate in Lent, where is your focus set? Is it just on what you're giving up, or are you using the time to bring your attention back to God? If you do not typically participate in Lent, is there anything you could give up and would?