Lent

Apr

2026

A message for Holy Week

I came across a message in my files. For Holy Week, I’ll share this devotion that my father preached in the spring of 1998. It is fitting for a Good Friday observance, and for our contemplation at any time of year.

Christ’s words of forgiveness

by Donald C. Sellnow

Holy Week is the time of year we go up to Jerusalem with Jesus. For him, it was a journey to the cross. For us, it is a spiritual journey that reminds us how completely our Lord was willing to give himself for us. It is a demonstration of God‘s amazing grace.

We have made this journey to Jerusalem often over the years, as we have listened to the Passion history and found joy and strength in the gospel of our Lord. It is a journey we will want to make again and again so long as God gives us the opportunity to do so.

When we go to Calvary, to stand in spirit beneath the cross of Christ, we listen to our suffering Savior speak. He spoke seven times from the cross. His words tell us what his mission there was all about. His words give us guidance, comfort, and hope for our journey through this life to the life that never ends. The first words spoken by Jesus from the cross were words of forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

It had been a long hard night for Jesus, from his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane to his trials before the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate. Now it was Friday morning and time for the execution of the death sentence imposed upon him. The Romans had not invented crucifixion, but they had perfected it as the cruelest and most hideous punishment they could devise. It was never inflicted on Roman citizens, but was reserved for slaves, pirates, and political or religious rebels—whose deaths were to be a public warning to others. On that Friday morning, the Son of God incarnate was crucified at the place called “The Skull” (Golgotha in Aramaic, Calvaria in Latin). Roman soldiers nailed his hands and feet to wooden beams and then lifted him up to hang him there on that cross, between two criminals, until he was dead, while they gambled for his clothes.

How did Jesus respond to what was done to him? We might expect someone in his situation to scream in anger, to curse his executioners, to ask God to rain down punishment on them. Who in the world would blame Jesus if he wanted revenge? Who would say that he wasn’t justified if he asked God to damn his abusers to hell? After all, he was innocent. He had been framed, falsely accused. He had been beaten, bruised, crowned with thorns and crucified—though he didn’t deserve any of it. Why not lash out at those who had done all of this to him? Why not vent his rage at them?

But wonder of wonders, the first words that Jesus spoke from the cross were not words of anger and revenge, but of love and pardon. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And let’s be sure that we know who Jesus means by “them.” “Them,” of course, means the soldiers who hammered spikes through his flesh to affix him to the cross. But it also includes the men higher up, such as Pilate and Herod and Jewish leaders and judges who condemned him. Peter, the apostle, later told his countrymen that they had crucified Christ, as they had clamored for his execution. “This man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed” (Acts 2:23). “You rejected the holy and righteous one …. You killed the author of life” (Acts 1:15). Jesus’ prayer, “Father, forgive them,” includes all of them—all who in any way brought the Messiah to the cross. And the Savior’s prayer includes also you and me. For what, after all, was it that laid the Lamb of God upon the altar of the cross? What was it that moved him to endure sufferings and crucifixion? It was the enormity of sin that we in this world had fallen into. Each of us says, along with the hymnist: “Ah, I also, and my sin wrought your deep affliction. This indeed the cause has been of your crucifixion.”*

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Thus Jesus prayed for forgiveness for the soldiers who were carrying out orders, but didn’t know that they were crucifying the Lord of glory. Thus Jesus prayed for the people and their rulers who did not recognize him as the promised Messiah. Thus Jesus prayed for us, who also were by nature enemies of God and of Christ and his Spirit.

Not only do we see Jesus praying for our forgiveness, we also see him achieving our forgiveness, redeeming us by his sacrifice. We don’t have to wonder whether there are sins and offenses that remain on our record and separate us from God. Christ took upon himself every sin every one of us has committed. Hanging on the cross that day, he was enduring all judgment for the sins of all the world. He was taking our place. He was suffering for us, dying for us. “Upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

What a great exchange we see taking place there at the cross! Jesus took on all of our infirmities, all of our weaknesses, all of our sins … and we got all the good, all the blessings, all the grace that brought us forgiveness, life, and salvation. One writer put it well when he said, “Jesus suffered, that we might be comforted. He was rejected that we might be accepted. He was separated from the Father, that we might be forever with him. He wore the shame of our sin and suffered the death of the cross that we might be rid of sin and shame forever. His garments were taken from him that we might wear the robe of his righteousness.”

Jesus died that we might live. And so we say, “Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, dearest Jesus, unto thee!”**

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“Father, forgive them.” The Savior who spoke those words wants us to speak such words too. We find that hard to do. Our sinful nature rebels at the thought of forgiving others. We want to take revenge. It seems more natural to nurse a grudge, to keep score of someone else’s faults, to rub it in, to be spiteful, to find a way to get even. In the home, on the job, in our private and professional lives, in our immediate family and in the larger family of church and community, it isn’t easy for us to pray, “Father, forgive them.” We want the Father to forgive us our trespasses, but we struggle to forgive those who trespass against us.

Yet though forgiving isn’t easy, it is something we can do, through Christ. When we look at Christ on the cross, we see our sins and all of their consequences, and we know in faith that Jesus covered our sins with his holy, precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death. In turn, the love of Christ compels us to be forgiving. From now on, therefore, let us regard no one from a human point of view, because God has reconciled himself to us in Christ. We have been reconciled to God, and through him find reconciliation with one another. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.)

May we daily look to the Savior and his cross for the forgiveness that we need so very much. May we keep on hearing his word and partaking of his sacrament—through which our faith is strengthened, our love grows, and we are enabled to forgive one another, just as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us.

“Father, forgive them.” Thank God, for this word from the cross—a word that is a continuing comfort and a powerful motivation for us, the forgiven, to forgive.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you have forgiven me all that I have done. Every sinful word, thought, and action is cleansed by the blood of Jesus. So often I pray, as Jesus taught me, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”—but forgiving others is not easy. Work within my heart that I may willingly and joyfully forgive others. Forgive my spirit of revenge and help me overcome it. Draw my attention back to the cross of Jesus, that I may learn to forgive as he did. Amen.

*From the hymn Jesu, deine Passion, by Sigismund von Birken (17th century), translated by August Crull.
**From the hymn Jesu, meines Lebens Lebe by Ernst Homburg (17th century), translated by Catherine Winkworth.

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Mar

2026

“Love your neighbor” means more than being nice

Niceness isn’t enough

by David Sellnow

In Minnesota, where I live, there has long been a reputation that people are “Minnesota nice.” There are mixed emotions about what that means. Positive connotations point to politeness, courteousness, and goodwill. But there are negative undertones: sticking to small talk and surface-level relationships while burying deeper concerns, keeping people in their place and leaving inequities unchallenged, exhibiting airs of judgmentalism and passive-aggressiveness. It can be more about the appearance of niceness—wanting others to think we are nice people—than it is about genuine commitments to kindness.

“Minnesota nice” was deeply challenged recently, as thousands of federal immigration enforcement agents descended on the Twin Cities and their suburbs, and then expanded to Saint Cloud, Rochester, Mankato, and other cities in Greater Minnesota. Many Minnesotans were motivated to move from being “nice” and avoiding conflict to standing up for their neighbors and their communities. Niceness isn’t enough when people’s lives are at stake. Mutual aid networks sprang up in neighborhood after neighborhood, to get groceries to people scared to leave their homes, to do laundry and run errands for them, to give rides to work and medical appointments, to raise money to help affected families pay their rent.

Niceness isn’t enough in a world where the poor, the marginalized, the outsiders are pushed down and shoved out When persons in power have overstepped their authority and have begun to abuse and demean and dehumanize the people underneath them, God‘s prophets have not kept quiet or stayed passive. Prophets like Micah spoke out forcefully to heads of state and rulers, saying, “Should you not know justice?—you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin off my people and the flesh off their bones” (Micah 3:1,2)? He excoriated them for abhorring justice and perverting all equity, for building their country with blood and wrongdoing (Micah 3:9,10), warning that by practicing cruelty and heartlessness they would cause the ruin of their nation. Zechariah set before the people the right path: “Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy, do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against others” (Zechariah 7:9,10). Isaiah added: “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday” (Isaiah 58:10).

Scripture’s instruction to us is not, “Be nice and non-confrontational.” Rather, we are asked to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). That command concerns all neighbors—all the persons around us, not just those who look like us or share the same heritage. God told his people, “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself” (Leviticus 19:33,34).

God’s people too easily can forget that once we were not his people, but were welcomed by him. Once we had not received mercy, but were brought into his mercy (1 Peter 2:10). We ourselves were “aliens and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), but have been brought into his kingdom by God’s limitless compassion. God demonstrated his love for us “in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God’s glory is seen most evident in Christ’s ultimate act of sacrifice on the cross. Jesus did not enter our world proclaiming religious nationalism or asserting a dominant group’s position and beliefs over all others. The way of Christ is much different than the way of those who would push out or push down minority groups and individuals whom they view as substandard. The way of Christ is one of giving ourselves to others. In Christ, we seek to lift all up equally as fellow human beings, all of us together having value as objects of God’s grace.

Let this Lent be a time not just for giving up some bad habit to make ourselves feel nicer or more virtuous. Niceness isn’t enough. Let us embark on a pattern of committed love in action, guided by the love we have known in Christ. Let us love not merely “in word or speech but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).

A recent blog post here that you may have missed: What’s in a name?

For a previous Lenten message here on The Electric Gospel, see:

Giving up something for Lent (and more)

* “A Point of View: I Am Uncomfortable with ‘Minnesota Nice,’” The Inclusion Solution (5/8/2017).
** “The Eeriness of Minnesota Nice,” CrimeReads (10/12/2021).
*** “In Minneapolis, Community Care is the Model for Resistance,” Prism (2/16/2026).

“Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Mar

2025

An examination of our spiritual health

Thoughts for the season of Lent

David Sellnow

A health care worker expressed frustration with her patients. “That’s the second time this week I’ve had to use the warning, ‘You could die!’ … and again it didn’t work.’” A diabetic man with blood sugar numbers off the charts keeps neglecting to take his insulin. A woman whose EKG shows she’s in the process of having a heart attack says she doesn’t feel that bad and refuses to be admitted to the hospital.

When it comes to spiritual diagnosis and treatment, are we much different? We think, “Meh, my sins are not that bad. I’ll be okay.” We’re not eager to deal with our problems, our failures, our chronic iniquities because we’ve become accustomed to living our lives with those issues.

Jeremiah once lamented, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22) Plenty of balm and balm-applying physicians did exist in Gilead. And plenty of gospel healing was available to God’s people in Israel—but they did not avail themselves of it. They suffered as a result.

Lent is a time for us to give attention to what ails our hearts—spiritually. We are directed to our need for a physician that can heal our souls. Jesus is that physician. In his ministry, Jesus showed us our sinfulness and offered balm for healing through his redemptive work. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:31). Every one of us remains continuously in need of treatment for sin-sickness. The path to health and life for our souls is in Jesus.

Let’s not get lost in superficial approaches to Lent. Giving up this or that food or this or that habit during Lent doesn’t do something redemptive for us. The season’s intent is for us to be honest about our spiritual need and look to Jesus for wholeness and holiness. It’s not about beating ourselves up with guilt over all that Jesus suffered on our behalf. He gave himself for us to set us free from guilt and shame. As Scripture says, “We have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us …. Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:19-22). In the midst of Lent, let’s not lose sight of the path of life and fullness of joy that we have in Christ (cf. Psalm 16:11).

As a kid, I couldn’t figure out why people referred to the “40 Days of Lent.” If you count the days from Ash Wednesday through the Saturday of Easter weekend, there are 46 days. Did we mess up the math? Later I learned the reason for the mathematical discrepancy. There are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, but six of those days are Sundays. The Sundays are not really part of Lent. Every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Even in the midst of a Lenten focus on Jesus’ passion (his sufferings and death), we never forget our ultimate hope. We have “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). And we “hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23). We meet together and encourage each other all the more as we see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Jesus’ resurrection gives us constant and certain hope. The life of a Christian—including days when we dedicate time to thinking about our sins and Christ’s suffering—is a life filled with hope because Jesus’ life did not end in the grave but in glory.

The 40 days of Lent go back to an old tradition of fasting for 40 days prior to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, reminiscent of Jesus’ own 40 days of fasting in the desert as he worked out our salvation for us. But even in the most somber days of the church’s history, those days of fasting were interrupted each Sunday. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the day of his resurrection. Knowing Christ is resurrected, all somberness and shame are chased away, and our hearts rise up to where our home is with our Lord in heaven.

For additional Lenten thoughts, see previous posts:

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Mar

2024

Giving up self-redemption for Lent

We are in the middle of Lent. Are you feeling refreshed … or are you feeling burdened?

In my teaching days, a student came to me just before the beginning of a Lent season. She was distressed and anxious. She said, “I don’t like Lent. Everybody sees this as such a special time, but it makes me miserable.” She dreaded six weeks of feeling dreary and guilty. She’d heard preachers who focused solely on law, on how horribly we have failed, on how we drove the nails through Jesus’ hands and feet and put him on the cross. She wanted to hear more about why Jesus did what he did for us, on the relief he has brought us. The tone of Lent she had experienced felt like forty days of flogging ourselves with feelings of unworthiness and guilt. She yearned to hear more good news—more gospel.

The season we call Lent (which means “lengthen”) has a long history. The earliest origins of Lent are somewhat unclear. When Christianity began, the faithful fasted on the anniversary of Jesus’ death. That “paschal fast” would continue through the next day, Saturday, “to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus” (US Conference of Catholic Bishops). The fast grew to extend throughout Holy Week, and eventually lengthened to a period of fasting for 40 days—reminiscent of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4), the 40 days Moses spent on “the mountain of God” (Exodus 3:1 & 24:18), and the 40 days and nights the prophet Elijah spent trekking to that same mountain (1 Kings 19:8).

During Lent, it became a tradition to stop singing hallelujahs during worship services—including on Sundays. The Sundays in Lent are actually not part of Lent. Each Sunday in Christian worship is meant to remember and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection (which is worthy of unending hallelujahs). Nevertheless, hymns and services throughout Lent took on a somber tone, omitting joyful songs of praise until Easter.

In my youth, the Lutheran church I attended had the habit of extending the “no hallelujahs” rule three weeks further back. I still recall the Latin names used for the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday: Quinquagesima (“fiftieth”), Sexagesima (“sixtieth”), and.Septuagesima (“seventieth”). Extending the penitential season back further “developed from the early sixth to the early seventh centuries as the result of monks extending the forty-day pre-paschal fast for progressively longer periods” (Patrick Regan, Advent to Pentecost, cited by Catholic Culture).

My impression of the history of Lent (and pre-Lent) is that it was driven by a desire to contribute something to our own redemption. If monks lived a quiet, humble life to serve others and devote themselves to godly study, fine. If they drove themselves to ever-increasing lengths of self-sacrifice in attempts to make up for their sins or establish their own righteousness, this was a mistake. Martin Luther (who had been a monk) wrote about how monks became “puffed up with this opinion of righteousness” and “thought themselves to be so holy because of their holy kind of life”— better than other Christians who “led but a common life” and didn’t do any additional, special works (Commentary on Galatians, 1535). We fall into the same mindset if we think that the more religious things we do and the more everyday things we give up, somehow that will make us better people and closer to God. As a contemporary religious teacher has said, “Whether you do enough or believe enough or perform enough” is not “what decides whether you are good enough and worthy enough and loved enough. If you make some sort of sacrifice to make yourself more holy in God’s eyes, you were sold a false bill of goods. That was an indulgence that you paid for with your emotional effort, and it is not real. God already loves you. You cannot make yourself more holy” (Cafeteria Christian, “Giving Up Perfectionism for Lent,” episode #212/260).

Rather than trying to fulfill vows like monks, Martin Luther advised that going about the normal tasks of human life “serves God precisely as he desires to be served” (Robert Kolb in The Lutheran Witness, 3/7/2022). As Luther said elsewhere, “Ordinary work is a divine vocation or calling.” Rather than a 40-day fast or giving up this or that for Lent (focused on ourselves), we might consider acts of love and service focused on others. “You can investigate more ways to participate with joy and freedom in the world around you, and Lent can be a part of that” (Cafeteria Christian). In doing so, we also understand that any acts we undertake “are not to be done with any notion that by them we can be justified before God–for faith alone is righteousness before God” (Martin Luther, On Christian Freedom, 1520).

The habits and customs observed during Lent may be useful to help us focus our thoughts on spiritual things rather than on earthly desires. Having a penitential season is a good practice, to come to terms with ourselves over the seriousness of sin. But we dare not ever (during Lent or otherwise) forget the gospel that gives every season of our lives meaning. If not for what Jesus did—not only by his death, but also by his resurrection—our faith would be futile and we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). So, let us keep the good news of Jesus’ victory for us at the forefront of the Lent season and all seasons. And maybe, just maybe, let’s not be afraid to sing hallelujahs on Sundays.

I remember a gentleman named Peter. After attending services throughout the year at a congregation I served, he said, “I appreciate how I can bring a guest to church on any given worship day, and I know the gospel will be clearly heard.” I was glad to hear we were consistent about that.

I remember also a lady named Verna. She had been taking classes and attending services at our mission church. When asked if she desired to join the church as a member, Verna was eager to do so. She said, “When I used to go to other churches, I would go home every time feeling awful. Now I come home from church feeling refreshed, joyful, relieved.” We discussed further what the difference was. She identified that her prior church experiences had been all law and only law. Even Jesus was made into a stern figure of law, commanding us to do as he did, to be how he was, or else we were not worthy.

“Lent should be a season of rest, not pressure” (Cafeteria Christian). Worship that is whole and spiritually healthy will never leave us wallowing in guilt, walking away hopeless. When we witness what Christ our Savior has done for us—both by his sufferings and death and by his resurrection and rule over all things—we are moved to say, “Hallelujah!”–which is Hebrew for “Praise the LORD!”

Mar

2023

Jesus overcame temptation for us

During the season of Lent and in Holy Week, we ponder all that Jesus suffered in carrying out our salvation. There’s another emphasis to remember too. Not only was Jesus taking our curse away by his sufferings and death for us. He also had supplied a life of righteousness for us, as part of his role as our Redeemer.

This devotion focuses on Jesus’ active obedience to all that God has commanded of us.

The Lord is our Righteousness

“Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

See full account: Matthew 4:1-11

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COL; (c) City of London Corporation; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

I remember a teachers’ guide that our congregation’s Sunday School teachers had in the 1990s. This was around the same time that WWJD—”What would Jesus do?”—was becoming a popular phrase. For the lesson on Jesus dealing with the devil in the wilderness, the guidebook focused entirely on how Jesus taught us to say no to temptations. Is that really the main lesson of what Jesus was doing when he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? If the main thing about Jesus is what example he set for us, would he have needed to come into our world?

Certainly, our struggles with temptation are a concern. We regularly pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” asking God to show us pathways away from sin. At the same time, though, we also pray, “Deliver us from evil.” You may have memorized an explanation of what that means: “We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to himself in heaven” (Martin Luther, Small Catechism). It’s not just this temptation today and that temptation tomorrow that concern us. Most of all, we pray for deliverance from temptations’ result—from evil, from the Evil One, and from the death and despair the devil wants to pull us down into. When Jesus went into the desert to meet the devil head-on, he wasn’t merely teaching us strategies to stay safe against temptation. Christ’s ultimate purpose was to rescue us from sin and the devil by overcoming those deadly forces for us, on our behalf. Jesus is not just our help in temptation, he is our salvation. Jesus battled the devil and his temptations as part of his work of redemption. He was doing for us what we could not do on our own. He was our substitute, carrying out atonement for us vicariously.

Jesus overcame every temptation—those he endured in the wilderness after he’d fasted for forty days and all other temptations while he walked on this earth. Jesus did all that the law of God expects of us, and he did it for us. By the one man’s obedience [the obedience of Christ], the many of us are made righteous (Romans 5:19). Jesus’ holy life is given to us as our own. As the prophet Jeremiah had foretold, “This is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 33:16).

At the outset of Jesus’ messianic work, after Satan’s multiple temptations, we’re told that the devil departed from Jesus “until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). The wilderness temptations weren’t the only challenges Jesus would face. The devil would keep coming back, again and again. Jesus is not someone “who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,” but rather, he is “one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Allow me to call to mind a few other examples of ways Jesus continued to be pressured and tested, and responded rightly to each test.

After Jesus spoke in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth and revealed himself as the one who came in fulfillment of the prophecies about Messiah, the people reacted with hostility and were ready to throw him off a cliff. Jesus had the power to strike them all dead for their unbelief, to rain down fire and brimstone on them. Instead, he simply “passed through the midst of them and went on his way” (Luke 4:30).
During the second year of Jesus’ ministry, he began teaching quite openly to his disciples that “the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). Jesus’ disciples didn’t want to hear such things. Peter took Jesus aside and began to contradict him, saying, “This must never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22). But Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mark 8:31-33). Jesus was resolute in carrying out his divinely-ordained mission.
In the hours leading up to his crucifixion, Jesus was dragged before the high priest in Jerusalem. During the interrogation, one of the temple guards struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered calmly, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me” (John 18:23)?

Throughout his whole life, Jesus acted with integrity. He did not retaliate against his enemies, and he would not shrink back from the work he came to do on our behalf. As Isaiah had prophesied about the Messiah, he gave his back to those who struck him. He did not hide his face from insult and spitting (Isaiah 50:6-7). He set his face like flint and carried on in the face of every temptation, in the face of agony and suffering and death.

All through his life, living in our place, Jesus lived a life of love in fulfillment of the law (cf. Romans 13:8-10). He showed compassion to the poor. He healed the sick. He strengthened the suffering. He comforted the bereaved. He did all that for us, as our rescuer, as our Redeemer. His saving work replaced anything lacking in our lives with the goodness he carried out in our place. That’s the most important thing as we think about how Jesus lived his life, how he took on every challenge and temptation, how he defeated the devil and sin. He did all of that for us, as our Savior.

That said, we certainly also can learn from Jesus’ life as an example for how to live our lives. We are urged in Scripture to “be imitators of God … and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2). We will strive to follow Jesus’ example of loving each and every person—something we’re now able to do because of the love Jesus has given us. And we will follow Jesus’ example in facing temptation.

The devil approached Jesus when he was desperately hungry and urged him toward a path of instant gratification. We have learned from Jesus to be better than that, to look for more than that. We want—we need—something that lasts. We need not just a quick fix, a boost of something to make us feel better for the moment. We rely on spiritual sustenance, on “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
The devil approached Jesus with the suggestion to throw himself off a roof, to risk life and limb and count on God to keep him safe, to send angels to keep him from harm. We have learned from Jesus not to twist God’s promises into permission slips. We don’t jump in front of a bus to test if God’s angels are with us. We don’t dive into sins saying, “It’s okay, God will forgive me anyway.”
The devil approached Jesus with a temptation to power and ego. Sure, God in heaven says he is Lord over all things. But anybody observing the way things work down here can see that the devil dominates the way things go on earth. Even Jesus acknowledged the devil as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). “The whole world lies under the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). So, the devil in fact had something to offer when he “showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” (Matthew 4:8), saying Jesus could have it all if he came over to the dark side and gave his allegiance to Satan as “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus has shown us that apparent shortcuts to success that compromise godly, higher standards are paths that lead to destruction. With Jesus, we will say, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Matthew 4:10).

As we live our lives day by day, certainly, let’s remember Jesus’ example. We can think, “What would Jesus do?” and strive to respond to challenging situations with resoluteness of character as Jesus has taught us. But most important of all, we will keep our eyes on Jesus as our Savior, our strength, our hope in all things. “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners. So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up.” (Hebrews 12:2,3 Good News Translation).

Temptations will keep coming at us day after day. Our Savior encourages us to walk in his ways and say no to sin. We can overcome temptations when we are connected by grace to Jesus. But whenever we do sin, we also remember: We have Jesus as an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous one, is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:1-2).

Jesus is our constant hope and strength, our salvation from temptation and sin.

Mar

2023

A creed for personal confidence

For those who may struggle with low self-worth and pressure themselves into perfectionism

This past week’s podcast episode of Cafeteria Christian was entitled, “Giving Up Perfectionism for Lent.” The thoughts shared there reminded me of many ministry students I worked with over the years. This was something I wrote for them.

– David Sellnow

Confidence anchored in Christ

I am a child of God. I have a Father who has lavished me with his love and calls me his very own. I need not worry about what anyone in the world thinks of me, because I am already and always a child of God. And what I will become in my future with Christ is even greater than I can imagine. (1 John 3:1-2)

I am a worthwhile person. I have talents and abilities that are uniquely my own. I don’t need to try to be as this as someone else or as that as someone else. Each person has their own gifts to use, their own role to play. I simply will accept who I am and the character and gifts God has given to me. I won’t worry about what I’m not or what I haven’t yet become. I will walk in the Lord and with the Lord, and he will lead me to surmount whatever challenges I face. (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12)

Image credit: Ridwan Jaafar on Flickr

I am a human being. I know that I fall short of glory in so many ways, but that hasn’t stopped God from loving me or redeeming me. I do not have to achieve perfection as a person. Indeed, I need to admit that I can’t achieve perfection, even in small things. I will stop trying to chase perfection in one thing after another, because such a pursuit only wears me out in body and soul. Instead, casting all my anxieties on the Lord, bringing him all my weariness and burdens, I know he will care for me. I will find rest for my soul. (Romans 3:23-24, 1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 11:28)

I can conquer all things through Christ, who loves me. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. I may be weak and frail in myself, but Christ’s grace is sufficient for me. His power is made perfect in my weakness. The only perfection I need is his. No task, no challenge, no hardship, no criticism, no pain or pressure of any kind will ever be able to separate me from the love that God has for me or the love that my friends in God have for me. So I can love myself. I will love myself. In Jesus I am loved and lovable. In Jesus I am strong and capable. In Jesus I am alive and life is livable. (Romans 8:37-39, Philippians 4:13, 2 Corinthians 12:9)

I am human. I am imperfect. That will always be the case, as long as I walk on this earth. But I will walk tall and grow strong, because my Lord and his love go with me. No one—not even I myself by my own insecurities—will be able to stand in my way, because my God will never leave me nor forsake me. (Joshua 1:5-9)

I am loved. I am a child of God. I need not be discouraged or afraid.

A version of this article was published in 2014 in Forward in Christ magazine.

Mar

2022

Patience

A meditation focused on Psalm 129

PATIENCE

See Psalm 129 in The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Peterson

Have you heard the apocryphal story about the woman who asked her pastor to pray for patience for her? Let’s hope it’s not a true story, because it would be terrible ministry practice. (Cf. article by Tim Harvey in The Messenger, 11/13/2019.)

The story goes like this:

A woman came to see her pastor. She said, “I am struggling with losing my patience. I get so frustrated dealing with my kids. At work, the policies and procedures and red tape infuriate me. When standing in line at the grocery store, I get agitated and just want to scream. Pastor, would you pray for me, that I can learn to be more patient?”

“Sure,” her pastor replied, and began to pray: “Lord, give this woman trouble and pain. Bring about times of distress and difficulty. Cause her to suffer …”

“Wait, wait, wait!” The woman interrupted. “Please stop! I didn’t ask for you to pray for me to have pain and suffering. I asked you to pray for patience for me.”

The pastor took a Bible off the desk (King James Version, of course), opened to Romans chapter 5, and read: “We glory in tribulations … knowing that tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3 KJV). If you want patience, what you need is more suffering.

I hope no pastor would take such an insensitive approach. There is, though, a grain of truth to consider. Scripture does say we welcome sufferings when they come, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). God doesn’t take pleasure in seeing us suffer; he loves us and strengthens us with his Spirit (Romans 5:5). When powers and people in this life kick us around and knock us to the ground, we hang on to hope in God’s promises. We trust he is working to deepen our relationship with him, build our resilience over struggles, and prepare us for an eternal reward as people called to be his own.

Our natural tendencies do not tend toward patience. As Pastor Eugene Peterson put it in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, we are people who are constantly “whining and chattering … and running and fidgeting,” which causes us to miss listening to the slow, calm, merciful words and ways of God (p. 114). “The way of the world is peppered with brief enthusiasms” (p.123), of chasing after one thing and then another, because this world is a temporal, temporary, wibbly-wobbly sort of place. That which is enduring and permanent–that which is everlasting–can only be found in relationship with God. But that’s not what counts to us when we’re always tracking daily stock prices and quarterly business reports and scrolling what’s trending on social media and what’s streaming on our TVs or tablets or all the other devices we’ve accumulated to occupy our time.

Our chronic impatience–our pursuit of “brief enthusiasms”–spills over into spiritual life too. For example, a number of years ago, I attended a concert in Houston. The headline act was Leon Patillo, who had been lead singer for Santana. He had found Jesus and turned to making Christian contemporary music. His vibe was bouncy and boisterous, like you’d have heard in dance clubs, except with lyrics full of “Praise God!” and “Hallelujah!” Oodles of young kids had come to party to his synthesizer sounds, and they were bored with the opening act (the person I had actually come to see). His name was Michael Card. Those of you in my age bracket may recognize his name as the songwriter of “El Shaddai,” “Love Crucified Arose,” and other thoughtful songs focusing on the life of Christ revealed in the Gospels. Midway through his brief portion of the show, as the young people were impatient for the headline act to take the stage, Michael Card paused and spoke sincerely to the audience. He said, “Christian life is not one big party; I want you to realize that. We are not here only to jump and sing and dance, but to struggle in the name of Jesus as we proclaim him to the world.” And then he read from Philippians chapter 3 (verses 10-11): “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Michael Card had it right. Jesus does not promise us constant fun or problem-free living on this earth. He does promise inner joy that transcends outward circumstances, life forever to those who endure and overcome.

Psalm 129 has a message of a similar mood. Worshipers on their way up to Jerusalem would sing this song, remembering their history as a people, trusting God’s enduring faithfulness to them, and praying that the enemies of God’s people would be thwarted.

Think of the patience needed to be an Old Testament believer in the promises of God.

Abraham was promised by God that he would be the father of a great nation, bringing about blessings through him and his descendants (Genesis 12:1). He was 75 years old at the time (Genesis 12:4). The promise was laughable. Then, Abraham was made to wait 25 years before the miraculous promise was fulfilled and the son Isaac was born, when he was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 (cf. Genesis 17:17, 21:5-7).
Jacob was promised that the land inhabited by Abraham, his grandfather, and Isaac, his father, would become the homeland of that nation of their descendants (Genesis 35:11-12). Then, in his old age, Jacob and his whole extended family needed to emigrate to Egypt to survive a time of famine (cf. Genesis 42-47). Not until a couple hundred years later did the Israelites, as a people, exit Egypt and go back to the promised land.
The history of Israel from that point forward wasn’t easy either. In the days of the Judges, the people faltered in their faithfulness and experienced a series of attacks against them by surrounding peoples such as the Moabites, Midianites, Canaanites, Ammonites, and Philistines. During the time of the Kings, forces that opposed God’s plans for his people continued to afflict them from both inside and outside their nation. Eventually, the northern tribes of Israel fell under the domination of the empire of Assyria, and then the southern tribes (the nation of Judah) fell to the empire of Babylon. Some think that Psalm 129 may have been composed during the time of exile in Babylon or after Jewish exiles returned from there decades later.

With that history of Israel’s struggles in mind, the psalm writer reminisces: “They’ve kicked me around ever since I was young”–so says Israel–”but they never could keep me down” (Psalm 129:1,2 MSG). In poetic imagery, the psalm sees the history of Israel as if others were driving plows up and down their back, ripping deep into their flesh. Yet they were not destroyed. They were not defeated. God kept coming to Israel’s aid, “ripping the harnesses of the evil plowmen (Israel’s enemies) to shreds” (Psalm 129:4 MSG), rescuing his people.

When I read Psalm 129’s description of how the enemies of Israel were gouging and ripping up the back of the people of Israel, I can’t help but think of another image of suffering. Jesus Christ went through an ordeal of suffering. We call it “The Passion of the Christ” because suffering is the original meaning of the Latin term passio. When Jesus was brought before the Jewish authorities as an enemy of the people, those “who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’” (Luke 22:63-65). Jesus was then dragged before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate as an enemy of the empire. Though there was no basis to the charges against Jesus, Pilate had him flogged–at two points during the process, it seems (cf. John 19:1 and Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15). The 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ, dramatized how gruesome scourging by Roman soldiers could be. Mel Gibson’s original theatrical release of the film dwelt on that torture scene for ten minutes. Subsequent editions of the film cut five minutes of the goriest visuals, because viewers and critics had found it too horrible to watch. If the image of it is too horrible for us to endure, what of the horror endured by Jesus himself, actually experiencing such a thing? And then experiencing the horrors of crucifixion, slowly suffocating to death? And the horror of soul in bearing all the weight of humanity’s separation from God as an act of atonement for us, causing him to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)?

We can have patience in our ordeals in life because we know we have a God who is on our side. He has suffered with us and for us. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Now, there’s a part of Psalm 129 that we haven’t addressed yet, which we can’t ignore. The last verses of the psalm approach the throne of God with a prayer for punishment on all those who have hated and opposed Zion–God’s holy mountain, God’s people, his church. “Oh, let all those who hate Zion grovel in humiliation; let them be like grass in shallow ground that withers before the harvest” (Psalm 129:5-6 MSG). Is that a righteous prayer? Are we allowed to pray for judgment against “the evil plowmen” who have “plowed long furrows up and down” our backs? Are we allowed to ask God to rip “the harnesses of the evil plowmen to shreds” (cf. Psalm 129:3,4 MSG)? When Christ was crucified, didn’t he say, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)?

Yes, Christ urges us to show patience and forgiveness to all. At the same time, we also speak out against those who knowingly and persistently act against righteousness and justice and goodness. Jesus himself forcefully upended the tables of the merchants and money changers doing business in the temple area, even making a whip to drive away all their merchandise–sheep and cattle they were selling for sacrifices (John 2:13-17). God’s prophets again and again decried those who acted unjustly. The prophet Amos warned the proud and powerful in his day, saying, “I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy. … Hate evil and love good. … Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it [to those who are wicked]?… Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:12,15,21,24).

We are called to a path of patience like God’s own patience, “not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But that doesn’t mean we wish people well in their path of sin or smile cheerfully when evil and hurtful things occur. Christians can get confused about that sometimes. I know someone who worked in a domestic violence shelter in the Bible belt. Many of the women entering the shelter were deeply Christian in their convictions. As soon as their terror subsided and their wounds and bruises began to heal, they began feeling it was their duty to go back to their husbands and forgive them. The shelter team had trouble keeping these women safely in the program, because of their compelling urge to turn the other cheek and forgive quickly. The advice I offered? Remind the battered women of the example of Joseph in dealing with his brothers. Joseph had been mistreated by his brothers and sold off into slavery by them. God kept Joseph safe and put him in a position where later his brothers came before him (not recognizing who he was, as he became a leader in Egypt and had the appearance of an Egyptian). Joseph very much wanted to forgive and reconcile with his brothers, but didn’t rush into doing so. He put his brothers through a series of tests of character to see if they were still the same uncaring men who had sold him into slavery more than a decade earlier (cf. Genesis chapters 42-45). Once it was clear they were changed, repentant persons, he revealed himself, and a genuine reunion and reconciliation occurred.

Loving Zion–loving the kingdom of God and all that is good–means we will not smile and nod toward those who hate Zion or do evil. We will, in all honesty, feel what the ancient psalm-singers felt when they sang: “Let all those who hate Zion grovel in humiliation.” We don’t say, “Congratulations on your wonderful crop! We bless you in God’s name!” (Psalm 129:8 MSG) to those who achieve their great harvest or success by abusing or exploiting or taking advantage of people to get it. We call evil evil, and we call good good. We pray for the good of all, and we pray against that which is evil. And we wait patiently while enduring suffering and hurt in a world that is plagued by much that is evil, knowing we have a God who is good and who will rescue us from all that is painful in his appointed time.

The Passion of Christ has shown us how God achieves what is valuable for us. There was nothing quick or easy about the path set before Jesus. He trod that bloody, anguished path for us. And he promises us that when our patience is tried and tested, he remains with us, building our endurance, giving us hope. As the Scriptures testify: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11). This is our calling in Christ.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are rom the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Mar

2022

The Lord is our righteousness

A preface to this post:

Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine at this time, as they struggle to protect their country and many have been forced to flee their homes. A number of years ago, I visited Ukraine to teach a course at a seminary there. I asked a contact of mine what, if anything, those of us far away could do in the present crisis. He responded, “Thank you very much for your prayers and concern. Here is a link where you can donate to Ukrainian Army: https://uahelp.monobank.ua/.” [If you go to the site, a donation of 1000 hryven’ at today’s current exchange rate is 33.28 in US dollars.] Others may be inclined to show support via humanitarian agencies. The Guardian newspaper recently published links to charitable agencies working to alleviate suffering: “How Americans can help people of Ukraine.”

At the beginning of in Lent in 2009, I was privileged to preach to a group in Ternopil. I’ll share a version of that message for the first week in Lent here. Let us pray for and support one another in all the struggles and tests of faith that this life brings.

This is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).

In the wilderness, tempted by Satan

What are your temptations in life?

Are you tempted to be greedy, to want more than you have? Are you tempted to be lazy, to do less than you can do? Or are you tempted to be a workaholic? Do you never let yourself rest?

Are you tempted to be judgmental, to look down on other people? Are you tempted by jealousy and hostility? Are there persons that make you so angry you want to hit them? Maybe you don’t actually hit them, but you’ve got a hammer in your heart that pounds and pounds with hatred or envy.

Are you tempted to be lonely? To feel isolated? To feel sorry for yourself? To feel like God has put you on a path that is too often too difficult and doesn’t give the rewards you want?

Are you tempted to be frustrated and afraid—about the state of affairs in the world or in your life or for your church? Do you keep wishing earth would be more like heaven, even though you know it is not (and cannot be)?

We all know what it is to be tempted. We are bombarded with temptations day after day. The devil knows which ones work particularly well on each of us. We are attacked at every point where we are most vulnerable.

You know your own temptations and sins. You could pour out your soul in confession all day long. You’d never run out of unpleasant thoughts and words and deeds to confess, because so very often temptation wins, godliness loses. You are at fault for this failure, that offense, those ugly behaviors, these unkind words, and countless shameful omissions of the many good things you might have done.

You are guilty, as am I. We are like the man in Jesus’ parable, standing at a distance from God, not even daring to look up to heaven, acknowledging our failings and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Think about it: the sins we’ve been mentioning are things that occur to us now, while we are Christians, while God’s Spirit is within us. Yet still we fall or slip or dive headfirst into sin so many times. Imagine the bondage of sin we were in before the Spirit came to us. What great need of salvation there is for every one of us!

And what a Savior we have in Jesus Christ! The first thing he did—the first, immediate task he took up after his anointing—was to expose himself to Satan’s every temptation and overcome them all. He did that for us. As soon as he was identified as the Christ by his baptism at the Jordan River, “the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan” (Mark 1:12-13). Jesus went head-to-head with Satan—and not merely for sport. As God, Jesus could trounce the devil underfoot eternally, destroy him absolutely. But the fullness of time had come, and God the Son, “born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law” (Galatians 4:4,5), was working out our redemption under the law. He was fulfilling all righteousness for us, carrying out every commandment in our stead as a human being. He deflected every temptation, proclaiming the word of God in the face of evil. Thus, in Jesus, God has provided a record of human obedience to his will that is faultless, spotless—“one who in every respect has been tested, as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

What Jesus did in the desert is much more than an example for us to follow. If Jesus only serves as an example to us, our situation would still be hopeless. Who of us can follow Christ’s example and be perfect as he was and is? Christ came not merely as example. Christ is our substitute, our life, our salvation. He did all that he did to atone for us, to provide us with holiness.

The confrontation with temptation in the desert was Jesus’ first official act as the Anointed One, the Messiah. But it was not the only vicarious act he performed as atonement for us. His whole life was lived as a substitute for ours. Every time Jesus obeyed Mary and Joseph when he was a child, he was doing so in our place. Every time Jesus performed an act of love and mercy for the sick, the sorrowful, the demon-possessed, the bereaved, he was doing perfectly all the things we never could do well enough.

The forty days that Jesus spent in the desert at the beginning of his ministry were not the only occasion when the devil sought to distract Jesus, damage him, derail his mission. When this round of temptation was over, the devil left Jesus—but only for a time (Luke 4:13). He would be back. Satan would strike again and again at Jesus—just the same way that the devil strikes again and again at us. As Jesus pursued his path as the Christ on this earth, he set his face like flint and marched on (cf. Isaiah 50:7, Luke 9:51). He marched on all the way till they threw a rough-hewn wooden beam across his shoulders and told him to drag it out to the place of execution. There he was put to death in our place, just as he had lived in our place.

Jesus supplied a record of righteousness for us by his obedience to every moral duty, by his rejection of every sinful temptation. And then he removed the record of shamefulness that stained us by his anguish on the cross. He who had no sin was made to be sin for us—“the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6)—so that “in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now, when we are tempted, we run for refuge into Jesus’ arms, the one who has already defeated the devil on our behalf, and we find strength in his strength.

Now, when we sin, we return to Jesus, in repentance, to be renewed by his righteousness, to be received by his love, to be revitalized for new life.

Christ is our forgiveness and hope and source of life. Through his victory, we live victoriously. Through his victory, we are given strength to overcome temptations. Through his victory, we are assured a place beside him in eternity.

Thank God that Jesus went out into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He did it for us, and he won that battle for us … just as he has won every other spiritual battle. Because of him, we are blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). Our trust, day after day, is in Jesus, who defeated all temptation for us.

Reading for the 1^st Sunday in Lent
The Temptation of Jesus – Luke 4:1-13

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Dec

2019

Giving up something for Lent (and more)

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on February 21, 2015.

Giving up ourselves for others

by David Sellnow

Have you given up something for Lent? The history of Lenten fasting dates back to the ancient church. Many Christians continue to observe Lent as a time to set aside things of this world and focus on faith. And nowadays the practice of giving up something for Lent has been adopted by many non-religious people too. 31-year-old David Powers of Los Angeles, disc jockey and band member and medical marijuana seller, hasn’t participated in church since he was in high school. But as a personal thing, during Lent he gives up his own marijuana use. He says, “Lent has been a great excuse for me to take a much-needed break from pot, and I have learned that I really don’t need it to get by. … I think that the idea of giving up something that you love, especially something that isn’t especially good for you, once a year, is a really good idea that everyone could benefit from.”[1]

David Powers’ approach – give up something you love for a while – is a popular approach. According to the ultimate source of truth on what’s happening in the world, Twitter, the #1 thing that people are giving up for Lent is chocolate. Fast food and junk food rank in the top ten also. Oh, and the #2 thing people are giving up, according to Twitter, is … Twitter.[2] So, well, maybe that’s not an entirely reliable source of truth then.

I don’t want to trivialize the habits of those who give up something for Lent in a serious-minded way as a part of a Christ-centered devotional focus. After all, as a very gospel-focused man once said, “Fasting and other outward preparations may serve a good purpose.”[3] But I do wonder if the whole concept of me giving up something for a while to try to be a better me is missing the point of what it means to live a life of faith.

What if instead of me giving up some small thing (like chocolate or junk food) for six weeks, the Lord asked me to give up my whole self for my whole life? What if living as a redeemed and reborn person in Christ meant, in my relationships with others, having “the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5)? That for you it means you “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” but instead you “value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you looking to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3,4)? That is, of course, exactly the sort of life Christ calls us to live as his people —

Christ, who himself came not to be served but to serve;
Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for many (cf. Mark 10:45);
Christ who, as the apostle Paul reminded us, “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).

My brothers and sisters, redeemed people of God in Christ, rescued from our own sinfulness and set free to live in love by the strength of Jesus’ love for us, we are called to give up ourselves, to give up our selfishness, to give up our me-first attitudes … and to do so not just for Lent but for all our days.

The apostle Paul talked about giving up ourselves—putting ourselves in second place in relationship to others—in regard to matters we refer to as adiaphora, matters where there is not one absolute way in which we must view things or do things. In “disputable matters,” as Paul termed them, the important thing is that we give up our own ambition to be always right or always in charge or always getting our way and live in love and consideration of one another.

These are selected verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans (14:1 thru 15:7):

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. …
For none of us lives for ourselves alone,and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. …
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. …
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. . We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” … May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

[1] Gabrielle Canon, Celebrating Lent: Why Non-Religious Millennials are Choosing to Sacrifice,” Southern California Public Radio (March 29, 2013). http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/03/29/36612/celebrating-lent-why-non-religious-millennials-are/

[2] http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/march/what-to-give-up-for-lent-2014-twitter-reveals-top-100-choic.html?paging=off

[3] Martin Luther, Small Catechism – “The Reception of Holy Communion”