"Lint? What's that?"

My first exposure to Lent was at the Naval Academy when my Calculus professor had a black smudge on his forehead...and I had no idea why.  Then there was all the talk of "giving up something" for Lent - sodas, chocolate, potato chips.  Still, no idea why.  And to complicate the issue, my Roman Catholic classmates had restrictions on meat...sometimes.    

I didn't attend Lenten services back then or even many Sunday services, yet I somehow associated this time of year with fasting.  So my personal observance of Lent began at college.

Lent is the church season leading up to Easter, and is a time of reflection, repentance, and prayer, a time to remember our sins and God's grace.  Several years ago, I read this on fasting:

 "...both hunger and thirst make us aware of our mortality.  Guess what?  They are supposed to!  That is their theological meaning.  Hunger and thirst are sacraments of our mortality.  They are the felt reminders of the fact that we do not have life within us."  Pastor Louis A. Smith

We do not have life within ourselves.  We have to take in something to live - we take breathing for granted, but we must breathe to survive.  And we have to eat.  To not eat, to not drink, to not breathe...is death.  

Physical hunger reminds me of my spiritual hunger.  My spiritual life, my salvation does not depend on something from inside me.  It can't.  I can't "will myself" to believe or to feel like a Christian.  God's Word and His sacraments work to give me that faith, and, like food to the body, they sustain that faith and help it grow.  

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven...I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”  John 6:32,35

Thinking of my mortality, thinking of my salvation and my need to be fed...puts a different perspective on fasting; now fasting serves to remind me of my salvation, my dependence on Him.  

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  Matthew 4:4

Jesus rightly calls Himself the bread of life; He is always feeding, always filling, even when my body hungers.

The Wedding

Years ago, at our church in North Carolina, my husband and I led a small group, and  George and Mickey were part of our group.  We'd known them about a year and a half when we received an invitation to their daughter's wedding.  

At that time, our three sons were ages 12, 9, and 2.  I told Mickey that we really couldn't come. Her response was, "Please come.  Don't worry; bring the kids."  So we did.

After the ceremony, we went to the reception and meal, and the five of us sat way in the back, in that big banquet room.

Eventually, the wedding party arrived up front, and we saw them visiting tables and greeting guests.  George and Mickey looked around a bit, stopped at a couple of tables, and then they started walking...and walking...and walking...and I realized they were heading towards us.  

When they got to our table, Mickey said, "We think of you as family. Come and sit up front."  And Joe and I, with kids in tow, followed the bride's parents past all those other people, up front, to the head tables.
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I love remembering this story and not because we were honored; but because Jesus told this parable...and it happened to me!

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.  Luke 14:8-10

This parable is about humility - humbling yourself to the point of not considering yourself at all.  I struggle with that, often feeling as if I don't belong.  Or even feeling proud of how humble I can be.

But it's not about me.  The truth is...Jesus humbled Himself on the cross - the One who matters most, made Himself nothing. 

...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 2:6-8

And it doesn't matter where we sit in church on Sunday.  Each week, all of God's people are brought forward...to the head table, The Lord's Table.  We all belong, His guests, His family.

In life, we don't need other people to tell us we're special.  We already are - our worth is in Christ.  And we're free to sit in the back for awhile, forever...be nothing, not noticed...because of Jesus.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1

Never the Same Thing Twice

When I was a Marine officer at Parris Island, South Carolina, every 3 or 4 months, I’d get a new series of about 130 recruits, and, I’d spend the weekend reading their autobiographies.  It was futile - I read the stories, but couldn’t envision any of the recruits - they were too many and too different.

I recently read that God never does the same thing twice in people.  We're all unique.

During the past 4 years, I've spoken to just about every visitor who's attended my church.  So many people walk through our doors with different stories, backgrounds, ways of being.  It's crazy and cool. 

I’ve read books and articles with strategies for welcoming visitors.  And I’ve realized there is no “one size fits all” approach. 

Each individual is unique, but is also made in God’s image, and is someone Jesus died for.  I’ve learned to “go with it” with whatever that person needs.  Most of the time, that approach seems good; sometimes, I worry that I've offended.

Our God is the same with us, only better.  His Word is abundant.  By abundant, I don’t mean many words.  I mean His Word is abundant in substance and depth of meaning - so powerful that it speaks the gospel to each of us, His many and varied people, and it addresses all our myriad layers of struggle, and all the needs of our hearts.  I’ve learned that it’s not me who matters to the visitors...it’s Him, His work, and His Word, His love.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

Even though we’re all different, He is always the same, never changing, always loving and providing, always working in us, always saving, always there.

"What is a god?"

I recently saw the question, "Would you describe what you believe God is?" with this answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

"God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth."

While that's a true statement, the quote reminds me of math - somewhat impersonal and academic.  Immediately, I thought of Luther's Large Catechism:

"What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all distress.  So, to have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him with the heart...Now, I say that whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god." 

Note the difference in emphasis - the Westminster Catechism gives a definition of God; Luther's writing answers, "What it means to me? And what He means to me?"  

Our "god" is who or what we look to for help, for all good things, for satisfaction.  Some people put their trust in money; some look to their leaders; and many people look to their own efforts and success as their "god." 

But the Christian goes to the Bible for the answer.  And God's Word bears out that He helps and provides for His people.  The Bible has many, many incidents of people calling out to God, and God saving them. 

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.  Psalm 113:7

And Jesus was always caring for people and meeting their needs.  At one point, when Jesus was being rejected, Peter said to Him:

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  John 6:68

I was outside praying this morning and it occurred to me - I'm praying to and sharing what's on my heart with a person, not with an idea or definition.  An idea does not comfort; a person does.  Jesus said to pray "Our Father."  He also said, "Believe in Me."

He is my God because I put my trust in Him; I trust that Jesus' death on the cross was for my sins.  And, because of that, I know He forgives me and gives me peace with Him.  He's my God and that means He loves me; He listens to me, answers me, provides for me, and comforts me. 

"...to expect all good...to take refuge in all distress..."

 That's our God.