As a teenager in the 1990s, my idea of God was of a vengeful God. This God was a God of fire and brimstone. This God would smite me if I did anything wrong. All I knew was that I was sinful and needed to repent, or be thrown into the fire. As a result, I was obsessed as a high schooler with not sinning. I was constantly afraid of God throwing a lighting bolt down on me if I went above the speed limit or wore a piece of clothing that didn’t have a message about Jesus on it (all of these seemed like sins).
Lent during this time was a time to give something up. We weren’t Catholic, so there wasn’t the expectation of giving up meat on Fridays. My mom would often give up chocolate, something she loves, during Lent. My sister and I were encouraged to give something up as well. One time I gave up pop. Another time I gave up pizza.
From a Vengeful God, to a God of Love
In my late teens and early 20s, my idea of God slowly changed. I started seeing God as a God of love. I started seeing God as a God who wanted to help me, not condemn me. I began to see that God was not waiting with a lightning bolt every time I sinned.
What Lent is Like for Me Now
The Lenten tradition of giving something up has carried over into adulthood. One year I gave up watching TV. Once I learned I couldn’t eat gluten or dairy, I never gave up another type of food for Lent. I was already doing that the rest of the year; no point in giving up even more food.
More recently, I’ve often chosen to not give something up, but instead add something. Which, in it’s own way, is giving up something. In order to add something to my daily life, I will need to take something out. One year I made sure I went to bed at a decent hour; this meant giving up doing other things during that time.
I recently read an article about someone building a LEGO set over 40 days. I might try and do that next year.
The Reason for Lent
Part of Lent is to share in the suffering of Jesus. The goal is to think about what Jesus did for us. We then adopt something new that helps us share in this suffering.
Whatever you do to mark your Lenten time (and even if you do nothing at all) my hope is that by going through this season in the church year, we do remember how much Jesus did suffer.
But also, that we don’t stay in that place of wallowing in suffering and sin. God didn’t let Jesus stay in that place. God resurrected Jesus out of sin, out of death, to live forever with God, in a place without suffering.
Peace and blessings,
Pastor Alex
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