How inconvenient it must be for God to come to earth to suffer and die for our sins. God must not be American. After all, we Americans like our conveniences, as others have noticed: fast food, drive thru, microwave meals, instant coffee, easy return policies, and ice-making refrigerators, among other things. We even have convenience stores.
I wonder how many American Christians or churches realized this evening they were out of ashes, and ran out to convenience stores in the hope of buying some. Why? Because today was Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of the season of Lent, which officially takes place 46 days before Easter. Lent entails fasting and prayer. Ash Wednesday refers to the practice of priests and pastors lightly rubbing “the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers. The use of ashes as a sign of mortality and repentance has a long history in Jewish and Christian worship. Historically, ashes signified purification and sorrow for sins.”
Mortality and death are not very convenient; nor are repentance from sin, fasting, and prayer. Come to think of it, there is nothing really convenient about biblical Christianity. Consider the Apostle Paul writing the letter of Philippians from a prison cell in Rome. There he writes,
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:10-13; ESV).
Earlier in the same letter, Paul writes of his desire to know Christ, including the inconvenient experiences, namely suffering: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11; ESV). There are no ellipsis points in Paul’s Bible between desiring to “know him and the power of his resurrection” and to “attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul understands that you have to go through the cross to get to the resurrection. In this light, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday all go together, as we make our way through them to Easter. As with any profound and intimate relationship, we cannot experience depth of connection apart from inconveniences caused by the other person(s) and shared suffering. In fact, I have never met a profound person, who has been immune to inconveniences and deep suffering.
Convenient faith, instant faith, quickly comes and quickly goes. But costly faith involving long-suffering love lasts forever. So, as we prepare for Easter, let’s move slowly through Lent until we come to its conclusion at Holy Thursday when we celebrate the Last Supper/Lord’s Supper. Take it all in, even while denying self, especially by giving to God and others. Then, unlike convenient fast food which makes one hungry quickly, we will find an enduring faith that sticks to our ribs.
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