03022022 – Matthew 6. 1-6, 16-21
The Season of Lent is NOT about YOU.
It is NOT about DEATH. It is NOT about DYING. It is NOT as “DARK” as you might think it is! It is NOT foreboding at all.
It is NOT about giving up chocolate, nor is it about giving up streaming Netflix, Hulu or Disney Plus, or staying off of “social media” for the duration of the season.
It is NOT about “giving up” ANYTHING.
Lent is NOT about WHAT MOST PEOPLE think it is.
It is NOT about “US.”
There is no reason to approach it with DREAD, ALARM, WORRY, or CONCERN…
The Lenten journey is NOT MEANT to be SCARY, DAUNTING, or FRIGHTENING.
The Real Housewives of Orange County, Miami, New Jersey, Salt Lake City, Beverly Hills, Potomac, Atlanta, New York City, or the North Pole, are all safe.
You can still binge-watch, if that is your desire!
If you want a Paczki, have a Paczki!
If you like M&M’s, have at ‘em…eat the whole bag!
Somehow, someway, this season of the church year has gone AWRY.
SLOWLY, but surely, OVER TIME we have been led to believe that LENT is about GIVING UP something or it is about SACRIFICING something. IT IS NOT.
And just so we are all on the same page here, Jesus GAVE UP HIS LIFE for the likes of us. Jesus SACRIFICED HIS LIFE for YOU. (One man died, once and for all!)
The “Season of Lent” is about GETTING RIGHT with God.
The “Season of Lent” is about RETURNING to God.
COMING BACK to him… and IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN. Jesus understood THIS.
He realized and witnessed WHAT was going on…RELIGIOUSLY…
He SAW IT firsthand.
PEOPLE, INDIVIDUALS were making a SHOW of worship.
A SHOW of PRAYING. A SHOW of GIVING. And even a SHOW about FASTING.
Therefore, the usage of the word “HYPOCRITES” which originally meant “ACTORS.” We are only ACTING LIKE it is about God. When in reality, we make it be all about US.
PEOPLE were flip-flopping prayer, giving, and fasting to make it be ALL ABOUT THEMSELVES.
All MY WORK, all MY labor, all MY time, all MY efforts, all MY energy. ALL ME!
When in effect, it is supposed to be about GOD. Everything is supposed to be done to the GLORY OF GOD, but you already know/knew that…
PRAYER was meant to be God-centered.
GIVING was meant to be God-centered.
FASTING was meant to be God-centered.
But we can turn ANYTHING and EVERYTHING around and make it BE about US.
Sound the trumpets, get out of my way, “I” need to get to the corner, stand up straight, impress you all, beat MY chest, and offer MY prayers to God. Release the balloons! Let the doves go. “I” am about to pray! EVERYBODY ELSE BE QUIET.
The same is true of GIVING. Giving is only worthwhile, it’s only fun, if EVERYONE KNOWS how much you give. I AM TALKING BOTTOM LINE. Make a show of it, make it be bigger than life. Make sure EVERYONE knows the EXACT dollar amount TO THE PENNY. Be proud, be loud. Puff out your chest. Strutt your stuff. Make sure you look down your nose, at anyone who GIVES LESS than you DO.
And when it came to Fasting, Jesus called it. Look miserable. Look MORE miserable. Tell everyone how YOUR stomach is grumbling. YOU are starving to death. YOU ARE DYING. If only YOU could eat. If only someone would give YOU a morsel of food. But no, YOU are fasting, YOU have been fasting and it is just AWFUL. Your whole being is ACHING, grumbling, disturbed IN hunger PANGS, poor YOU!.
Jesus saw this, Jesus witnessed this. It is WHAT people, what INDIVIDUALS did, to draw attention to THEMSELVES.
Praying, giving, fasting was NOT about God, it was about THEM.
I TELL YOU, it is NOT about “giving up” anything…unless that something is YOU!
Instead, it is about GIVING the GLORY to God. It is about thanking HIM for all that he has done in your life. For the countless blessings, too many to number…to many to remember…to many to mention.
It is about making MORE TIME for HIM. It is about RETURNING to HIM, coming BACK TO HIM. It is about GETTING CLOSER to HIM. It is about GLORIFYING HIM in everything. It is about WALKING WITH HIM (and his people) during these next forty days.
You see, the Season of Lent is ALL ABOUT HIM and NOT about US, and it always was.
I pray you journey with HIM.
Amen.