Stumbling Towards The Cross - 8 Mar 2012
Three weeks into Lent and the fast becomes tough. By now the cravings for forbidden luxuries are getting stronger and, If you're like me, you'll have way too much catching up to do on your 40 day Bible reading plan.
I'm dissapointed in myself and tempted to give up.
One slip and it's all over, with a sigh I promise to try harder next year...
But wait.
Isn't that missing the point? Jesus is all about grace, forgiveness is the message and command of God. Lent is an exercise in grace, yes of course it's about discipline; giving up and pressing in, but essentially it's about grace. It's an admission that I need the grace of God in my life and that I can do nothing without Christ who strengthens me.
Each year I encourage friends to aim high for Lent, stretching ourselves knowing that we all depend on the grace of God. Martin Luther said:
God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (sin boldly), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign.
In other words - I admit that I'm a sinner, that I have fallen short and that I will fall short again. But I depend on his grace, He is the winner and He is my strength.
So my encouragement to us all in the third week of Lent is to not give up. Lent is our childlike stumble towards the cross on which we lean on Jesus who picks us up when we fail. Our prayer is Jesus Walk With Us.
Need Help?
There are tons of Lent Resources out there. Here at 24-7 Prayer we have loved communicating with the world about our Spaces videos and it's given us a chance to hear about all sorts of great ideas that people are using to make the most of this period. As we enter the second half of Lent we thought we'd share some of our favourites:
Barnabas Prayer Diary - pray for the persecuted church
Lent is a season that causes us to remember suffering for one’s belief, we think of the example of Jesus, who was beaten, mocked and killed because of what He believed in. It is sobering to think of how many people in the World are still persecuted because of following Jesus. Barnabas have prepared a booklet as a prayer resource to help us stand with these brothers and sisters in Prayer. Most weekdays are dedicated to a particular country, then on the seven Saturdays through lent they suggest some practical actions that you can take to support suffering Christians. You can download the virtual booklet here.
Complete the New Testament in 40 Days from the Bible Society
The Bible Society have released a brilliant new resource they are tag-lining “You’ve got the time”. They have recorded the Riding Lights Theatre Company reading the entire New Testament and have broken it down into 40 x 28 minute segments which, put together, completely cover Matthew – Revelation and fit perfectly into the 40 days of lent. This is a fantastic solution to getting immersed and fed by the word when life gets busy, you can find the entire course on the Bible Society website .
40 Acts of Kindness
- spread generosity this lent
We often hear about giving up something for lent, but what about taking up something for lent? What about taking up acts of kindness? Stewardship have devised a brilliant plan to give people 40 little nudges towards giving away acts of kindness and generosity. On their website you can sign up and start clicking on a pick’n’mix of ideas, anything from ‘buy more fair-trade’, ‘bake a cake’ or even something as simple as ‘say thank you’. Why not help spread a movement of generosity this lent?
GUGA - Give Up to Give Away
This is a great initiative known as 'give up to give away'. The idea is beautifully simple, just decide on something that you are giving up for lent and then take the money you will save from that fast and donate it to GUGA; who will use the money to provide Zimbabwean communities with much needed drinking water. For example if you gave up a coffee a day for the 40 days of lent, you would be able to donate something in the region of £75 - just imagine if hundreds of people pooled their lent fasts into practical support for the poor.
These are just some of the ideas that we are loving here at the 24-7 International Hub, this season is such a precious time to reflect on the wonderful sacrifice of Jesus and our personal response to it. We are sure that there are countless more fantastic things going on to celebrate and engage with this season, if you have done or heard anything special this lent we would love to hear about it – you can e-mail us or make a comment in the section below.