With all of its somber reflection, it’s possible to forget the powerfully provocative experience that is Lent. This season draws out any number of questions in our minds. Here are a few to reflect upon:
Why should I spend any time at all reflecting on my mortality?
The culture is confounded by this question. This is why a Google search will return supportive and detracting beliefs on the question, “Should people think about their own mortality?” To be sure, the knowledge of death’s imminence is terrifying to those who fear suffering, pain and death. There is truly no greater power than the power over death. That power is now ours, it is Christ’s alone. Pondering your death, even the very moment it may occur adds urgency to life as we consider the brevity of all life on earth. It adds humility in relationships with others; who knows the moment those fragile relationships may be taken? It adds wisdom to our course in life; we measure the rightness and wrongness of things. Without the motivation of death, why would we ponder intangible questions at all?
Is sin a concept or a lived-experience for mankind?
All Christians must come to the knowledge that we are all sin because we are sinners. Only the unforgiven and unredeemed believe the contrary that Christians sin because we are sinners. Why does this contrast matter? The first is true spirituality, rooted in the fallibility of all mankind and therefore the need for forgiveness from others and most of all the forgiveness from God. The second belief is heresy rooted in self-righteousness that believes, “If only I can limit sin, I will become more and more a better Christian and more worthy of God’s love.” The first sees God’s love, given in Christ’s death and resurrection as a free gift, something that cannot be earned. The second belief has no place for God’s love except as validation of Christian effort. This belief cannot withstand the debt of sin.
How do contrition, repentance and forgiveness impact my relationships?
Earthly expressions of sorrow and remorse are sufficient to heal the sins between people. Lent reminds us that their is a transcendent, more powerful type of love that is greater than the temporary and often cynical love of mankind. However, the practice of earthly contrition, repentance and forgiveness produces a constant interaction with limited love and makes the hearts of men desire greater, strong and more effective love. The love that only God to bring to earth in Christ.
The hymn, “Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted” carries the weight of these questions. Listen to this song as you ponder your own answers to these questions.