Once more we see that to the glory of God the Father, the cross of Christ is the gateway to the empty tomb. And so we inch forward along the narrow way which leads to life, dying to self and - in the obedience of faith - living in Christ who meets us in our weakness and walks alongside us.
We Christians can be a bit weird, can’t we? I mean, good weird but weird nonetheless! As we launch into Lent there will be folks wandering about with ash crosses splashed across their foreheads. Temporarily, carnivores will become pescatarians. Some of us will even go as far as giving up chocolate (proper weird!). For a whole forty days, we’ll be wrestling with the reality of that unfashionable and much-misunderstood concept – sin. To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, ‘society refuses to believe in the idea of original sin and yet it is this doctrine above all others for which there exists most evidence!’ Both at a collective and individual personal level in our broken world there is no lack of evidence for the reality of sin. There is no single or simple definition of ‘sin’ and any attempted definition will of necessity be multifaceted. A proper hamartiology has to factor in the underlying condition and relational deconstruction of sin as well as its outworking, sins of commission, and omission. That said, looking at what is going on in Ukraine and other parts of the world I am struck by the tragic relevance of a line from Mike Higton’s Christian Doctrine (London: SCM, 2008, p. 263), namely, “sin is anything in human action that cuts off the circulation of love”.
As we attune our ears to this new rhythm of the liturgical year we will rightly examine our lives before God, asking the Spirit to show us any action (or indeed inaction) on our part that “cuts off the circulation of love”. But as we turn to contemplation and repentance we do so in the sure knowledge that the cross and empty tomb are, as it were, just around the corner. The Christian message is – admittedly – a bit weird, but it is emphatically good weird! Jesus invites us to get real about ourselves, to face up to our failures and fears as well as the failures of others which have impacted our lives. Lent gives us the opportunity for a reset before God, trusting in the life-giving, life-healing, life-transforming power of the cross. The tunnel may be long and dark but there is most definitely light at the end of it! As we enter Lent, once more we hear Jesus’ command “repent and believe”; as we enter Lent, once more we know in our hearts that Jesus calls us away from sin and into an existence transformed by the overflowing goodness of the Spirit.
Once more we see that to the glory of God the Father, the cross of Christ is the gateway to the empty tomb. And so we inch forward along the narrow way which leads to life, dying to self and - in the obedience of faith - living in Christ who meets us in our weakness and walks alongside us.
Amen
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