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sacrifice

Want ideas for Lent? Stop denying; start giving

In Favor of a Proactive Lent

Lent is traditionally a season of denial.

Devoted Christians choose something to deny themselves. It’s supposed to be something we miss and it’s supposed to be something done in secrecy.

The tradition is intended to create a sense of sacrifice in honor of the sacrifice of God’s Son. This started out much more grandly than it is typically practiced today. It was a season of serious fasting. But that was just too hard.

Fridays were once like that, too. Friday was a day of Christian fasting in a regular remembrance of Good Friday. When that became too difficult, the custom shifted, with the Church’s permission, to shunning meat. Fish didn’t count. Whew!

Lent has been similarly compromised from its original intent. The things most people sacrifice in secrecy are things we want to give up anyway—cigarettes, liquor, sweets.

We are not very good at this sacrificial stuff, are we?

Perhaps it would restore a sense of Lenten sacrifice to do something proactive for the 40 days of Lent. Perhaps our sacrifice should be our time and self-centered attention.

Instead of dwelling on ourselves and our suffering for atonement, perhaps it would be more helpful to sacrifice in ways that would benefit more than our personal state of grace. Instead of NOT doing something this Lent, think about what we CAN DO to help others.

  • Instead of not eating meat or ice cream or chocolate, feed someone.
  • Instead of spending time on our own entertainment, take an hour a day and do something with family.
  • Instead of shopping for a new Easter outfit, clean out the closets and give good clothes to the needy. If you want a real sense of sacrifice, give away a favorite outfit!
  • Instead of checking Facebook five times a day, send one greeting card a day to someone who needs to know they are loved.
  • If you’ve neglected your God-given talents, use them daily during Lent to write, paint, sing, sew or practice the piano.
  • Create a new faith discipline. Start a faith journal.

Doing something for others — and thereby sacrificing self-interest — just might make for a more meaningful Lent.

How might you sacrifice proactively?

02 Feb 2013

Let’s Get Rid of the Saints . . . and All Pitch In!

This week a Founders Day celebration was held at a nearby institution that is friendly with Redeemer. One of our members attended the pricy event.

The emphasis of the night was “honoring heroes.” A slate of a dozen or so people influential in the institution’s difficult past was called forward. Friends and supporters applauded enthusiastically as each name was read and each honoree accepted a plaque and a handshake. It was a love fest with words of encouragement:

“Without you . . . . (followed by a long list of potential disasters that would surely have occurred if someone hadn’t done something).”

More striking was the behind the scenes banter. Among themselves, the celebrated heroes talked about the lack of the support, the drain on their energy and personal funds, and just how difficult their work on behalf of the institution they loved had been. There was a sense that any one of them would have traded the honor for a few more willing hands when the going had been tough. But still, they emerged before the assembly, proudly accepting the accolades of the less committed.

Hero worship is an interesting ritual. It’s a way of passing the buck. Let someone else take the risks; award them if they happen to succeed and if they fail we can say with our clean hands comfortably tucked in our pockets, “We told you so!”

And it’s also a chance to raise some money!

It’s easy for us in the Church to rely on the sacrifices of others. It’s the foundation of our whole religion! We expect sacrifices from the most faithful.

With plentiful biblical example of widows giving their last and martyrs standing up as stones are hurled—and let’s not forget—crucifixion, we encourage the faithful to give and sacrifice for their churches. Like the rest of society, we assuage potential guilt for our own lack of perseverence by bestowing honors on those foolish enough to really lay things on the line. We justify our own inaction with a few Bible verses about trust.

How much healthier would the Church be if there were no heroes (sometimes we call them saints)—if everyone got his or her hands a little dirty!

The next time we attend a ceremony to honor local “heroes,” we should think about what we might have done to have made their lives less trying.

Christ died so that we can!

photo credit: CRASH:candy via photopin cc
14 Apr 2012