Super Lent

March 23, 2020

Scripture

Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.  (Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT)

Super Lent

It’s the fourth week of Lent, but the Corona Virus has created a sort of Super Lent. Some use the Lenten period to declutter something from our lives to connect with Jesus’ wilderness experience. We have had a major decluttering of our lives with all the restrictions and closures around the pandemic.

Jesus spent 40 days without food or company – just his inner thoughts – we don’t have any idea how long the restriction on our lives will continue. But we have plenty of inner thoughts, fears, anxieties and a large pool of “I don’t know”. We are not used to any of this, particularly the unknown ending to this experience.

Jesus was challenged in the wilderness to take moral and spiritual compromises. Would he take a shortcut from vulnerability and turn rocks into bread to ease his hunger pangs? Would he do something sensational like jumping off a tall building to show his Father’s intervening power? Would he compromise his relationship with the Father and “make a deal with the devil” to achieve temporal power?

Grounded in his relationship with the Father, knowing the Father didn’t like stupid exercises in faith and committed to doing the will of the Father, he proved, to himself at least, that he could face the suffering ahead.  What I really like is that he needed angels to come and meet his needs when the travail was over.

We are in our own wilderness test. Will we compromise our neighbours’ health and well-being with selfish actions? Will we become self-centred in our preoccupations or reach out to those who need our help? God help us to engage this experience with faith, hope and courage that comes from God. And help us be the “angels” who meet the needs of those around us.

A Prayer for Today

Loving God, this silent and invisible enemy has disconcerted us deeply. Our regular assumptions about life have been thrown for a loop. Help us find centredness in you and your kindness. We aren’t used to a test that has no observable end, but help us see you in these days, offering hope, health and healing – that we may offer the same to others.…. For Jesus’ sake