what's really hard about lent

We’re all just a bunch of sinners, free-riding on Jesus



Living out the faith is not easy. 
In an important way, that’s what Lent is all about. Coming to terms with the challenge of the call to which we have been called (Ephesians 4:1). 
The thing is, Christianity isn’t challenging just because it’s hard; although it is. Christianity is challenging because it doesn’t come naturally to us. The faith is built on all sorts of claims we would never come up with on our own. 
For instance, we will begin Lent with a reminder of our mortality. 
Now, I don’t know about you, but most of the messages I hear are promises I can live forever. That this or that will help me cheat death. Christianity will have no truck with such lies, though.
That’s what’s really challenging about Lent. It isn’t giving up the swears or chocolate; although that may be hard. And it isn’t the call to works of love, either; although those can be difficult too. No, Lent is a challenge because it forces us to tell the truth.
The truth we’re always trying to deny. Like, that we’re dying. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
And that’s not all! During Lent we are also forced to admit that we’ve sinned, that we need to repent. “We begin this season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for God’s Mercy.”
The best idea we’ve ever come up with when it comes to guilt, is denial. During Lent, though, all that comes to an end. The Church calls us to the truth we don’t want to admit. We’ve sinned.
In other words, Lent is all about telling the deepest truth. We need God. We can’t save ourselves. We’ve sinned, and what’s more, we’re dying.
And here’s the Good News about all that; The Church has another Word for people who have been disciplined to tell the Truth about themselves. That God saves sinners. That God raises the dead. 

The reason we’re so afraid to admit our guilt and/or mortality, is because on our own - that’s all there is. A guilty verdict. A coffin.
But sisters and brothers, you are not on your own! You have a savior. You have Jesus Christ. Jesus who died for your sin. Jesus who was raised from the Dead so that you might be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6:5). 

Over the years, I’ve learned what a joy it is to tell the Truth about ourselves. 
When we confess the truth about our sin, our mortality; we are freed to tell the Truth about God. God who saves those who can’t save themselves, be they the sinful or the dead. 
And isn’t that what our phrase this year is all about? That, we’re all just a bunch of sinners, free riding on Jesus.
If we didn’t have a savior who had mercy on sinners, calling ourselves “sinners” would be terrible. But because we have a savior who sneaks sinners into the company of saints, naming ourselves amongst the sinful becomes a joyful word. 

Soon you will be reminded of your mortality and your sin. Be not dismayed, though. You have Jesus Christ, Jesus who saves those who can not save themselves.

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