At it's best Lent leads us to have hearts prepared to say YES to Jesus in fresh ways. It's about the YES so much more than it's about saying no to things like chocolate, Facebook, or Cadbury eggs (I don't know if there's anyone passionate enough about their faith to say no to those eggs for Lent - now that would be something!). The end of my sermon on Palm Sunday two days ago was full of specific application or 'what do I do with this Bible teaching.' Except I was clear - these applications are for this week only!
So I offer to you several ways of practicing the intent of Lent this week, in order to arrive at Easter - the highest worship celebration known to Christians - with a prepared heart. Prepared to say YES to Jesus as Lord, King, Friend and Savior in new ways.
Watch out - a couple of years ago, one couple in our church practiced Lent and Holy Week observance for the first time (including Good Friday worship and a pre-Easter fast). They tell of the worship that Easter Sunday being the most powerful of their lives due to preparedness of heart (not awesomeness of worship team and preacher). They heard a specific word from the Lord they had been seeking for a year - each of them separately - during that service. Their lives are totally different today, in a God-centered way.
I'm just sayin', its a powerful thing to show up for gathered Easter worship with a spirit tha'ts been focused purposefully ahead of time, by more than a Hail Mary (Catholic) or 'arrow prayer' (Protestant) in the car on the way to church. So here is the end of my sermon text, cleaned up a bit for the blog. See you Friday evening and Sunday if you're an LFC tribes-woman or man.
What can we do to prepare our hearts to HOPE in Jesus? This week, the application of today’s sermon is for THIS WEEK ONLY. Because I want us to know the kind of king who has come, to have hearts and hopes placed on the savior and king GOD GAVE us, not the kind of kingWE WANT him to be. We’ve talked about Lent and learning from our liturgical brothers and sisters in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Here are some ways of practicing Lent just this week - its not too late:
1. Read a Gospel this week (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) – either the accounts of Jesus' final week, or an entire gospel, Simply hear the voice of Jesus.
2. Experience solitude by praying the LFC Prayer Trail & Garden once. Experience some solitude this week. Even if its fifteen minutes. Walk our prayer garden pathway (enter from the sign on the Gilead Rd sidewalk). I've prayed it several times now, and its more meaningful to me each time. Pick up a cross, and let the instructions guide you. It’s a way to interact with and enter the story of this holy week because the theme of the trail is the final week of Jesus. Apply the prayers and scriptures to your own life. Say no to your cell phone, facebook updates, others during that time. Once this week 15-30 minutes. Perhaps you feel God has been silent lately. Listen, God hasn’t forgotten you, keep your hope in him. And sometimes it is in the your own purposeful silence in His direction, the solitude and you are just there, that God can heal you in ways he can’t in the whirlwind that is your life. Sometimes in the silence you weep, sometimes in the silence you pray, sometimes in the silence you just remember. Remember that he is the king, that he is God, that he is your savior, and you need a savior. Perhaps you may choose to do this Saturday morning - our Men's Ministry is offering to lead men through the trail then. (Thanks to the Motley Crew Community Group, led by Angela Fletcher, and Jeff and Mandie Hathcock in particular, for the creation, construction and maintenance of this spiritual asset of our church!)
3. Fill your heart with worship songs all week. If you can, fill your heart constantly with worship songs about Jesus this week. I am replacing all of my normal music this week with worship music (it's led me to search for EDM worship music online - I'm sampling a lot on Sound Cloud).
4.Invite someone to Easter worship, someone who has ‘given up on church but not on God.’ This time next year some folks at LFC will be naming this Easter as the time they began their journey toward grace, toward knowing and following Jesus - and they will name you as the one who helped them show up to their starting line for faith. (And hey, it would be GREAT if lots of you at LFC-H can worship at the 8am service, and as many as possible park across the street and leisurely walk over, especially if you are staying for two services to serve at one)
5. Attend LFC’s Good Friday service @ 6:30 pm. Its quiet, and if you’ve never done it, you’ll be surprised at how it prepares you for Easter. It will include mostly scripture reading, song, and communion.
6. Fast from the end of the Good Friday worship service until Easter morning, to remember and identify with the sacrifice Jesus made. Remember that its not about what you’re saying no to, its focused on saying yes to Jesus. Perhaps while you are fasting would be the time for you to read a Gospel, in order to feed on the Word of God and Jesus, in place of physical food. That's a way to emphasize that fasting is more about saying YES to God and God's Word than it is about saying no to food. You could do a vegetables only fast, or a juice and water only fast.
