Freedom

What prepares us to look upon the cross of Christ and repent? The harsh realities of sin

What must happen before we are ready to throw up our hands and hearts in total surrender, perhaps total captivity

What makes us run towards life, like being faced with death

There is nothing particularly appealing about light unless one has lived in darkness.

Joy is most recognized, ,when despair is most familiar

To prepare ourselves for the feast of resurrection shall we not first taste of the deprivation of the grave?

Shall we not meditate on the realities of Egypt before entering the promise of the kingdom or allow ourselves to sit in judgment, before receiving the full mercies of our Lord and savior

How much more we will understand the depths of forgiveness when we have marinated in the muck of our transgression

When the sting of the whip remains fresh on our backs, the cool of the balm of his love is appreciated and longed after.

This is lent. Do we permit ourselves a little suffering in order to enjoy the full measure of Easter Sunday.

Let us consider how infrequently we think on unpleasant moments. We spend most of our time avoiding pain and relieving ourselves of darkness with artificial light. We want to hasten away from the stripping locusts, the painful boils, the irritating gnats that God sends into the world, into our lives to reveal his divine nature, sovereign rule and his great mercies to ease our discomforts. Do we flee from sorrow? If so then we shall forfeit the balm.

We all must endure a little Egypt if we are truly to rejoice in the promise land. I don’t think it would hurt us too much to endure a little even each year. it may serve us well to remember that we too were slaves, to prepare our hearts, to posture ourselves to receive a foretaste of the freedom. We were once dead, once afflicted, once oppressed, then we were freed, forgiven and loved. sometimes it is hard to see the wonder of the freedom when we have forgotten the torment of the captivity. but if we can deprive ourselves, prepare ourselves, permit ourselves a bit of intentional discomfort, then when we celebrate and remember the resurrected Christ we truly rejoice because we have truly remembered and prepared for the celebration by walling ourselves off from some of the earthly and fleeting pleasures of the world that simply anesthetize us from God’s wonders. And then we are born again into the light of his amazing grace.

This is the gospel, this is creation, this is the advent. There will always be a bit of bad news before there is good news. IN the bad news he comes down to see our affliction, in the good news he rises up to deliver us from that sorrow. Lent is a time when we prepare, remember, walk the path and darkness of the cross, a place of pain, so that we can walk into the light and wonder of the open grave.