Lent, Week 3
Mario Romero • February 29, 2024
an invitation to the pain
There is a response from God that I don’t like, and when I say “I don’t like it” my genuine feeling is probably closer to hate. It’s not because I disagree with it, or don’t find it to be true. Quite the opposite, I find it to be annoyingly true. The truthfulness I have found in God’s response is not because I believe the Bible to be true or inerrant, rather God has allowed me to experience His response to be true.
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth,
As it is in heaven”
God’s word is not just to be read or recited, but to be experienced. Jesus invites us to experience the kingdom through His will on earth. His will…his will is painful. We have made allegiances, believed “truths”, and given authority to systems, people, addictions, etc., that have devalued us, defaced us, and deformed our image.
God’s will is that we pledge our allegiance to Him, believe and experience His truth, and live in salvation by His power through the Holy Spirit. Lent is an opportunity, an invitation for Jesus’ prayer to be experienced, however painful that may be. As Dominique Dubois Gilliard writes, “the cure for the pain is in the pain”…it would be ignorant for us to think otherwise.
Jesus invites us into pain? That can’t be right! How can someone who loves us invite us to endure hardship and pain? How can someone who loves us, want us to hurt? What about love? What about grace? What about His goodness?
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said,
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
It hurts to let go and repent of the allegiances we have made. It hurts to realize the “truths” we believed were lies covered in fear that looked like flowers. It hurts to surrender to God’s authority when we want control. I really dislike God’s response to Paul! I love that it’s true, that He is present, and that’s what I cling to—God is faithful!
Some resources on the Atonement
Some thoughts on why we do things the way we do at RCB.
How do we walk when we feel attacked and alone?
Going through Lent, allowing God to tune our hearts to worship.
A review of Christianity and Critical Race Theory
On trying to follow Jesus in a consumerist culture.
Mario's reflections on Lent and privilege.
This is how I remember Lent as a kid: go to mass on Ash Wednesday (I have no memory of any sermon, lol), vow to give up something (that lasted as long as a New Year’s resolution), and eat Long John Silver’s fried fish on Fridays (their hushpuppies and crunchies…mmmm). We didn’t eat meat on Fridays (unless we forgot, but we prayed, so it was ok); it was something everyone in the church did, right? I knew it was leading up to Easter--other than that, I had no real understanding or connection to it. Lent was taught more like an obligation rather than an opportunity. An opportunity to reflect, rejoice, rest, repent (what other “r” words can we think of?) on Christ’s journey to the cross. The next 40 days is an opportunity, an invitation to draw closer to the Giver of Life. For some, this might look sacrificial (giving something up), for others it might be a genesis (starting something new), or it can be a combination of the two. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth, As it is in heaven” Our Lord doesn’t just teach us to pray, he embodies prayer. He inaugurates God’s kingdom on earth through his presence with us; through his faithful obedience, we get to see and experience heaven on earth. This does not come without temptation, and trials, and wandering astray at times—yet our loving God invites. He invites us to remember, to reengage with the One who creates and holds all things; He invites us to lay down our lives and pick up our crosses. We want to invite you to participate with RCB, as we journey with Christ to Calvary, praying for the strength to be obedient… Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth, As it is in heaven.
A book review of Peter Sung's excellent The Post-Church Church.
John 1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.