Lent 2012: Love Kindness

Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus;

Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ!

 We are now well-launched into the New Year, and the Lenten Season – and spring will very shortly be upon us.  This is a wonderful time of renewal, of celebrating new life, new beginnings, and new paradigms as we walk along the way with the one who said “Behold, I make all things new.”

 The beautiful thing about our walk with Jesus can be seen in one of my favorite praise choruses:  “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”  And so it is as we walk along with him we meet and welcome new people into our lives, explore new things, and learn new lessons.  We not only celebrate the precious memories of times past, we are also creating new memories and new traditions which will be celebrated by the next generation… and the next.  We could mourn the loss of the leaves on the trees from last autumn, or we could eagerly anticipate the soon-to-arrive flowers of spring and the lush green leaves which will once more adorn the trees!  What beauty awaits us in the spring and the summer ahead of us!

 In the midst of these ruminations, my mind turns to the subject of Lenten Disciplines, and the question “What are you giving up for Lent this year?”  While some of our answers might be brave and even noble, such as giving up smoking or drinking, or giving up eating the wrong kinds of foods, some of our other answers might be goal-oriented, such as shooting for a specific weight, perhaps we need to take a newer, more positive approach to Lent.

 Rather, ask what discipline am I taking up for Lent?  Lent should be a time in which we can learn a new skill – such as being a blessing to someone – or when we can learn a new thought process – such as thinking and speaking positively rather than negatively.

 Micah 6:8 gives us guidelines for addressing this all-important question:  “He has shown you, O Man, what is good, and what does God require of you – to do justly – love kindness – and walk humbly with your God.”    The people of Israel were asking the resident prophet, Micah, what God wanted from them, and the gentle answer was threefold:  Do justly (walk with integrity), Love Kindness (be kind to one another) and Walk Humbly with God (don’t put on airs, and don’t think you are more important than anyone else around you… but humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.)

 Let us take these three teaching points as our collective Lenten Discipline as we walk together thru this season of preparation leading up to Resurrection Day!  As we do this together, the words of an old favorite praise chorus will come into sharper focus:  “Yes, they’ll know that we are Christians by our Love…”

I Bid You Peace…

Dr. Ken+