March is here, and most people are over winter. We’re ready for spring. The freezing temperatures and snowfall of winter have done a number on the roads we drive on each day. In other words, it’s pothole season. You know what this is like – trying to dodge those gaping holes as we come and go in our cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans. Some of those potholes are enormous – almost like they could swallow our vehicles whole. And so as winter moves into spring, we contend with damaged tires and front-ends in need of alignment, all because of potholes. There are some places in the northern regions of our country that talk about how there are really just two seasons each year: winter and road repair. Point taken!
In addition to this being pothole season, we also enter into the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday on March 5. Is there a connection here? We know from personal experience that there are potholes on the roads all around us, but might there also be potholes on the road of life? Can these potholes on the road of life – like potholes on the roads and highways we drive on – mess us up, causing discomfort and damage? Yes, indeed – no question about it.
The 40-day season of Lent is a time for us to reckon with the reality and enormity of the potholes in our lives – what Scripture calls sin. There are various words used to describe sin in Scripture: to miss the mark, to overstep or transgress, to wander or stray, to revolt or rebel. These are just a few; there are others. The following summary about this is enlightening and convicting:
The Bible takes sin in dead seriousness. Unlike many modern religionists, who seek to find excuses for sin and to explain away its seriousness, most of the writers of the Bible had a keen awareness of its heinousness, culpability, and tragedy. They looked upon it as no less than a condition of dreadful estrangement from God, the sole source of well-being. They knew that apart from God, man is a lost sinner, unable to save himself or find true happiness (The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 4, p. 361).
By nature, this is the condition of the highway of our lives: a crumbling surface marked with terrible potholes that inflict damage and pain. In driving, we strive to the best of our ability to avoid potholes. We check our tires and if need be, get the front-end of our vehicle put back into alignment. But what about the potholes of our lives? How do we put things back into alignment here? We are prone to try quick fixes. We want something that’s going to fix all our problems in “three easy steps.” Usually, these only address surface issues, and they may for a time even help out on a temporary basis. But the underlying issue that “apart from God, man is a lost sinner, unable to save himself or find true happiness” often goes unnoticed and unaddressed.
This is what Lent is all about: pointing out the harsh reality of our pothole-filled lives, but even more importantly, pointing out the saving truth that “For our sake God made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The One who has repaired and restored the highway of our lives is Jesus Christ, true God and true man, who suffered and died on the cross to purchase our salvation. It is the precious blood of Jesus, the offering of his sinless life, that is the atoning sacrifice which covers all our sins. This is the message of life and salvation that we bring to the world. I invite you to join in this Lenten journey that leads to our personal road repair and renovation through the cleansing blood of Jesus and his sacrifice of love for each one of us.
This message of all that God in Christ has done for us is always needed, but perhaps especially now. With the rapid governmental changes that have taken place, and are continuing to happen, the jobs and livelihoods of many people who are federal employees and contractors are uncertain. People in many parts of our nation, the D.C. region and beyond, are dealing with real-life trauma because of job loss, or the threat of it. The confusing and chaotic manner in which federal agencies and their workers have been dealt with has made all of this even more difficult. Where is the good news?
In this Lenten season, in every season, we look to Jesus. Jesus is the good news. He knows our needs better than we do ourselves. If He loved us so much that He would willingly lay down his life for us, we can trust that He will be with us in the midst of things that feel overwhelming. He promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Don’t have a church of your own? You are welcome among us at St. John’s. Come join us for worship in this Lenten season. Midweek Lenten worship services take place on Wednesdays at 12 Noon and are livestreamed. Sunday morning worship services take place at 10:30AM each week, and these are also livestreamed. As wonderful as virtual worship is, there’s no substitute for being there in person. There is encouragement, strength and blessing from being with fellow believers as we support and care for each other. As Christ has loved and served us, we strive to love and serve one another.
A wonderful resource for being in God’s Word during this Lenten season comes from Lenten Devotions :: Lutheran Hour Ministries. You can get these devotions in a variety of ways: email, audio podcast, print. Day by day, the power of God’s Word that reveals his mercy and grace in Christ helps us to navigate the potholes of this life.