Rejoicing in Lent

Text: “You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.”—Deuteronomy26:11

Lent isn't exactly known as a season for rejoicing. The whole message of Lent in one word, would be: Repent! Not exactly a cheery message. It’s kicked off by Ash Wednesday when we are told: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Then it continues with about 6 weeks of self-denial, discomfort, and sacrifice. Last Sunday we even “put away” our Alleluia’s and our songs of joy and celebration—hymns of praise like “This Is the Feast”—until Easter. There’s no reason for Christmas cheer to feel threatened, is there?

And yet, all this repentance, self-denial, and discomfort doesn’t undermine joy but actually builds a solid foundation for it. If all we do is spend 40 days hanging our heads in good, Lutheran guilt saying “Woe is me,” then we’ve missed the point. The point of Lent is not what you’re giving up. The point is what Jesus gave up for you!

Years ago there was a woman I knew who drank diet pop all the time, so that’s what she decided to give up for Lent. By the start of the first full week of Lent, she was already saying how miserable it was, how hard it was for her to give up. “Then a couple of things dawned on me,” she said. “First, it’s been one thing that I’ve given up for all of four days and every day is still a battle. Jesus lived a perfect life, in every detail, for not just four days, but for 33 years. And, second, I’ve given up one little thing that I truly can live without and I’m miserable. And still, what I’m going through doesn’t even begin to hold a candle to what Jesus was willing to go through for me.”

She got it. She figured out one of the benefits of giving things up for Lent. It’s not about what you’re giving up, how big or how difficult that is. It’s the reminder—an actual, physical reminder—of what He gave up for you! Just the slightest taste of what He suffered. So what do you think? Repentance, self-denial, that “Remember that you are dust” stuff—working against a sense of awe and gratitude and joy or building upon it?

It’s not talking about Lent and fasting— it’s talking about the regular offerings that the Israelites were commanded to bring— but the Old Testament reading is a great example of this. What’s really important isn’t the “how and when” they had to do it. That’s not it. The second half of the reading is far more important.

What did Moses instruct them to do when they offered their tithe? To recount everything that God had done. “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.” That offering was tangible proof that God had taken a family who went down into Egypt and lived there for 400 years and turned them into a nation. It was tangible proof that, when they cried out to God because of the oppression of the Egyptians, He heard and answered, making a mockery of the greatest nation of their time. Then He kept performing miracles every morning and evening until he brought them into the Promised Land. Those firstfruits, that tithe was proof that God had been faithful. That He had been faithful to His promise to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants, all the way to their own day.

Could it ever get ‘old’ recounting all that God had done? Recounting the way God had completely destroyed one of their gods after another—the Nile god rendered impotent when Moses turned the Nile to blood; their great Sun god Ra brought to nothing as God plunged the Egyptians into darkness for days on end while the children of Israel enjoyed full daylight; even Pharaoh himself powerless to protect his son and heir. It brought terror to the Egyptians, but it must have brought excitement and even joy to the children of Israel to see what God was doing to set them free. Did it ever get old for them to bring their offering and say, “You know, we were nothing. ‘A wandering Aramean was my father.’ But look at what God has done—everything He’s promised. All we’re waiting for is the Messiah”? As Moses said, “[Rejoice] in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and even the strangers who live among you.”

That is the point of repentance, isn’t it? To get ourselves out of the way so that we can see Jesus more clearly. It’s not easy to do, though. Is it?

Take the gospel lesson—the description of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. The irony is that we’re tempted to make it into a how-to lesson on resisting the devil. Jesus is your example of how to overcome and win the victory. Is that really what God’s word wants to teach us? Is that what we sing about in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress,” for example? “We learn from Him what must be done And what tools are effective, For we must fight the evil one Or else we’re not elected.” NO! We sing, “With might of ours can naught be done, Soon were our loss effected, But for us fights the Valiant One Whom God Himself elected.”

That's what we see in the gospel reading: the Valiant One fighting for you. The Valiant One defeating the old, evil foe—even after being weakened by hunger for 40 days, overcoming the same tests that had brought down Adam, that had brought down the children of Israel, that had brought down every human being who had ever lived or will ever live. Thisis the righteousness that He has given you in exchange for your sin. This type of perfection is credited to you by faith!

We don’t come to the foot of the cross and say, “Alright Jesus, I’ll take it from here.” The point is to fall on our knees at the foot of His cross and sing, “What Wondrous Love Is This, O My Soul, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this That caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.”

To sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” The point of repentance is to get ourselves out of the way so that we can see Jesus—that “Wondrous love,” that “Amazing Grace” more clearly.

So what do you think? Repentance, that “Remember that you are dust” stuff—working against a sense of joy or building it?

Yesterday we had the privilege of holding the funeral for our sister in Christ, Sally Heidt. I was not prepared for the beauty of celebrating the resurrection in the shadow of Ash Wednesday. To turn from, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” to “Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!” just a few days later. It was exactly what we’re talking about in a microcosm.

Sally was dust and to dust she has returned—but not before she was baptized into Christ. Not before she died with Christ in baptism and now also lives with Him.

She has returned to the dust, but not before she had the privilege of eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ—the same flesh that has come through death, been laid in the dust, and risen again. Sally has eaten and drunk of that bread and wine, that body and blood—and in, with, and under that bread and wine, Christ has joined His perfect flesh to hers. And not only is Sally living right now in the presence of God, but the body she left behind will rise, as well.

You and I may not return to the dust for decades. But you, too, have been buried with Christ in baptism. You, too, have been united with Christ by eating and drinking His body and blood. And you, too, will rise and life forever.

It is just as the prophet Isaiah promised: “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!” (Isaiah 26:19). It’s just as Job confessed: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me” (Job 19:25-27). It’s as you’ve been taught in the catechism: “On the Last Day, the Holy Spirit will raise you and all the dead and give eternal life to you and to all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.”That is His gift to all who repent and believe the gospel.

So what do you think? Repentance, that “Remember that you are dust” stuff—working against a sense of joy or building upon it?

Whether you are giving a tithe or giving something up for Lent, the purpose is always the same. “You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the [stranger] who is among you.” Because, even on our best day, what we have done doesn’t even hold a candle to what He has done for, and what He has given, you.

In His Name, Amen.