He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy
of me
(Matthew 10:37).
I am not from a Catholic family, but
I have some relatives who are Catholic. Some of their rituals fascinated
me when I was younger. It seemed quite strange that anyone did church
different than the way I had grown accustomed to. I remember that once
a year, my cousins would give up something for what they called "Lent."
It was something I thought was kind of funny and strange that my cousin
often gave up chocolate zingers or the like. But I guess what really
stands out in my mind is how each year they were learning how to sacrifice
some things that pleased them--giving them up for a period of time if
for no other reason than that it seemed to them the right thing to do.
I really do not know what it meant to them to give up something for
Lent. I have no idea what kind of thoughts went through the minds of
my aunt and uncle as they gave up something each year, and also led
their children to do the same. I have never asked them what it means
to them, but I look forward to the next time I see them so I can ask
them that very question. It is always interesting to know why people
sacrifice the things that please them, even if only for a season.
True sacrifice is not something that is easy to make, but it is something
that is made because the benefits from the sacrifice are seen to be
greater than the sacrifice itself. Within my own denomination there
is often an emphasis on giving tithes and offerings, and an encouragement
to give sacrificially. Occasionally, the pastor might call the church
into a church wide fast to take place on a particular day, in which
he encourages the congregation to be in prayer regarding a particular
issue of importance. And there is the occasional sacrifice of time to
go to the church on "work day" or to do something else for
the church or community. But in our efforts as a denomination, not to
become ritualistic I do believe we have succeeded. For there are very
few, if any, rituals of any kind that are performed any longer. Rituals
with all intents and purposes of drawing one's thoughts toward God,
or regularly making sacrifice of something more from our lives than
a tenth of our income or a Saturday church work day. Outside of Sunday
morning, it would seem that we do very little else to draw our thoughts
toward God as a whole. The times we come together to fellowship have
become social gatherings most often designed toward recreation and entertainment
than toward drawing our thoughts toward God. And, in most cases, our
worship has become the dry and empty ritual that we have tried so carefully
to avoid.
"The 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter observed by Christians
as a season of fasting and penitence." That is one dictionary's
definition of the word "Lent." What long periods of time have
we set aside to focus on our need for God, to hunger for Him and realize
our need to draw further away from our selfish and sinful state?
What if our pastors were to get behind the pulpit this coming Sunday,
and to tell us that God is calling us to sacrifice some of the pleasantries
in this life, so that we could draw closer to Him? And what if the pastor
began to define some of those things, to include things like TV or movies,
or perhaps types of music that we like? How soon do think it would be
before the church asks him to resign? But the fact is that Christ has
already asked us to give up everything, and has told us that if we are
not willing to give up all of it--then we are not worthy of Him. Clinging
to our precious earthly treasures is keeping us from drawing closer
to Him, and therefore keeping Him from drawing nearer to a world that
needs Him. For we say that the world needs Jesus, and rightly so, but
God cannot do His work through us in this world because we do not draw
near to Him. We say we want to draw near to Him, but we cling to the
earthly treasures. Because of this, He cannot draw near to us, and therefore
cannot bring the thousands of lost souls into His Kingdom. Are we willing
to count it all loss--to look at what we desire from this life as something
to be sacrificed--just so one person might come to know the Love of
God in Christ? How long will be continue to be blinded by our selfish
wants?
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose
for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your
forefathers served. . .in whose land you are living. But as for me
and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).
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To Count It All Loss