Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you…”

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you…” Luke 6.20

A simple posture, and a personal word – Jesus sat and looked at his disciples, and he spoke to them, beginning with the well known (and often misunderstood) phrase, “Blessed are you…”

Such a basic way of being human: to look at someone and speak.  Let’s not miss that – Jesus sat and spoke personally, and directly, to his people.

What a powerfully simple picture of God! 

Would God, the Infinite One, the Holy One, actually want to sit with us and speak with us? Jesus’ life is a resounding answer, “Yes!”

Just as Jesus did this in Galilee in the early 1^st century, so he wants to do this in our lives today, here and now. Just as Jesus was intentional and personal with his people, so he wants to be intentional and personal with you and me.

But here is the question: If Jesus wants to sit with me and speak to me, does this only happen during private times of prayer and contemplation? Is Jesus’ presence and message only relegated to a personal “quiet time?” Or…can I pay attention to him, even in the midst of a busy day, and hear his “still small voice?” Can I hear him in my daily routines, meetings, chores, and conversations? 

This is the question I am asking during this season of “Lent” – how can I retune or recalibrate my heart to be a better receptor of God’s Spirit and Word?

And, that is the point of “Lent” – to retune our hearts and minds to Jesus.

You may know that during Lent, many Christians practice special personal disciplines – such as fasting from certain (favorite!) foods, or offering special alms and gifts, or reading selected portions of the Bible.  Those are all good disciplines, but it seems that many people think that, by doing these things, we are able to earn God’s grace or forgiveness.

In reality, the purpose of Lent is to remind us that we cannot earn God’s mercy or forgiveness – it is a free gift. His love and faithfulness to us endures forever.  

God said this himself: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” (Jeremiah 31.3)  Why would God say this to his people? This sounds like a reminder – as if his people forgot about his love and faithfulness.  And indeed, they had! 

If you read the story of God’s people in the Hebrew Scriptures, it’s a story of a people called by God, who follow God, but who then wander from God…only to be called back by God, to follow him again. This is a pattern frequently repeated in the Scriptures – and it points to our need for the Messiah, Jesus, to give us a new heart that desires God above all other gods.  Here is God’s plan: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 26.36)

And so God announces:  “I will be their God, and they shall be my people…they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 33.32-33)

There it is: “I will remember their sin no more.”  In fact, that is the only thing we bring to God to receive his mercy and forgiveness – our “sin.” 

By definition, “sin” is our inner tendency or personal disposition to oppose God – and it is the actions or thoughts that express that opposition.  Sin is simply going our own way to follow other gods who want to lure us from God’s new life.

Jesus’ answer to sin is offered to each of us: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1.9)

During Lent, we can be intentional and honest about our inner life and it’s condition, at least how God sees it.  

This is a season when we can “…lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12.1-2)

So, I submit that Lent can be a gift to us. It is an intentional time when we can clear away internal clutter, and receive Christ’s mercy and love personally.

This is not a matter of earning love, but being in a better position to hear Jesus speak to us personally, so we can experience his love and mercy.

Our life is a long-distance journey, not a “sprint.” So Lent can be a time to “lay aside” the interior weights or sins, and refocus the eyes of our soul on Jesus.

Over the next 40-days or so, check out this blog for some personal reflections from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” This is one way that I’m observing Lent this year – to take a fresh look at the Sermon on the Mount, and to do business with God about my inner life.

My next blog will reflect on the following passage, so take a look at it, and tune in again…And [Jesus] lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” (Luke 6.20-21)