Jesus Truly Gets Us: A Call for Lenten Repentance

I invite you in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.

Ash Wednesday, BCP pg. 544

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

We are now in the season of Lent. How might we live this Lenten season?

Jesus Gets Us

This Lent I want you to know that Jesus truly gets us. The evidence of that is in the fact that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins knowing that we couldn’t pay(atone) for our sins and live. He rose from the dead to give us assurance of the effectiveness of his sacrifice for us, his victory over Satan and death, and the reality of our eternal justification. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father to exercise authority over all things and to execute his heavenly ministry as our advocate and Intercessor. In light of these benefits He calls us to repent and believe in him to be saved from the wrath of God and from our alienation from God and one another. He truly understands our dire predicament. Jesus did all these for us because he really gets us. He truly loves us!

Reject “Pop” Christianity

This Lent you need to eschew pop Christianity that wants you to believe that you are so with it spiritually that you have no need to repent of anything in your life because that is a lie. Avoid a version of Christianity that is constantly presenting a false Jesus to us: the user- friendly “nice” Jesus who sees no need for you to repent of sin, the happy-clappy Jesus who simply wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy, and the emotional therapist Jesus whose role is to entertain you and fix our moods every Sunday. You need the real Jesus who is God, Savior, Lord and King.

Embrace Biblical Christianity

This Lent I invite you to embrace biblical Christianity that proclaims Jesus as our divine Savior and Lord, who died and rose again to save us from sin and death and who as Lord and King over us commands us to believe in him, repent of both right-wing and left-wing sins, and submit to him in daily obedience to his Word. Biblical Christianity calls us to love one another and live a life of humility, holiness and righteousness in the world. Biblical Christianity calls us to reject unbelief, fear of Satan, dissimulation, lawlessness, arrogance, envy, and heartlessness. Embrace the biblical Christianity that calls us to self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, alms-giving and commitment to Scripture as God’s written Word for faith and practice. That is the kind of Christianity the Lord wants of us this Lent and afterwards.

Let us pray the Collect For Ash Wednesday :

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all
who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting
our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I wish you a Holy Lent.