LENT 2020: LEGACY
Through the Lenten season, we hope to explore some historic ways Christians have practiced Lent including learning the practices of prayer, fasting, serving, living simply, and giving. Each Lenten reflection is accompanied by some suggestions of ways that you and your family might experiment with the practices of Lent. Today, we look at the discipline of Serving.
SERVING
The early church was known for its love and generosity in caring, sharing, and serving others. “They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:42-47). The motivation for their service was the good news of the gospel, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
The intention of this part of the Lenten discipline is to connect our faith in God’s love for us with actions that are loving of others in the world. In serving, we are responding to God’s love through action. Love is the whole purpose and mission of the Church and of every Christian member: to display God’s love to the world. We are to bear witness through our service, of the loving God who came not to be served, but to serve us and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)
The example of Christ in his service was very much countercultural. It is countercultural to think of the need of others above our own. It was as much then as it is today. John 13 tells us that Jesus laid aside his outer garments, tied a towel around his waist and then proceeded to wash the feet of his disciples. Christ calls us to the same. We are a peculiar people called by a peculiar God to serve just like Christ did.
The season of Lent is so much more than the giving up of stuff. Lent is not about proving ourselves to Jesus. The purpose of Lent is not merely to engage in these historic practices for its own sake. We are called to make what we do on a daily basis more in line with the actions and heart of Jesus. The practices of Lent are merely the means not the goal. If we believe that our success through Lent is measured by our service, or our fasting or our praying, then perhaps we’ve missed the whole point. Instead the question should be, “have I become more like Christ through the disciplines?” That's a lot harder to do than giving something up. Perhaps a good measure of how we’ve fared is our depth of concern for the needs of people.
Our serving is a visible sign of our care for those in need, but it is also an expression of our gratitude for all that God has given us. We serve because Christ served us. As Jesus washed his disciple’s feet, he said, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:15) In other words, as they received from Jesus, they were, now, to respond on behalf of Jesus to others.
THE PRACTICE
Commit to go on our Mexico Mission Trip (July 18-25)
Contact Steven (s.wagnerdavis@gmail.com)
Help at a Grace Work-day (April 4)
Contact Kris (kris.glass@wearegracesac.org)
Volunteer with the church set-up team once a month before service
Contact Kris (kris.glass@wearegracesac.org)
Help welcome a refugee family
Contact Micah (micahhouston13@gmail.com)