A Necessary Dying

We are now in the third week of the season of Lent which is a period of 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter where we as Christians intentionally reflect on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus and what it means for us in our walks of discipleship.

More than mere commemoration of Jesus' sacrifice, though, I believe the season of Lent reminds us of a necessary process that we as followers of Jesus need to undergo on a regular basis.

We need Lent because it reminds us of a necessary dying that needs to happen in our lives on a regular basis. We need to constantly die to ourselves that Christ may live in us. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20a, CEB).

The practice of fasting, not just from food but from other creature comforts, is synonymous with the season of Lent. However, this practice of giving things up only works when we do it as a way of clearing our cluttered and busy lives to make room for Christ. And this practice only works when it continues all throughout the year and not just during Lent. Lent is meant to jumpstart us on this habit of dying to ourselves daily so that Christ may live in us.

Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Galatians 2:20 helps sum it up: "Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not 'mine,' but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that." (The Message).

What is it in our lives that needs to die so that Christ may live in us?

Bishop Grant Hagiya, in a sermon during a Clergy Retreat a couple of years ago said, "In order for Easter, for new life to happen, some things have to die." Richard Rohr echoes that when he wrote, "We need to deeply trust and allow both our own dyings and our own certain resurrections, just as Jesus did! This is the full pattern of transformation."

What is it in the way we do things as churches, as families, as organizations and as a conference that need to die, in order for new life to happen?

What are the systems and structures that God is calling us to put an end to, in order for transformation and resurrection to occur?

May this season of Lent be a meaningful time of reflection for all of us, intentionally confronting the serious question: In what areas of our individual and corporate lives do we need to die in order for Christ to fully live in us?

May this Lent truly be a season of necessary dying.

Your fellow disciple,

Carlo

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Papa and Mama: A "Coming Out" Letter

Image
February 23, 2019 St. Louis, Missouri Dear Papa and Mama, Design of Papa and Mama's tombstone in Baguio City, Philippines There’s something in my heart and mind that I’ve been wanting to tell you for some time now. While there’ve been chances to do so, I’ve avoided them not knowing how you would take it. My sense is you probably knew it already but you, too, have avoided the conversation, not knowing how it will go. I know I should have had this talk with you before each of you passed away and I regret not being able to do that. But I am writing this letter anyway, hoping and praying that somehow, as you are now in the presence of God and in the company of that great cloud of witnesses, you would read this, and you would understand. If I were back home in the Philippines, I would go to your gravesite and read this to you. But for now, this will have to do. So here it goes: I’m writing this on the floor of the Dome in St. Louis. It is the first day of the Special Called Sessi
Read more

Blue Christmas Run... for those in the dark

Image
This Saturday, I will be running the Willow Solstice Marathon in Willow, Alaska for the third straight year. Last year, I did it as a prayer run, playing on the theme of it being held on the winter solstice, the longest night (or at least the Saturday closest to it) and dedicating the run to those who are in the "longest nights" of their lives. I plan to do that again this weekend. I am reposting excerpts from a blog post I wrote a year ago because my words then are still my words now as I again dedicate this run in prayer and solidarity for you who are living in darkness right now. +++ I am running the Willow Winter Solstice Marathon this Saturday. It will be another prayer run for me. This time, I'm running for those who can't. Let me explain. From its name, the Willow Marathon is held on a Saturday closest to the winter solstice, the day when the darkness is longest. In some churches, a Longest Night or Blue Christmas service is held and is specificall
Read more

Making the Road By Walking

Image
The Rapanut grandkids having a light moment together before we drove to the airport. My mother passed away earlier this month . And while she had not fully recovered from the stroke she suffered almost two years ago, her death was sudden and completely unexpected. The last time I talked to her, she was full of life and happy to report that she was making good progress in learning to walk again. That was three weeks before she died. Phone and internet lines had gone down after the devastation of typhoon Mankhut, preventing us from making wi-fi calls. Perhaps I should have tried harder to find other means to connect. It's too late now. No matter how hard we prepare ourselves and our loved ones for it, death still comes with an impact that shakes us to the very core .  We who are left behind are left to pick-up the pieces from the life that has ended while dealing with the void created in our own lives and the deep sense of loss. So many details . So many matters to think of
Read more