Mitch Lewis

We are currently in the church season of Lent. Lent and Christian baptism go hand in hand.

Lent historically functioned as a time of final preparation for those who would be baptized at Easter. In some traditions, it still functions that way.

But Lent is also a period of repentance and "preparation" for Holy Week for those who are already Christians. What exactly does it mean? Is it about contemplating Christ's sufferings? Having a deeper spiritual life? Intentionally focusing on spiritual growth? Thinking exceptionally deep thoughts about God? Identifying with the poor or the marginalized? Doing something extra for God? Reforming some character flaw? Protestant churches which observe Lent are all over the map about its practice and the purpose.

Let me suggest that baptism is still perhaps the best lens through which to look at Lent. Thinking of Lent as a period of baptismal renewal, I think, could have a profound impact on our Lenten practices. I'm not even sure where this road might take us.

As it prepared to baptize new believers, the ancient church prayed with them and anointed them and exorcised their demons and instructed them in the meaning of the faith. Yes, fasting was a part of the practice, but it was not the whole. Lent was not an exercise in spiritual navel gazing; it was an activity by which the church assisted in the spiritual birth of new Christians.

The renewal of one's baptism is an activity that also requires the church to act. The church praying for its members, meeting together for encouragement and accountability, restoring those who have become alienated, seeking those who have dropped out, teaching the meaning of the baptismal creed: these to me are vital Lenten activities because they are fundamental to baptismal renewal. Sharing the Lord's table in also an act of covenant renewal and should be observed frequently during Lent. The baptismal ritual of the  United Methodist Book of Worship has liturgical resources for the renewal of baptismal vows. The end of the Lenten season is a perfect time to use these liturgies. Wesley's "Covenant Renewal" ritual also fits better in Lent, I think, than as a New Year's Eve service.

Preparing for baptism and confirmation are natural Lenten activities. Lent also provides the church the opportunity, I think, to assist all of its members to reclaim and reaffirm their baptism. To that end, individual spiritual disciplines are important, but so are corporate disciplines.

Matthew 6:1-6, Matthew 6:16-18

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. (Matthew 6:2)

If you're not Bill Gates or Bono or Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, nobody gives a fig how much money you give to charity. You could sound the trumpet all day long to announce your generosity and no one walking down the street would be impressed. They'd think you were a nut. Even if you used modern methods to publicize your kindness - a news release, a press conference, an advertisement or the like - no one would sing your praises. If your announcement garnered any public attention, it would probably be something of this sort: 'What a jerk! Does he think he's better than the rest of us?'

What is true of charity is even truer of prayer and fasting, the other two components of Jesus' trilogy of righteous deeds. Someone praying loudly on the street corner? A kook! Someone covered in dirt and wailing a dirge? An even bigger kook!

Jesus' words in Matthew 6 have lost some of their power in the public sphere, but they still carry a good bit of weight in at least two other arenas.

(more...)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I want to tell you a story of gods' love and eternal life, but it's not the one you are thinking about. It's not the one in our text for the second Sunday in Lent. It is, rather, the story that I ran across this week as I prepared some thoughts for Valentines Day. In my research, I wanted to know more about one of the central figures of the day of candy and flowers - Cupid - and this is what I found.

Cupid is the Roman name for the Greek god Eros, the god of desire, sexual attraction and romantic affection. In In Roman mythology, Cupid is the winged son of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. Like his mother, Cupid is epitome of human beauty (although we would probably use the word "handsome" to describe it). He's not the chubby little cherub from the Valentine's Day cards.

The story I read this week is the legend of Cupid and Psyche which dates to the second century C.E. It comes from the pen of Lucius Apuleius in his novel Metamorphoses (or The Golden Ass). It's a wonderful tale as stories go, with lots of material that would be used by later authors. It was a popular tale in the middle ages and was the inspiration for poetry through the ages. Even the story of Beauty and the Beast bears more than a passing resemblance to the story of Cupid and Psyche. It's also a gold mine for psychologists and family therapists looking for a mythic description of human conflicts. Somewhere, I'm sure, a marriage counselor has read this story and thought, "I think I treated that couple."

(more...)

As far as I am concerned, today is "Pancake Day." No more "Mardi Gras" or "Carnival" for me. These celebrations have largely become excuses for drunkenness, irreverence, sexual irresponsibility and general misbehavior throughout the world.

Brazil, for example, is distributing 19.5 million condoms and "morning after pills" for Carnival goers. If a single condom package is about 1.5 inches in width, 19.5 million of them lined up would stretch for over 460 miles. The population of Brazil is a little more than 200 million, so there is approximately one free Carnival condom for every in ten Brazilians. In reality, of course, a much smaller number of promiscuous party goers will consume the supply. The Catholic bishops of Brazil cry out that this approach "will only serve to diminish inhibitions and encourage orgiastic behavior, but no one listens. From the narrow streets of old Europe to the Rue Bourbon in New Orleans, the story is the same. Certainly, some people just like parades, costumes and a little fun. There's no harm in that. The excesses of Mardi Gras and Carnival, however, are so extreme that they are impossible to ignore. It's not that this is a new phenomenon, and it's not that the world needs an excuse for such behavior. It is ever more troubling to me, however, that such behavior is associated with the Christian observance of Lent. I work with a large number of non-liturgical Christians who have no positive experience of the Lenten season. All they know of Lent is that it begins when the orgy is over. So Mardi Gras be damned. From now on, the day before Ash Wednesday is Pancake Day.

So let's talk about Pancake Day and Lent, and let's begin with what Lent is not. Lent is not about taking a temporary break from things we ought not be doing anyway so that we can accumulate some bonus points with God.

(more...)

Jesus ate many meals with people. These meals were the occasions of his teaching and healing. The people who ate with Jesus experienced acceptance and forgiveness.

It's not surprising, then, that Jesus gave a meal to his church as a means of receiving and continuing in his grace today. We call that meal the Lord's Supper - or Holy Communion - or the Eucharist. Certainly, we each experience God's grace to us at the table of the Lord. This meal, however, is not solely about my personal and individual relationship to God. There's a reason that we call it "communion" and that we share it with other believers.

This meal - like all meals - creates and sustains community. For the same reason that we eat together as families, we eat together as the family of God. The meal that Jesus gave us on the night before he died is the koinonia meal. It is the fellowship meal and the sharing-our-lives-with-each-other meal.

(more...)

How the Disciples Became the Church

Did Jesus intend that his post-resurrection church continue the pre-crucifixion model of discipleship in every respect? I don't think Luke understands that to be the case. At the conclusion of Jesus' last Passover supper with his disciples, Luke records these words of Jesus:

And he said to them, "When I sent you out with no purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." He said to them, "But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, 'And he was reckoned with transgressors'; for what is written about me has its fulfillment." (Luke 22:35-37)

"But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one." Jesus' comments apply directly to the conditions of discipleship he imposed in Luke 9-10.

(more...)