"Themes of Lent: Commitment"

On Monday night our Pastoral Staff went to a District communion service for pastors and spouses. Our District Superintendent shared. One of the questions that he asked keeps ringing in my ears: "Are you willing to die where you are?"

I don't know if there could be a more relevant question in our present, American culture: "Are you willing to die where you are?" We are a culture that values keeping our options open. We are experts in seeing greener grass everywhere but where we are. We consider it normal to move homes and jobs every 3-5 years. One might argue we consider that same time frame to be normal for our friendships, marriages and church commitments. We are so immersed in the culture of looking for a better option that we don't even think about the option of simply living and dieing where we are.

However, one of the themes of the Lenten season (40 days of preparation for Easter)is commitment. In other words, Lent challenges us to ask the question, "Are you willing to die where you are?" Are you willing to surrender your options? Are you willing to stop looking for greener grass and start depending on God to show you how to be content with the yellow patch of grass you are standing on? Are you wiling to stand against the stream as one person who does what he or she says while others give no thought to being swept up and away in broken promises? Does your spouse know you will be there no matter what? Do your children see you living out what you say or have they learned you say lots of things and do little of them? Does your employer know that every day you will give an honest and full days work? When you volunteer, do you follow through or leave others to try to follow through for you? Are you a follower of Christ that is on fire one minute and as cold as a cucumber the next? This is one of the questions of Lent: Are you willing to die where you are?

One day Jesus was teaching about how he was the Bread of life as it is recorded in John 6. He was making the point that until a person learns to become dependent on and find fulfillment in Christ, regardless of what he or she has or does not have in this life, he or she will never be fulfilled. The Bible says, "Many of the disciples of Jesus (Jesus originally had more than 12) heard this and said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" At that moment it is recorded that many who had been following Jesus walked away from him. They turned their backs on him and went their own way. Jesus then turned to the remaining twelve and asked, "Will you leave me, too?" Peter spoke up saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" We can poke fun at out-spoken Peter as much as we want, but that ol' boy got it. He got that following Jesus takes commitment. And commitment is not about will power. It is about surrendering all our other options to Jesus until day by day, year by year, Jesus is our only option. It is amazing how much easier it is to stay on course with what matters in life and death when you have developed the attitude of Peter that looks at the options of the world and says, "To whom shall I go?"

What could happen if for just this first week of Lent we evaluated our commitments? What would happen if we took all our commitments to Jesus this week and said, "Lord, if you were my only option what would that say about my commitments? What commitments do I need to break to make Jesus my only option? What commitments do I need to keep, even though I wish I had never made them, so that I might have Jesus as the option that I know will fill me now and forever? Lord, what do you want me to hear, see or know this week about this question, "Am I willing to die where I am?"

Let this question prepare you and draw you to gather with our church family from Living Hope and other Synergy Network churches for the Ah Wednesday service tonight, 7 PM at Living Hope.