In putting everything under [him], God left nothing that is not subject to [him]. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to [him]. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation [Jesus] perfect through what he suffered.

–Hebrews 2.8b-10 (NIV)

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season, a time of self-reflection, repentance, and self-denial. Lent is a period of 40 days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and today’s lesson points us in that direction.

Here the writer alludes to the promise of New Creation ushered in with Jesus’ resurrection but not yet fully accomplished. New Creation is God’s doing and it will culminate human history. It is a time when God will deal fully with the problem of evil and suffering, and end forever our alienation and separation from him. All this, of course, was accomplished by the death of Jesus in which he bore our sin and the penalty of our guilt himself so that we could be reconciled to God. It is a wonderful hope and promise but we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

Before we get to resurrection and New Creation, we have to deal with crucifixion and death–both Jesus’ and ours. We have to deal with the terrible burden of our sin and the alienation it causes, both between God and us and between each other. We are a sin-sick people who are incapable of fixing ourselves (as one of the confessional prayers in the Book of Common Worship says, “there is no health in us”). And so we have a God who abhors sin but not sinners, who from all eternity decided to deal with our sin decisively through Jesus, and who offers us the chance to have a healed and restored relationship with him.

And what must we do to receive this gift? Recognize our terrible plight, be willing to try to deal with everything in us (by the help of the Spirit) that keeps us alienated and hostile to God (and God to us), and accept the free gift offered to us in Christ. In biblical terms this is called repenting and having faith in Jesus respectively. (All this provides us with additional reasons to read the Bible.)

We know what this looks like on God’s part. We see the cross, God’s eternal symbol of his holy justice and love, and the Risen Christ who has inaugurated the New Creation, although not yet fully. So what will that look like on our part? Just this. Our faith will motivate us to follow Jesus and all that he demands. With glad and thankful hearts we will deny ourselves, take up our cross every day, and follow him. As Paul wrote to the Philippians:

[H]ave the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2.5-11).

This is what being a citizen of God’s Kingdom looks like. It consists of humble service to Jesus, in part, by our service to others. It means that we stop making ourselves the center of the universe and start making God our center. It means that we seek to bring about God’s Kingdom just the way our Lord did. We visit and heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, have compassion for the poor and work to help them alleviate their poverty, etc. There are a gazillion different ways to do this and you will have to listen for the ways Jesus wants you to be his Kingdom citizen. But the point is this. Being a Christian is not about introspective navel gazing. It is not about “finding self-fulfillment” (whatever that means). It is about humble and tireless service to others in Jesus’ name. It is about telling others about the Good News of Jesus Christ, both by our deeds and words, that our exile and alienation from God are over, something made possible only by God’s gracious act of mercy toward us in the cross of Jesus.

If, as the author of Hebrews writes today, we really do see Jesus, this is what we see. It is a life of loving and sacrificial service to Jesus and others. When we lose ourselves for Jesus’ sake (i.e., when we make Jesus the center of our universe instead of ourselves), then we really will find ourselves. Then we really will learn what it is like to be truly human.  It is hard work and it is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit living in us, but it will produce a joy and a sense of meaning and purpose that no New Age baloney (or any other “spiritual movement”) can produce. It is counter-intuitive, but it is true.

Lent is therefore a season that provides us with the opportunity to be a training ground for living the Christian life as Jesus calls us to live it. We start to learn to see Jesus and follow him by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following him. It will be the hardest thing you ever have to do and there will be countless setbacks. But don’t worry. The God who loves you so much that he humbled himself and condescended to become one of us, and who died a terrible death so that you can live with him starting right here and now, will not let you fall when you stumble. Any God whose symbol of justice is the cross is not one to let you go very easily.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. You will have to if you want to succeed in living an obedient and righteous life because you will arouse the ire of the forces of evil and they will try to derail and destroy you. This, combined with your own fallen human condition, will present significant roadblocks for you. But take heart and hope because there is good news in doing so. Hear what Paul has to say about it.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Corinthians 4.7-11).

Hang on to your hats. Following Jesus will be the best thing you can ever do for yourself and for God’s broken and hurting creation. Follow Jesus and keep your eyes on him so that you have the needed power to live as God intends and created you to live. Start your training this Lenten season and rejoice in God’s great gift to you in Jesus.