The Season of Lent: A Good Time to Remember the Gospel Originates from God

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.  I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

–Romans 1.1-12 (NIV)

Three things jump out at us in today’s passage. In ancient times, it was the custom of letter writers to introduce themselves at the beginning of the letter and here in Paul’s introduction of himself to the church at Rome, we see some helpful encouragement as we pursue our Lenten disciplines.

First, Paul reminds us that the Gospel originates from God; it is not some made-up human concoction. In putting the Gospel in its historical context, Paul also reminds us that the Gospel is not some new thing that God has conjured up. No, the Good News of Jesus is the culmination of God’s eternal plan to bring healing and redemption to his broken and rebellious people through Israel. What Paul is essentially telling us here is that God did not wake up one day and decide that the old covenant was no longer working and that he’d better try something else. No, the Gospel is the culmination of the old covenant that God had made with his people Israel and fulfilled by himself in Jesus, God become man.

Moreover, because the Gospel is God’s, this immediately confronts us with a choice that we all must make. Are we going to believe what God has told us and accept his gracious gift offered to us in Christ, and him crucified, or are we going to continue to be stubborn and bull-headed and reject the Good News God offered to us freely? If the Gospel really does originate from God, then we ignore it at our own peril because by rejecting it we are essentially calling God a liar.

And if the Gospel originates from God, then we can also expect it to be endlessly rich and deep. We will never be able to fully plumb its depths because who can fully plumb the mind of God? What this means for us on a practical level is that there will always be new insights and understandings that can be gleaned from the Gospel, but not in ways that deny or contradict the faith once delivered to the saints. In other words, we’ll never get bored with it. We don’t have to make up new stuff to keep us satisfied when we reflect on the Gospel.

Second, Paul reminds us why the season of Lent is necessary for us. We are God’s called-out (holy) people, but there is that within us that will stubbornly resist our call in Christ. We are made holy in God’s sight through the blood of Christ shed for us and by virtue of our baptism in which we share Jesus’ death (Romans 6.3). But the Gospel is about more than just forensics (being put right in God’s sight so as to avoid his wrath). We are made holy by Jesus’ death and we become like him by his Presence living in us so that we can follow and imitate him as agents of his redeeming love to his broken and hurting world.

This, then, reminds us why we must pursue our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, self-denial, reading Scripture, and confession/repentance. We are doing our part to respond faithfully to God’s gift of Jesus offered freely to anyone who has the good sense to accept it. We are putting to death that in ourselves that hampers the very Presence of Jesus in us as he works to heal and transform us into his very image. We can only do this with the help of Jesus living in us and we engage in the Lenten disciplines not to engage in introspective navel gazing but to embody Jesus’ Presence and healing power to a world that desperately needs him. In other words, we pursue our Lenten disciplines to help us be more faithful to Jesus’ call to us to be his Kingdom workers. We pursue our Lenten disciplines to help us grow in our faith, which must always express itself in the actions of self-denial and loving service to others.

What a wondrous opportunity this is for anyone who wants to make a difference in his or her life! Christ in you, the hope of glory! (Colossians 1.27).

Last, Paul reminds us that the season of Lent is meant to be observed together as Christ’s body, the Church. Why? Because we are weak and fallible. It is quite easy for us to fall away from practicing our acts of self-denial, cross-bearing, and following Jesus. It is not easy putting to death that within us that is killing us by keeping us hostile to God. Self-denial is not an easy thing to pursue and as we have seen, it is impossible if we do not have the Holy Spirit living in us to help us in our weakness. But he also helps us through the presence of other believers because he knows we need the human touch. We need each other for support, strength, and encouragement. The Christian life was never intended to be lived alone as individuals. It is a life that we are called to live together. We see this clearly in Paul’s letter when he reminds us that we are God’s called out (holy) people and in his tacit acknowledgment of the human condition. Despite the fact that he was called by Christ himself to be an Apostle, Paul acknowledges that he too needs to be strengthened and supported by fellow believers. Likewise for us today.

Here then are two compelling reasons to pursue our Lenten disciplines. In Jesus, God has acted decisively for us to end our estrangement from him. He has done so not because of who we are but because he loves us and created us to have a relationship with him. As with any relationship, when one party is rebellious and/or stubbornly willful, the relationship suffers and will be ultimately destroyed if something isn’t done to reconcile the two parties. Second, we are responding to God’s gracious call to us to be his holy people. In doing so we have the wondrous opportunity to embody Jesus so that others can be introduced to his breath-taking love for the human race. Last, we have the help and support not only of God himself through the Power and Presence of the Spirit, but also through the very body of Christ himself, the Church. As we observed earlier, the Christian faith is not about self-help because we acknowledge that on our own power we are helpless to be the creatures God created us to be. We need the help of Christ and each other as we grow in grace.

The Gospel is God’s Gospel. Have you decided to believe that it is and follow Jesus? If so, remember that you do not have to follow Jesus alone. You have help sufficient for every task. If you have not yet decided to follow Jesus, what are you waiting for? The ride of your life awaits you and the season of Lent is an appropriate place to begin!