Theology Blog

Today is Ash Wednesday and what marks the beginning of Lent. The celebration or observance of Lent is one of those things that seems to be getting lost in the culture and in our churches. It is not just the mainline churches that should honor this (and other) church seasons as there is a deep history, tradition and theology that comes with these seasons, particularly Lent. Lent is a time to journey to the cross with Jesus, to remember this story so that the Easter story has the fullest meaning possible. Lent is a time of reflection and sacrifice as we think about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are not a culture (or even a church in general in the U.S.) that does well with honoring suffering and sacrifice. We avoid pain and assume that God wants to help us avoid pain even though he used pain and suffering to write the gospel story, the greatest love story ever told. It is easy to assume that the cross not only took care of all of our sins, but our suffering as well, but that is not realistic. While suffering is a reality in life, the way that we deal with it and the way in which God can redeem it in our lives depends a lot on our theology and understanding of suffering. This is one of the great gifts of Martin Luther, that he had a pretty solid (although not perfect) view of suffering. The scripture is clear (and Jesus addresses this directly) that we are to embrace suffering. That is why Lent is so important. In Lent we think about and embrace suffering as we reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and suffering. Sure, life will give us plenty of opportunities to experience sacrifice and suffering, but to take over 6 weeks to carefully reflect on sacrifice and suffering will not only draw us closer to Christ but will enable us to better embrace suffering and sacrifice in our life the way that Christ would want us to. What is your theological view of suffering and sacrifice?