Rising to New Life This Spring

Lent means Springtime, and it certainly seems appropriate to the weather we’ve been having lately.  But if we don’t get some rain (or snow) we probably won’t see many flowers this Spring!  

Spring is a time for new life and the Season of Lent leads us on the path of spiritual renewal.  Our readings for this First Sunday of Lent make it very clear that the fundamental way for us to experience spiritual renewal is through obedience to the will of God.

Genesis chapter two describes the first two human beings as completely blessed enjoying harmony with God, with one another and with the natural world. God their Creator gives them one prohibition: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (2:17).  Nevertheless, in chapter three they both give in to the temptation to eat the fruit of that tree.  This leads to a fracture in their relationship with God, with each other, and with creation, with the promised consequence of death.  Some name this original sin as pride or lust, but the most fundamental sin is disobedience to the will of God.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe Jesus, after his baptism, being led into the desert by the Holy Spirit for forty days of prayer, fasting and temptation by the devil.  During this time, Jesus successfully resists the temptations to disobey the will of God.  His identity is clear:  He is the beloved Son of God, and through his obedience to the Father’s will he restores humanity to harmony with God with one another and with the natural world.  His conquest over Satan in the desert foreshadows his obedience unto death and his resurrection.  The best news ever is that he calls us into his victory, promising  eternal life to all who believe in him, and who follow his way of humble obedience to the Father’s will.  He calls us into the family of God, teaching us to join him in praying, “Our Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  

Diocesan priests take the vows of celibacy and obedience, and many of them say the more difficult vow is obedience.  Most people struggle with obedience in one way or another, whether to the person who has legitimate authority over us, or to God our ultimate authority.  Let’s face it, we want to have things our way.  But God made us for a harmonious relationship with him, with one another and with creation.  And since he made us that way, the Father knows best how we should live.  

So on this first Sunday of Lent, let’s pray about how we have been, or are being, disobedient to God.  And let us spend the next forty days growing in the grace to resist these temptations so that we may die to our old self and rise to new life with Jesus this Spring.