Some people think that Lenten traditions of discipline and the Christian life of repentance is all drudgery.  Some think it’s about self-debasing or self-loathing and that we walk around with heavy sacks laden with remorse and sin on our backs.  But that isn’t what lent and repentance is about.  No, the season of Lent and the action of repentance is about lightening our loads.  The season is more like weight training in reverse.  Instead of adding more and more weight, as our training in righteousness moves along, we learn how to cast off the weight of the past and our sins and move forward into celebration.  We could also change the word ‘weight’ to  ‘wait.’   The season of Lent and our Repentance is like ‘wait’ training in reverse.  We come to our senses more and more as we take in the living Word and realize we’ve been living outside the will of the Lord and his plans to prosper us and not to harm us.  Like the prodigal son, we see that we have taken our inheritance for granted and not cared for it, suddenly we realize we’re at risk of losing it all. We turn towards home and on our way,  we see God Our Father has been waiting for our return all along.

As members of God’s family on earth, as Christians, we have come to the realization that we have taken the Peace of Christ for granted and squandered it.  We thought it was ours to simply bask in instead of invest ourselves, our souls into.  Suddenly we realize we have lost our own sense of peace and having lost that we have lost any sense of true joy.  We had started to pursue worldly things, we began to find our joy in the size of our paychecks and beauty of our homes, our clothes, our cars, our buildings and bodies and in the process we have sold our souls to the devil in the pursuit of fulfilling fleshly desires of position and prestige.  We have sought applause from the maddening crowds more than we have from the Lord.  We have been living in survival mode at best and are at risk of losing our souls.  Thank God for the season of Lent and the call to repentance because it has brought us back to our senses.  We have much to learn from Jesus this week.

In this week of the beginning of the end of this Lenten season, we remember the events that Jesus lived through.  If we pay close attention to the Scripture readings, if we focus on how Jesus responded to humanity and to God Our Father during these events, we can learn a lot.  Paying attention to the Lord is part of our repentance.  Pay attention to how he responds to the people praising him in the streets as he entered Jerusalem on a colt.  There are no words recorded, although the movies all have him speaking.  Pay attention to the way Jesus entered Jerusalem.  So unlike the way the rulers of the day rode into town.  Jesus rode on a colt that no person had ever ridden, the rulers of the day rode in on the largest and strongest horses or in carriages pulled by the largest and strongest horses.  They wore coats of armor and carried weapons.  Jesus carried no weapon, wore no armor or even a uniform of distinction. He simply rode quietly into town in his everyday clothes. It wasn’t he  or his disciples that were cheering and bowing – it was those who had been waiting for him to come and take his place as king.   At this point they didn’t realize he wasn’t going to take a place on the throne.  They didn’t know he was going to take their place on the ‘judgment day’ during the annual festival.  All they saw was that their Savior was coming into town riding on an untrained colt.

And you think you, you who have not yet been fully trained in righteousness might not be useful to the Lord?  If he could use an untrained colt to bring himself to Jerusalem you can be certain that He can use you to bring the Word of Salvation to the World.  Hold fast – Repent and believe in the Good News of God’s Love for you!  Believe that you are useful to God.  Believe that He has a good plan for using you in the work of building up the kingdom of heaven on earth.  Believe that he can use you and that he will fill you and you will be trained in righteousness.  Believe that you can participate in getting the Word of Life into the places where you live and work.  When you believe, you will do this not because of your own will or in your own power.  You will do this because it is God’s will and you will do it in the power of His Holy Spirit.   When you speak, he will give you the words.  Maybe you won’t be called to speak.  Maybe you’ll be the person who was like the one who cared for and raised the colt.  Maybe you’ll be like the person who untied the colt. Perhaps you’ll be like some of the people in the crowd who recognize Jesus as Lord, maybe you’ll be like one of the disciples or another person in the stories of the week and those that move into Easter and beyond.

Whatever your role, wherever you are in the journey, let the Joy of the Lord be your strength as it was for Jesus throughout these events that we are about to witness.  Let the Joy of the Lord be your strength as it was for the disciples.  Hold fast to your chosen Lenten discipline and keep filling yourself with His Strong Spirit and seek His Joy as your repentance remains true.  Rejoice with him as he recognizes you and calls you by name saying – You are mine!  Welcome Home!  Let’s Celebrate!

Lord God, Thank you for giving us  yourself, your Son, your Spirit.  Thank you for never giving up on us and for giving yourself up for us.  Help us to not squander the inheritance of Peace that you give us and help us to share that Peace with others.  Let your Joy be complete and strengthen us in these days. AMEN