LONG - TERM PLANNING

LENT: TRYING TO BE GOOD

The rub of the ashes simply gets our repentance in first.

Neither "success" nor "failure" does justice to our relationship with God.

* Passiflora caerulea: Passion Flower, claimed in some countries to bear the marks of Christ's passion

You may consider the start to this piece a bit "corny". Bear with me.

“Can I come in? he whispered She was nervous. "Just for a minute?" he persisted. Oh, dear! Trying hard to be assertive, she managed to ask, " will you be good?" The classic Bar room quip teetered on his lip, “Good? I’ll be magnificent” but he didn’t risk it. 

Soon, it will be Lent, the season when we try to be good. The time for getting the ash upon our foreheads 
That holy smudge reminds us of our own basic "Good Intent". The modern incantation goes something like, "Repent and believe the Good News", but the old one sounds better. It seems to recall some hidden dread that exercises a magnetic charm even as it threatens. " Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return". Woman too.  How we love to be frightened. 

Of course, like watching horror on television, it need only be a passing moment.We can change our minds and soften our intentions as easily as changing channels.

Is there some built-in obsolescence in our promises or was it never more than a seasonal ritual, the kind of thing we do at that time of year? 

Lent; promising to be good, while not expecting to be perfect. To err is human. We are bound to slip up now and then. The rub of the ashes simply gets our repentance in first.  "Whatever I may do that is wrong, will be just a mistake". Ash Wednesday pleads our defence even before we get to court.

But wait a minute, we're not dealing with manufactured objects coming off an assembly line, we're dealing with God. Not even "dealing", more "relating", to a living God who is, and wants to be, involved in my life. Neither "success" nor "failure" does justice to this relationship. That may be the language of competition, but hardly of love. We must look again at the words of Ash Wednesday'

"Repent and believe the Gospel."  Does it seem a bit tame, watered down, less frightening and therefore less likely to bring about change? Maybe, or maybe we need to remember just what Gospel is.  Time and time again,Sunday after Sunday, the passage chosen for Gospel reading commences with the words, "Jesus said to his disciples." Often as not, those words are not actually part of the chosen text, but are inserted to remind us where the Gospel belongs, in discipleship.  In the hearts of those who, rather than tread again the tired old road of resolution, success, failure, false confidence, equally false despair, prefer to follow Christ.

Calling his first followers, Jesus gave us clear evidence of the results of discipleship. He promised that Simon the fisherman would become Peter the rock. They would each  cast their nets in deeper waters and become "fishers of men".  That's what discipleship does for people. Following Christ gives Him the chance to change us, to make something of us.

Doesn't it all come down to the same thing in the end? No, for often as not we define good and bad, success and failure, in our own terms, with horizons limited by our vision, or lack of it. Christ can open our eyes to new horizons and take us on journeys we simply did not know about, but only if we are his disciples. 

"Believing the Good News" is far from being some holy anesthetic that dulls the pain of trying to be good.  So long as we follow him, Christ can deal with our failures and our successes far better than we can. He can make something of us. Better by far we make a new start with Jesus, than that we indulge ourselves in a yearly fantasy about guilt and goodness. "Repent" yes, we should and we must, but we won't if we fail to "believe the Gospel".