Lent

March 25, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

How do the norms of our lives intersect or even serve as our faith? A norm is an ideal standard binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behavior*. I am what is called a cradle Christian. I jokingly say I was singing Jesus Love Me in the womb. We prayed before each meal, went to church whenever the doors were opened, serving in various jobs. How much of our faith is a well-practiced habit and how much is our living in Christ as a new creation.

I value growing up in a faith-based family and still sing Jesus Loves Me. Yet, at some point, in my life I had to work out my own relationship with God, requiring me to examine the norms I inherited to determine if they are true of God. Jesus did this in his 40 days of wandering in the wilderness. The process never ends. We must all take time to consider whether our actions are simply a reflection of our life norms or if they are of God. In a world that gets smaller every day, we must reassess how we love all the one another’s we encounter outside the boundaries of our norms.

Prayer: Lord, help me learn to love all the children you created. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/norm number 3

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.