What we have done in Nicaragua was no small feat for us. We, as a church that has less membership compared to some, were able to raise over $100,000. And while that was a hard number to get to, we’ve changed the lives of so many people irrevocably. On my trip down to Hilapo Dos last fall, I fully understood one part of how amazing this is. Throughout the years we’ve partnered with Hilapo Dos, we’ve tried to make it clear that that’s what it is; a partnership. We understand that when we are sending money, or building houses for the people Hilapo Dos, we’re not just sending money, but we’re continuing a partnership, or in essence, a friendship. And once we understand that we’re helping people just like us, people who have just been born in a different part of the world, it opens up a new level of caring that many people, including anyone who has been down to Nicaragua understands.

For example, the fourth day of my trip to Nicaragua will always stand out to me. That afternoon we stayed in Hilapo Dos, wanting to spend some time with the people and the kids there. And with us, we brought some baseballs and kick balls. I had the time of my life playing kickball with those kids. Even though I’m terrible at kickball, and they surely enjoyed laughing at me, it was so much fun. To see them smile as they played, to hear them cheer when Neil would kick yet another home run, or to watch them all give high fives to each other and us. Later that same day, I was pushed into dancing in front of the village, with a girl around my age, Karen. And even though they enjoyed watching me struggle, it made me realize one important thing. We aren’t people that are better than them. Instead, it was our population at National Avenue helping our friends in Hilapo Dos, Nicaragua. Not because we feel like we have to, but instead because we understand that we should, and that we are simply helping human beings, who need it.

So as we look at this huge triumph our church has completed, building 25 homes for families who are used to mud floors and plastic roofs, we need to look towards the future just as much as we should celebrate. Because what we did in Nicaragua was groundbreaking and changed the lives of tons of people. But at the same time, this shows us what we’re capable of. As a congregation, as one working church body, we have the ability to instill change in the world. This amazing housing project has shown us that we have the ability to do amazing things in the world. So as we look forward, we must continue to be a church that breaks the mold, and continues to promote justice throughout the area, not because we feel like we must, but because we should.

It has always seemed to me that if something is important enough to give up for a season, we probably ought not to be doing it in the first place. And if something is important enough to do for a season, we ought to be doing it all year long.

Even as I say this, I admit to having deep respect for those to whom denial is a means for spiritual growth. Good for you. Go right ahead. Just know that I won’t be there.

I simply don’t feel, personally, that even ritual self-flagellation has any particular value for my soul. Instead, it seems to me that one ought to examine one’s lifestyle on a continuous basis and not wait for a liturgical season to suddenly decide to “be better.” To the extent that I am able, I try to focus on what I ought to be and to do as a professing Christian every day, all year long. Why wait for Lent? If I need to give up something in my life, it’s up to me to get busy and learn to give it up. If I ought to be doing more as a Christian, I should begin to do it now. Otherwise, why bother, just because it’s a custom?

Thus, I will worship each Sunday with intent, bearing in mind the upcoming Passion of Jesus the Christ, but I will not consider the 40 days of Lent to be anything more than a reminder that living a Christian life is not always easy but is infinitely worth the daily effort, 365 days a year.

P.S. I expect, and even invite, rebuttals to this short essay. Please take the time to argue, agree or comment.

“So…. what are YOU giving up for Lent, Steve?….”

My reasons for annoyance have taken many forms over the years.

In my religious past, I have “given something up for Lent” for a lot of reasons. As a kid, I gave up candy for Lent, because it was expected. I was told “it’s just what we do,” which (even at eight years old) I thought was a stupid reason to do anything. (Then I gorged myself on malted-milk-ball eggs on Easter Sunday, effectively negating the sacrifice.)

Later, in my youth, I was told that “good people made sacrifices for Lent.” But I never felt good (or even less bad) as a result of giving something up. And, if I wasn’t 100% faithful to my pledge to give something up (which was most often the case), then I felt like a failure, feeling even worse about myself than before.

As I grew older, I perceived that a lot of people who “gave up coffee” or “gave up refined sugar” or “gave up TV” for Lent seemed to exude a sense of holier-than-thou and self-importance, which was a definite turn-off for ever giving up something for a season. I figured out that a publicly-announced short-term sacrifice – “No, I can’t go to Mudhouse with you – I’m giving up mocha-cinnamon muffins for Lent” – was a rather glaring form of works-righteousness. It became just one more pointless exercise in which I refused to participate.

Lately, thanks to Milton Brasher-Cunningham’s book “Keeping The Feast,” I learned the difference between a “habit” and a “ritual.” Habit, he writes, is repetition of a behavior that grows out of convenience, compliance, or “just because.” A ritual, on the other hand, is best described as “meaningful repetition” – repeating those things that remind me who I am and Whose I am. For years, I saw “giving up X for Lent” as habit, not meaningful action – and I still do.

So I don’t “give up things” for Lent. Haven’t for years.

Here’s what I do, instead.

First, I try to see Lent as a time of reflection, repentance, and renewal – not a time to exhibit some short-term sacrifice. I learned the difference between “rote behavior, because it’s expected” and “meaningful ritual that reminds me of lasting truth.” So in Lent, I don’t try to give up things – I try to change my behavior. Not because it’s some sort of self-conscious sacrifice – but because it’s a time to make positive changes that moves me closer to what I believe God expects of me.

One Lenten season, I made a commitment that every time I thought I need something from Amazon, I instead sent the money I planned to spend on the book or CD to a local charity. Or I’d match what I DID buy, dollar-for-dollar, with a donation to folks who needed it. If I couldn’t afford the donation, I couldn’t afford the purchase either. While I confess I don’t do it every time, I *do* make it most times. To me, that’s a worthwhile and meaningful practice.

(What would the world look like, I wonder, if everyone matched their Amazon purchases – let alone coffee-shop money – with contributions to the Rainbow Network, or Safe To Sleep?….)

This Lent, my goal is to take a walk in a cemetery, once a week. Not just to take a walk, but to remember that I am alive, *this* day – and also to remind myself that my current condition will not always last. And lastly, to remind myself of an old truth, shared by a friend: “If it doesn’t bleed, the heck with it.”

The other thing I try to do is ADD something, rather than “give up something.” Add something challenging to my devotional reading. Read a Psalm a day – even the ones that are annoying. Add a written gratitude list on Facebook every day. Call people who need a reminder that they matter. Publicly acknowledge the good that people do. Not because it makes me holy, or makes me look good, or because I think it looks good on my Heavenly scorecard – but because whatever action I take points my heart and mind toward God, and away from me. This is always a good thing for me because, sadly, I can still be my own favorite topic. (As a friend of mine is fond of saying, “I may not be much… but I’m all I ever think about…”)

This year, I am reading a book that I’ve intended to read for years – “The Sacrament of The Present Moment, by Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Not easy reading; not the “quick, fun read” to which I am accustomed. It’s yet another reminder to “be present in one’s own life,” and a reminder of the many miracles that occur in every day of my life.

Looking back over the years, the thing that has annoyed me most about this whole topic was the perceived focus on what *I* was doing, or what others were doing, rather than what God is doing in my life and the lives around me. If Lent is a time of reflection and preparation, then my prayer is that it focuses my thoughts and behaviors on God’s creation, and my part as co-creator (or destroyer) of that Creation.

I pray that what I do – or don’t do – is more of an arrow pointing to the Creator than a spotlight on me and my actions. And that should be true regardless whether it’s Lent or not.

Growing up in a Catholic household as I did, the Lenten season brings back a flood of memories.  I recall the curious looks from friends as I explained to them that I couldn’t eat meat on Fridays, but that somehow fish was OK.  I remember the smell of that fish cooking, as well as the blandness of a pan fried bread concoction called dummies (pronounced “doomies”)–which to this day I have never seen or heard of outside of my family.  And I will never forget the long torture of 40 days without ice cream or candy or whatever it was that I gave up for Lent that particular year.  Like with many other religious traditions, I never gave much thought to giving something up for Lent.  I vaguely understood that it was to be a sacrifice in imitation of Jesus’ forty days in the desert and that it was something of a penance to help get you ready for Easter.  As I got older–and less Catholic–I gave up the practice altogether.  It seemed to be a pointless sacrifice that wasn’t producing any results beyond inconveniencing me for 40 days.  What I have come to realize over the years is that like many other religious traditions, it is not the tradition that is lacking but my understanding of it.  How could I really expect to get something out of the process if I didn’t take the time to understand its meaning?  What is the purpose of Lent?  First and foremost, Lent is a time to prepare for or recall our Baptism.  It should be a time of repentance and reflection that brings substantial change in one’s spiritual life.  It should not be so much about the sacrifice of giving something up, but about the spiritual discipline that comes from the exercise.  We should redirect our focus onto what is truly important.  Looked at in this light, giving up a worldly luxury for 40 days makes sense.  It provides a daily reminder that growth requires sacrifice and intent.  I am still not convinced that it is necessary to give something up for Lent.  I think the same thing can be accomplished by doing something.  Perhaps it is spending time reading scriptures or doing devotions daily.  Perhaps it is volunteering to help at church or at another charity.  Perhaps it is as simple as being nice to your difficult coworker.  The important thing is the sacrifice and intent that produces spiritual growth.  If the Christmas season prepares us for the promises of Jesus’ birth, the Lenten season prepares us for the world changing reality of his life.  Whether we choose to give something up, or do something, Lent can be a time to bring some of that change to our lives.

Conor

Lent has always been an interesting time of year for me. To this day I’m not exactly sure what to think and do during the Lenten season. Traditionally Lent has always been a time to attempt to give something up for 40 days–until Easter. Like New Year’s Resolutions, most things I gave up on in the first few weeks. When I was about ten, the first time I attempted to give something up, I tried to give up video games for the forty days. I think I made it about 3 days, before caving in. Since then I’ve tried many different things. I tried giving up soda the next couple Lenten seasons, and actually succeeded in giving up ice cream one year. The laziest I ever got was a couple years ago, when I decided to give up fighting with my sister, something that I knew wasn’t going to complete.

It would end up that year after year I made goals of giving something up, and would generally fail, and didn’t understand the point of giving up something in the first place. It seemed like a pointless idea. It got to the point where last year, I didn’t give anything up. But then I listened and paid attention to what other people from school or church were giving up. People were giving up things like utensils. Honestly, that really changed my mind on things. I realized that the point of giving things up wasn’t just to be a struggle. Instead for me, it was to appreciate the things we have. Pay special attention to the things that we take for granted every day. Things like utensils would really help you realize how helpful they are. If it was possible, it seems that giving up a beautiful sunrise, or the beauty around us, or even the joys that our friends bring us for forty days would truly cause all of us to be thankful for what we have. This is why instead of giving something up, I’m going to try and think of one different thing for each of these forty days that I’m thankful for. I’m going to not do the same thing twice, and I’ll try to think of things that I wouldn’t usually think of being thankful for. Because to me, that’s what’s meaningful about giving something up, realizing how thankful we are for the things we have.

So the idea of giving something up for Lent, or changing a habit, or denying oneself of a luxury, invites a spectrum of reactions from our membership. In fact, I think the idea of “giving something up” currently is pretty low on the spectrum. We aren’t interested in rote and mechanical actions, feeling it adds nothing to our spiritual life.

This is a valid position, but one I want to push at for a moment. A healthy life is comprised of discipline. If we want to have a healthy body, it takes discipline to eat the way we are supposed to and exercise regularly. It doesn’t always have to be meaningful, but it has to happen or there will be no results. It is reasonable that a healthy spiritual life requires discipline as well, and I propose that there can be meaning in rote actions. It is possible that meaning can come from even seemingly empty practices like giving up chocolate for forty days.

Reviewing my life, casting through my habits (ruts) and hopes (wildest dreams) is painful but useful. I have a whole list of things I could choose from to change for Lent, all things I could benefit and learn from during the discipline required to give up or change that habit. This Ted Talk (short, I promise) outlines the usefulness of taking thirty days to change a habit. If you decide to subtract or add something to your life for Lent, you get a bonus ten days to make it stick.

The habit (addiction) I’ve decided to work on during Lent contains an ironic twist. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, and it sucks time from my work day like an F5 tornado. I could write a whole separate post (and maybe I will) about the issues I have with Facebook, as it goes beyond simply being a waste of my time and mental energy. But for now, suffice it to say I think my work life and creative energy would benefit from leaving Facebook off my screen for 40 days.

You’re waiting for the ironic twist, right? A couple of months ago, my friend Kate Murr posted a poem (as she often does) to Facebook. This poem resonated in my soul, and I resolved to read more poetry. So as I subtract Facebook, I will add in a poem a day. If I don’t have time to devote to a new poem, I will read the one that inspired this resolution: Celestial Music by Louise Gluck. Reading it every day for forty days would not harm a person at all. So yes, even though it was The Facebook that brought me this poem, I will bid it a fond adieu for Lent. I must. Believe me.

But the Church’s traditions during the Lenten season have a long and rich history. (Here’s a good place to start, if you’re interested.)

This year, we hope that you will allow yourself to think of Lent a little differently. First off, remember that it’s only a season. This isn’t the time to finally make that life-changing decision that you’ve been putting off indefinitely. It’s a time to intentionally focus on the temporary realities of those forty days so that you’re perspective on the rest of the year might be transformed.

Second, Lent isn’t all just about giving things up. It’s about doing things differently. It’s just as much about putting something in as it is about taking something out. Yes, Lent has often been defined as that time in which we all give up chocolate or carbonated beverages, but the idea is to fill that newly formed empty space in your life with something different.

Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing some thoughts from individuals in our community. Some of them love Lent; others are less enthused. They will tell you their Lenten plans, and, as we move through Lent, they’ll keep you updated on their experiences. Feel free to share your own Lenten reflections in the comments or on our Facebook page.

May this season of temporary change bring us gratitude for life, clear understandings of where we have come from, and wisdom for the future.

In a survey conducted by The American Red Cross, 79% of Americans said they would rather have a charitable donation made in their honor than receive a gift they wouldn’t use.

To help you shop for gifts that will make a difference, National Avenue Christian Church will again be hosting an Alternative Gift Market on Saturday December 1^st from 9:00 am to 3:00pm and on Sunday December 2^nd from 8:30am to 12:30pm.  Many of the non-profits in our community have been invited to participate by setting up a booth and making gift opportunities available.  Participating non-profits include:  Aids Project of the Ozarks, Bill’s Place, Bread for the World, Care to Learn, Church World Services, Council of Churches of the Ozarks, Drury University, Friends Against Hunger, Gay and Lesbian Community Center of the Ozarks, Habitat for Humanity, Harvest on Wheels, Heifer International, Isabel’s House, The Kitchen, Lost and Found, Missouri Hotel GED/ABE Center, Ozarks Food Harvest, Rainbow Network, and United Ministries of Higher Education. 

Lunch will also be available on Saturday for $5.00 and free lattes will be available all day.  Global Crafts will be at the Market offering Fair Trade items from countries across the world and you will also be able to purchase homemade baked goods from the Disciple’s Women’s Bake Sale.

If you have people on your gift list that are hard to buy for during the Holidays, this is the perfect opportunity to purchase a gift that will truly make a difference.  For each donation made to one of the charities, you will receive a small ornament and a certificate that can be wrapped and given to your friends and loved ones.

“steward  – one appointed to supervise the provision and distribution of food and drink in an institution ; one who actively directs affairs”

That helps us understand a little bit more about what a steward might be (although not completely in terms of our community of faith). Now we can look at the word stewardship to look for more clarity, and I do believe there is a definition that can be viewed through our lens of faith:

“stewardship – the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care; the conducting, supervising, or managing of something”

Now this is a definition I can begin to understand and a good starting point. If we are going to practice stewardship, then we must practice with care and responsibility. We can also read from the definition that something has been entrusted to our care. But what is it that has been placed in our care to manage and who entrusted it to us? I believe that what has been give to our care for careful and responsible management is life itself. The time, talents, and wealth that we have been given are ours to manage and this “gift of life” has been granted to us by our Creator. The New International Reader’s Version of 1 Peter 4:10 I believe provides the best Biblical direction for stewardship:

1 Peter 4:10  –  God’s gifts of grace come in many forms. Each of you has received a gift in order to serve others. You should use it faithfully.

 We have each been given the gift of life from God the Creator and we must use it faithfully.  As I mentioned earlier, this gift of life includes the time we are given, the talents we have been given, and the wealth we have been given. These gifts will not be the same for every person, but each of us has been given some part of all life’s gifts. So how do we use them faithfully and specifically in terms of Justice?? Again, before we can understand that we need to know what justice is and will refer to Webster again for a strict definition:

“justice – the quality of being just, impartial, or fair; the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action and conformity to this principle or ideal”

So if we are to practice the idea of Justice, then we should conform to the principle of “just dealing” and “right action.” That is a great concept, but I find myself still questioning, “What does it mean to practice justice in terms of our community of faith?” In combing the Bible for a useful definition or instruction, I came across Proverbs 31:8-9 and 1 John 3:17-18, which for me really brings to light what it means to seek justice.

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIRV) – Speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. Speak up for the rights of all those who are poor. Speak up and judge fairly. Speak up for the rights of those who are poor and needy.

1 John 3:17-18 (NIRV) – Suppose someone sees a brother or sister in need and is able to help them. If he doesn’t take pity on them, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, don’t just talk about love. Put your love into action. Then it will truly be love.

 So, as faithful stewards of the gift of life granted to us by God, our Creator, in the terms of justice, our instructions are clear. We should not just talk about love, but put love into action. We should speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves and we should speak up for the rights of the poor and destitute. We as a community of faith should not just talk about justice, but we should act justly. I feel so fortunate to be a part of a community of faith here at National Avenue, where we have so many opportunities to practice Justice. From our efforts through the Rainbow Network to build homes in Hilapo Dos, to our volunteers that work each week at Bill’s Place to provide meals to those in need, to our Gallery Shows were the proceeds help orphanages in Haiti, to our weekly service where everyone is welcome, NACC is continuously looking for opportunities to put our love into action.  

From the youth projects to gather money for building houses in Nicaragua, to various projects to help our less fortunate here at home, to remembering our members who are unable to attend services, to donations of various items from food to coats, blankets and shoes, and, of course, cash and time.

As a 50 plus year member of this congregation I have found our church to be welcoming, open, worshipful, and spiritually uplifting in all areas, especially our Sunday morning services. But above that I feel we have gone so far in the idea of “Community” to mean so much more than just our immediate church and the building.