Clinton News Record, 2016-02-17, Page 13Wednesday, February 17, 2016 • News Record 13
Through the stained glass window
Lent: a Season
for Exiles
Pastor Ron Luchies
Clinton Christian Reformed
Church
Casual sex, graphic vio-
lence, blatant consumer-
ism...all are present in a sin-
gle evening of television
watching. It's easy to see that
biblical Christianity really
doesn't fit in this North
American society and
culture.
Over the last fifteen or
twenty years, old patterns of
faith and morality have been
openly challenged. Treas-
ured understandings of
God's Will and Word are
being called into question.
This leaves the church in a
very awkward position. We
don't belong anymore.
We've become a people in
exile. A sense of danger sur-
rounds us on every side. We
might run and hide, hoping
to isolate ourselves from a
hostile world. Then we can go
about business as usual,
much of the time. We might
try to compromise and
accommodate; take the sharp
edges of belief and file them
down some. After all, none of
us wants to be the odd one
out. Or, there's the danger of
becoming so preoccupied
with our situation and with
the sense of fear and loss it
brings, that we can't see
clearly or act boldly as a peo-
ple who know the truth.
We know this world cannot
fulfill the promises it makes,
cannot bring us joy, cannot
keep us safe. Only God's
steadfast love, His compas-
sion, and His powerful work
in our lives are able to meet
those needs.
As we enter into the season
of Lent, I want to suggest three
disciplines of resistance, disci-
plines meant to foster and
enhance our oddity as a peo-
ple of God.
The discipline of remem-
bering searches out our roots.
As a people of God you and I
are part of a long line of peo-
ple who believe. Faith invites
us to perceive our world as a
place where God is at work.
That changes how we
approach our days and weeks.
We watch for God and
become alert to details we
otherwise might have missed.
The discipline of examina-
tion has always been central
to the season of Lent. Not only
do we name how our society
is swallowed up in greed, lust,
selfishness and inequality, but
we recognize and confess
these sins within ourselves.
This allows us to work more
intentionally with God's val-
ues: justice, mercy, love and
holiness.
Finally, let me suggest the
discipline of worship. With the
act of worship we proclaim
who is in power, who deserves
respect and honour and
praise. When the subject of
our songs is the Lord God, it
can't be Money or Power or
Shopping or Hockey. As the
person of God is worshiped,
all other pretenders are
silenced and dismissed. That's
how worship focuses us again
and again on what is truly
significant.
Our world has its own ver-
sion of reality. As a people of
God we are at odds with that
view of things. We are differ-
ent because we have been in
the presence of the Holy One.
That's why we can offer an
alternative.
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