Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor—that is the only way out of a ‘hole’. This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Repentance is no fun at all. C.S. Lewis, The Business of Heaven
Observing Lent was not part of the church culture in which I grew up. In our view, it was practiced by more “orthodox church traditions”, and we simply did not participate. I was well into adulthood when I fully understood the practice and embraced it as part of my spiritual life and year.
I recently reread the above quote by C.S. Lewis, and was struck by his description of repentance as surrender “full speed astern.” I have found this to be true. It is the willingness to examine oneself, to acknowledge sin, and to ask for forgiveness. It turns out that the Greek word for “forgiving”, charizomai, has the same root as the Greek word for “grace”, charis. When we forgive, we are offering to another the great gift we have received from Christ himself: unmerited favor.
In a recent message, my husband, Sam, preached on forgiveness from Matthew 18, where Peter wants to know just how many times he has to extend forgiveness. Jesus, in his response, makes clear that forgiving is not a mathematical equation. For the followers of Jesus, keeping score is expressly forbidden because of our own redemptive cleansing by God, in Christ Jesus.
- We make corrections and alter course.
- We repair relationships and are reminded to hold them with care.
- We acknowledge the pain we’ve caused with our words, or that we’ve fallen into the habit of speaking before thinking, and determine to surrender both our thoughts and our words to the control of the Holy Spirit.
- We shed our pride in the high beam of Scripture.
Lent is a season of reflection on the journey to the Cross and Christ’s sufferings and, ultimately, Easter morning. It is a season of self-examination in the searching, sometimes searing, light of God’s Word. And that reflection and self-examination are no fun at all.
But there are wonderful rewards. We advance in our knowledge of Christ, and, having been so graciously forgiven, we learn to forgive.