Lent and a story of judgment and treasure
Joel’s word sound like a trumpet.
Locusts are coming, an army bringing God’s judgment
on his unfaithful people.
Yet this warning sounds as a call to return to God:
‘Even now, return to me with all your heart, with
fasting and weeping and mourning.’
Does that sound any better than judgment? Who wants to fast, weep and mourn?!
But what if that is the way to refocus our
priorities on what is important – not just in our lives but the life of the
church, of our nations and of our planet?
Joel’s prophecy ends with plenty, blessing and the
gift of God’s Spirit to his people.
Jesus words go further. He calls us to pray and fast (whether from
food or Facebook) but not to make that into our focus.
His focus comes at the end of the reading. The real treasure is not here. It’s not in fasting or not fasting, here on
earth. That is just the road on which we
travel towards the treasure.
‘But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
This Lent, let’s focus on the treasures of heaven
where our relationship with God is restored through Jesus Christ.
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L’appel de la Carême n’est
pas de s’orienter vers les disciplines traditionnelles de la Carême mais vers
le trésor de la vie éternelle que Dieu nous offre en Jésus Christ.
John
Wilkinson
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