In Spirit and Truth

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." —2 Corinthians 5:17 If you were to pull out a calendar and count, you would discover that there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Yet we talk about the 40 days of lent. The reason for this is simple. We do not count Sundays as part of Lent. This begs the question, why do we not observe the Lenten fast on Sundays? Because of the Eighth Day. In six days, according to the book of Genesis, God created all that was. God gave instructions to the Israelites that they also should work for six days, but set the seventh day apart for God. This was the origins of the seven-day week. Jesus was crucified on Friday, “rested” in the grave on Saturday (the Sabbath), and was resurrected on what some ancient theologians call “the eighth day of creation;” for it was in that resurrection that all things were created anew. Through that resurrection on Sunday, we, who are in

“Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” —Luke 9:23 This Wednesday is the first day in the season of Lent. These forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter (excluding Sundays) are traditionally a time of repentance and re-commitment in preparation for the joy of Easter Sunday. For centuries, Lent has been a time to begin, or re-begin the practice of denying oneself daily to better become a disciple of Jesus. Lately, however, it seems to be a misunderstood practice often equated with New Years resolutions. The practice of giving something up for the forty days of Lent is not about “self-betterment” but rather, “self-denial.” It is derived from the Biblical example of the forty day fast. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus all had a time when they fasted forty days in order to draw nearer to God. For Moses it was before he received the Law, for Elijah before he heard the still small voice, and for

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” —Matthew 24:45-57 Last night, following Superbowl XLIV (44), Kristin and I sat down to watch a new show called “Undercover Boss.” Last night, they showed the President and COO of WasteManagement take seven days and seven entry level jobs in his own company, under the auspices of a small budget documentary following a construction worker who just moved into town. As he moved incognito through his company, he took notice of some extraordinary workers who embodied the values of the company, and gave the company a wonderful human face. He also took note of those managers who implemented his policies in ways that he never intended. At the end of those seven days, he called for all