Revealing Motivation

The journey of Lent is nothing more nor less than an intensification of the process of living more fully into our baptismal calling.

By setting aside 40 days in which we focus intently on who we are, who we are becoming, and what changes might help us draw nearer to God and to one another, we can experience a season of listening and paying attention that will help us for the rest of our lives.

Some will choose to take away something—a substance, a practice, a mindset—so that the absence will be replaced by a new understanding of God’s presence.

When the experience of not having something instills a sense of compassion and solidarity with those who continually do not have it, our chosen deprivation can be especially powerful.

Others may choose to add something—a spiritual discipline, a practice of gratitude, a physical exercise—that will offer a new way to be mindful of how God is with us always.

Like the practice of denying ourselves something, the addition of disciplines like reading Scripture daily, sitting in silence and waiting for the Lord, or doing walking or running meditation are especially helpful when they help connect us to one another and to God.

In all my years of observing Lents, both as a lay person and a priest, there are a couple of suggestions I would offer to those of you who are planning to engage this season by intentionally adding or subtracting something from your life.

The first is this: Your choice of practice is less important than your frame of heart and mind in approaching it.

What I mean is that any Lenten observance—from fasting to service to prayer—can be beneficial or detrimental.

There is no practice that is better than another on some imagined scale of holiness.

What really matters is the motivation behind our practice.

So much of this 40 day season is about examining our foundational motivations for practicing our faith.

This is what Jesus is getting at in the Gospel today.

Do we give alms to be recognized, pray to be noticed, or fast to be seen as holy?

If so, the most beneficial rewards of the practice will remain hidden to us, and we will only scratch the surface of what these tools of spiritual development can offer us.

Much worse, we might even do damage to others by leaving our deepest motivations unexplored and unexamined.

The stark and difficult truth is that most of us can recount times in which our pride and our egos took charge of our approach to faithful living, and when the disconnect between the faith we performed externally and the faith we experienced internally led to painful alienation from God and others.

Getting in touch with our truest and deepest motivations is one of the most important goals of our Lenten observance.

I encourage you to make that exploration a central part of your practice, regardless of whether it is about subtracting or adding something to your daily life.

The second suggestion I would offer is this: Do not let your ideas of perfection keep you from the good of returning to a practice and restarting.

If you find that you aren’t able to sustain the practice you chose for the entire 40 days, don’t waste any time beating yourself up about it.

Better to begin again and gain the benefits of the practice instead of throwing up your hands in shame and sadness because you didn’t observe it as perfectly as you had hoped.

Turns out that learning how to repent and return is an essential part of what it means to be practicing a living Christian faith, so do not be afraid to learn how to do it better this Lent!

Ultimately, on Ash Wednesday we begin a journey that puts us together on the pilgrim road that goes from Galilee to Jerusalem, from the miracles and teachings of Christ to his crucifixion, from the greatest hope and expectation to utter disappointment and disillusionment.

As people who know that the end of the road is resurrection, Lent offers us a time to get in touch with yet unredeemed parts of our world, our church, and our lives.

It allows us the opportunity, if we embrace it, to explore ways to allow Christ to lead us into practices that will help us be reconciled to one another and to learn new ways to care for one another as companions.

Do not be afraid of saying yes to this season and its gifts that come from discovering our deepest motivations.

God will most certainly accompany you in the journey, and so will your siblings in Christ here at St. Paul’s.