[Magdalen] Doing Lent right

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

The first five verses of Psalm 40 tell how God has taken good care of the
writer and has supported him and made him confident. Some believe the
writer has come successfully through some terrible event. Words would not
be sufficient to express his joy and gratitude.

And here, he states that God does not require sacrifices and offerings. God
does not require burnt offerings and sin offerings. This is not the only
place where ritual sacrifice is condemned. In the writings of the prophet
Amos, especially 5.21-24, we read that God rejects ritual. God rejects
sacrifice. God prefers justice flowing down like water of a river.

The point here is not to reject ritual and sacrifice. Ritual and sacrifice
are commanded and described in great detail elsewhere. The point is that
these forms have no meaning if they are coerced or required. The entire
book of Jonah is written to drive home this point, that God wants us to do
what She wills, not because we must or because we should – but because we
desire to do so in the first place. That is what God is trying to get Jonah
to understand at the end of the book.

This is the lesson we need to remember every Lent, because if we choose to
make some sacrifice (and it almost always is a sacrifice, isn't it?)
because we feel we must or ought to, or because an authority in our lives
tells us we must or ought to, then we're doing Lent wrong; we're making our
sacrifice for all the wrong reasons. Paul writes that if one were to give
one's body to be burnt, it would mean nothing if not done in love. We need
to keep this in mind as we plan (more or less on automatic pilot, I fear)
what we will give up for Lent.

So if you have some resistance to observing Lent, first go home; settle
your issues, whatever they may be. Then, and only then, come to the temple
and present your offering. Not because you have to. Not because you ought
to. Not because you need to. Only, only do it because you want to.
Otherwise, it's really a pointless exercise.


James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy