Lent Musings (3 of 5)

“My religion is absurd!”, he said to the middle aged priest as they sat together in the arena watching the hockey game. The two, as fate or maybe even providence would have it, had just met because their tickets were beside each other. They struck up a conversation in the first period, drank a couple of beverages and shared some cheers together, and then the inevitable question came during the third period; ‘What do you do for a living?”

Sheepishly and expecting a reaction, my friend, the husband and father of three that drinks beer, occasionally cusses, and loves hockey admitted that he was an Anglican priest.

Well the reaction he got was swift and exponentially more intense than he ever imagined. “You’re a priest. NO *&$%#* WAY! You guys aren’t supposed to be cool.” When the initial shock had worn off, the man admitted, “I don’t know one single person in the whole world who goes to church regularly. I believe in God and everything but I can’t stand what I remember about church…

Your religion seems pretty cool but my religion is absurd!!!”

Back to Lent

Continuing on from my last piece about the four ‘acts of righteousness’ of Lent, the 2^nd of these four is taken from Matthew 6:2-4 and is known today as ‘giving to the needy’ or ‘giving alms’. Sadly, this is a significantly unfortunate translation of the original text. ‘Acts of mercy’, from what I’ve been told and have read of original biblical language scholars, is a far more accurate translation of what Jesus was saying at the time. “What’s the difference?” you might ask. Well here’s how I see it broken down into practical terms.

Giving to the needy

While giving to the needy is of course important to do, and while there are many needy people in the world who really require those of us who have extra to give some of that away to them in order for them to even survive, this should not and must not be the end of our concern for those who are poor and needy. It should, in fact, be just the beginning.

‘Giving to the needy’, if it ends there, simply becomes a charitable act that doesn’t involve relationship and often comes out of guilt and pity as opposed to love and joy. If Lent becomes a quaint fasting from chocolate or coffee for 40 days and a collection of a few bucks saved on those items to give away to a self-denial fund or to send off to Haiti for disaster relief,  then we’ve entirely missed the essence of what Jesus was on about when He referred to ‘acts of mercy’. If we only give away some extra cash to ‘those poor folks who I don’t really know but I feel really bad for’, but don’t take the time to invest of ourselves into the lives of others, we are missing the point altogether. If we only ‘give to the needy’, we participate in the perpetuation of neediness as we don’t take the time to get to know the people in need and walk with them through and possibly even out of that neediness.

Acts of Mercy

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Lent is a season of getting back to basics. It is a time to practice spiritual disciplines that help us stand against the tide of darkness that continues to bombard us from within and without. It is a time to focus on the life of Christ and implement habits and practices that help us to become more like Him and less like everything else around us.

Well, in this area, Christ modelled not only a willingness, but a desire at the core of His being to be amongst ‘the needy’. He didn’t do this with any strings of church growth or evangelism attached. He did this out of His love and compassion for others. He did this because it brought Him joy. He did it because he was repulsed by society’s willingness to leave people behind based on their socio-economic or cultural status. He did this because it was an extension of who he was and what He stood for.

How did He go about this? He did it on both relational and systemic fronts. He befriended people that the religious elites of the day considered unworthy. He ate meals in homes that were frowned upon by the upper class. He hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors. He partied at weddings. He was unwilling to accept gifts and offerings that would make Him rich and powerful. He lived simply and daily demonstrated faith that His Father would provide His day-to-day sustenance. He healed the sick and made the blind to see. He touched people who were unclean. He dwelt among the people and refused to live apart from them. He turned over the money tables in the temple and destroyed idols that humans had made to replace the living God. He spoke truth to power at any cost and paid dearly for it. He refused to bend His knee to Caesar. He overcame very real temptations from Satan himself.

These, therefore, are the acts of mercy we need to challenge ourselves with this Lenten season. Lent leaves us with choices to make. Jesus asks us at Lent; ‘Do you want me? Do you actually believe me or are you just saying that? Do you have faith in me or are you just pretending? If so, then take up your cross and follow me. My yolk is easy and my burden is light.”

My theological and practical conviction is this; if we were about ‘acts of mercy’ a whole lot more than we were about ‘giving to the needy’ (or in our Army context might the term ’social services’, of which I am a part, be an equivalent?), people outside the church might actually stop and take notice of us. If, while the world was crumbling all around us and people could look to the way we live as though we were actually standing on the only solid ground to be found anywhere, than we might have far less conversations like the one I outlined at the beginning of this piece.

(I’m attaching the link to a video I made a few months back that perhaps does a far better job at articulating what I’m getting at than anything I could write.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3WfuMZci0Y )

But until then, perhaps the guy at the hockey game is right and our religion, like his, truly is absurd.

Still longing for Easter,

Dion

 

Writer: The Concise Oxford is written by Dion Oxford who, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto, Canada and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. He and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is a recovering Salvationist who currently worships at an evangelical Anglican church but still works for The Salvation Army at the Gateway, a shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbour. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.

2 Comments to Lent Musings (3 of 5)

1. Hey Dion

   This is a wonderful series. Thanks for sharing your heart with us once again. It was good to find your videos as well. I didn’t realise they existed.

   Peter B.
Peter B. on March 23rd, 2010

2. Thank-you Peter. It’s so cool to hear from you. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was out there reading these so I’m really grateful for the encouragement.
   Peace
   Dion
Dion Oxford on March 24th, 2010

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