For many people, this is the worst time of year to go to church. Not because it’s so cold on Sunday mornings, or for outside factors. It is because this is the time of year that we deal with sin so seriously. We call this season of the church year Lent, and focus on the suffering that Jesus Christ had to do because he paid the punishment for sin.
Dealing with sin isn’t fun. In fact, it can be downright depressing. Many churches have even come up with the idea of not talking about sin because they are more interested in high attendance numbers. It is an easy temptation for all of us not to have to deal with sin.
Jesus once told a parable about dealing with sin. In the parable, a young man asked his father for his inheritance so he could lead a life of partying and pleasure. He desired to leave the hard working lifestyle behind and go have some fun. In fact, there were many people that quickly became his friends, more than willing to help him spend his money on wild living.
After the money ran out, so did his friends. It became so bad for the young man that the only job he was able to find was feeding the pigs. He was so hungry that he craved the slop that the pigs were eating. Finally, he decided to go back to his father’s house and was going to ask him to be a worker there.
When the father saw the boy coming home, he ran up to his son and threw his arms around him and held a huge banquet. He spoke these words, “For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15: 24)
Dealing with sin for this young man was not fun. He had to swallow his pride. He planned to go and ask his father to act like a servant in the household. Instead, the father rejoiced that his child had seen the error of his ways and that his son was alive again to him.
For us this message is the same. We too have sinned and done things that we regret. On our own, we often face problems that we cannot solve. But there is hope. It comes from Jesus. He wants to take our sins away, throw his arms around us, and celebrate the life that only he can give us in faith. Jesus took away your sins in his passion and death on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday his resurrection shows you that you also are alive again through faith in him!
That is the message of Lent! Putting it in that perspective, church doesn’t sound that bad!
“For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
—Luke 15: 24