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Day Six: The First Sunday in Lent

Demolition and Renovation

Read John 13:31-38.

The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light” (vv. 34-36).

The other morning Rebekah and I watched a home renovation show while sipping coffee and trying to ease slowly into what promised to be a very busy Saturday. The show focused on the disturbing fact that more often than we realize, contractors hired to do remodeling simply don’t do the job properly. Not only is work sometimes botched or in violation of building codes, but some contractors also knowingly cover it up, take the money, and move on to another job. The home owners are left with problems they are not equipped to deal with and for which they often don’t have the money to fix.

The one-hour show went on to document the problems that needed to be addressed, brought in a team of experts, pointed out what can be done differently and better, and then—my favorite part—the host literally intervened to rescue the home owners from the unfolding nightmare.

DEMOLITION!

Just about every intervention involves a period of extensive demolition. Floors are pulled up, walls torn down, ceilings removed, plumbing jack hammered out of the concrete and electrical wiring completely removed. One thing tends to lead to another until the full extent of the cover-up is exposed and the ultimate root of the problem can be corrected.

LENT TIE-IN

Today marks the first Sunday in the season of Lent. This is the time of preparation for the coming glory of Easter. But it occurs to me that I will never really be ready for anything that Christ offers until I’m first willing to look beneath the surface and deal with the shoddy workmanship—often cumulative over time—that too often characterizes the way I do business as a human being in the day in, day out living of my life.

Jesus did not come to work on my façade. Jesus lived and taught and suffered and addressed death head-on in order to set me free. Freedom goes a lot deeper than appearance.

The scripture for today talks about light. Simply put, we need light to see clearly or nothing really changes. Christ offers such light, providing a view of our need that is incisive, penetrating, and unconstrained by the niceties of social posturing. The light Jesus applies brings healing along with revelation. Instead of condemnation, Jesus offers liberation and love.

Earlier in John’s story of the good news, Jesus made his purpose clear: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). This weekend, if you’re reading along with any sense of seriously engaging this journey through Lent, why not ask Jesus to bring light to your dark places? And then have the courage to embark on some meaningful renovation work.

As the guy on the TV show likes to say, “Let’s make this right!”

Prayer: Sometimes fear comes in along with talk of renovation. God, Light of the universe, please bring assurance with your evaluation. Grant us courage, and the wisdom to get on with the work that needs to be done. Amen.