Last Wednesday, we began the season of Lent. The season of Lent is the 40-day period that leads up to Easter. A few of us gathered here for dinner, and then we had ashes placed on our foreheads as a reminder of where we came from: we came from the dust of the earth.
The season of Lent is a time to redirect our focus on our spiritual lives, to get rid of those things that distract us from spiritual growth, and to re-engage the spiritual disciplines. Growing in faith requires regular and consistent practice in the spiritual disciplines. “What are those?” Spiritual disciplines - sometimes called spiritual practices - are those activities that help you grow in faith: things like going to worship, reading the Bible, praying, engaging in acts of service, and tithing. And they are most effective when practiced regularly.
It’s no different than if you want to get in better shape physically. You need to put in the effort to make it happen. You need to focus. You need to commit.
When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, he was committing himself to carrying out the mission and ministry that John introduced, carrying it even further than John did. He committed himself to living fully for God.
It’s not easy! Jesus knew that! Many people today think they can worship one hour a week, and that’s all they need. Well, if you wanted to get your body in better shape, do you think you’d succeed if you ate right one meal out of the week, and junk food all the other meals of the week?
It’s not going to happen.
Jesus knew it would take more than that. So, before he began his ministry, he went off into the wilderness for an intense, 40-day period of testing. The purpose of this was to build up his spiritual fitness, to get him ready for all the challenges and temptations that would be coming his way.
When it comes to physical fitness, the challenges and temptations are many, aren’t they? Even at church, there are cookies and donuts. I know! Terrible, isn’t it?
And when it comes to spiritual fitness, the challenges and temptations are many. And perhaps the greatest challenge is just putting in the time required to grow in faith.
But finding the time is really just a matter of priorities, isn’t it? Straight Up Fitness here in Long Beach has a fitness boot camp, and one of the questions they get asked by people interested in attending is: “What if I’m too busy and don’t have time?” Their response: “After working with over 10,416 clients over the years, we have found that ‘I don’t have time’ really means ‘I’d like to procrastinate a little longer.’ The truth is, you can make the time if you really want to…”
That’s their response, and I believe the same is true for those wanting to grow in faith. If you really wanted to grow in faith, you’d make the time. You’d make it a priority. You’d commit.
On the website for an online fitness magazine, I found seven tips for physical fitness boot camp beginners. They apply well to growing in spiritual fitness, too.
Tip #1: hydrate one or two hours before class. This gets your body ready for the intense workout it’s about to receive.... A life of spiritual fitness also begins with water: the waters of baptism. We currently have several young people in our congregation who are preparing for baptism, and I hope you keep them in prayer in this important time in their lives.
Tip #2: Enter with a good, can-do attitude. The workout will be challenging. It’s important to find things in it that make you smile. That’s true for growing in faith as well as in fitness. No matter how hard things get, there is always something to be thankful for.
Tip #3: Stay present. Focus on what you are doing. A distracted mind leads to a poor performance. Our scripture last week told us to seek first God’s kingdom; keep your focus on what’s important. Keep the work of growing in faith foremost in your mind, and put all other cares and worries to the side while you are exercising your spiritual muscles.
Tip #4: Remember your breath and your abs. Breathe through your tough exercises…. When it comes to growing in faith, the breath that flows through us is God’s Spirit, which fills us and encourages us and gives us the strength to carry on. Every time we breathe we remember the spirit, and we remember that we are not alone.
Tip #5: Push yourself to stay up front. Be the first person in the relay race line; stand in the front of the room; run towards the front of the jog line. Being last will make you feel lethargic and more prone to give up...When it comes to growing in faith, the same is true: Be in the lead. Don’t look for someone else you can follow. At times you may even be the only one, and you may feel like you’re doing this all alone. But if you keep breathing, you’ll remember that the Spirit is with you even when no one else is.
Oh, and don’t be afraid to take the lead in showing up for worship on Sunday morning. It’s OK to arrive a few minutes early, it really is. But you don’t want to show up late. If you show up late to exercise class and you jump right in without warming up, you won’t be able to keep up with everyone else, and you might even hurt yourself. Here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, we start warming up our bodies, our voices, our minds and our spirits promptly at 10:15.
Tip #6: Don’t stop moving. This is probably the one tip I need the most help with, because when I exercise, I tend to take breaks. I hear that physical fitness bootcamp instructors will yell at you to keep moving; if you are in between exercises, they’ll tell you to jog in place while you wait for the next exercise. This keeps your blood moving throughout your body, which in turn prevents muscle soreness.
The spiritual counterpart to this is to keep engaging in those spiritual practices. Maintain the routine. Show up for worship every Sunday. Spend time in prayer and reading the Bible every day.
I’m trying to improve my Spanish, and I do a little Spanish lesson every day. I got up to a 60 day streak before I missed a day. And once I missed a day, it was easy to miss another day. But when I skipped just two or three days and then went back to my lessons, it’s amazing how much harder it was to remember the right words and phrases. There’s definitely value in practicing day after day with consistency.
Not every worship service, Bible study, or prayer time will leave you feeling in a state of spiritual ecstasy. Some of the time, your experiences will be downright boring. (Sorry about that.) But don’t stop. If you stop, if you take a break, it will negatively affect your spiritual growth. There is a reason these things are called disciplines.
Tip #7: Load up on electrolytes after class. Intense workouts and sweating cause you to lose essential electrolytes. Be sure to replenish them with an electrolyte-filled snack.
OK. I’m not really sure what the spiritual parallel to this last tip is. You don’t lose electrolytes or nutrients or calories by engaging in spiritual practices. But, hey, just in case, we do have cookies and, sometimes, donuts…
But this tip does remind me that one of the things Jesus did while he was in the wilderness was fast. Fasting is a spiritual practice that some people engage in, especially during Lent. Really intense fasting does cause the body to lose important nutrients which must then be replenished. But most people will pick just one or two foods to give up for Lent, which has very little effect on the nutrients they receive. If anything, there is a benefit, since people tend to give up junk food, like chocolate.
Some people give up eating meat, at least on Fridays. That certainly was my Catholic grandmother’s practice during Lent. In the times in my life when I’ve voluntarily eaten a meatless diet, I was surprised to discover that it opened my mind to a greater awareness of what a blessing food is. Instead of eating mindlessly as we so often do in this day and age, I became very mindful of my food, where it came from, and how it was prepared. And this, in turn, made me far more grateful and thankful than if I had just consumed it. That wasn’t the benefit I was looking for when I gave up eating meat, which just goes to show that engaging in spiritual practices can lead to benefits you aren’t even aware of.
Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness preparing himself for his mission and his ministry. The season of Lent that leads up to Easter is 40 days long. I’m going to be your spiritual coach, your spiritual fitness trainer, for these 40 days, and I’ve got some exercises for you to do. I’ll be introducing one each Sunday.
This week’s exercise is to pray. Ten minutes. Every day.
If you don’t know what to pray, just sit in silence and meditate on God. Other than the prayers I pray here, during worship, most of my prayers are just me practicing being silent.
You may have a glass of tea or coffee. You may NOT have your phone in front of you, or the TV on or the radio on. You may NOT have a newspaper or magazine in front of you.
If you can’t sit still, it’s ok to walk. Someplace quiet and peaceful is preferable. Last weekend, at the retreat for clergy in the region, I got up early and walked alone along the beach as the sun was rising. For me, that was a great time of prayer.
After ten minutes of prayer, you may feel closer to God. You may feel a strange sense of peace and calm. You may feel a warm lightness to your heart.
Or you may not. As with physical exercise, you don’t always see results right away. But if you maintain the practice, results will come eventually. The key is to maintain the practice.
Don’t have time? Sure you do. You can find the time, if it’s a priority for you.
Is it hard to sit in silence for ten minutes? For most people today, it’s very hard. People my age and younger, and some older folks too, can’t even sit still for one minute without checking their smartphone to fill the void. Ten minutes with nothing to occupy your mind? What torture!
I never said this boot camp would be easy. A 40-day fast in the wilderness isn’t easy, either. But you won’t get the results you want if you don’t put in the effort.
So make the commitment. Get on board. Join our Lenten spiritual boot camp.
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