Day 46: February 15, 2016 Penance? NOPE!

February 15, 2016
Day 46 Penance? NOPE!


Simple living and drawing closer to God, this seems to be the focus of Lent. Forgive me for sounding so simple. I should know this, right? As I look around the internet for an in-depth understanding of Lent I discover words such as: penance, prayer, repentance, almsgiving, self-denial, and atonement. My eyes stop on the word penance. I ponder and shake my head. The gospel removes the need for penance - completely. My relationship with Jesus is one of grace and mercy. Complete grace and complete mercy. And therein lies the rub with this aspect of Lent.

"A voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong." Oh, were it that simple. Oh, were it that tangible. Oh, were it in our power. But this is what Jesus did for me. He took the punishment. My focus for the next forty needs to be on what HE DID not on what I can do. My job is to believe that who He says He is, is true. This is my work. (John 6:29)

The world says and so do I, if I do something wrong, I must pay for my wrong action. Right now I must take care of making it right. But, Jesus says, you can't. Excuse me, Jesus, what did you just say? Did you say I can't?!! This pricks my pride. What do you mean I can't?

The pride in me wants to take care of my junk. Because, no one else should, right? To have the Holy One take on my junk is just plain wrong. He would never do anything like this, never. But this is the Gospel. He was judged on my behalf, he took my junk so He could save me.

It's embarrassing, it's mortifying, it's admission that I am wrong, and it's humiliating to watch someone else accept responsibility for something that I clearly did. But Jesus knows I would never be able to fully clear my name in order to stand completely clean and free in front of God, our Father. It would be the whack a mole game if it was my job.

Lent has me thinking. Some things I like and some things fall into a "religiosity" I will have nothing to do with. Penance is one of them. Getting closer to Jesus is affirming what He did for me, praising Him, and thanking Him. It is not what I can do for him. It's all about Him! It's all about Him! It's all about Him! We must be careful about our practices even if they seem good. This part of Lent is not part of my friendship with Jesus.