Rev. Dr. Kristin Johnston Largen
As we begin Lent, the focus is typically on us, and our engagement in Lenten practices and spiritual disciplines: fasting, giving alms, prayer, repentance, turning and/or returning to God. This focus is not a bad thing; Lent is the traditional time where we reflect deeply on the passion of Christ and turn our hearts to walk with him on his path to the cross. It is a sacred time in our spiritual life.
At the same time, I think it is helpful to set our own practices, our own “turning,” in the larger context of God’s “turning”—the creative, constructive, life-giving transformative work God continually facilitates in each one of us individually, and in the whole world. Over and over in Scripture, God’s people bear witness to their experience of the One who makes a way where there is no way, who levels mountains and waters deserts, who brings good out of evil. Our God turns our rough places into highways, and our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh; and through the power of God’s word and God’s presence, the seeds of the gospel sprout in you and me, and God’s purposes are fulfilled. Simply put, even our “returning” to God is the work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
There is a beautiful Lenten hymn in All Creation Sings, that is titled “Beautiful Things.” The chorus goes like this: “You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us.” In God’s great love and wisdom, God turns dust into diamonds.
As we begin this Lenten season, with whatever spiritual practices support our returning to the Lord our God, as we remember our sin and remember that we are dust, may we also remember that God is always actively at work in us, forming and transforming us into the beautiful people God is calling us to be.