Jesus' going without

I so enjoyed the Lenten Season Article No. 1 in last Friday’s Havre Daily News, an article written by Pastor Maggie Lewis. In it she reminded us that this “going without” during the Lenten Season is not really about the food or whatever else we are going without. In fact, Pastor Maggie reminds us that we need to be ever mindful how we treat others, and perhaps we ought to go without mistreating others. … What a great message!

As we have just finished having our first Community Lenten Luncheon yesterday at noon, I am reminded of what Jesus Christ went without. I think of His temptation in the wilderness, and His going without nourishment those forty days. I think of His going without a stellar popular approval rating. You may say, “He had plenty of people that loved Him.”

This is true, but also, at every venue we find Jesus in, we find a group of people who detest Him, who want to bring Him down, and who try to do everything within their power to lower and eventually destroy His popular approval rating. I think of Jesus voluntarily going without heaven’s protection as He was tried and punished by crucifixion on the cross. I contemplate Jesus’ words on the cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” and I think of Jesus’ going without His Father’s presence and favor.

But in this article, I want to focus on what Jesus went without, as revealed in the Apostle Paul’s words to the Philippians 2:5-8, where he says:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance aas a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

These verses indicate that Jesus Christ went without reputation. He took the form of a bondservant, in no way insisting that He be the leader, the main focus. He came in the likeness of men. In other words, Jesus left heaven. He left His Father; He left His position there; and He left His likeness there — all to become one of us! I cannot even fathom what He was going without just to come here and be one of us … Dottie Rambo sang a song titled “If That Isn’t Love” and in that song, she sings these words:

“He left the Splendor of Heaven,

Knowing His destiny

Was the lonely hill of Golgotha,

there to lay down His life for me.”

Certainly Jesus Christ went without so much that we cannot even begin to grasp it. But why did He do it? In Dottie’s song, she makes this conclusion:

“If that isn’t love,

the ocean is dry.

There’s no stars in the sky

and the sparrow can’t fly.

If that isn’t love,

then Heaven’s a myth.

There’s no feeling like this,

if that isn’t love.”

Why did Jesus go without so much? Because of His incredibly deep love and concern for us. He went without so that:  1) we could have a holy and right relationship with His Father; 2) we could have forgiveness of our sins; 3) we could have power to live a life, overcoming sin, and giving God the glory; and 4) we could have a future home in heaven with Him forever.

So, as we observe this Lenten Season, when we give up something, let’s do it with the motivation of blessing someone else. And as we do this, may our hearts resonate with the heart of Jesus, a heart willing to go without so that others could receive and be blessed!

By the way, if you would like to attend any of the other Lenten Luncheons, they all take place on Thursdays, at noon, at the Havre Assembly of God Church Fellowship Hall. The cost is $3 per person.

The host churches — the churches providing the food and devotions — for March 21st are First Lutheran and Messiah Lutheran March 21; Van Orsdell United Methodist March 28; for April 4th is Abundant Life Ministries (Four Square) April 4; and St. Jude Thaddeus Church April 11.

Blessings!

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The Rev. Edroy “Curt” Curtis is president of Greater Havre Area Ministerial Association