Invocabit Sunday, First Sunday in Lent

Tomorrow is Invocabit Sunday, the first Sunday in Lent. It takes its name from the psalm reading for the day, Psalm 91 at verse 15. "He shall call upon me." In case you don’t know, the "he" is you and me. The scripture readings for the day may vary, depending upon your church tradition, but the theme of the entire Sunday usually centers on these important truths so important for our Lenten pilgramage:
1. In this life we will struggle against "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." as St. John summarizes. Our response to temptations in those areas serve to define where our true allegiance lies. We can only serve one master and Lent reminds us to remember that with all seriousness.
2. Our struggle against these strongholds requires self-denial, for we must take up the cross of Jesus daily, losing our life in order that we might receive it from him in fullness. The cross is to those that perish foolishness, but for us who believe, it is the power of God unto deliverance.
3. Since we struggle against principalities and powers, expect that all of your strength will soon be spent. You best intentions, solemn vows, and spiritual disciplines will lie broken or exhausted at some point in this Lenten journey. But we have the assurance that the weapons of our struggle are divinely ordained and divinely empowered. They are capable of storming and tearing down the strong places in our hearts and bringing every unruly tendency within us into obedience to the will of God in Jesus. So at that point of near surrender, call out to God.

Piece of cake? Absolutely not. I wish it were so but I have weathered enough Lents to know that the gaining of something eternal always costs me something. Even though grace is a gift, there is a great difference between receiving it freely and then letting it permeate every nook and crany of your soul. The book of Hebrews says that we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in our struggle against sin; let’s be honest, most of us haven’t even broken a sweat yet. But that is what this season of Lent is about, and Psalm 91 reminds us that when we call upon God, "I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and will show Him my salvation." The gospel reading recounts Jesus’ own temptation in the wilderness. Ah, the wilderness, a place of aloneness, of scarcity, of bleakness, of testing. Forty days of Jesus in the wilderness and forty days of Lent...do you notice any similarity? The wilderness is a place where there are wild beasts, some around us, but I think as well some within us. But if we face its testing by our confidence in the promises of God, and by our obedience to that which He commands, the wilderness must eventually give way and then, the scripture says, the angels of heaven minister to us. May this first Sunday of Lent renew our determination to let God have His whole way with us, body, mind, heart and spirit.