Preparing for a Happy Lent!

Written By Jonathan Krogh

Dear Fellow Failures:

We’re only a little more than a week from Ash Wednesday, which means Lent is just around the corner! I know that makes me sound a little too excited for observing a season when we are commended to reflect upon our mortality and sinfulness, but this Calvinist is always delighted to wallow in the total depravity of the human condition. 

Total depravity is that doctrine of Calvinism that teaches about our permanent state of wretchedness—we are born into sin, and nothing we do can eliminate or even compensate for the perpetual fact of our failure. I like that, because it frees us from the illusion that if we work hard enough, or smart enough, or long enough, we’ll get everything right. In reality, we’re not even close. The doctrine of total depravity teaches us to let go of the silliness of perfectibility, like Isaiah said: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isaiah 64.6). Even if we’re the greatest of all time, our mortality mocks us with the reminder that those high points will fade.

“That’s depressing, Pastor Jonathan,” remarked Nicholas, one of my young students as I taught the doctrine of total depravity in Confirmation class years ago. I said, “No, Nicholas, that’s the opposite of depressing. It means that when we fail, God isn’t surprised, so we don’t need to be hard on ourselves or constantly disappointed.”

After a few moments, a smile spread across his face and he gleefully said, “That means the other kids who are better at stuff than me are eventually going to be screw-ups too!” 

“Exactly!” I affirmed. Not quite what I was trying to convey, but Nicholas’ earnest response has stayed with me.

Lent is an opportunity to not only rid myself of the constant sting of imperfections, but to remember that those who lord their superiority over others are functioning under an illusion that their pettiness matters. In the end, it doesn’t.

Now I know for many, preparation for Lent means a pączki/king cake-fueled descent into fermented and unfermented complex carbohydrates, but for those who see Ash Wednesday as the start of something helpful, these last days before the season can be a prelude to unimaginable grace. I suggest we get our hearts ready by thinking of how little all our failures matter to God, and how trivial are the successes of those whom we fear. As Isaiah also said, “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by myself spread out the earth; who frustrates the omens of soothsayers and makes fools of diviners; who turns back the wise and makes their knowledge foolish…” Total depravity reminds us how from God’s view, nobody is better than anybody else.

So, don’t be ambivalent or indolent; this season reminds us we are equivalent; so, there are plenty of reasons to be excellent this Lent. 

And may you have a happy VaLENTine’s Day. Pushing it perhaps a bit too far, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor   

Jonathan Krogh
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Gaming Grace