40 Days – A Lenten Message
March 1, 2025
My brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and peace be upon you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
I share with all of you this Lenten season a scripture passage from the book of Daniel 9:3: “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”
Daniel set aside everything else to focus on prayer. He asked God to perform his promise in a way that would bring God glory. Daniel abstained from food to focus on spiritual matters, wore rough clothing, and covered himself with ashes as a sign of mourning and repentance. His prayer was a confession on behalf of God’s rebellious people. The prayer demonstrates the importance of intentionality in prayer and the relational aspect of faith. Daniel acknowledges the sins of the people and prayed for forgiveness before asking God to fulfill God’s promise of restoring Jerusalem from exile after 70 years. Daniel’s prayer demonstrates a deep trust in God’s word and faithfulness to keep his promises.
As we enter the season of Lent, we trust in God’s word and faithfulness as Jesus will fulfill his promise for us, sacrificing himself on the cross for the salvation of all and on the third day rising from the dead as we witness the power of God overcoming death from the grave. Lent is a season of reflection, spiritual growth, sacrifice, and generosity. It lasts forty days, modeled after Jesus’ forty-day fast in the desert, and ends on Good Friday. Lent officially begins with a reminder of our mortality on Ash Wednesday.
As we begin our Lenten journey and after you read this letter, I ask you to look at yourself in the mirror. I ask you to look at yourself and speak to yourself about what you see in your reflection. I am one that does not like looking at myself in the mirror.
I look at my reflection, I notice the grey streaks above and the wrinkles on my forehead, thick black eyebrows, hairline with a mix of salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, and long eyelashes extending. I see my cheeks and oval-shaped face, some facial hair, nose slightly curved, and my lips. I look closely at my reflection, attempting to figure out who I am.
Am I the physical, or am I what is inside of the physical? Am I physically what I feel inside, or am I what my physical features show? It sounds a bit philosophical as one attempts to figure out who one is. As we enter the season of Lent, we acknowledge who we are, not physically but inwardly, recognizing that we are sinners and fall short of the glory of God.
Throughout these forty days of Lent, I challenge you to look far beyond your appearance and wrestle with the inner person you are, reflecting on your thoughts and actions, spiritually growing as you draw closer to God through scripture and meditation, sacrificing oneself as you remain focus on who Jesus is to you and what Jesus will do for you, generously giving yourself entirely to the one who will give himself for you.
As you look at yourself in the mirror, look beyond yourself and see the image of Jesus. I ask you to look deep within yourself acknowledging all your imperfections and seeking God’s forgiveness. As we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see the fragile human being we are, and how what you see from the exterior may not coincide with the inner human being. Turn yourself to God and seek the inner peace and healing of God as you reflect God’s image and likeness.
Have a little talk with Jesus, tell him about your troubles, look right into yourself and see the power of God manifest itself in, with, and among you as you journey in the wilderness of these forty days knowing that Jesus will walk with you, serve, forgive, and claim you as his own, promising you eternal life. The physical may grow old and return to dust, yet the inner will live on forever and ever in the kingdom of God.
Blessed Lent to you, child of God,
Rev. Jonathan J. Recabarren