Lent - the messy, undone, in-between...
Every time we celebrate Communion at this church, whoever is presiding says something like this after pouring the cup:
Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes again.
Until he comes again.
This is an important but not often explored aspect of our faith - the “already/not yet” of the fulfillment of the Gospel.
That we live in the forgiveness of sin, but are not yet liberated from the presence of sin and how it affects our lives.
Already / not yet.
Christ has already come, but not yet returned.
Christ is already King, and yet we look around and it seems that evil might be reigning.
Lent is the perfect time to pause and reflect on this “already/not yet” tension.
It’s an awkward, in-between season - not still winter, but not quite spring.
Not really cold, not yet warm.
Seeds and wildlife are fledgling with new life, but not yet thriving.
We see in the natural world - the world that declares God’s glory - that this is a long and very real season. The awkwardness is not just our imagination.
It’s a bit like Holy Saturday - that day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Christ is already dead, and not yet risen. There is real grief, sorrow, suffering and uncertainty.
This is the messy middle* - not the beginning, not the culmination, but the in-between marked in awkwardness, unfinished-ness, and messiness.
How much of our lives are made up by spaces like this?
In yoga there’s a concept of “the middle journey” - you know what the full expression of a pose is supposed to look like, and you know you cannot make your body do that yet. You are aware of where you were, where you are, and where you hope to be, but you really cannot make your body get into a shape it is not yet ready for. Already aware, not yet fully expressed.
Lent is an invitation to the in-between - how will you contemplate the messy middle, the already/not yet, the middle journey, the awkward season*?
How can this Lent be an opportunity to invite the undone, to welcome and love the parts of yourself and your spirituality that are imperfect and fledgling?
* “the messy middle” and “the awkward season” are phrases I heard in this episode of the Nuanced Life - I highly recommend everything Sarah & Beth do!
