The Freedom of Renunciation

Encounter

1 Peter 1:3-7 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great 

mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance - an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - though your faith is for more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Dwell with God and His Word. 

Remind yourself that you are in God’s presence and read again, perhaps out loud. Notice how God might be speaking to you through His Word. Dwell on a word or phrase that seems to stick out to you…let your heart respond to God in prayer…take refreshment in God’s presence.

Pause and pray.

Reflect

Throughout this season of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter, we’ve been talking about the wilderness as a place where we meet God. We’ve seen that Jesus himself entered the wilderness where he fasted and was tempted by the devil, we’ve looked at several examples of believers from the 3rd to 5th centuries who followed Jesus’s example and also went into the wilderness. Lent can be a season of our own 40-day journey into the wilderness.

Now, if we believe that God is with us everywhere, then why is it that so many before us, and Jesus himself, went into the wilderness to be with God? Couldn’t they meet God right where they were? The answer is less about God’s presence with us and more about our own presence with God. In the wilderness, the distractions that are abundant in everyday life no longer surround us. In the wilderness, we are able to attune ourselves to God, we are given an opportunity for closeness to God

This week, our Lenten journey will explore the wilderness as a place of self-denial. We will unpack the dangers of materialism and choose instead to focus on the heavenly treasure Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. The example of the Desert Fathers and Mothers offers an important challenge for every follower of Jesus - to follow Jesus means being willing to let go of earthly trinkets in return for eternal treasure.

The wilderness is a place of simplicity. If we are brave enough, it is an invitation from the Holy Spirit to declutter our lives, and in turn declutter our hearts. The invitation this week is to let go; to welcome less when countless ads push us to desire more; to find freedom in saying no, in choosing to be generous, and to finding joy in the simple things in life.

Watch this week’s video about the Desert Mother Syncletica of Alexandria:

https://lectio365.com/desertresources/#week_4

Spiritual Practice

One of the rhythms of our Lenten season is pausing from prayer and fasting to also feast on the rich examples of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. These feast days help us to recenter ourselves on the full and satisfying life God promises, which the Lectio 365 team emphasizes through the six practices of prayer and creativity, justice and hospitality, learning and mission.

While this Sunday (and all next week’s Lectio 365 devotionals) focuses on renouncing the pull of worldly distractions like materialism, we recognize that renouncing gives way to a freedom that implies there is joy, celebration, and feasting even in the difficult work of separating ourselves from the consumeristic and materialistic culture we’ve grown up in and find ourselves in now.

In the difficult work of renouncing, what ways is God inviting you to fast from the material possessions you have or that you would like to have and instead feast on the freedom He offers in that renunciation? In other words, where an attitude of consumerism and materialism may draw your attention towards what culture deems important, how might an attitude of simplicity, humility, and self-denial spur you on to generous living? In what ways does God fill your heart and your life to overflowing even when you find yourself sacrificing your time, talent, and treasures? Take a few minutes to reflect, perhaps even journaling how you see God inviting you to feast on these “treasures of heaven” while you fast from the treasures of this world.

Pause and pray.

Gather

1. What is the best gift you have ever received? Why did it mean so much to you?

2. In the video, Pete mentioned his wrestle with the Desert Fathers and Mothers and how sometimes they seem “disturbing, confusing or downright weird”. Now that you have started studying their lives and teachings, how do you feel? Do they seem extreme and over the top, or do you find their examples inspiring and convicting?

3. Jesus talks about how we cannot serve two masters: both money/wealth and God (Matthew 6:24). What do you think he means by “serving” money or having it be a “master” over you. Can you think of any ways you feel this pull in your own life?

4. Which areas of your life do you find most difficult to surrender to God?

5. In Luke 12:27–28, we are told that God will provide for all of our needs. In which areas of your life do you find it hardest to trust this promise?

6. Dallas Willard points out that, although following Jesus is immensely costly, there is an even greater cost to non-discipleship: “Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring.”

   1. Take some time to reflect on this list. How might leaning more intentionally into spiritual disciplines this Lent help you to grow in love, faith, hope, power, and abundant life?