Reflections

Sometimes, I get random sad days. When it happens, the urge to hole up on the couch with ice cream, popcorn, and some television is strong. I want to hide and indulge and abdicate all responsibility. Unfortunately, as a mom of three kids, I don’t actually have that luxury. I had one of those sad days on Thursday. It was Day One of simplifying meals and all I wanted was processed “sad food.” I had opened my laptop to cancel my workout class, too. My cursor was hovering over the “late cancel” button that would charge me a fee. I was so close. But then I got the tiniest whiff of motivation and knew if I didn’t take it at that moment, I was toast. So I slammed my laptop closed and jumped up to go change for class.

…

It’s Holy Week. In this crescendo of Lent, we must ask ourselves again why we do any spiritual discipline, and specifically simplicity, for these 40 days. If it doesn’t make sense in the context of Holy Week, does it make sense at all? 

As I reflected on Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, his simplified King’s entry felt noticeable. Whereas most kings would choose a strong and tall horse, Jesus rode in on a young donkey. While he certainly made himself visible during Holy Week, it wasn’t with grand indulgence, but pursuing justice and right relationships. It was calling out where Rome’s influence was running rampant among God’s people. 

During Holy Week, we reckon with our culpability in sending Jesus to the cross. My sin put him there. Your sin put him there. As we practice simplicity, we see over and over again the sin that has become normative. My greed and envy, my longing for ease and comfort at the expense of obedience to God, my gluttony and pride. By practicing simplicity, I can fight against these and pursue right relationships and justice instead. 

But on Easter, it’s evident that Jesus didn’t just wipe clean our sin. What happened on this holy weekend? The evil powers and dark spiritual forces of this world were at work. They encouraged resentment and greed to fester in Judas. They stoked the self-righteousness and hunger for power in the religious leaders. They stirred up bloodlust in the crowd outside of Pilate’s house. They dulled to ambivalence the conscience of Pilate. There were spiritual forces at work using fear, intimidation, pain, and death to defeat God. And, presumably to their shock, Jesus didn’t try to stop them. Jesus felt distress and surrendered it to his Father. Jesus made himself vulnerable to pain and suffering and didn’t let his disciples fight back. Jesus trudged willingly up Calvary to submit to death itself. 

God died.

And then Jesus felt his lungs fill with air again. He felt his fingers and toes tingle as blood began to pump again. He opened his eyes to the temporary blinding from sunshine after total darkness. Jesus walked out of that tomb and put death in its grave. Jesus displayed with full power that every tool of evil cannot beat our God. It is powerless in the face of God. 

So what does that mean for simplicity? Like Adam and Eve, we are both culpable for our own sin, as well as victims of the manipulation perpetrated by evil spiritual forces. In our vulnerability, we are driven by irrational anxieties, shame, fear of suffering. By practicing simplicity, we fight against those forces by pursuing wisdom. Increasing our wisdom by building an abundance mindset firm in its trust in God's provision, we are less and less vulnerable to attacks of the enemy. 

We practice spiritual disciplines of all kinds in the mundane so that we are prepared in times of testing. 

…

As I drove to and from my workout, I prayed, “Jesus, Bread of Life, help me hunger for you.” I knew I had the accountability of my group. We were all practicing simplifying meals this week in one form or another. I had them as both companions in the journey and confessors to whom I’d admit if I picked ice cream. And while they would certainly offer abundant grace, knowing that we were all trying to strive toward simple food was a boon to my efforts. I managed to go without my indulgent snacks the whole day, which as an acknowledged emotional eater, was a rare victory. I was extremely proud of myself.

Practice

As Lent culminates in Holy Week, so simplicity culminates in an abundance mindset. And the natural outflow of seeing the world through a lens of “enoughness” is that we can give generously without fear. Perhaps, you haven’t suddenly developed this worldview in a matter of 40 days. But you can still practice it in order to become the type of person to whom it comes naturally, trusting in the work of the Spirit over time. 

So this week’s practice is generosity. Here’s a list of options, but this is certainly not exhaustive. Try one of these or another intentional act of generosity this week:

1. If you aren’t tithing, start with 10%
2. Do a spontaneous act of generosity, big or small
3. Sell some of your stuff and give the money to an organization
4. Put generosity into your monthly budget
5. Pay for someone behind you in line (like at a coffee shop)
6. Give the amount of your water bill to an organization that provides clean water
7. If you already tithe, give 1% more of your budget than last month
8. Anonymously give someone an envelope of cash
9. Take a homeless person to lunch
10. Find an organization that meets a need you’re passionate about; start giving (any amount) on a regular basis to them
11. Give your eating out budget to a food pantry or similar organization
12. Start financially supporting one of the support-raising members of your Church congregation (missionaries, college ministers, etc.)

Your Turn

How has simplicity gone? What are you excited to do through generosity? I’d love to hear other ideas of generosity that you’ve heard of or that you’ve tried yourself. Please share them in the comments below!