Looking Below the Surface

“I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news”, the doctor said.

         

He was an orthopedic surgeon to whom I had been referred six years ago after a 30-year battle with bad knees. I had my first knee surgery in 1977 following way too many years of abuse playing sports as a youth, in high school and college. I was coaching college football at the time and the Hope College team doctor did some minor work on my left knee which held up for 25 more years of abuse with long distance running, basketball, racquetball, softball and golf. Finally, after two more surgeries on the same knee, which provided little relief, I was a candidate for knee replacement. This orthopedic surgeon would have the final word and perform the surgery.

         

“The good news is that you have the heart of a thirty year old man, but you have the knees of a 95 year old. In fact, one of your knees isn’t even that good.”

         

I knew my left knee was bad. I could hardly walk without significant pain and could barely stand long enough to deliver a sermon, which made my sermons shorter! But I had no idea my right knee was deteriorated at all. It was, and still is, pain free (unless I overdo it on the treadmill too many days in a row...then I ache everywhere).

         

The only way I had any idea my right knee had problems was through the x-rays that were done. There was no outward sign that things were bad. I was blissfully unaware of any issues.

         

How many times isn’t that the case? Someone goes into the doctor for their annual checkup and the blood work reveals some kind of disease. A friend has an ache in their shoulder that they think is an issue with their rotator cuff and they discover a tumor instead. Your child goes into the dentist for a routine cleaning and x-rays reveal cavities.

         

Everything appears to be fine on the outside, but just below the surface, danger lingers.

         

Which brings us to the season of Lent. Traditionally Lent is a Christian observation of the 40-day season of the year that immediately precedes Easter. It is a time for introspection, self-examination and reflection on our relationship with God. In some traditions people engage in some kind of sacrifice to identify with the suffering Jesus endured during His 40 days in the wilderness prior to His public ministry.

         

Frederick Buechner writes this about Lent:

“After being baptized by John in the river Jordan, Jesus went off alone into the wilderness where He spent forty days asking Himself the question of what it meant to be Jesus. During Lent, Christians are supposed to ask in one way or another what it means to be themselves.”

         

Rather than living on the surface, we are supposed to spend some time in reflection wrestling with our own discipleship. Are we reflecting the image of Christ everyday? Are we living out “first things” (the essence of the grace, mercy and love of God), or are we distracted by “second things” (personal preferences, programs, how many, how much)?

Buechner suggests some other questions for Lenten reflection:

•  “If you had to bet everything you have on whether there is a God or whether there isn’t, which side would you bet your money on and why?” 
•  “When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see in it that you most like and what do you see in it that you most deplore?” 
•  “If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people who are the most important to you, what would it be in twenty-five words or less?” 
•  “Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you would most like to undo? Which is the one that makes you happiest to remember?" 
•  “Is there any person in the world, or any cause, that, if circumstances called for it, you would be willing to die for?” 
•  “If this were the last day of your life, what would you do with it?”

Buechner concludes with these words:

“To hear yourself try to answer questions like these is to begin to hear something not only of who you are but of what you are becoming and what you are failing to become. It can be a pretty depressing business all in all, but if sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end.”

I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

         

Sometimes we have to rummage around inside of ourselves to find out what lies below that surface that might be painful, or difficult, or present problems down the road. If we find those things we have a chance to rid ourselves of then we can begin to be a healthier version of who God wants us to be.

         

That is the opportunity we have during the season of Lent.