Thursday of the 5th Week of Lent
Gen 17:3-9
Jn 8:51-59
You shall no longer be called Abram: your name shall be Abraham, for I make you father of a multitude of nations… ‘You on your part shall maintain my Covenant, yourself and your descendants after you, generation after generation.’
Today’s first reading reminded me of the readings from the second Sunday of Lent. In a similar vein, this reading is about God’s promise to Abraham. Actually, specifically, it was a covenant, not just a promise. A promise is one-way, while a covenant binds all parties to an agreement to certain actions. This is significant, especially in light of how callously God’s love and ultimate sacrifice are considered by some — if Jesus died for sinners, then we are all free now, aren’t we? But the key idea here is that Jesus did not die so that we could continue in our ways. He died, and we are to change our ways and start to live a life in accordance to the will of God.
Abram got a new name, Abraham. This signifies his becoming a new person, a kind of metanoia. And since we are in the season of Lent, and Lent is about transforming ourselves for good, what better time than now for us to start? However, many of us start Lent with all the good intentions and plans to turn over many new leaves. And many of us also falter and fizzle out in no time (my personal record is giving up within the same day!). Now, I think it is better to start small, very small, in order to be able to make the changes we need.
Yes, we are already more than halfway through Lent, and even if we have not yet begun, or we have already given up, we can always start again, and start smaller this time. It is always the small steps, the small things, the small victories, that lead to the eventual victory. And yes, we will need stamina; and this stamina will come from prayer that helps us listen to God, who guides us every step of the way.
We know what God has promised us — Eternal Life. But how can we attain that? Do we think we are on track to achieve that? Or do we feel unworthy because we cannot seem to break out of the cycle of sin? If it is the latter, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, it is not impossible to break out of the cycle when you have the grace and strength of God on your side. The bad news is that you also need to personally make the effort to STOP.
CS Lewis’ book “The Silver Chair” is my favourite out of the whole Narnia series. In it, two children were called into Narnia to search for, and rescue the missing Prince Rilian, son of King Caspian. Long story short, and spoiler alert, Prince Rilian was actually under an enchantment placed by a witch, who had intentions to overthrow Narnia and bring it under her evil rule through a bewitched Rilian, a true Narnian king. However, for an hour everyday, Rilian would regain his senses and start raging against his captors and attempt to break out of his chains. Failing this, he would slip back into his enchanted state and revert to being the simpering puppet of the witch.
The two children, along with a native Narnian being (a Marshwiggle, if anyone is interested), went on a perilous journey to find the prince. They almost froze to death, were almost eaten by giants, and almost fell under the witch’s enchantment themselves. And they had been given instructions by Aslan to follow, which they eventually forgot because they had been distracted by wonderful things and desired their own comfort (sound familiar?).
The instructions were eventually remembered and followed again, after a series of unfortunate events that turned out to be blessings in disguise (sound familiar?), and the rescue team finally came face to face with the enchanted Prince Rilian. The bewitched prince was jovial enough, but became exasperating as the two children and Marshwiggle tried to explain their quest to him. He would not hear of anyone speaking ill of his “Lady” and threatened to attack them. And so it is, when we are told we are on the wrong path — we vehemently defend our choices and claim that those trying to get us off it do not understand us and are attacking us unfairly.
Then came his hour of release from enchantment. He was bound to a silver chair so that he could not escape. At this point, the rescue squad had been told this was his hour of madness (confusion of good and bad) and under no circumstances was he to be set free. Then, the ‘demented’ prince demanded, in the name of Aslan, to be loosed from his ropes. This was one of the instructions — that the first person who bids them to do a deed in the name of Aslan must be obeyed.
After a while of dithering over their decision, they freed him, and the first thing Prince Rilian did was to take a sword to the chair to destroy it. Brothers and sisters, this part of the story is very significant. While the prince needed a rescue team to track him down, to attempt to explain his enchantment, to loosen his ropes, he was the one who personally destroyed the chair that bound him to his enchantment. And in the same way, we must take the first step ourselves, if we are to change ourselves. Many people can journey with us, can be our spiritual advisors, our confessors, but we make the choice that determines whether we be free, or stay chained to sin. No one else can make that decision for us.
God has promised us Eternal Life. God has made many promises. He has made many covenants. Do we uphold our end of the deal? If not, why not? Are we too bound by sin? If we want to break free of sin, we must make that fundamental change. We are the only ones who can choose to leave sin behind and live a life that reflects God’s love, that glorifies him. It is difficult. We become comfortable in a life of sin and do not want to change because it is hard. But it gets easier over time, and with more prayer, and a will to change.
Like Abraham, who was made anew by the covenant with God, we too are called to be made anew. Metanoia — the fundamental change. It is up to us to take that first small step.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)
Prayer: Dear Lord, we pray for the courage to turn back to You when we have strayed. We pray for those who despair, that they may find hope in You.
Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for Your unending love and patience for us, even when we fall so many times.
OXYGEN 
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