Giving Up Germs for Lent
For Lent, I’ve given up germs.
“What??” Â You might ask. Â Yes, its a little strange, but its true. Â In fact, I give them up several times every day – every time I wash my hands.
Another house church in the Underground Church Network reported to the rest of us that they had begun saying the Lord’s Prayer together, and had made a commitment to saying the Lord’s Prayer each day throughout the week as a shared discipline. Â Then, like a fire that spits out ambassador flames, it hopped across town to me and the MICRO group that I meet with once a week. Now I’m saying the Lord’s Prayer every day…
Pause.
Did your mom ever teach you how to wash your hands with a song? Â Some sing “Happy Birthday” twice while sudsing their hands to make sure they spend enough time for the soap to do its dirty work. Â I heard someone else sharing that fond little memory with me and I put two and two together.
So during Lent, I say the Lord’s Prayer each time I reach for a soap.
My hands go through a little baptism, my mind returns to God and his Kingdom. Â Its a reminder of what’s truly important. Â Jesus said to a crowd of purity-obsessed Pharisees, “Eating with unclean hands will never defile you…It is not what goes into you that defiles you, but you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” Â OK – so I realize Jesus wasn’t talking about germs when he said “unclean hands!” Â But still, as I read that verse during this season of Lent, I seem to hear the words:
“When you’re washing your hands, don’t focus on getting clean on the outside, but take that moment to let me wash your heart.”
What’s this little spiritual experiment doing to me? Â It is revealing to me just how often I need to ask God to forgive me, even as I forgive others. Â It gives me a chance in public places to look a little silly, but hopefully point others back to an awareness of God’s presence, even in the restroom. Â It has transformed my bathroom into a little cloister – letting me pause even just briefly in union with God. Â And its reminding me that God washes me, and makes my hands pure for his work in the world.
Want to give it a try? Â Grab a bar of your favorite lathe and read along:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
[For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.]
Amen.
Rbfuzzyqjones845, 
Greg are discussing. 
Greg 4:00 pm on March 21, 2011 Permalink
Interesting post. Would love to have you explain this part of it a bit though: “It is begging that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then going about in God’s power, being the answer to your own prayers.”
Mark W 12:55 pm on April 2, 2011 Permalink
“Being the answer to our own prayers” sounds a bit counter-intuitive, but I believe one (not the only) reason why we pray is to seek how God wants us to live. When we beg God for workers in his harvest field (Lk 10:2) then we get up off our knees and get to work…we in essence are saying “Here am I, send me!” You can see this in Luke 10 when Jesus asks his disciples to pray for workers, and then he sends them out 2 by 2 to be the workers they just prayed for. There is a HUGE danger in simply praying, and not doing. We need “contemplative activists” in our churches.
Great to “see ya” Greg! How is everything?
Rbfuzzyqjones845 2:37 am on April 28, 2011 Permalink
Great article mark…… Street ministry here in Detroit in the month of July. We’re working on it know……
Fuzzyqjones845