Wednesday 5 March 2014

Lent - something we should mark?

Lent, the 40 day period of ‘going without’ between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is a tradition in which Christians prepare for the celebration of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  It is a way of creating a sense of loss, hunger, grief and soberness as a backdrop to which the death and resurrection of Jesus shines even more brightly and gloriously.  Historically it was often brutal – close to a strict Ramadam than to the chocolate, alcohol, caffeine and social media ‘fasts’ that characterise today’s lent.

What does ‘lent’ mean?
The word lent comes from the Old English "lencten", meaning ‘length’ (as in the lengthening of the days) and the Anglo-Saxon name for March, "lenct – both of which reference Spring, when Lent falls in the Western Europe. 

Lent Traditionally
Lent included a commitment to giving up significant requirements in daily life. The Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ's execution, were observed. Churches might remove flowers and crucifixes were veiled.  Lent is traditionally described as lasting for forty days, in commemoration of the forty cruel days which Jesus spent fasting in the desert earlier in his life.

Lent Culturally
In the UK the last remaining cultural marker of Lent is probably the commercialised ‘Pancake Day’, historically the Tuesday before Lent when the last rich foods in the home were eaten.  It is also marked by health companies who calculate your weight loss after 40 days without chocolate or run 40 day Lent fitness boot-camps!

Is marking ‘Lent’ doing you any real good - ask some hard questions
Is there anything in the Bible commanding the practice of Lent?  We might choose to but we certainly don’t have to.

Do we do it without any real cost and make a mockery of Jesus’ own sacrifice for us?  Are chocolate, caffeine, social media and a thousand other common choices in Lent ridiculing Jesus’ sacrifice?  If genuinely an expression of our commitment to Christ aren’t they somewhat shallow?

Do we only give up things we like and are not willing to give up things we need?  Surely if we are trying to imitate Jesus in the desert we need to remember he didn’t live without luxuries for 40 days, he lived without necessities – like food, water & shelter?

Do we think that 40 days fasting from selective items somehow earns a special position for us in God’s sight or the church’s life? 

Do we use lent as an excuse to lose weight or break an addiction?  Nothing wrong with that, but don’t pretend it’s lent.

Does it send the signal to those around us that being a Christian is about what we do and not what Jesus has done?

Can we not help but tell people what we are doing?  According to Jesus that neuters any fast’s significance. It makes our fast about making ourselves look good not about making Jesus look great.

Is our intention is to introduce new, better life patterns but without the intention that they continue beyond Lent?  Is that hypocrisy?

Of course we might be authentically able to respond to all those questions in a grace-filled, positive, Christ-exalting manner.  If so….

I’d encourage you to mark Lent…
If you can ‘do lent’ in the way Jesus encourages us to fast – secretly, significantly, sacrificially and signposting you towards Jesus’ grace and not your efforts - then I think Lent could be a wonderful, valuable, important, significant and commendable thing to do.  Check out this post for more info on fasting: http://lionheartedandlamblike.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/hungry-for-god-fasting-and-feasting-on.html



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