Lent – something we should mark?[i]
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.
Ash Wednesday this year is February 18th
– next week!
Is it something all Christians should
mark? Is it helpful? Does it matter?
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 are a reference to 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!
Lent Biblically
There is no reference in the Bible to
Lent.
Is marking ‘Lent’ a good idea?
The practice of Lent as we might
understand is worth questioning. Perhaps
these questions might help you decide whether Lent would be a useful thing for
you to engage in in some way.
1.
With nothing in the Bible commanding the practice of Lent are you
genuinely choosing to or feeling you have to?
2.
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 potentially a ridicule of Jesus’ sacrifice?
If genuinely an expression of our commitment to Christ aren’t they somewhat
shallow? What would be a genuine sacrificial
Lent experience for you?
3.
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?
4.
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? Are we trying to earn something from Lent?
5.
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.
6.
Does it send the signal to those around us that being a Christian is
about what we do and not what Jesus has done?
7.
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.
8.
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 – discretely, significantly, sacrificially and
signposting you towards Jesus’ grace and not your efforts - then 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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