Love and Lent

Lent starts today. I have, for a few years, seen friends and acquaintances observe this season and have been encouraged by the testimony of their participation. Growing up Baptist, we did not observe the Liturgical calendar and therefore I had very little knowledge of what Lent was, let alone how to observe it. It was a "catholic" thing. I am sure in my studies at university and graduate school that I was introduced to it in Church history. However, it was not until a few years ago that I seriously started learning about it and not until this year that I made the decision to observe it in whole.

If you are unfamiliar with Lent, I encourage you to look it up. There are many resources available on the internet (make sure you choose a reputable source) that can give you a better history that I can in this short blog. But I like this description from The Village Church's 2017 Lent guide (tvcresources.net):

Lent is about the gospel. It is a time to narrow the focus of the Church to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to turn from our sin and trust in His atoning work. The season of Lent lasts approximately 40 days, excluding Sundays, between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. The 40 days have obvious biblical parallels in the flood narrative (Gen. 6-8), the giving of the Law to Moses on Sinai (Exod. 24:12-18), Elijah’s journey to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:1-12) and Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:9-12, Luke 4:1-13). The last of these accounts is most relevant to the season. 

Originally a preparation period for those desiring to be baptized, Lent eventually became embedded into Christian tradition as a season for the Church to symbolically follow Christ into the wilderness. It is a time for fasting and self-denial, though not for denial itself. It is a period to empty ourselves of lesser things so that we might be filled with the greater things of the gospel. Whereas Advent is a season of ever-increasing light awaiting the incarnation of Christ, Lent is a season of ever-decreasing light approaching the cross.

Celebrated each spring as the days begin to lengthen (the term Lent is from a Saxon word meaning “lengthen”), Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter Sunday. It is marked by periods of fasting and feasting. Each week, participants traditionally fast during the week and feast on Sundays. This pattern continues throughout the season as the Church journeys toward the Holy Week commencing on Palm Sunday. The final period of Lent is often referred to as the Triduum, beginning Maundy Thursday and continuing through Easter Sunday. 

In our context, it is easy to get lost in the cultural expectations of Easter and miss out on the meaning. Lent is a reminder that the resurrection only occurred after the crucifixion. Rather than skipping over the ministry and crucifixion of Christ, Lent is a season to prepare ourselves for the joy of Resurrection Sunday as we enter the sorrow and pain which preceded it. 

Easter is a big day in the life of the Church and the Christian. Lent helps us to focus our minds and prepare our hearts for Easter. I encourage you to pray about joining me in this season. Lent is not hard to observe. I am sure you could find a list of "rules" if you wanted to but I believe that is not necessary and makes it more of a checklist than a season of preparation. There are two things that I do encourage you to do. This first and well know part of Lent is  fasting or self-denial. Some people fast from food or certain types of food for the season, while other fast from a variety of different things. It is not about what you are fasting from but the fast that you are denying yourself and when that thing is brought to remembrance you reflect on the reason that you are abstaining and on the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. The second thing I would suggest is spending time in the Bible. There are more than I few studies that are geared towards Lent and follow the 40 days until easter. My personal favorite and the one that Bethany and I are doing this year is from SHE READS TRUTH and HE READS TRUTH both are available for free online or you can purchase for you smart phone or order the hard copy of the book (you can listen to the founder talk about the study here). This year we are combining both our fast and bible study. In our daily routine we usual watch TV in our room after the kids are down. However, we are putting that aside for Lent and spending the time we would normally watch a show to be in the word and prayer together. You need to find what works for you, maybe its food and instead of eating lunch during the week you fast and spend time in the word. I could list many examples but what truly matters is that you are preparing your heart and mind. Will you join me?

-JD

p.s. I am going to try and write daily about my reflection of the passage that I read as we work our way through Exodus