Prepare Yourself!

Next Wednesday (Feb 22) is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the church season of Lent.

When my kids were very young, they did a couple of years of homeschooling. One year they each wrote a report on Lent, and one of my kids, who was about seven years old, wrote:

“You should give up something for Lent. Lent is 40 days. I'm giving up TV.  Lent is about the sacrifice of Jesus.  Like when Jesus died for us. For example I gave up TV.  I want to watch TV. I can't.  So I go and read my Bible. 

Lent is from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday.  Lots of what we know is true.  When 40 days is all over you can do everything again.  Actually, lent is 46 days.  But you can do everything on Sunday."

There is some accurate information in that brief report, but clearly there is also some confusion about the purpose of Lent (and maybe some resentment about not watching TV). Can you tell what was accurate and what was misunderstood?

Confusion around Lent exists for many of us today, even if we grew up in liturgical churches or families that practiced Lent. We may have heard of Lent before, or even practiced it, but we're unclear as to the purpose if it.  Why did the early church designate a season of Lent? Why do we hear about giving up something for Lent?

WHAT IS LENT?

As my child wrote, Lent is the 40 days before Easter. It is, actually, 46 days, but Sundays are not counted.

When first established in the second century (or earlier), Lent was a time for new baptism candidates to prepare for their Easter Day baptism. The fancy church word for this time is "catechumenate," and it was the process by which new followers of Jesus learned about what it means to think, live, and believe as disciples of Christ.

As the Roman world became more and more Christian, and more people were baptized as infants, the focus of Lent shifted from preparation for baptism to a time of sober self-examination: looking at the depth of our own brokenness, repenting where needed, and reflecting on where we might need to re-align our thoughts and life with the character of God.

If we travel through Lent well, we remind ourselves of how inescapable our own sin and brokenness is, and how much we need the gift of life and freedom offered by Jesus at Easter (both the Cross of Good Friday and the Resurrection of Easter Sunday). During Lent we give our life over to Christ daily and deliberately in order to listen to the Spirit, surrender ourselves to his work in our lives, and release the burden of our toil and sin to Jesus.

(Note: sin simply means the things we think and do that prevent ourselves or others from being fully alive as God intends us / them to be. It is the choices we make that hinder God's best plan for us and instead lead us away from flourishing.)

SO WHAT'S WITH GIVING UP STUFF?

Our lives can become very crowded: work, screens, pleasure-seeking, racing thoughts, habits, and more jam their way into our life, and very often drown out the voice of the Spirit. The point of giving something up for Lent is threefold:

  • First it can create the space we need to be more attentive to the presence of God in our life.

  • Second, the discipline of giving something up that we enjoy is a reminder of the suffering of Christ and also what our true riches are as followers of Jesus.

  • Finally, we may give up something for Lent as an expression of sorrow over sin in our life.

Sometimes, things (even good things) can gain a powerful foothold in our life and start to dictate our actions. Lent gives us the opportunity to recognize these encroaching habits / thoughts and abstain from them for a season. 

Examples of things we might give up:

  • Simple pleasures (like sweet foods)

  • Negative self-talk

  • Impulse shopping (don't buy anything without giving it 48 hours of thought)

  • Alcohol

  • Social media

  • Screens for entertainment

  • Overtime at work

  • Something that takes up more space in our life than we care to give it.

HOWEVER, rather than giving something up, we may want to consider adding something to our life (or do both). For example, for forty days we could add:

  • Regular Bible reading (see the link to a Lent reading plan and a Lenten devotional below)

  • Acts of kindness

  • Reconciliation in avoided or broken relationships

  • Generosity through charitable giving

  • Self-care habits like daily walks

  • Deeper communication with friends or family

  • Go through Ruthless Wellness or the six-week Practices for Flourishing resources offered below

Remember, Jesus is not looking for self-flagellation, forty days of starvation, or an ocean of tears. Rather, Lent offers us the opportunity (through self-examination and practices) for the restoration of a sweet relationship with God.

PAUSE and REFLECT: HOW WILL I PARTICIPATE IN LENT THIS YEAR?

What we do and learn in Lent can actually be practiced year round, but Lent gives us the opportunity for a burst of intense focus. Forty days is short enough to be achievable, yet long enough to shift the trajectory of our life (if we are willing to make hard decisions).

The first step in practicing Lent this year is probably the most important: self-examination. Without awareness of our present state or our relationship with God, Lent becomes a pointless giving up of something for an unknown purpose. Ruthless Wellness is a great resource to help you become more aware of your life with God, others, yourself, and the world. Also, Practices for Flourishing has an excellent self-examination exercise in Week 4.

After taking the time to examine yourself under God's loving gaze, the next step to a more flourishing life is between you and Him. 

spiritual formationNick Osbornelent, spiritual practice, spiritual formationComment