Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Invitation to Observe a Holy Lent


(This post is directed at Christians, or people of faith, generally, but if you are not either, feel free to contact me at jlucy.wilde@gmail.com or through the church Facebook page on which this blog link was posted to discuss how a secular person may still find Lent worthwhile)

Most Ash Wednesday services include a segment titled something like, "Invitation to Observe a Holy Lent."  As Ash Wednesday is the official beginning of the season of Lent, this is, obviously, most appropriate.  Since nowadays many of us miss Ash Wednesday services, either because of timing or misunderstandings of what the ashes are all about, I figure it is appropriate to outline what the invitation typically means as we approach the start of Lent on February 14th (and, by the way, how appropriate it is to celebrate Ash Wednesday on Valentine's Day, to renew our commitment to the relationship that matters most in our lives).

First, Lent is the most holy of seasons.  We typically want Advent to take center stage but traditionally, with good reason, Lent has been the focus.  Indeed, Lent was the first liturgical season to mark Christian calendars.  It is a season originally focused on preparing new converts for baptism and initiation into the life of the church on Easter. 

For those already baptized, Lent is still a season of preparation.  We journey with Christ throughout forty days (notice that there are more than forty days in Lent.  Sundays never count because Sundays, every Sunday of the year, are and should be mini-Easters and feasts/festivals), mirroring his forty days in the wilderness and the days Moses spent preparing the law and the forty days Noah spent on the ark, et cetera, in order to repent and be cleansed for the joy of Easter and the life of the kingdom ahead--again, the repent to be cleansed to live a holy life of joy mirrors the path of Christ and others.  Lent, then, is a season of repentance, meaning 'to turn.'  To whom do we turn?  Back to God.  During Lent we are called to spend time in reflection and prayer in order to return to God and the holy life that He has provided for us and calls us to, gospel living that brings us peace and enables us to bring peace to others through the grace and love of Christ. 

Often, because Lent is a season of repentance, we think of the season as a time of self-denial.  Without question self-denial is a part of repentance, but to think of Christianity generally and Lent specifically as calls to self-denial is to misinterpret the meaning of repentance.  Again, repentance means to turn or return to God.  Insofar as we humans often stray away from God by living in ways that are not holy, such as indulging in harmful lusts or injustices, or living to excess that inhibits your ability to serve God and neighbor with gifts or time, or ignoring that your body is a temple of the Lord who created you, et cetera, then yes, self-denial can be and is useful as a means of returning you to God.  But repentance, returning to God, can also in a sense mean self-promotion.  What is good for me?  Perhaps, rather than denying yourself of something, you can add an activity to your schedule that is good for you: a time of silence and prayer to slow yourself down; carve out exercise time to make yourself feel good and remember that God created you to be healthy; spending more time with family and enjoying the life God has given you; serving others at a food shelf or homeless shelter or prison or through your church and see that which is God in our brothers and sisters; and on and on.  Returning to God and the life He intends for you is good and will promote health, physical and emotional and spiritual, so we should also think of repentance as a form of self-promotion and other-promotion.  Indeed, repentance is only ever self-promotion and other-promotion, because even self-denial, to the extent that it is necessary, is good for you, to cut out those behaviors and habits that are unhealthy.

To observe a holy Lent, then, requires that we ask ourselves the question, "How can I best journey with Christ, my Savior, and return to God during these forty days?"  I would add that your answer to the question should also look forward to the year/s ahead.  As an example: last year I took up the spiritual discipline during Lent of writing letters of affirmation to family and friends.  I took up the discipline because I knew that I wanted to write more letters to my family and friends than I had up to that point.  Since Easter last year, I cannot say that I have been writing a letter a week as I did during Lent 2017, but I have been writing significantly more to family.  That is my way, or one way, of spreading God's love to my family and friends. 

So as we pray about what our Lenten practice could be this year, I encourage you to reflect on what unhealthy habits and behaviors God may be nudging you to let go for your entire life, not just for forty days; or on what healthy habits and behaviors and disciplines God may be inviting you to pick up, not just for forty days but for your whole life.  That is what Lent is ultimately about: preparing ourselves to accompany Christ on the life journey of Christian disciples who have been resurrected to new life on Easter after dying to self on Good Friday.  It is not to deny ourselves for forty days to say that we did it or feel good about ourselves for an accomplishment, or so that we can complain for forty days, but return us to the full life that God has in store for us: "Abide in me, and I will abide in you."

As such, here are some specific tips and questions to help you work through, pray about, and decide what habits to let go of or what spiritual disciplines to pick up during Lent.

-Obviously, giving up chocolate, sweets, ice cream, TV, social media, and the like are common Lenten practices, and you may be considering giving up one or more.  That’s not a bad thing.  But ask why you are considering it and what good giving up that thing will do for you.  Further, do you think it would be good to continue giving up that thing, or using/eating it in moderation, after Lent is over?  If the answer is ‘no,’ or if you don’t have a good reason for giving it up in the first place, then perhaps it’s not a good Lenten practice.

-If you do let go of or give something up, remember that Sundays are mini-Easters, even during Lent, and should always be feast days of rest.  As such, you should not sacrifice on Sundays.

-Since Lent is about returning to God and preparing for a life of journeying with Christ, who practiced and calls us to both acts of piety and acts of charity, consider praying about picking up one of each.  Examples of acts of piety: prayer, fasting, reading the Bible, private and corporate worship, meditation, etc.  Examples of acts of charity: those letters of affirmation, serving with a church program, serving a meal at a homeless shelter, visiting a nursing home or local shut-ins, increase giving to approach or hit the target of tithing, etc. 

-Or, perhaps, consider praying about giving up one thing and picking up one spiritual discipline, whether it be an act of piety or charity.  For instance, maybe you do give up watching Netflix and then pick up praying for thirty minutes every day; or maybe you give up checking social media every day (limit yourself to once a week, maybe, on Sundays) and pick up visiting someone in the hospital or nursing home once a week. 

-Of course, you should also ask: Will this practice bring me closer to God?  You may reach the end of Lent and answer that, no, it didn’t bring you closer to God and you don’t think it ever will.  Okay, fine, but the answer at the beginning of Lent, at least, should be yes.

-Lastly, you should ask: Do I have intentions to continue this practice in some form after Lent?  Even if, in the back of your head, you know you won’t continue the practice on throughout the year or throughout your life, or won’t do the practice as often, the intention or the hope should ideally be there.  We shouldn’t limit what God can do for us and with us to forty days of the year.

With all this in mind, I hope and pray that you have a joyful and holy Lent that brings you closer to God of all grace and mercy. 

No comments:

Post a Comment