Introducing The Season Of Lent
Some friends of mine who follow this blog have been a bit curious about what this whole fuss about Lent is all about. Some of them are actually Christians but they generally are from the non-liturgical traditions that I used to come from and are understandably in the dark about some of the more ritualised practices based on the traditional Church calendar. I thought I’d do us all a favour by providing a bit of introduction to the season of Lent. First of all, a historical overview of how Lent came about:
The Beginning of Lent
by Ted Olsen at ChristianHistory.net
“What did you give up for Lent?” I had grown up in Baptist and other conservative evangelical churches, so my friend’s question held no meaning. I figured it was like a second chance at a New Year’s Resolution for those who had already abandoned theirs ..
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Some FAQs wouldn’t hurt as well:
Some FAQs About Ash Wednesday & Lent
by the Revd Dr Albert Walters
St. Mark’s Church, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia
What is Ash Wednesday?
Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins. It occurs forty days before Easter (excluding the 6 Sundays).
What is Lent?
Lent is the period of forty days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter.
By observing the forty days of Lent, Christians imitate Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for forty days. Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.
Whereas Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross, Lent recalls the events leading up to and including Jesus’ crucifixion.
The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular vice such as favourite foods or smoking. Whatever the sacrifice it is a reflection of Jesus’ deprivation in the wilderness and a test of self-discipline.
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And of course, some of the difficulties that non-liturgical and Evangelical Christians might encounter internally and externally when encouraged to commemorate Lent:
The Challenge of the Lenten Season
Evangelical Protestants are caught between freedom in Christ and sacred observance.
Lent constitutes both a challenge and an embarrassment to Protestantism. Each year as the season approaches it brings with it the temptation to equivocate. We do not know where we stand because our feet seem to be stuck in both camps ..
.. a sense of indignation stirs within the Protestant breast, even to the pitch of revolt, at what the Church has done with Lent in the past. When we see how the priesthood has used Lent to manipulate and exploit the faithful; when we survey the fuss and feathers it has raised over dietary prescriptions, and the way it has proclaimed its manifold regulations, specific demands, and sacrificial requirements, we are left wondering what it is all about. We want to draw the line with Luther and cry out, “Hier steh’ ich; ich kann nicht anders!,” and postulate the principle that every day is Lent for the Christian who lives every day in the shadow of the Cross.
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Finally, some practical advice as to how one can commemorate Lent, even if one is not particularly sympathetic towards liturgical forms:
Lent for the Non-Liturgical
by Elizabeth Diffin at LeadershipJournal.net
.. Lent is the season of reconciliation between God and man. But man-to-man reconciliation is also important. This Lenten season, encourage congregants to reach out to at least one person they have wronged, or been wronged by, in the past. Then they can add the person to their prayer list for the rest of the year ..
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Personally, Lent, like most other Christian practices, is about the attitude of the heart. The regularly commemorated season is a good reminder for us to re-align our attitudes and our actions to better reflect God’s will and commandments so that the fruit of Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; will blossom in our lives.
The 6th century monk, Dorotheus of Gaza (yep .. of the Gaza Strip fame), called the season a tithe of the year .. where we tithe a tenth of the year to God by wholly focusing our thoughts, actions, and lives to Him alone. It would be a great shame if we reduce to merely another ritual again.
Its been a personal challenge to me this year to observe the season faithfully. Every day gives me a new reason to just lash out in attitudes that are the mirror opposite of the abovementioned fruit of the Spirit. Maybe that’s why some have, in their wisdom, observed the need for spiritual warfare (jihad?) during this season.
I close with today’s reading from the Lutheran Church in Malaysia & Singapore’s 40 Days Walking With Jesus in Lent devotional where the focus today is for God to reveal one’s present spiritual condition:
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (Revelations 3:17)
