Why I Love Lent

Why I love Lent

  

Great and holy God
awe and reverence
fear and trembling
do not come easily to us
for we are not
Old Testament Jews
or Moses
or mystics
or sensitive enough.
Forgive us
for slouching into Your presence
with little expectation
and less awe
than we would eagerly give a visiting dignitary.
We need
neither Jehovah nor a buddy —
neither “the Great and Powerful Oz” nor “the man upstairs.”
Help us
to want what we need…
You
God
and may the altar of our hearts
tremble with delight
at
Your visitation
amen.

--"Awe-Full" by Frederick Ohler

Maybe it’s the contemplative in me, but I love Lent.  Maybe because it’s one of the few seasons where it feels like there is permission to withdraw more and consider the spiritual life.  Maybe it’s because of the freedom I feel with it. 

It’s a strange thing that I look forward to Lent since I grew up evangelical.  I don’t think that growing up in an evangelical church you hear anything about Lent—or at least that was my experience.  It wasn’t until public high school when some Catholic friends would come to school with black ashes on their foreheads that I realized there was a sacred time leading up to Easter.  I also realized that Lent was code for “spiritual dieting” when all the girls would give up some food that was “bad” in hopes of losing weight guised under spiritual motivations.  It was the best of both worlds—lose weight and get brownie points for heaven.  Something about this understanding of Lent didn’t quite work either.

But somewhere in college the idea of Lenten preparation struck me.  It was more somber than Christmas season, but the idea of giving up something that had become a stronghold made sense.  Perhaps because I grew up and am currently in a church tradition that doesn’t highlight Lent, I feel complete freedom in the process.  Some years I have done nothing.  Some years I have taken something on.  And other years I have given something up—something that was good, but had become taken-for-granted or a bad habit.  This freedom is part of why I love it—there is no shame or cultural expectation for what to do in my circles, and there is no thought that somehow participating in Lent makes anyone “more spiritual.”  It is simply a time to make extra space to ponder and identify more with our Lord.

The difference between Lent and New Year’s Resolutions is twofold: the motivation and the power.  The motivation for almost all New Year’s Resolutions is self-betterment.  Its focus is on how to make oneself healthier or happier.  Lent, on the other hand, is about the cross.  It’s about dying to oneself.  It’s “one way of mourning the death that sin has caused in our lives” and “recalling our desperate need for Jesus Christ[1].”  The other significant difference is that New Year’s the power comes from our programs or determination.  We buy the latest diet food program or join the gym determined that this time something is going to change. Some people do make significant changes, although often temporarily.  The reality is that our motivation only lasts so long before we get bored or tired.  Lent, however, has total freedom.  It’s the freedom of discipline and giving up something that has an improper place in our lives.  Instead of condemnation if we don’t follow through perfectly, there is always grace because the motivation is not to become perfect.  The motivation is to die with Christ so that we may become more like him in this life[2].

I think the other reason I love Lent is because of how counter-cultural it is.  Everything is always more or bigger or better.  Lent says, “Enough.  I have all I need for godliness and for joy that the world cannot give.[3]”  You don’t need to buy any decorations for Lent and there’s nothing showy about giving something up.  In this culture "we can become desensitized to our needs--the real hungers in our lives.  Observing Lent can help us wrestle with the causes of our perpetual consumption.[4]"

The last reason I am going to note today is that it identifies me with Christendom from the beginning until now.  There is power in the blood of Jesus and in those who have died in spreading that message.  And now with the violence and displacement in the world for those with the name “Christian,” it gives me a chance to reflect on the seriousness of my faith and a chance to pray for my brothers and sisters suffering.  

As always, I want to share music that speaks to me and embodies these thoughts.  From All Sons & Daughters, I love the line "tomorrow's freedom is today's surrender."  Amen.

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[1] Tyndale. Devotions for Lent. Ed. Credo Communications. Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2009. Print.

[2] Philippians 3:10-14 (NIV) “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

[3] 2 Peter 1:3-9 (NLT) “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

[4] Button, Eileen.  Tyndale. Devotions for Lent. Ed. Credo Communications. Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2009. Print.