Lent: The Journey to Easter
The Season of Lent: The Journey to Easter
Sometimes when people consider Lent, they think Roman Catholic observances. But Lent isn’t a Catholic thing or an Episcopal thing– it’s a Christian thing! Lent has been observed in one form or another since the very early Christian church, long, long before there were “Catholics” or “Episcopals”. What’s more, growing numbers of historically non-liturgical churches are finding new meaning in Lent. They are discovering that the journey of Lent helps prepare them for the great celebration of Easter and is a welcome spiritual enrichment to the late winter and early spring months.
What is Lent?
The season of Lent, a period of forty weekdays, follows Epiphany. Beginning on Ash Wednesday and culminating in Holy week, this season of both sorrow and joyful expectation is a time for the church to proclaim, remember, and respond to the atoning death of Christ. The traditional violet/purple color usually associated with the season is meant to convey the reflective, penitential tones of Lent.
The Bible has many things to say about reflection and repentance. Consider these four verses– and notice what kind of picture they paint of our relationship with God:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. -Psalm 51:7
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. -Psalm 139:23-24
Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. -Job 42:4
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. -Daniel 9:3
Lent is the time during the Christian year when we traditionally focus on the awareness of the need for repentance and cleansing. To do so links us with countless believers across the ages– a long line of Christian brothers and sisters– who saw this time as an opportunity for both personal discipleship and paying attention to the needs of others.
So, It’s Lent…. Now What Do I Do?
Perhaps the most well-known cliché associated with the season is the question, “What are you giving up for Lent?” Many people “give things up” for Lent– sometimes frivolous things of little consequence– and don’t really know why. Sometimes rituals grow old and meaningless when we forget their original purpose.
But one of the best ways to approach Lent is not by thinking about what to “give up”, but rather what to “take on.” At the very heart of the Christian faith is our common participation in the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To be a Christian is to follow Christ.
Through the ages, the church has been called to remember and live out this kind of new life, an incarnational life, with Jesus Christ right at the very center of who we are and how we live.
The Christian life has been referred to as a journey of faith. Lent, too, is often thought of in terms of a journey. So, in some ways, the season of Lent is the perfect time of the Christian year to walk in the footsteps of Christ as He draws closer to the cross.
You may be intrigued to learn that in the very early church, the season of Lent was used to immerse new believers in matters of the faith so they could grow in their discipleship during the weeks leading up to Easter. Then, on Easter Sunday morning, they would be baptized and partake in their first Lord’s Supper. What a wonderful, glorious time that would have been for new Christians! This was also a time when anyone who had lapsed in their faith or were out of fellowship with the church could be reconciled and restored.
In our own time, nearly every major Christian denomination and tradition has begun to recover the significance of Lent as a time of common preparation and community. The three practical suggestions that follow are all rooted in the hope of this recovery of the season: how best to “take on” forms of devotion and common life which flow from and prepare for the realities made present at Easter.
1. Searching the Scriptures
Lent is the perfect time for common Bible study, as well as a time to renew personal reading. One good place to start is to read in preparation for Sunday worship services. You might like also to look into getting a special Lenten Bible study for personal devotion. Many people use a book of prayer (the “Revised Common Lectionary” for example) or devotions to help them meaningfully organize and focus their readings.
2. Prayer and Fasting
Over the years, prayer and fasting have been the most visible aspects of Lent. More frequent and intense personal prayer time is something that most Christians could use. Perhaps Lent could be a time for you to make good on some well-meaning resolutions to spend more time in prayer.
Many people, especially during these busy times, find it helpful for personal discipline to have a season intentionally dedicated to “simplify” the way they live. For example, Lent can be a meaningful time for learning how to eat in less costly and indulgent ways. But merely “giving up” food for physical self improvement is not the point. Rather, we want to learn about the connections between living more simply to unclutter our senses and showing some solidarity with those less fortunate. The idea is to put off the things that might possibly keep us from putting on more of the disciplines of the Christ life.
In some ways the disciplines of Lent are similar to two of the goals of worship during Lent: simplicity and sobriety. There needs to be an obvious and intentional desire to help worshipers find a place where they can encounter God and make the declaration, “Search me, O God….”
3. Acts of Love and Devotion
Historically, the season of Lent has been a time to focus on the needs of others, especially the poor and needy. Acts of love and devotion, also called acts of piety, have been overlooked in Lenten observances. Of course, acts of love and devotion are not for show (we should always be careful not to let our right hand know what the left is doing) but rather for God’s glory and for the sake of the Kingdom of Christ.
Consider incorporating personal offerings of time, talents, or money into this season of Lent. Find a deserving charity or organization that could sorely use your help and/or resources. Lent is the perfect time for this kind of outward demonstration of love and devotion.
Copyright 2009 Chris Alford
Some handy Lenten references for you:
Hey Chris. Thank you for this thoughtful introduction to Lent. I like your idea to take something on. It might also be helpful to return to a discipline that has been neglected. Focusing our minds on Christ is at the core of this introspective season and you have captured that concept well. Keep up the good work and stay in touch. I am praying for you.