Lent
Wednesday morning Lisa reminded me that it was Ash Wednesday—the beginning of Lent. She asked, "What are you going to give up for Lent?" I said, "Nothing." Before you write me off as unspiritual or calloused—both of which may be true—please hear me out. According to the book, Lent—Disciplines and Practices, "Lent is marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbor)."
These aregood practices. These things should mark a Christian. But it is wrong to think that they are acts of justice toward God, self, or even your neighbor. Repeatedly God says, "None is righteous, not one...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift , through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (Rom. 3:10, 23-25). My observation is that Lent is often done thinking that something we do will atone for our sin, or will bring us closer to God, or will make God look on us with favor through our acts of penance. I fear that these things often put our focus on us and our righteousness rather than on Christ and His work of making us righteous through the cross. There is nothing more that needs to be done to bring us closer to God and there is no act of penance that will cause God to look with favor on us other than the sacrifice of God's Son to satisfy the wrath of God against our sin. I am more broken, fallen, and sinful than I know, but through my faith in Jesus work on the cross I am more accepted, cared for, and loved than I can imagine.
Neither Jesus nor the early church celebrated Lent—but what they did celebrate was the cross. Each time they gathered they remembered the blood and body of Christ sacrificed on the cross through the celebration of the Lord's Supper. If your celebration of Lent causes you to remember the finished work of Christ on the cross—then by all means, celebrate it and celebrate it well—but it cannot add to the work of the cross or replace its remembrance through the Lord's Super.
