Are You Taking ““a loan”” out of Lent?
I find it strange that people who never go to church and know very little about the things of the faith want to participate in the idea of giving something up for Lent. I'm sure that there is a sense in which many people feel they have so much and they feel guilty about their prosperity. Giving something up for Lent in many cases is nothing other than tokenism but should we criticise when someone is making a start to think about others rather than themselves?
The answer is of course we shouldn't but we all need to understand more clearly what lies behind the idea of Lent.
At the Reformation the reformers departed from the idea of a church calendar. They argued that everyday was a Christmas and an Easter and we were called to live out the fullness of the gospel in our everyday lives. Over the years many of the reformed churches have come to see the value of having special times in the year to celebrate and reflect on important aspects of Christian teaching.
Lent is seen as a time of reflection, a time of preparation, a time of repentance and a time of service to others. It has also been a time when some Christians have engaged with the idea of fasting. Hence people giving up chocolate or alcohol for Lent.
Should we as Christians encourage this practice? My answer is yes if you are doing it for the right reasons. Its not about getting into God's good books, its not about making up for your past. Why? Because Jesus' death on the cross has brought us into that relationship already. So what we do is not about us. What we do is all about God. When we do these spiritual exercises its because we wish to express out gratitude to God for all he has done for us.
The wonderful thing about it all is when we begin to look out beyond ourselves in service to others we discover that God gives us in return more than we deserve or expect. For we serve not expecting anything in return. There is a wonderful correlation between prayer and fasting in the Bible. When men and women pray and fast there is a whole new dimension of expectancy opened up before them. Jesus taught us that some things in life can only come about through a life of prayer and fasting.
One more thing I'd like to say on this topic. There is an element of humility involved in all of this. None of us really know the spiritual habits of each other. This was brought home to me many years ago. I was attending a member of my congregation who didn't have long to live. We were reminiscing over the past. The man said to me. " You know I loved Sundays - I never used to break my fast on a Sunday until I got back from church on a Sunday evening. Oh how that made Sunday so special for me! " It made me aware that for this man Sunday had become a truly holy day. A day set aside to honour God. And he did it through his fast. So should we all fast? Yes if we are in good health, but we should be reluctant to tell others we're doing it. Jesus said, when you fast hide it from others , so it doesn't look like your boasting.
This year we've put Chocolate Sunday in the middle of Lent just to remind us that too often we want a Chocolate faith. One that doesn't cost us too much and is an instant hit when it comes to finding our comfort spot. The truth is the Gospel calls us to the place where we are called to take up the cross and follow. "Giving up" is often a much more agreeable idea than being invited to "take something up" We inevitably ask for how long? Will it be heavy? Will we get any help? Will we be on our own? Let's face it cross carrying is not exactly a popular pursuit. Yet it is at the heart of the Christian's call to service. Oh and lets be careful we don't just use Lent as a loan bank. You know using its spiritual excercises just on loan. We make sure we put it all back after Easter.
So what I'm suggesting is this. Lay the chocolate down if you need to , but the one thing that is "a must" is to pick up the cross and follow.
How that will work out for us all in our lives will be quite different. It might mean a great commitment to serve in the church. It might mean a great effort to make certain relationships work. It might mean sharing your wealth and your time with someone in need. The strange thing is this most of us know about the cross because it the heart of it is a call to die to ourselves and our own ambitions and dreams and live for Christ. I guess that's really what Lent is all about. Happy Easter!
Posted By: Helmut On: 4 Mar 2010 At: 2:44pm
Yes, I quite agree. Thank you for your elaboration.