What Is Lent (Anyway)? - Part 5

Lent is not a time to do something you would not do at other times of the year.  Instead, it is a time to focus on certain activities with renewed vigor in commemoration (remembrance) of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert.

In Church tradition, Christians take up three practices during Lent - and they all relate to justice.  The first practice is prayer, which relates to justice towards God.  The second practice is fasting, which relates to justice to one's self.  The third practice is almsgiving (giving to those in need), which relates to justice to our neighbors.

The fasting does not necessarily have to be food.  It could be anything at all that tends to distract us from our focus on God and spiritual matters.  For those who choose a food fast, it could be a fast from certain kinds of foods or beverages.  It could be a fast from in between meal snacks, or from a meal each day.  Some fast from sunrise to sunset.  For those who give up something, they sometimes give the money they would have otherwise spent to the needy.

The point here is there is a whole range of options and freedom of what to do during Lent.  However, if you give up something, it should be something that helps you to focus on God and spiritual matters, not something  that turns your focus on what you have given up.

Another way to think about Lent is identifying with the suffering of Christ, which Philippians 3 encourages us to do.  As you remember that Christ gave up eating for 40 days for our sake, you can ask yourself what am I willing to give up for 40 days to identify with that and to help me remember what He did.  It can help you better understand this episode in the life of Christ.

Lent is a rich tradition to draw from in the Church - and I hope and pray you can grow in Christ and be renewed during it.

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What Is Lent (Anyway)? - Part 4

Since Lent commemorates Jesus fasting in the desert for 40 days, it leaves us with the question, why did Jesus do this?  Matthew (4) tells us that immediately following His baptism, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Before starting his public ministry, Jesus went to face a spiritual battle with our great adversary, Satan – a sort of clash of the titans.  (The wilderness location hearkens back to the 40 years Israel spent in the wilderness being prepared to enter the promised land.)

Often in Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, in critical moments, often in the midst of spiritual warfare, men of God, the people of God, and sometimes even pagans, fast to overcome their enemies, to avert judgment, or to bring about God’s will.  Fasting can help clear the mind to better focus on spiritual matters.

Matthew tells us the devil came to Jesus on the last day of the fast, when Jesus was hungry.  Perhaps Lucifer thought Jesus was at his weakest.  However, Jesus was strong and resisted each temptation presented.  While Matthew simply says the devil left Him, Luke records the devil left Him until an opportune time, meaning Satan would return another day.  Upon overcoming this initial battle, Jesus then entered into his public ministry.

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What Is Lent (anyway)? - Part 3

The first practice most Christian traditions observe during lent is Ash Wednesday, where a priest or minister marks the forehead of the participant with black ashes in the sign of the cross.  The worshiper traditionally retains the mark until it wears off.  Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent in most Christian traditions.  (For example, the Eastern Orthodox tradition starts Lent on Clean Monday.)  While applying the ash mark, the priest or minister usually quote a portion of Genesis 3:19 - Remember that dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.  (KJV) (Some quote Mark 1:15 - Turn away from sin, and be faithful to God.)

In Church tradition, Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance.  Ashes appear several times in the Bible as sign of mourning over sin.  Some passages combine sackcloth and ashes, while others combine dust and ashes, all as ways of expressing sorrow over sin.  So most traditions focus on repentance of sins on Ash Wednesday.  Some Christian traditions observe fasting or abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday, while other traditions make this optional.  Psalm 51 is often read on Ash Wednesday and the mass or service often calls for the corporate confession of sin.  In some traditions, small cards are handed out where people are invited to write their sins.  The cards are then brought up front, where they are burned.

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What Is Lent (anyway)? - Part 2

Most people associate Lent with 40 days, even though from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before  Easter actually takes 46 days.  However, in most Western traditions, the six Sundays during this period of time are not counted as part of Lent, so that the 46 days then results to 40 days.  In Church tradition, each of the Sundays represent a mini-Easter, and so are not counted as part of Lent.  (Since some traditions consider Holy Thursday, or Maudy Thursday, as the end of Lent - those traditions technically have 38 days of Lent if you exclude the Sundays, or 44 days if you include them, though they still emphasize 40 days of observing Lent.)  (Other Christian traditions start Lent on a different day than Ash Wednesday, and exclude or include different days, but they all focus on observing 40 days of Lent.)

However, this raises the question, why 40 days?  Church tradition identifies the 40 days of Lent as a commemoration of the 40 days our Lord spent in the desert fasting and facing temptation from Satan before the start of his public ministry, as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  40 days is a significant number in Scripture from other events - rain fell on the earth for 40 days and nights in Genesis 7; Moses spent 40 days with God on Mount Sanai in Exodus 24 (fasting); Elijah spent 40 days and nights walking to Mount Horeb (the old name for Mount Sanai) in 1 Kings 19; Jonah gave the people of Ninevah 40 days to repent or be destroyed by God in Jonah 3; though much longer - the children of Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert in their travel to the Promised Land in Numbers 14.  There is something special about the number 40 in the Bible.

In the next part, I will discuss how Christians in Church tradition have commemorated the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert fasting and facing temptation.
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What is Lent (anyway)? - Part 1

Lent - Springtime

Lent is a Middle/Old English word that means Springtime, or simply Spring.  It derives from a German word for Spring - which itself derives from a German word for long - since as Spring approaches, the days get longer.

In Latin (the early language of the Church - besides Greek), Lent was called "qudragesima," which basically means forty.  So, in many languages, lent is called by some derivation of forty.  For example, in Spanish, it is called cuaresma, which roughly means forty (cuarenta).

In some languages (usually Slavic languages), Lent is called by a name which refers to fasting.  So in Russian it is called vyeliki post (great fast) or in Czech postní doba (fasting time).

I will have more to say about why it is often called forty in many languages in my next post.  Go to Part 2