What is lent and what are the benefits? Why does it matter? Rosie Woodbridge and Han-Hee Kim
Ash Wednesday this week marks the start of Lent, the 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter.
Perhaps there is the excitement of pancake day on Tuesday. Maybe then you think about what you might give up this year. Chocolate? Facebook? Netflix? Meat?
Maybe Lent is something you deliberately do not observe. It has become too trivial, all about superficial self-denial rather than the gospel. Or more than that, it is a distortion of the gospel, seen as a way to do penance and thus earn favour with God rather than trusting in the grace won for us by Jesus.
There is some truth in that. Before the Reformation, Lent was a ritual by which many people thought they could stack up some points with God. The Reformers were right to rebel against that, emphasising the glorious truth that Christ’s work is sufficient for us, there is nothing we can do to add to or take away from His saving work on the cross.
However, let us not lose what is good and beneficial about Lent. Let us not miss this opportunity of spiritual formation, of growing in our faith...
Repentance
Repenting is, of course, for life – not just for Lent. However it can be helpful to have a season of sustained focus on repentance, which can help develop spiritual habits which we can continue.
Lent is an opportunity for us to grieve and mourn over our sin. During an Ash Wednesday service, ash is smeared over our foreheads, representing our need to “repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6).
Why, to make us feel dreadful for forty days and forty nights? No. The ash is in the shape of a cross. The cross shows us the seriousness of our sin; we are so flawed that the creator of the universe had to leave his home in heaven and die for us. And yet the cross also shows us the wondrous heights of God’s love for us. Because of the cross all of our sins are wiped away – all of them! Our debt is paid, it is paid in full.
Lent takes us to the depths of our sin, and then to the heights of God’s mercy.
Find our all in Jesus
The forty days of Lent recall the forty days in which Jesus fasted in the wilderness. Just as he gave up food, what can we give up to learn something of the self-denial that Jesus calls us to? We will talk more about fasting below, but for now – what is the point of it? We have seen that it cannot be to earn favour with God.
Rather, it teaches us to depend on God and find our satisfaction in Him. When we hunger from a fasted meal, we realise our dependence on God for our very existence. When we miss turning to the app we would normally go to for escapism but have deleted for Lent, we can talk to Jesus instead. Whenever we deny ourselves something we rely on, we can be reminded of and live out the truth that Christ is all that we need.
Look forward to Easter
How often does Easter thrill your heart? You might enjoy an Easter egg and a bank holiday, but how much does your heart leap about the greatest day in history which has won your salvation forever?
Too often Easter passes us by. However during Lent we can experience deprivation, and mourn the brokenness of our world. We can also be reminded of our mortality. As they say on Ash Wednesday: “you are dust, to dust you shall return.” And then how much more do we rejoice about Jesus’ triumph! How bright the light of the resurrection which lifts us from our mourning and grief!
Don’t miss the opportunity Lent brings this season.
What will it look like for you…?
Let’s consider 3 ways we as a church can prepare our hearts for Easter.
1. Fast
Fasting might be one of the first things you think of when Lent is brought up. The reason for fasting is to share in Christ’s sufferings and denying ourselves. Do this because you want to feel the desperate hunger for more of God in your life. Before starting, check that
There are three main ways to fast in terms of fasting from food, you can choose to do a partial fast eg. take one meal out of the day or abstaining from certain delicacies eg. meat, dairy, chocolate, caffeine. A solid food fast only consuming juice or water, work your way up to perhaps 1-2 days a week. An absolute fast where no food or water is consumed for one day. You can choose to fast from something unrelated to food from social media/ TV/ Netflix/ Internet.
2. Prayer
Dedicate this time to the Lord. Free yourself from all distractions, if it means waking up at 3am or switching your phone off for an hour. What a privilege it is to know that God loves to hear from us and there is nothing we can bring before him that he doesn’t already know, but we need to humbly come before him. We can bring everything before the cross and know we are forgiven and made righteous by Jesus. We are not doing these things to get something from God. We already have everything we need through Jesus Christ. It is about realigning and reevaluating the desires of our hearts and as we have been hearing from Zechariah, we are being called to return to the Lord.
You can do this with your friends, family or small group. There is power in praying in unity and perhaps even if you don’t meet to pray together, you could set a time or day to pray at the same time in different locations.
The church building is open for personal prayer, why not make the most of that and come into church to pray. We can pray anytime and anywhere, but it can help us to be reverent and free of distractions in the house of the Lord.
The resources available to help guide your prayer time the Inspire prayermate app, prayer journal, prayer relay, prayer walk.
Here is some suggested brief reading on prayer:
https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/pray-big
https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/prayer-1
3. Bible Reading / Meditation / Devotional
When tempted in the wilderness, Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” (Matthew 4:4). He also taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). We are getting fed spiritual food directly by the living God through his word. Intentionally ask God to speak to you through the time of bible reading. Desire God and desire for the power of his word to transform you more than anything else. Be still before the Lord, wait on him and write down what He is revealing to you. Ask God to help you to apply it to your life.
A good way to prepare for Easter through reading the bible could be ‘The 40-Day Gospel Bible Reading Challenge’ which is a reading plan which goes through the 4 gospels in 40 days. As you read the gospels you will be challenged to be an active participant in Jesus’ story.
A devotional is a great way to read a short reflection for the day to get us thinking and responding to God’s word. The devotional we are reading as a church family this year is Nancy Guthrie - Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross - copies are available at church. There is also a WhatsApp group for you to share your personal response to the daily readings in community. You will be encouraged as you encourage others.'
