Beginning next Wednesday, March 1, I will embark on another forty-day journey of seeking Christ and setting aside, voluntarily, some activities that I will use as a reminder to myself that I am abiding in Christ. Literally millions of Christians (and many non-believers who will do this out of rote religiosity), will be celebrating Lent during these forty days (excluding Sundays) until Easter. I will join them, and some of you will join in as well.
Let me share with you some brief advice concerning any intentional practice of seeking a closer, more intimate relationship with God, whether it is Lent, Advent, retreats of silence, prayer vigils, fasting, etc. First, be careful! It is amazing how quickly a voluntary practice can become a law for us. The Bible does not command us to celebrate specific holy days or practices to increase our holiness. However, it does invite us to willingly set aside good things that are lawful for us in order to focus on our relationship with God (Matt. 6:16-17; Acts 18:18; 21:26; Rom. 14:5-12). Fasting is a good, godly practice, but to practice it does not mean that eating is evil. When fasting becomes a law for us, or a means by which we extract God's blessings from him as a payment for our good deeds, it has become a death-producing weight on us, not a life-giving and God-exalting act of worship. Second, enjoy your intentional time that you have set aside to abide in Christ. If praying through a night is a burden to you, and only makes you ornery, or angry, or self-righteous – do not do it. However, if setting aside a specific time for prayer or taking a day to spend alone in a retreat of silence helps you as you learn to love and cherish Christ more, than do so with joy and make the most of that time. Finally, do not pass judgment on others if they choose not to make use of the church calendar, nor allow yourself to be unfairly judged by others if you do.
I fully realize that there are some Protestants who cringe at the fact that I choose to celebrate church calendar events like Advent and Lent and appeal to them as a means by which we can intentionally draw closer to Christ. I can live with that and agree to disagree with these brothers and sisters in Christ. The fact of the matter is that almost all of us recognize annual calendar markers in our lives (semesters, financial quarters, Fall/Spring Break, Christmas, Easter, etc.). I do not observe Advent and Lent solely due to my Roman Catholic upbringing. In reality, although my family observed the church calendar, my parents were never legalistic about how we celebrated it. True, I ate a lot of fish in my day, but I never remember my mother demanding to know if I snuck away to McDonalds at any point during Lent (and I confess - I did).
As I prepare for Lent, I am asking God to use these brief forty days to reveal himself to me in such a way that I am a stronger, more vibrant Christ-follower at the end of Lent than I was at the beginning. If you are also focusing on a similar desire for your life during this season, my prayer is that God will do the very same for you. I recommend the following resources if you would like to read more about the practice of Lenten celebration or to prepare for it:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/02/13/why-bother-with-lent/
A Hunger for God, by John Piper
Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster
The Valley of Vision – A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett
Spiritual Mindedness (Abridged and made easy to read – Puritan Paperbacks), by John Owen
For those looking for a ready devotional for each day of Lent, I will make my own available again this year on Sunday.
Grace and peace
Pastor Jym