Lent is Busting Out All Over

Pastor Page, January 30, 2008

Lent is barreling down upon us—next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday already—and it seems we just got over Advent and Christmas. Easter is on March 23 this year, only one day later than the earliest it can be. (There are thirty-five possible dates for Easter, from March 22 to April 25, inclusive.) Of course, when Easter is early, it makes everything else early as well, from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost to Trinity Sunday, because from now on out, everything is calculated relative to Easter (until Christ the King Sunday, that is, which is always on the 34^th Sunday in Ordinary Time).

Lent is forty days long, not counting Sundays, and the reason is that it’s an echo of Jesus’ forty-day trial in the wilderness. That passage, from whatever Gospel is current in the lectionary, is always read on the first Sunday of Lent. Of course, Jesus’ forty-days are in turn an echo of the Israelites’ forty years in the wilderness, before being allowed to cross the Jordan into the promised land. During that wandering, they experienced trials and tribulations, some brought on by themselves, some visited upon them from outside. And so our season of Lent has the qualities of testing and trial, together with a sense of searching, of wandering, of preparation. Just as the Israelites were prepared by the wilderness for the promised land, and just as it prepared Jesus for his eventual death and resurrection, so our forty-day sojourn prepares us to confront the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord.

There are several practices associated with Lent. The most famous of them is the fast, a practice designed to deepen our spirituality and cause us to ponder the meaning of sacrifice. Thus, the idea is not merely that we go hungry, but that at meal-times instead of eating, we undertake a time of prayer and introspection. We meditate upon our place in salvation history, on the ways in which we have fallen short of God’s best intentions for us. We offer up intercessions for family and friends and the world. And perhaps most important of all, we silence ourselves so we can hear what God has to say. Fasting also gives us a taste of sacrifice, of giving something up, for a Christ who, after all, gave up all for us. It allows those of us who aren’t good at giving things up to get better at it. After all, it isn’t called a “practice” for nothing. A good way to fast is to choose a day and then fast from breakfast to breakfast; that is, eat breakfast on day one, then “break your fast” with the same meal on the following day.

Another practice associated with Lent is prayer. Many folks who don’t normally have a time of daily prayer start one during Lent. Some even continue it on beyond the forty days, so that it becomes a life-time practice. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, like Benedictines praying seven times a day—once a day is fine. Covenant makes available These Days from our denomination, and you can often find daily guides online (there’s one from Luther Seminary here ; you can download the large-print version for free). In addition, members of Covenant are writing weekly meditations this year. The first one is for Ash Wednesday, and will be in the bulletin on Sunday.