We All Need Lent

I’m not Catholic, nor did I grow up in a church that paid much attention to the liturgical calendar. However, I’m a Christian and I believe all Christians can benefit from observing the various seasons of the liturgical cycle.

A story my pastor shared last Easter provides a great illustration of why I believe this. He shared about how Easter was always a letdown for him as a child. He would compare Easter to Christmas. During the month that preceded Christmas each year, there were all of these exciting things that led up to the holiday (Christmas music, decorating, baking cookies, shopping for and wrapping gifts, etc.). Then on Christmas he’d get to open a whole bunch of gifts. Then there was Easter. He’d get up on Easter Sunday and find a small basket that contained a little candy and a new toy. It was exciting, but not nearly as exciting as Christmas.

My pastor was using this account to illustrate a point in his sermon, of course, but I don’t remember the details of that because my mind began turning over a couple of thoughts. One was a reminder of how important it is that we maintain Christ-focused Christmas and Easter traditions. The second was this: One reason Easter seemed so small and insignificant to him is that he didn’t have Lent. In his experience, Easter stood alone as a day for celebrating the Resurrection and for getting a basket of gifts. It wasn’t preceded by a period of reflection and penance, nor was it followed by a joyful season of celebration.

What is Lent?

Lent is a solemn period of reflection, purification, and penance that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends before Easter Sunday. Various denominations (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, etc.) calculate the 40 days of Lent differently and the specifics of how the members of these denominations observe Lent also differ. However, for all of these traditions, Lent is a time to prepare for Easter through practices such as prayer, repentance, fasting, self-denial, and almsgiving.

For some Christians, observing these practices means adhering to specific dietary regulations. Others will simply fast on certain days. Some will give up favorite foods or foods they use as “crutches” (chocolate, coffee, etc.) to help increase their cravings for God. Some abstain from certain recreational activities (watching TV, playing video games, looking at social media, etc.) in order to spend more time in prayer and Bible reading. Some give extra time and money to charities. Many will attend special church services.

Why we all need Lent

Regardless of the specific ways in which a person observes Lent, you can see how observing it prevents Easter from being the standalone holiday that my pastor viewed it as in the story I shared above. In addition to ushering in Easter, I believe there are other reasons why Lent is beneficial.

• It forces us to think about less pleasant (but super important) aspects of the Easter story. I love thinking about the Resurrection. It is exciting to read about the empty tomb and the angel proclaiming, “He is not here: for he is risen…” (Matthew 28:6). However, I don’t enjoy thinking about Christ’s death on the cross and the sin—my sin—that necessitated this sacrifice. Lent encourages us to contemplate these truths.
  • We are forgiven because of Christ’s shed blood (“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28)
  • Our sin is serious (“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23)
  • God loved us so much that he took the punishment for our sin on himself (“And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:6-8)
• It encourages us to live free of sin. One of the emotions associated with Lent is grief. To be perfectly honest, I don’t grieve a lot about my sinfulness. Like I noted above, I’d rather think about pleasant things. In this case, I’d rather think about forgiveness than about the weight and heinousness of my sin. Nevertheless, the Bible teaches us to lament, mourn, and weep because of our sin (James 4:8-9). No, God doesn’t want us to wallow in our sin or be weighed down by condemnation (Romans 8:1), but mourning our sin helps us be appalled by it just like God is appalled by it. It helps us be less callous in regards to our sin so we turn to God for forgiveness more quickly and are more motivated to avoid it.
• It tempers our desire for immediate gratification. Our society loves immediate gratification. Think about it. We have fast food, Instant Pots, text messaging, and Amazon Prime two-day shipping. I enjoy some of these things and they are helpful in our busy lives, but they feed our belief that we should be able to have what we want as soon as we want it. Self-denial and fasting fly in the face of this notion. Actions such as setting aside food (or types of food) and abstaining from certain activities help us remember that we can resist the desire for immediate gratification and that waiting can actually be good for us.
• It helps us put down our facades and be realistic about who we are. Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, provides a reminder of our sin and our mortality. The priest or pastor traditionally says the following as he applies the ashes: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Oddly enough, I find this to be a life-giving statement! I don’t have to be prefect. I don’t have to impress other people. I don’t have to maintain certain appearances. I’m mortal. I’m fallible. God already knows this. He doesn’t expect me to earn my salvation. He’s taken care of this by sending Jesus to pay the price for my sin and give me life eternal.
• It helps us do more of what we should be doing anyway. The activities associated with Lent—repentance, prayer, fasting, giving—should be part of our everyday practice of Christianity. These are regular parts of how I practice my faith, but I don’t do any of them as much as I could. Thus, I think Lent provides the same sort of opportunity we have every November. During November, we hear a lot about gratitude and giving thanks. Gratitude is something we should feel and express regularly, but we often don’t. The Thanksgiving season’s heightened focus on gratitude can help us get back on track. Likewise, Lent can help us get better at prayer, repentance, fasting, self-denial, and giving. It can help us ingrain these more deeply into our lifestyles.

If, like me, you grew up in a tradition that didn’t observe Lent, you may be uncertain how to start observing it. Next week I’ll share some ideas on how to get started.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! If you usually observe Lent, then how do you feel it benefits you? If you don’t usually observe Lent, then do you think it could be beneficial for you?

Shared at the following:

Encouraging Hearts and Home.