The church calendar has many special holidays on it. The Protestant church is familiar with some of them, yet others did not make it into our normal liturgy. Christmas and the season of Advent is very popular, however the Protestant denominations do not usually celebrate All Saints Day or Immaculate Conception. The season of Lent falls somewhere in the middle. Some Protestants will celebrate it individually, but it's not usually a part of the corporate worship in those churches. I started celebrating Lent when I was in high school. Honestly, those first few years were because my friends were doing it, and I wanted to be included.
For those of you who might not know what Lent is, it is the season leading up to Easter. It is a season of sacrifice and fasting in order to prepare your heart for everything that Easter means and to remind you of what Jesus went through for us. The beginning of Lent is Ash Wednesday. That's today actually. On Ash Wednesday in the Catholic church, members receive ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. The ashes are from the burned palm branches from last year's Palm Sunday. Traditionally, those who observe Lent start on Ash Wednesday by giving up something, or fasting from something, during the 6 weeks preceding Easter.
The first few years I gave up things like chocolate and Dr. Pepper. Now, don't get me wrong, those things were hard for me to give up, and I think the process of fasting is very valuable in our walk with God. However, I was fasting and not adding anything to my life in the place of that thing. In the years to come, especially once I started college and my faith deepened, I started sacrificing something in order to add another thing that would bring me closer to God.
One year I sacrificed time in the morning to make sure that I read my Bible every day. Another year I added to my reading the caveat that I would read the Easter story every day from the different gospels. That was an awesome growing year. Another year I sacrificed time and energy to write letters to the women who had been instrumental in my walk with God.
In all of these different years of sacrificing and fasting, I have grown in my relationship with God in all kinds of different ways. I have been challenged and been shown the love and character of God. I have learned in so many ways that it's not about what I'm giving up, it's about what I'm adding to my journey.
Truly, I need to add that same perspective to all areas of my life. Whenever you make decisions in life there will be things that are sacrificed and things that are chosen. I want to make sure that when I'm walking though this life, I'm choosing to add God to every aspect of my life.
Matthew 6:16-18 had a lot to say about fasting.
“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well." ( MSG)
When I first started observing Lent I know that I was doing it to be a small-time celebrity. No one else in my church was doing it really, so fasting for Lent made me stand out. It made me feel Holy... When in reality I was just being Holier than thou.
Here's the thing though, God used me anyway. Other people I knew started observing Lent. And He began to change my heart about what it meant to sacrifice. I remember my second Lent fasting from South Park (not a very Christian inspirational show. If you've never heard of it, probably for the best). And after the time of fasting was over the new South Park movie was in my Easter basket. I put it in to watch it, and was thoroughly disgusted by what I had been watching. I haven't watched it since. That's The kind of thing God can do in our hearts. That was the year that I really started looking at what I was using to replace whatever I gave up. Because instead of South Park, I was watching other less than wholesome TV. I began to evaluate what was actually doing and not just what I want doing.
Matthew warns us that the reward of our fast either occurs now on this Earth from people around us or from our Father in Heaven. The purpose of fasting is to focus ourselves. Fasting during Lent specifically is meant to focus us on the sacrifice of Jesus that we celebrate at Easter. Everytime we crave that's thing we have given up, it should prompt us to pray and center our hearts on Jesus and all he's done for us. Each craving is not an opportunity to complain and garner accolades from those around us.
As we start the Lent season, please take some time to consider whether you want to scrifice/or add something to your life to draw you into a closer relationship with God. I will be observing Lent again this year, and I'm praying that it's a time that changes my life as only time with God can do.
Love you all, and Happy Ash Wednesday.
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