Lent

The church throughout the ages has followed a calendar that walks its people through the seasons of the Christian story.  The story moves from Advent, the anticipation of the Saviour’s coming, to his birth at Christmas and then onto Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter.  In-between Christmas and Easter, the Church for over 1500 years has observed a season called Lent.  For 40 days before Easter God’s people often choose to fast or “give something up,” like coffee, chocolate, or television. 

But what is Lent all about? 

The purpose and meaning of Lent revolves around the desert.  For 40 days, we’re told in the Bible, Jesus fasted in the desert, being tempted and tried as he prepared for the start of his earthly ministry.  Jesus in the desert—we can only imagine what he learned in these dry wastelands; parched and exhausted, deafened by the voices of temptation and his own visceral growling.  I suspect it was here that he refined the art of prayer.  Here in the desert he learned how to listen to his Father, to really listen.  Here in the quiet he learned to look deep inside himself, to depend, to be obedient. 

Or we might also think of the Israelites.  They spent 40 years in the desert, wandering like nomads, wondering why on earth God would subject them to such a painful experience.  Some have said that it would take 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel: to put to death those things they had picked up along the way that kept them from God. 

This is what Lent is about:  It’s a season of stepping into the desert: for reflection, for refinement, for redemption. 

I want to invite you take a step into the desert with me over the next six weeks: to give something up, and in so doing be reminded of what you really need, union with Christ; and to take something up, a practice or activity that gives room for the Spirit of God to move you further from death to life.   

I will be following this 40-Day guide called the Lent Project.  It provides scripture, reflection, art and music to lead you through the desert and into the resurrection of Easter.  I invite you to join me.