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"Lent: Hip or Outdated"
March 5, 2006
Lent: Hip or Outdated? For those of you that were with us this past Wednesday evening, you probably will think the question is moot. But for many, they have heard the word, but probably would be at a loss to adequately define it.
Lent is best described as the period of forty days preceding Easter, beginning with Ash Wednesday, when Christians emphasize soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. The forty days do not include Sundays which have always been observed by Christians as miniature Easter or resurrection celebrations.
In the protestant tradition, Lent ends on the night before Easter. In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends on the night of Holy Thursday when the mass of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated.
In the protestant tradition, we have traditionally been asked to give up something we enjoy during Lent and a few groups advocated refraining from eating meat on Good Friday. In the Roman Catholic tradition, they are asked to specifically give up eating meat throughout Lent. In recent generations, both Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders have encouraged taking on an additional act of service during Lent such as working in a soup kitchen, or aiding the needy in some other way.
In the past, Christians often made Lent overly solemn almost to the point of depressing. Even though the forty days were patterned after Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the wilderness, the over dramatization is now seen as counter productive to both spiritual growth and the anticipation of the coming resurrection.
Lent: Hip or Outdated? To be “hip” is to be “cool.” To be “hip” is to be “with it” or fully engaged in what the culture and world deems important—be it wealth, fame, clothing, slang, or attitude.
We might say that Christians ought to guard against being too “hip;” after all, our Scripture teaches that we are to be in the world, but not of the world. This means we are called to live in the world amongst many different persons and to provide a witness to faith in God and discipleship in Christ. Although we are “in” the world, we are not to be “of” the world which means that we do not belong to the world, but to God. The world has no claim upon our spiritual and future-oriented life-style.
Christians can enjoy the elements and expressions of “hip-ness” or “coolness,” but we need to guard against turning our heart and soul over to it. Our heart belongs to God in Christ.
Is Lent outdated? If outdated means old or ancient, then Lent certainly qualifies since its origins can be traced back to the apostles at best and the very early church at least. But if outdated means anything that has outlived its usefulness, then I can boldly say that it is far from outdated.
The early American church was robbed of its Christian roots because of the rapid spread of the good news message on our frontiers without the benefit of fully educated clergy. Within the past twenty years a greater effort has been made within Protestantism to learn about our ancient Christian traditions.
More and more Christians are resurrecting such spiritually useful traditions as light-weight burnt offerings, ashes on Ash Wednesday, candles in worship and prayer times, the Seder Meal and foot washing on Maundy Thursday, and the more regular celebration of Holy Communion, to name a few.
Outdated is the wrong word for Lent. However, the ancient practices of spirituality are only successful today inasmuch as they assist persons in spiritual growth, and serve to minister to them in refreshingly deep and personal ways.
The self-examination in Lent is not naval-gazing for the sake of naval-gazing. Rather, it should be the earnest desire of those who are looking for more spiritually fulfilled and spiritually content living.
The recollections of Christ in the wilderness should point us to the powerful realization that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus knows our grief, our sorrow, our loss, our pain, our frustration, our anger, and our suffering. We know this now on an intimate level, because of our examination of him during this spiritual time of Lent. He is the one who brings us a strong sense of hope.
The sacrifices of Lent point us not only to the powerful sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sake, but point us also to the sacrifices of our service to others, and the spiritual growth that comes in helping those who need help. As we examine Jesus the Christ during Lent, we quickly come to discover that he is the number one advocate for “the kingdom of God.”
This kingdom is one in which we are our brother’s keeper. This kingdom is one in which we take responsibility for the widows, the orphans, and the hungry. This kingdom is one in which we take responsibility for justice and peace in our time.
Lent teaches us that the kingdom of God comes in two ways. The first is the kingdom of God which is perfect and is overseen by God as its ruler. The second is the kingdom of God which is mortal and overseen by earthly rulers. It is this second kingdom—in the here and now—that Jesus came to give us authority. Authority to proclaim and work toward the elimination of hunger and poverty, injustice and unequal treatment, the absence of war and the striving for shalom —which is Hebrew for “a lifestyle of Peace.”
May God grant you a holy Lent as you seek him in faith and spiritual growth.
May God grant you a holy Lent as you strive to work to establish the principles of the kingdom of God.
May God grant you a holy Lent as you desire to prepare for the kingdom of God which is beyond this mortal world.
This we pray in the name of the great redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord, who started out with forty days in the wilderness, contemplating his call and his work— and so shall we. Amen.
