As hard as it might be to imagine, Lent is almost upon us!
We say this every year, and yet we need the reminder each year: we need to prepare for the great feasts of the Christian calendar. Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection are simply too big to comprehend without preparing our hearts, minds, and souls. If we don’t humble and prepare our hearts, it can be very hard to see and receive Jesus himself in the feasts of Christmas and Easter. The celebration can easily crowd out an intimate awareness of Jesus.
The Christian life is a pilgrimage deeper and deeper into the heart of God, and along the way, there are key moments when our hearts are opened to receive him afresh. These key stops aren’t limited to Christmas and Easter, but these high, holy days are certainly chief among them. But we won’t be ready for these meetings with God unless we humble ourselves and rid ourselves of the various distractions and hinderances.
Lent is a season of throwing off hindrances. We throw off sin through vigorous confession and repentance, we throw off selfishness through purposeful almsgiving, we throw off self-reliance through a renewed focus on prayer, and we throw off distractions and pleasures through significant fasting. It is a penitential season, when purposeful awareness of our sin and mortality should drive us to the cross over and over in a posture of self-renunciation.
We focus on both of these things (sin and mortality) on Ash Wednesday. This day of fasting (of the whole year, only Good Friday’s fast should be deeper!) is a moment to come face-to-face with the fact that we will die and the fact that we are in desperate need of mercy. We don’t like to face these truths, but unless we face them, we will not truly realize what Jesus has done for us. And so, face them we will, as we fast throughout the day and gather together on Wednesday evening.
But Ash Wednesday begins on Shrove Tuesday! Even though Shrove Tuesday is a time of joy—dinner together is a blessing—it is supposed to be the beginning of this purposeful posture of self-examination and confession. The word “shrove” comes from an archaic word that means confession and absolution. Shrove Tuesday is the first step of Lent, just as packing one’s bags is the first step of taking a trip. Even before Lent begins, we begin by taking stock of the state of our souls.
Use Shrove Tuesday as a moment to take stock of what needs to be confessed, and then spend Ash Wednesday in penitence and fasting before you join the congregation in prayer. These acts of humility are not acts of morbidity or self-hatred, but instead simply the necessary honesty that we all must have if we are to come into the presence of the merciful one, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
In Christ,
Steven+
Ash Wednesday vs Valentines Day
In two weeks, many of us will be forced to make a decision: Is Ash Wednesday or Valentine’s Day more important?
Actually, given that dinner reservations need to be made in advance, many of us need to think about this now! The difficulty is compounded by the fact that shifting your Valentine’s Day plans a day earlier means missing the all-church Shrove Tuesday dinner and shifting them a day later means celebrating in Lent. Neither are optimal solutions, to say the least. (Shifting Valentine’s Day to Monday, on the other hand, makes a great deal of sense!)
It is important to state that our salvation doesn’t depend on observing Ash Wednesday—we are saved by the grace of God because of what Jesus did on the cross. Additionally, Paul explicitly forbids Christians from judging one another on how we keep sacred days (Col. 2:16). In fact, if keeping Ash Wednesday is an attempt to earn favor from God or other people, it would actually be better not to do it.
But assuming that we are entering into the spiritual disciplines of Lent for the right reasons—i.e., we aren’t trying to earn God’s favor or prove ourselves to be super-Christians, but instead seeking humbly to submit to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives—putting Ash Wednesday before Valentine’s Day makes a great deal of sense.
We need Ash Wednesday. We don’t need it in the sense of our salvation depending on it, but we need it to grow in grace. Growing in grace is like exercise—it won’t happen without concrete practices. Exercise, a good diet, and rest are the ordinary means through which God strengthens our bodies. Similarly, even though we can’t earn Christlikeness through spiritual disciplines (it is a gift of grace!), they are the ordinary means through which the Spirit works in us. God doesn’t “zap” us with Christlikeness in spite of spiritual inactivity; instead, he works through our willing and faithful participation in spiritual disciplines to transform us.
Ash Wednesday offers a critical moment for the disciplines of fasting and repentance. Like all spiritual disciplines, we should do these things regularly, but there are moments when we need to go “all in.” There are times to till the garden up and start over, times to empty the cabinets and clean the kitchen completely, times to hire a trainer and start afresh with diet and physical exercise. There are also moments when we need to spend a day without any distractions—like food and media—so that we can fully expose the dark corners of the closet of our heart. Too much of what needs to be repented of gets missed because we don’t set aside the time for rigorous self-examination.
If possible, set aside February 14 as a time for fasting and confession, and join us as we pray together to our God for mercy.
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
In our Gospel reading on Sunday, Jesus began to preach in Galilee after John the Baptist was arrested, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
We could break apart every phrase: What time? How is it fulfilled? What is the gospel he refers to? When will we see this kingdom that is knocking at the door? Mark packs a ton into one verse; his summary of Jesus’ preaching is just that—a summary.
I am intrigued, though, by what follows. Mark says that Jesus began to preach this message, and then calls Simon and Andrew and James and John to follow him. There is no gap in between these events, and no hesitation on the part of the four men. The leave everything and follow him immediately.
Both John and Luke tell us a bit more of the story. This wasn’t the first time these brothers met Jesus, and this calling wasn’t as abrupt as it seemed. But Mark chooses to leave out those details because he wants us to see something—when Jesus announces the kingdom is ready, the right response is an immediate “about face.” Hesitating, debating, and doubting don’t make any sense, if what Jesus says is true.
How many times do we waver in our willingness to follow? We are torn and pulled and put our energy in all sorts of places. We bet a bit on our career, a bit on our friendships, a bit on pleasure. Diversification is a great investment strategy, but it makes no sense in light of the coming kingdom. If the kingdom is real—if God is showing up, if Jesus is unifying all things under his perfect reign—what do those things matter? They might be good, true gifts that God wants to give us, but they aren’t worth placing in front of devotion to the king of this new kingdom. Only the new kingdom of Jesus offers something solid, something unchanging, something worth betting all our chips on.
It is too easy to see the kingdom of God as one more thing in our portfolio of life. But if it is true, it is the only thing worth going “all in” on.
Steven+