On the Significance of Lent

Lent derives from the lengthening of daytime daylight hours as we progress from the neglect of winter to the new dawn of spring. It also comes from a Latin word that means ‘forty’, and is approximately forty days or six weeks before Easter Sunday beginning on Ash Wednesday. 

Many celebrate the season of lent through special vows or promises, and personal denial of things they typically need or to which they have become accustomed. When entering the lenten season we also often think of prayer and fasting. Rarely do we seek atonement with an emphasis upon repentance. Yet atonement for a life not lived as well as it might be is the radical benefit we gain when we reflect upon our relationship with Christ at lent.

Lent draws its meaning from how Christ lived during his earthly sojourn. In the same way that Moses and Elijah experienced forty days and nights of extended solitude with God, so Jesus endured temptation for a prolonged period of forty days (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1: 12-13 , Luke 4: 1 - 2) in the wilderness under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

He did not need to seek atonement for any misdeeds he had done, but was obviously in preparation for ministry - that is, a life of service to others. It was this time that would fortify his will to take on the perennial problems and fresh dilemmas that were unfolding within the social and spiritual order. With this in mind, there are at-least three reasons why I feel all persons should make a personal commitment to the season of lent in fasting and prayer.

• First, Jesus knew the importance of prayer and fasting in order to become more self-conscious, genuinely reflective and self-aware.
  
• Second, he fasted to become socially and spiritually aware. There are too many times we are saddled with concerns that have little bearing upon who we should be and those contributions to society that are necessary.
  
• Third, he prayed and fasted to become proactive in his reaction to the conditions he would have to face. 

To be purposeful in life involves more than a reactionary response to what we encounter, but a proactive response to shape that which we wish to foster. And to achieve all three, we need to be filled with God’s presence and released from strongholds that build resistance to faith.

Please join us in celebrating lent over the next few weeks. Let’s see what new things happen that transform us and our community.