Lent

I love Rob’s thoughts on lent being a season of doing rather than simply giving up. What can I give you, God? What can I set aside to make more space for you in my life?

I grew up in a denomination that does not formally observe Lent. But I also grew up in a heavily Catholic community. So there was much talk of lent in the hallways and classrooms of my growing up years. And the conversations were usually about what a person was giving up for Lent. But there was never a mention of why or what they would replace it with. It may well be that some of them were giving as well as giving up, but if so, they weren’t sharing that with me.

But the Bible says, fast and pray, and it says for husbands and wives to abstain [from each other] for a time in order to devote themselves to prayer.

Giving up is the flip side of giving. Giving up makes space for giving. But giving up is also a way to identify with our Saviour and Friend. It is a small way that we can participate in His sufferings. I can give this up because you gave so much for me. I love you more than I love this food, or this novel, or this television show. In my own meager experience of fasting it’s this because I love you more than that that enables me to be true to my promise, to stick with it, to persevere, to overcome the temptation to reach for that food, to turn on the tv, to fire up the computer.

Giving and giving up.

I am quite honored to be considered for such journey. Coming from a non-liturgical background that gives little thought to the Lenten season, it is interesting to me that over that past couple of months I have been wrestling with what it means to be and grow as a Christ-follower. Certainly Jesus taught that following Him would require denying self. Yet much of what I hear in Christian preaching is about getting stuff from Christ rather than giving something up for Christ. We know that Jesus’ teachings are full of paradox. It is in denying self that we truly gain.

What began to trigger some of my musings was a book by Dallas Willard called the Great Omission. It is a book on discipleship. Willard contends that no one will make great gains in their journey with Christ without Sabbath, solitude, silence and fasting. These are not obligations but rather gifts – sabbath is a gift of rest, not a burden. Solitude and silence are gifts to allow us to hear from God while shutting out all the noises around us. Fasting is a gift to remind us of our great dependency on Him.

I have chosen to accept those gifts and have set aside one day each week for fasting and prayer with the intent that a portion of that day will be for solitude and silence. If we look at the big picture, denying oneself during lent or any other time is really about a greater acknowledgment of One who is greater.

(Tom)

I was thinking this morning about the idea of sacrifice, as I have during the past five years, focused on doing something during Lent as opposed to giving up something. Most of the time it has been to read (books, the gospels, etc) and pray and meditate on them. I guess I have preferred to think of it in terms of doing rather than not doing something.

What this has meant of course, is that something else had to give in order for me to spend this time doing this I had to find the time, to sacrifice any number of other distractions to devote to each lenten endeavor. It has always ended up being a gift.

So, I ask this…do we need to start from denying to attain the gift? Can we start from a different place? Can we start from strength? Can we start from doing more instead of less? Can we start from hearing a call to spend time in writing (doing and producing) throughout Lent, inviting community (more editing, reading, commenting….talking)?

Already we are doing rather than not doing. Yes, we must inevitably make time (sacrificing something else) but are we not, in the end doing more?

Rob