The
40 Days of Lent begin March 5th, Ash Wednesday. It is a time of
fasting, abstinence, and purging. Lent is a time to spiritually clean house
with all the physical implications that come along with that. In Lent we often
give up a favorite comfort food, perhaps something calorically dense, sugary,
salty, and fattening. Why? The purpose is not first and foremost to lose weight, which is a noble goal yet still self-focused. Instead, as part of this season of Repentance,
we use the disciplines of abstinence and fasting to turn us towards Christ. In the case of abstaining from a
comfort food, we focus on leaning upon God, not food, for our comfort. And true, we will
probably lose some weight in the process.
For those of us of a certain age
(or those who haven’t come of age) abstaining or fasting from food may not be good
for our health. And there are others who, for various reasons cannot fast or abstain. An alternative is to give up something else,
replacing it with Christ. How about giving up a form of entertainment – TV,
novels, or gambling? Or perhaps add something into your schedule – prayer, a
random act of kindness, meditation, song, or thanksgiving. Sometimes adding more
of Christ into our life crowds out other stuff, other behaviors we really don’t
need.
It is for good reason that Christ chose to go into the desert for
40 days to fast and prepare for his ministry. The
desert removes many distractions from life. There Jesus could better focus
on God. Of course, when all those distractions were removed what Christ found first
was the Evil One, called the Deceiver (Devil) and the Accuser (Satan) because
that is what he does. And so Christ
found a great deal temptation and trial. It’s likely in our own Lenten journey
that when we pay attention to the deeper things of our spiritual lives, we too
will be confronted with some significant unpleasantness. The desert is not a place of ease.
But notice what happens afterward. Once the Tempter and temptations have been vanquished, Jesus is attended to by
angels. The desert is not merely a place of desolation, emptiness, and
deprivation. The desert can be the place of joy and consolation, where we find some
of our sweetest times with God. This is what Lent is meant to be - our Lenten hope - the blossoming of our souls in the desert by the grace and provision of God.
The wilderness and
the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
- Isaiah 35:1-2a
