I bet you know there are a ton of ways to help you and I observe Lent.
Some of the more contemporary ones could include something like a 40-day fast from Facebook or any social media. Fasting is to deprive oneself from something.
Other people choose to fast from food (meat, pasta, bread, etc.), coffee (Starbucks for Starbucks lovers like me!), chocolate, and the list goes on.
Whichever way you are using to observe Lent this year, what I would like to do is to draw our attention from what we do to why we do what we do.
Lent as a practice of fasting is as old as the Church herself. It is believed to have started around the fourth century. Now, after over sixteen centuries, Lent has become tradition in most churches today.
I love tradition, but when we lose the purpose for doing what we do, then we should question what we do. Or perhaps, we should re-think our practice.
Looking at what was done before the Church decided to adopt the forty-day period of fasting and prayer during Lent, the believers had to do this practice for a day or two in order to prepare for Easter.
As you see here, the purpose is Easter: the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ! People may agree or disagree on the history and practice of Lent, but what they should agree on is the reason why we observe Lent: Easter.
Paul points out that “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15: 14). The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are the foundation of our believing and living out our faith as God’s children.
What is important in God’s eyes is not just fasting or praying, instead it is the willingness to open ourselves up to what God is up to in our lives and the lives of the people around us.
Looking at Lent as a way to prepare for Easter, the celebration of the Risen Lord, what we should keep in mind is that the preparation, in itself, is not just for us.
It is for Jesus so that He is celebrated, not only, in our lives, but so that other people get also to celebrate Him with us. The book of Acts, tells us of the aftermaths of Easter.
What followed the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ was the Holy Spirit coming down on the disciples, which eventually led to the birth of the Church.
What used to be a group of the twelve in the beginning had then become a body of thousands of believers in addition to the apostles.
Easter (the Risen Lord) is not just for those who are already in the upper room (like in the case of the disciples before Pentecost in Acts 1).
But, Jesus is risen also and more importantly for those who are outside the building. These are the people to whom church does not yet make sense. Someone like Peter (and the other disciples) has to step out to meet with them (Acts 2) in order to invite them home.
Therefore, our preparation is like what we do when we are expecting a guest at our home. You know what you always do. Don’t you? That is the kind of mind set God would like us to have in preparation for Easter. How will we prepare as a church to invite and welcome our guests this Easter? What will you do to accommodate guests among you as individuals? What will you do as a team or a committee? See you in worship!
