Today marks Ash Wednesday, or the beginning of Lent in the liturgical church calendar. Although our church does not follow the liturgical calendar, and at times for good reason, I believe there is still benefit to acknowledging some of the patterns and rhythms that were established long ago to bring remembrance to significant days in the Christian life.
Lent is the six-week period leading up to Easter Sunday, most often practiced as a period of fasting to mimic Jesus’s 40-day fast in the desert (Matthew 4:1-2). While typically not emphasized in Protestant tradition, many individuals today still use fasting from luxuries, media, or other indulgences as a way of recognizing the Lenten season. This is usually a means of denying oneself so as to prepare for the celebration of Easter. Stripped down to bare bones and separated from some of the historical associations, it is not an inherently bad practice. While we ought to reflect on the cause and cross of Christ everyday, Lent provides a sort of reset button for our fickle minds and hearts, which we know are distracted and swayed too easily and too often.
The providence of God set the stage beautifully this past Sunday for the introduction of Lent. The message from Leviticus 16 regarding the Day of Atonement points explicitly to the atoning work of Christ on the cross for those of us living under the new covenant. The instructions we read were exhaustive – multiple sacrifices had to be made to atone for the sins of Israel. The priest who would present those sacrifices to the Lord on behalf of the people had to atone for his own sins before he could even begin the process (Lev. 16:6). Reading all of this reminds us of the character and nature of God, and how his holiness demands righteousness of the people he chose to dwell among. This righteousness is extremely costly and must be treated with the utmost care and intentionality, and must be repeated regularly in order for God to remain among his people. After hearing the message, we took part in the Lord’s Supper, a practice established for the purpose of remembering the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, completely atoning for the sins of the world forevermore (Matthew 22:14-20). Even the Sunday school lesson for those of us studying through The Gospel Project centered around the Israelite’s disregard for their sacrificial system, and the need to repent and change their course to regain right standing with the Lord of Hosts. The authority and providence of God we witnessed on Sunday to constantly call us to remember his outpouring of grace through Jesus’ work on the cross was a gift in itself, a coordination of topics and events we could never have manufactured of our own accord. And it is not coincidence that this strong emphasis ushered in the season of Lent.
As we begin Easter preparations, whether it’s choir rehearsals, planning of meals, or organization of special lessons and gatherings, let us reset our hearts and minds to the meaning behind Easter. Lent may not be our normal custom, but the purposeful remembrance of the ministry, life, and sacrifice of Jesus is worth pursuing, especially in light of the Old Testament readings we have spent time with in the last few weeks.
“But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven’s ‘tent’ – the true Holy Place – once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God.” Hebrews 9:11-15 MSG
Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash
