St. Philip’s Church, Charleston
The Rev. David M. Dubay
Downloadable Audio
Good evening… and welcome to Lent.
The word Lent comes from Anglo Saxon times, it means spring time. In Latin, Lent is quadragesima which means forty days. In Greek, it is tessarakoste (fortieth), a word similar for the word for Pentecost (pentekoste).[1]
The first mention of a period of 40 days (a Lenten Period) occurs in the records of the Council of Nicaea 325 AD. The same time they put together the beginnings of the creed we call the Nicene Creed. The custom may have originated in the required fasting of candidates for baptism and the number 40 comes from the Biblical account of Moses, Elijah, and our Lord Jesus who all fasted for 40 days.[2]
In our gospel reading today Jesus give us some guidelines for prayer and fasting and even what to do with our money. As Christians we are to live with some discipline…with some Christ commanded behavior patterns. We need to reign in some behaviors and untie others to be generously given.
Ever since the church began people have been trying to figure out how to conform their lives to a shape that will honor God…that would bring us blessings… Jesus’ ways are pretty simple… show your faith by take care of your neighbor…don’t brag about how religious you are…use your money to bless Him first so that giving becomes a part of your worship. Forgive others…If we fast or pray do it in a way that will not draw attention to ourselves prayer is how we communicate to the Lord… here’s how to do it….here’s how to arrange your prayer……to God the Glory…
And the Church gave us Lent as a way to purposefully evaluate our faith walk and realign it with Jesus’ will.
There is a popular opinion that Lent is a season of slogging through deep, dark depressive self-denial, self-loathing, all to impress God with just how penitent we are and at the end of it all……. At Easter time…the Lord will Spring up and say..Alleluia, let’s get happy, time to party!
At least that’s how I remember it as a child.
So I went back through my notes and some books and some memories and I have compiled a list of possible Lenten disciplines for us. So that we might be miserable in God’s sight just enough to warrant a good, and colorful Easter filled with bunnies and candy
Let’s look at Anthony…Anthony is known today as a desert Father. And ancient hermit monk who decided to live in a way that would reduce all sensation…all emotion…all action to that of worshipping God. Which is a noble goal …I grant you.
Anthony lived in the last half of the 3rd century AD. In about 270, when he was just 20 years old, he felt a call to a life of prayer deep in the desert, and he lived there until he died at the age of 105. His lifestyle there was characteristic of people we call the aesthetics: he would spend vast amounts of time in prayer and meditation, often denying himself food or sleep for long periods.
When he was eating normally, his food would never amount to more than a few crumbs every second day. At one point he lived in a walled-up fort, and saw no other human being for 20 years. Anthony reported numerous visitations of angels, demons, wild animals and apparitions.
Although undoubtedly a man of great sanctity, Anthony admitted that he experienced constant temptations, anxieties, and spiritual assaults. He commented: "Who sits in silence has escaped three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing, yet against things shall he continually battle, that is his own heart." …
Another hermit, Dorotheus, who lived 60 years in a cave, would gather stones in the noon day sun, and always slept seated. Asked why he subjected his body to such harsh treatment, he said: "It kills me. I will kill it".
Another hermit, Macarius, claimed to have stood upright through the entire period of Lent (the 40 days fast before Easter). Another, Sisoes, confessed that his greatest desire was to be held in contempt by everyone.[3]
It is possible that these men may have missed the point, even though they said many wise things and had some interesting experiences… My belief is that that kind of alone time….that kind of self denial is not the way to go and it certainly won’t get you saved….after all scripture in the Letter to the Hebrews
Heb 10:25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.[4]
Some people think that pain is the answer during lent.
Martin Luther grew up believing that God was a harsh judge. No one explained to him the forgiveness that God gave until he was in his twenties. He spent many years of his life trying to earn his salvation by doing good works. He became a monk in order to stay away from the sinful ways of the world. Once when he was a young monk, he spent the night outside of a cave almost, naked, in the dead of winter. He wanted to show his worthlessness, and his utter devotion to God. He nearly died. Later in life he realized that we are saved not through self denial and self loathing but by grace…through faith in the Lord Jesus.
But you may say to me… David, didn’t you just mention that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus all went into the wilderness for 40 days and fasted… Yes they did….but don’t change the subject… I’m not through with my examples
In 1988 while I was working one being one of the world’s great Narcissists, one of my fraternity brothers went through the training at MUSC and became one of the folks who spends time with the children at the MUSC children’s hospital playroom. He told me that God had called him out of his small world and into a bigger one. I didn’t get it.
In 1998 my whole youth group gave up television for 40 days. At first it was difficult…then it got easier. They found that they had more family time, more time to get homework done….and they read books…what a concept. And some of them…a few of them.. began praying more…It was amazing to me the change that I saw in them without the constant bombardment of Television fed pop culture in their lives.
In 2006 my wife and I were challenged by Angela and Riley to read the whole Bible to our children beginning on Ash Wednesday, going through lent and on for another year. When are we going to fit that into our schedule….? Well. I don’t know. But we will.
The church came up with lent with Easter in mind. We are not to go into our own private desert with the thought that we will be so miserable that we will dissolve into dust and then God will be happy. We go into our own deserts, our own disciplines, our own fasts…knowing that through the days and months of our lives we have added baggage to our load that is not helpful, is not life giving, and is in the way ….is and actual wall…between us and our Lord God.
Lent is a time to break down those walls to find LIFE.
To shed the baggage of sin and a fallen world and add purity light.
Lent is a time to discipline ourselves so that we might know BLESSING.
Out of our Lenten walk we seek new life in Christ…not malnutrition and near death experiences….
If giving up Chocolate brings you closer to God then go for it… but don’t do it just because you can’t fit into your jeans….Lent is for faith energizing. Jenny Craige is for weight loss.
If self denial opens up your prayer life… adds to the energy you have in worship…gets you motivated to minister to others than Get to it….. if i just makes you feel cranky, treat others badly and make worship a struggle…it might be worth rethinking.
In the prayer that we attribute to St. Francis…we repeat the line: for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. We do not die in Christ without Eternal Life at the end of the tunnel
That dying… is dying to sin. When we turn to Christ we are made new…that is, our old fallen selves die and we are raised anew...and fresh and worthy in Christ.
Jesus went into the desert to face temptation; to practice his authority over evil; to begin his ministry with that desert boot camp under his belt. Jesus entered the desert with a resurrection mindset…with triumph on his heart.
As we enter into Lent, we should do it with our eyes on Easter…so that all Lenten cleansing… all Lenten discipline…. All Lenten denial will be for Easter reasons.
If you give up Chocolate…you need to know what that will mean for you and others at the resurrection….and there may be a reason.
If you pray every morning from 3 am to 6am. You need to be doing it not because it’s hard…but because Your Easter, risen, life will blossom because of it.
Over the next 5 Sundays mornings we will be walking through the ministry of Jesus with our eyes on Easter….
We will witness his baptism, his miracles, his teachings and his trip to the cross… with a spirit of seriousness and maturity but with our hearts already filled with the joy…. of the Hell defeating power…of the resurrection of the Son of God….
So take on a discipline….deny yourself something for 40 days…clean off some of the crusty residue of this world…turn away from behavior that keeps the light of Christ from shining into your life…but do it so that when all Heaven breaks loose…you will be baggage free…and resurrection minded…with faces raised up out of our self imposed darkness and up…up..toward the light of Christ.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the Glory for ever…
Amen.
[1] http://www.geocities.com/francischinchoy/lenteaster/lent.html
[2] E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press, 1997) p966
[3] http://www.geocities.com/francischinchoy/lenteaster/lent.html
[4] The Holy Bible (CEV)
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