Exhortation, February 20

We are in the second week of the traditional season of Lent. Lent covers the forty days prior to Easter, and is a fast in preparation for the feast of the resurrection. In some of the earliest churches, baptismal candidates prepared during these forty days for their baptism at Easter. It gradually developed into a period of discipline, purification, and fasting. Today, many Christians observe Lent by �fasting�Efrom some favorite food or activity. Since some of us here at Trinity are observing Lent, it is important for us to consider it briefly.

First, though seasons of preparation and fasting are useful, observing Lent is completely a matter of freedom for Christians. There is no biblical command to fast during Lent, and someone who observes Lent is not necessarily more sanctified or more faithful than a Christian who does not. Those of you who are observing Lent, do not even hint by your words or actions that you are superior; and those who are not observing Lent, do not think that you are inferior for that reason.

Second, Jesus makes it clear that fasting, like alms-giving and prayer, is to be done before God, not men. Do not fast as the hypocrites do, Jesus warns, who �neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men.�EInstead, Jesus tells us to fast as if you are preparing for a feast �Eanoint your head, wash your face, rejoice and smile �Eso that your fasting remains a matter between you and God. Do not fast for public display, to make your piety appear before men. If you do, the admiration and favor of men will be your only reward. You should be seeking the favor and approval of God. The prophets of Baal in today�s sermon text think Baal will respond if they make a big display. But that is not how Christians pray, nor how we are to fast.

Third, remember that disciplines like fasting do not subdue the flesh. Paul warned the Colossians about Jewish ascetics who forbade certain foods and practices. Paul said that �self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body . . . are of no value against fleshly indulgence.�EWhat gives you power to kill the flesh is the Word and Spirit of Christ.

So what is Lent for? Alexander Schmemann captures the essence of Lent when he writes that Lent can only be understood in relation to Easter. Lent is the journey, Easter the goal. We are to live each day in the light of the promise of Easter, the promise of the new life of the kingdom. But we often fail to realize and enact the new life that we have in Christ. Lent offers a structure to help us to recover the reality of Easter, by reminding us that our journey to resurrection is always along the path of death. If you are observing Lent, do not see it as an end in itself; it is the darker pathway leading toward the bright dawn of the resurrection.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 07:29 AM

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