As a child I thought Ash Wednesday was part of the anti-smoking campaign of the government. Pentecostals didn’t observe Lent, but every year I noticed “Ash Wednesday” on the calendar. It was during this time that the government began to encourage people to quit smoking. So, in my childlike mind ash corresponded to cigarettes.
Of course, I later learned that Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a period of forty days of fasting, prayer, and reflection corresponding to Jesus’ time in the wilderness. Even though my childish definition of Ash Wednesday was off the mark, I guess I intuitively knew that it had something to do with quitting, or self-denial. I’ve known many people to tried to quit smoking by “giving up cigarettes for Lent.”
Lent draws attention to our sinful excesses. On Shrove Tuesday (aka Fat Tuesday), the day before Lent, families are to consume the remainder of rich and fatty foods in their cupboards in preparation of the Lenten fast. The Lenten fast is not a total fast, but a partial fast over forty days, from Ash Wednesday until the Saturday before Easter, Sundays excluded. A typical Lenten fast is to choose one item to fast – meat, sweets, coffee, etc. You might think, “No big deal.” I would reply, “Try it!”
I began observing Lent about twenty-five years ago – fasting, praying, and reading assigned biblical texts that focus on repentance and sanctification. Each year that I have observed Lent, I have heard the voice of the Spirit encourage me to more intimacy with God, to put away various excesses in my life. Lent encourages us to practice the discipline of simplicity – putting away the materialistic tendencies that reduce our lives to a collection of possessions.
Lent is also preparation for the celebration of Easter. The first year I introduced my Pentecostal congregation to Lent, they embraced it with passion. As a community, we fasted and prayed together. I preached the gospel texts from the common lectionary. During Holy Week we met each evening to observe the events of the final week of Jesus. On Easter Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. At the end of that day, a lady who was a lifelong Pentecostal approached me with tears in her eyes and said, “Pastor, I’ve been in church all my life. Observing Lent made this the most significant Easter in my whole life!”
Observing Lent helps us to recognize that this world, this present age, is but a wilderness through which we must travel as we seek the kingdom of God. Lent prepares us to inherit the New Creation. So, what will you give up for Lent this year?
