Lent

Why do we need Lent and what is Lent all about? We hear that lent is a time to prepare for Easter and to live our faith out better in our lives– Well, aren’t we supposed to live our faith all year and aren't we suppose to grow closer to God and one another all year? So what is lent??

Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. As Christians, Easter is the culminating event for our Faith. It holds it all together and it is what Jesus’ life and death were all about. Jesus came to share God’s love and to bring us into a personal relationship with him. We need to get out of the routines of our daily lives and really focus on the miraculous event that we are celebrating. So the church in her infinite wisdom has given us a period to ‘prepare’ for it called Lent. The Lenten season is a time when many Christians observe a period of fasting, repentance, moderation, self-denial, and spiritual discipline. The purpose of whatever practice that one observes, should always be to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ—his suffering, his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. During the six weeks of lent Christians typically make a commitment to fast , or give up something– a habit, such as smoking, watching TV, swearing, or a food or drink, such as sweets, chocolate or coffee. Christians also take on a Lenten Discipline, such as reading the Bible, spending more time in prayer, going to a Bible Study, to better know and grow closer to Jesus Christ, and to better understand all that he did for us. The goal of any of the spiritual disciplines is to strengthen the faith of the observer and develop a closer relationship with God. This is our life Journey as a Christian. So lent is really a time for Christians to get back to living into our Baptismal calling. To give God more of our time and attention.

The significance of the 40-day period is based on two episodes of spiritual testing in the Bible:

1. The 40 day journey of the Israelites that turned into 40 year journey of the Israelites.​  (Numbers 33:38; and Deuteronomy 1:3)
2. the Temptations of Jesus after he spent 40 days in fasting in the wilderness.  (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday when Christians are marked with Ashes and reminded that though we live in this world we belong to God’s world. That we came from ashes and to ashes we will return. This world is but a passing moment. We need to focus our lives on our eternal home, with Jesus Christ.

I challenge each of us to take Lent serious and to honestly and openly look at our lives and the practices that bring us closer to Jesus Christ and away from sin. We need to always measure our actions and decisions against this rule.

May this Lent be different and better than all the Lenten seasons before it and may it bring us closer to God.
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May The Lord Bless and Keep You,
Rev. Stephen W. Barch