If you told me ten years ago that I\u2019d be leading my church in the observance of Lent, I would have laughed. We come from a church tradition that associates Lent with stuffy, liturgical churches\u2014and since many of the people in our church came here to escape that kind of atmosphere, Lent was off the table. We\u2019ll just keep preaching through books of the Bible, pause briefly for Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, and then get on with the expository preaching.<\/p>\n
But I think we\u2019ve been missing something. This year, although we\u2019re not going \u201call in\u201d on Lent (for example, we\u2019re not observing Ash Wednesday), we\u2019re dipping our toe in the water. To understand why, let me say a little bit more about why churches like ours normally skip over Lent, and why we\u2019re reconsidering our approach this year.<\/p>\n
Reasons to Resist<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Historically, non-liturgical churches (non-denominational, Baptist, Pentecostal) have opposed the observance of Lent for three big reasons: biblical, theological, and experiential.<\/p>\n Biblical<\/strong>: Nowhere does the New Testament command or model the observance of Lent. It was clearly an invention of the church after New Testament times.<\/p>\n Theological<\/strong>: In the New Testament, Paul specifically scolds Christians for continuing to \u201ccelebrate special days and months and seasons and years\u201d (Galatians 4:10). And he clarifies that Old Testament feasts and holy days were a shadow of the reality which is now found in Christ; therefore there is no need to celebrate such days anymore. This is important theology\u2014theology that we non-liturgical Protestants always suspected that our Lent-keeping friends didn\u2019t understand. It seemed to us that they were trying to merit God\u2019s forgiveness or approval through their personal sacrifice (\u201cI\u2019m giving up TV for Lent so God will forgive me for getting drunk every weekend.\u201d)\u2026which means they didn\u2019t understand the gospel.<\/p>\n Experiential<\/strong>: This is very subjective and personal, but important: for many of us, our past experience of Lent\u2014whether we observed it personally or saw our friends observing it\u2014was not positive. Rather than drawing people toward God, it seemed to be nothing more than empty ritual.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Why We\u2019re Reconsidering<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n First, let me respond briefly to the three \u201creasons to resist.\u201d<\/p>\n Although it\u2019s true that Lent is not modeled or commanded in the New Testament, neither is Christmas. Or Easter. Or Good Friday. And yet we observe those days because they help us to focus on significant aspects of our faith. In other words, there are many things not specifically commanded or modeled in the New Testament, which are nevertheless helpful and good.<\/p>\n The theological argument needs to be addressed carefully. In Colossians and Galatians, the point is that the Old Testament feasts and holy days were shadows which pointed toward Jesus. Now that Jesus has come and completed his atoning work on the cross, there is no need for the shadows anymore! So instead of continuing to observe holy days, we can simply trust and abide in Christ. All true, and all so important to me as a gospel-centered believer. And that means that if I observe Lent with the hope that my sacrificial actions will somehow merit God\u2019s favor, I am tragically missing the gospel. But what if Lent could be observed in a way that actually raises<\/em> our appreciation for the gospel? In other words, what if Lent could make us more<\/em> aware of our own sinfulness and need; more<\/em> in awe of God\u2019s gracious plan; more<\/em> amazed by what Jesus did to redeem us? To quote Michael Horton: \u201cI believe an evangelical celebration of Lent affords an opportunity to reinforce rather than undermine the significance of Christ’s person and work.\u201d<\/p>\n And then, on the experiential level: let\u2019s face it: any<\/em> observance of the church can be made cold and meaningless. It can happen with communion\u2026musical worship\u2026even prayer. But that doesn\u2019t mean the observance itself should be discarded. Sometimes the role of spiritual leaders is to identify places where we\u2019ve become overly ritualistic, and help to redeem and breathe new life into those things. I think we can do that with Lent.<\/p>\n Having responded to the main reasons that churches like ours normally resist Lent, here are three reasons we are giving it a go this year:<\/p>\n 1. Preparation<\/strong>. The cross and the resurrection are the core of our faith\u2026and yet\u2014I\u2019ll speak for myself here\u2014sometimes I find myself stumbling into Easter weekend with my heart unprepared. As evangelicals, even though we tend to neglect Advent almost as consistently as we neglect Lent, we clearly have a much more intentional run-up to Christmas than we do to Easter. That doesn\u2019t make sense to me. To quote the hymn, Lent can help \u201ctune our hearts\u201d to deeply appreciate the events of Passion Week.<\/p>\n 2. Proportion<\/strong>. In preaching Palm Sunday sermons, I\u2019ve often noted that although Jesus lived for about 33 years and ministered publically for three, about 1\/3 of the pages of the gospels cover one week<\/em> of his life! Clearly, what happened during that week\u2014between the Triumphal Entry and the empty tomb\u2014are disproportionately important. Observing Lent is a way to give proper \u201cair time\u201d to the most important events in the life of our Savior.<\/p>\n 3. Discipline<\/strong>. As Christians, we are called to share in the sufferings of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:5, Philippians 3:10, 1 Peter 4:13). We are also encouraged to exercise self-control and discipline over the appetites of our bodies (1 Corinthians 9:25-27). In order to accomplish this, Christians have historically viewed Lent as a time to engage in fasting. Whether we abstain from food or something else (media, purchasing certain items, etc.), fasting helps us to appreciate the sufferings of Christ, receive spiritual \u201cfood\u201d from him (Matthew 4:4), and identify with our suffering brothers and sisters around the world. Properly understood, fasting is a tangible way to \u201cdie to ourselves.\u201d In so doing, we identify with Jesus\u2019 death and prepare ourselves for Easter Sunday\u2014when the fasting will be over and we\u2019ll join in the resurrection feast!<\/p>\n So this year, let\u2019s take 40 days to slow down and cultivate reflection and preparation. Here are two ways you can participate:<\/p>\n Give up a Tangible Pleasure<\/strong>. Is there some physical appetite that has gained the upper hand in your life\u2014like watching sports on TV, Facebook, Instagram, Starbucks, Netflix\u2026? Why not choose to fast from it during Lent (February 18-April 2), and allow God to replace it with his presence?<\/p>\n Give Up a Spiritual Impediment<\/strong>. Each Sunday during Lent, our messages will focus on a different event from the last week of Jesus\u2019 life. As you listen for his leading, ask yourself: \u201cWhat might he be calling me to give up, so I can make room for more of him? My pride? My control? My fear?\u201d Allow God to use the season of Lent to purify you and make you more like Christ.<\/p>\n If you told me ten years ago that I\u2019d be leading my church in the observance of Lent, I would have laughed. We come from a church tradition that associates Lent with stuffy, liturgical churches\u2014and since many of the people in our church came here to escape that kind of atmosphere, Lent was off the … Continue reading “Why Observe Lent?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}