Lent

Welcome to the season of lent! This is the forty day period of time between Ash Wednesday through Easter (February 14 -March 31) where christians fast, pray, and practice almsgiving. These forty days mirror the fasts of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus which also mirror the forty years the Israelites spent in the desert.

Growing up I thought it absurd anyone would choose to not eat for forty days. No matter how holy it seemed (following in the footsteps of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus) it seemed like a wholly unreasonable task. How does being hungry make one closer to god? It seemed like those who chose to fast from foods were more holy than me, more holy than the rest of us. Or at least more disciplined, skinnier, and were totally-all-in with the church.

In Matthew 6 Jesus speaks to those fasting saying, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Turns out fasting is not a practice for public display, conversation, or discourse. 

Similarly Jesus states that when we give to the needy to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” This is also the same passage Jesus recommends to the praying individual to “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Each of these are clear lessons on the importance of the privacy of these practices. Thus, Lent is not a faith-lived-out-loud holiday. There’s no “Merry Christmas!” for lent because it is a private time of reflection, action, and contemplation. 

As a community we’ve been speaking more about Jesus’ teachings being anti-empire, pro-disenfranchised and liberating. I think in Isaiah we find an interesting parallel to these ideas when we think about lent:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.

Perhaps fasting isn’t about giving up food- about 40 day bible studies or unhealthily seeking weight loss, perhaps it is about the stuff Jesus’ teachings leads us to. There’s something about solidarity in lenten season. Jesus’ fast in the desert was not a public display of having less to gain more or to seem holy. It was an act of solidarity with those lost without a home in the desert for forty years. In the same way almsgiving is not an action to boast about how much you have to give because god has blessed you- it is an act of solidarity with those who have needs. Praying is not an eloquent and jaw dropping show of holiness and connectedness with god it is an act of showing up for those that need support: an act of solidarity. 


So in lent we can choose as christians to throw ourselves in to the wilderness like Jesus did. We can choose to act in movements of solidarity with the body of christ around us; and in doing so find out that solidarity with those around us is not the type of pious action often sold to us. In her book, Black Liturgies, Cole Arthur Riley says it this way, “So, despite prevalent teachings, the question of the sacred season is not, What food are you giving up for Lent? It is, What practice of solidarity with the suffering are you choosing? Or, What needs do you need met this Lent? We honor the complexity of hunger and desire, and we find ourselves liberated into a season not rooted in scarcity, but in justice, healing , and the welfare of those who have long awaited their portion.”

If you’re interested in celebrating and practicing the lenten season with us we will be hosting weekly online devotional readings and prayers. Click HERE for more