I have been a Christian for a little more than 5 years now, and although I grew up going to a Lutheran Church for Easter and Christmas, I have never understood or participated in the season of Lent. Knowing that St. Paul’s celebrates this season, I knew that I did not want to be in the dark about it; so I set off to investigate deeper. The following is what I found. I want to share this with you so that more folks who are in the dark about Lent, can come out and feast on Jesus during this Lent season.
What is Lent? The first thing I learned was that Lent is not just a Catholic thing; it is for anyone who wants to feast upon Jesus. Many of the early Church fathers wrote of Lent, but it was not until Gregory the Great (600’s) that Lent was solidified as being a 40 day period of fasting, not counting Sundays. This definition has stuck to the present day. Lent is still seen as a 40 day period of grief and fasting that ends with a great celebration. You may be thinking “Yes! Grief and suffering is exactly what I need more of!” Before you throw out the season of Lent let me share what it all means, and where it all points to. At St. Paul’s, we have certain services during Lent: Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. To see where these point to, we need to know what they mean first.
Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called “Fat Tuesday” because it marks the beginning of Lent. On this day, Christians come together and have a big feast with all kinds of tasty and sugary foods. The word “shrove” originally comes from the UK and Ireland, meaning pancakes. Because of this, you will often see pancakes among the delectable food choices at this feast. See why it is called “Fat Tuesday” now? The foods are usually tasty and sweet because many will fast from such foods for the next 40 days. This feast has no real meaning, except to begin the season of Lent with one last shin-dig and lots of sugary foods that we won’t have until Lent is over.
Ash Wednesday is a day set aside for self-examination, repentance, and confession. It is called “Ash” Wednesday because ashes (from the previous year’s Palm Sunday branches) are put on the forehead in the shape of a cross. This is done because in the Bible people often put dust and ashes on their heads in times of repentance and confession. During our Ash Wednesday service we will meditate on Genesis 3:19, “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Because sin entered the world, our bodies will die and return to the ground one day. There is hope in this as well. In thinking of our fallen state we are reminded of what Jesus has done and we look forward to the day when all things will be set free from the consequences of sin! This is a time of grieving, but also a time of sweet worship because when we are reminded of how fleeting we are, we are also reminded of how lasting God will always be!
The Palm Sunday is a time for somber singing. I say it is a time for singing because when Jesus rode into town on the donkey, all the people were cheering and singing, shouting out “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:9) We will do this as well, but in the midst of our singing, we will feel very somber. I say this will be somber because these same people who were singing were the ones who crucified the one who they were singing to, Jesus. We too will sing, and remember at the same time, it was our sin that nailed Him there. As with Ash Wednesday, this day will be filled with a dual set of emotions; leading us to cry out to “Hosanna” meaning, the God who saves.
Maundy Thursday is a dinner, on the Thursday before Good Friday. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “Mandatum”, meaning “a commandment”. Remember Jesus, at the Last Supper, commanded, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) It will be very different than the Shrove Tuesday feast. This dinner will be a Seder dinner, commemorating the Passover meal when Israel escaped from Egypt and the Last Supper Jesus had with the Apostles. Every food served will be descriptive of something. For example, we will have something bitter to describe Israel’s bitter slavery in Egypt, and our bitter slavery in sin. Foot washing is often done during this meal, because this is when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. This is also the time Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and when Jesus went up to the Garden of Gethsemane. As with most of these days, this meal is filled with grief and joy, at the same time.
Good Friday is so good! It is a long meditation on the cross. We will see how stunning it was for the Son of God to be nailed to pieces of wood with rusty nails. During this service we will closely examine the seven last phrases Jesus said before His death. Silence is observed afterwards because of the immense feelings of despair due to Jesus’ death. The taste of death is on you when this day ends, because all we know is that the One who promised us life, is now in the grave! Then comes Easter, which needs no explaining. After three days of silence and despair, the silence is broken by the sound of the stone being rolled back, and Jesus walking out, defeating death once and for all! We rejoice because the One who died did not stay dead! He rose, therefore we are no longer in our sins! The time of grief now comes to an end with a celebration!
Now we know what all these days means, where do these things point to? Easy, Jesus. Each of these days we will observe are filled with grief, suffering, and joy. I say this because we will experience what it was like for the disciples to walk through these ordeals with Jesus. We will feel His suffering and His death, and a heavy guilt from our sin that put Him there. But we will also feel exceeding joy, because we are now living on the other side of the cross, we know what happened! Why does people observe Lent? Why will I observe Lent for the first time? Simple, we desire to press into Jesus, to let go of some of our worldly possessions and desires to focus on Jesus, the One who stood in the gap for us. We desire to treasure Jesus above all things. Join me, in this pursuit.
