This is Part 2 in a 3 Part series on Lent:
Part 1: Monday: What, Why, and How of Lent
Part 2: Tuesday: Resources for this season
“Lent is a peculiar prospect to many Protestants. It is quite often derided, without any reverence or consideration, as a slavish bondage to those poor Catholics who think that if they beat themselves that God will hear them. It is equated with crawling for miles on ones stomach to the site of a relic to obtain favor and blessing. I have read, on a church’s board outside “We love God enough not to have to give up sugar” and heard quotes such as “Why would you give up food? I don’t need to give up good to love God,” neither of which give any thought to the fact that there might be reasons to observe Lent besides trying to buy one’s salvation from God.
So why would one observe Lent? (Besides being a Catholic) I don’t know, but this is why I observe Lent. One of the most lasting gifts that my time at Hillsdale gave me was a healthy exposure to and friendship with many practicing Catholics. I inquired into their observance of Lent and discovered that they observe Lent as a time to prepare themselves for Easter, to think upon why it is that God had to die and meditate upon their sin. Sounds pretty bad to me so far (and if you are Protestant and feel that I am mocking you, I am.)
We are victors in Christ, but as Paul attests to in Romans, though we long to serve God yet we find this principle at work in us, the good that we want to do we do not, and we do what we do not want to do. This means that there is a nature within us that must be constantly thwarted. We must take time to be introspective and meditate on the sin that so easily entangles us, even though we have already been freed from it’s grasp.
I observe Lent to consider my sin, to practice humility and reverence, and to be sombered by the grave state that I my sin leaves me in. I read through all of the Gospel’s during Lent to remember the life of our LORD and His death and resurrection. And I have had the most fruitful meditations during Lent that I have ever had. God has allowed me to perceive the power of the Cross to free me from sin, to wash me and render me a vessel for His service in powerful ways during my observance of Lent. And then comes Easter. If you haven’t spent the 40 days prior to Easter anticipating it’s hope, waiting for the glorious proclamation of Christ’s victory over the grave, then you have something to look forward to in Lent. The Gospel is good news because it frees us from sin and restores our relationship to Christ, and observing Lent helps to remember, each year, that I am in desperate need of Christ’s saving work to remove the boundary that my sin created. Victory over a vanquished foe is most sweet when you have faced your foe and contemplated his affect on your life. We are freed from sin, we are united with Christ, and observing Lent helps me to remember and appreciate that in a powerful way every year. It might be strange, you might be the only person in your family or among your friends observing it, but you will find that it is time and energy well spent.
