Wednesday February 26 marks a significant day on the Church calendar: Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent. Going back to the 4th century, millions of Christians across the globe, including Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and Pentecostals, have observed Lent.
What is Lent? Historians tell us it comes from the Old English word “lencten,” which means “spring.” In the Western Church, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and runs forty days until Holy Saturday, the day in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Lent is inspired by and modeled after Jesus’s forty days in the wilderness before he launched his public ministry. According to Matthew 4, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the Judean wilderness (outside Jerusalem), where he fasted, prayed, and was tempted by the devil. Likewise, during Lent, many Christians seek the Holy Spirit to direct them into a season of fasting, prayer, and reflection on the gospel. Lent then, provides the opportunity to examine ourselves, humble ourselves, and remind ourselves we desperately need the grace and cross of Jesus Christ to save us, cleanse us, & make us new. Consequently, if properly done, Lent can serve as a fertile season of self-denial and preparation for Good Friday and Easter.
Now, let’s be clear: the Holy Scriptures not command Christians to observe Lent. However, the Bible does repeatedly instruct us to repent of our sins, to seek the mercy of Jesus Christ, to pray earnestly, and to fast. And as followers of Jesus Christ, we do these activities not out of a sense of duty or fear, but rather out of a sense of freedom, gratitude, and delight. We know Jesus Christ has covered our sins and adopted us as his children. Because we are God’s people, who belong to Him, we desire to know him more intimately, to be holy as he is holy, and to joyfully sacrifice all things to follow Jesus and advance his kingdom.
A vital way to accomplish these Lenten goals is through fasting. In Matt 6, Jesus utters the phrase, “when you fast,” indicating he presumed his followers would engage in fasting as a spiritual discipline or habit. Strictly speaking, fasting is forgoing food for a specific time to humble ourselves, confess our sins and failures, and seek God more earnestly. Today, many Christians have expanded the definition of fasting to include the denial of some modern conveniences: sweets/chocolate, alcohol, social media, video games, Netflix or a favorite TV show, and so forth. I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit if he would have you fast from something during the forty days of Lent, and use that time to seek God more passionately in the study of his word, prayer, and serving others.
Isaiah 58:1-9 describes two kinds of fasting: false fasting and true fasting. False fasting is a religious grandstanding, motivated by vanity: the attempt to appear holy and righteous before others. Or, it could be an attempt to make God indebted to us: i.e., “God because I fasted, you owe me this…” Jesus condemns false and hypocritical fasting in Matthew 6.
In contrast, Isaiah 58:6-9 reveals true fasting is motivated by genuine humility and a desire to seek God passionately, so that our hearts, longings, and viewpoint, will align with his.
Thankfully, Isaiah 58 indicates that when we seek God in a spirit of humility, brokenness, and self-denial, God reveals himself to us through his healing presence. Further, God brings our hearts into alignment with his heart, which means we will join him in fighting injustice and oppression, that we share what we have with those in need, and that we offer hospitality to the alien and wanderer. In short, God can use fasting to purify us so we convey the gospel of Jesus Christ in good words and good deeds. That is, to care for people holistically and to be the mouth, hands, and feet of Jesus on earth. Bottom line: God uses genuine fasting, humility, and repentance to bring our hearts more into alignment with His heart.
I encourage you to seek the Holy Spirit and ask him how he might want you to participate in Lent.