Well of Peace

Looking Again at Lent

Here we are at a Wednesday Lenten service. We come in faith and devotion; we come for fellowship and to share a meal; we come for a few moments of reflection and peace, a pause in the hectic flow of our lives. But what is the meaning of Lent? Where did this season come from? What is it we are supposed to be doing?

The answers to these questions are surprisingly broad. Some see it as a time of penitence, a time to consider what miserable sinners we are, a time of chastisement, a time of denial, a time even of self punishment.

Others see it as a time of meditation, a time of expectation, a time of preparation for the great feast of Easter.

Still others, especially we Protestants, tend to ignore it altogether. Our ancestors, distressed by all the accretions in religion, all that had been added and embellished in both worship and belief, sought to return to a “purer” faith; to rely solely on the Bible, and to return to the practices of the Early Christian Church.

Unfortunately, looking back to the Early Christian Church for the sources of Lent does not clear things up very much. It seems there was no uniform practice. In some places, only the Friday and Saturday before Easter were dedicated to fasting. In others it was only Holy Week. In Rome we they celebrated a three week fast, but scholars find that it was tied to the preparation of candidates who were to be baptized on Easter.

Prior to the fourth century, a forty day fast was celebrated in Alexandria, Egypt, but it had nothing to do with Easter. It was instead tied to Epiphany and the baptism of Jesus. It was a remembrance of what Mark most succinctly describes this way, “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”

It is only later in the fourth century that we find this forty day fast associated with Easter. Only then that it begins to take on the character of the Lent we have come to know.

So, where does this leave us? How does this help us to know how to celebrate this season? How does this inform what we do during Lent?

First, I think it gives us some freedom. If for three centuries, there was no clear consensus as to the meaning, duration, or purpose of Lent, we can look at ways to make this season meaningful to our faith journey today.

Second, I think that it allows us to think more ecumenically, and be more accepting of the various traditions of our different denominations. To see them as adding richness to the ways in which we can praise God, rather than aberrations to some set standard.

In this spirit, I would like to look at the meaning and practices that might arise if we look at Lent from the perspective of Jesus 40 days in the wilderness, and the 40 day sojourns of some other Bible figures.

Let us go back, almost to the beginning. Let us go back to Noah and his forty days and forty nights in a wilderness of water. God is angry! God sees that, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” So God has Noah build an arc and fill it with representatives of every living thing. And they entered the arc and it rained for forty days and forty nights. In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that they were actually on the arc for a year, but it is the forty days that we remember.

Now God was angry and the earth and humanity were corrupted, but Noah was not in the arc for 40 days because of his sins. In fact Genesis tells us that, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.” Noah was in the arc because he was selected by God, because he was righteous, because he was blameless. As result of this journey in the wilderness, the earth, all living things, and humanity are brought into a right relationship with God. And God forms a new covenant with his people.

The next 40 days, in fact the next two 40 days, belong to Moses. In the first, Moses goes up Mount Sinai to be instructed by God. He is given the law and a new covenant for the people of Israel. When he comes down off the mountain after 40 days of fasting and instruction, he finds the people worshiping a golden calf they have created. In his anger Moses shatters the tablets of the Ten Commandments, symbolically shattering the covenant with God. Moses is angry, but God is even angrier. God wants to again wipe this people out, to utterly destroy them. But Moses returns to the mountain for another 40 days of fasting and confrontation with God. He argues with God for the salvation of his people – and he wins! Moses was not there because he was sinful. He was not on the mountain for 40 days and forty days again to atone for his sins, though surely he had sins. He was on the mountain to bring himself and his people into right relationship with God. To discover who he was and what God wanted him to do. And he leaves the mountain with a new covenant for the people.

The last of our Old Testament figures is Elijah; Elijah, who stands alone for God before Ahab, Jezebel, the people, and the prophets of Baal. He challenged them all and with God wins the day and destroys the false prophets. When Jezebel threatens to have him killed, he flees to the desert for 40 days. Angels feed him and sustain him for the journey. Then the voice of God comes to him and asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And Elijah answers, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

So God tells Elijah to stand before the Lord, because God is about to pass by. First there is a wind like a hurricane, but God is not in the wind. Then there is an earthquake, but God is not in the earthquake. Then there is fire, but God is not in the fire. Finally, there is silence, and Elijah goes out and stands before the Lord. Once more God asks Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” and Elijah gives Him the same answer as before. But in the face of all that has happened, Elijah knows that his answer is simply a statement of his fear. And God says to Elijah, “Go.” And Elijah goes. Goes to do God’s will. Goes to restore the forsaken covenant. Goes, knowing now who he is and what God wants of him.

And that brings us back to Jesus. Let us look carefully at what happens using these Old Testament stories as our guide.

The story starts with Jesus in the Jordan River. Through baptism, by those waters, he is washed clean. Like Noah, Like Moses, Like Elijah, Jesus does not enter his 40 days because he is sinful. He enters it in as pure a state as a human being can be in, having repented and turned from sin to God.

And in this turning, He is acknowledged by God. The spirit of God descends on him like a dove. Having emptied himself of sin, he can be filled with the spirit of God. And God speaks to Him in a voice from the clouds. Now for me and for many of my generation, I imagine that voice as the voice of Charlton Heston, who will always be Moses for me; a booming male voice. Perhaps for you it is a calmer, gentler voice, the comforting voice of your mother. Perhaps, as it was for Elijah, it is a voice that speaks through silence. But at the beginning of this journey of 40 days, God speaks to each of them.

God says to Jesus, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” He is claimed by God. He is loved by God. He is accepted by God. Each of our sojourners begins this way, claimed, loved, accepted.

And yet, the Spirit drives him into the wilderness. Why? If he is already claimed, if he is already loved, if he is already accepted, what does he go to the wilderness for?

The answer to that question is the key to understanding the temptation and the key to understanding Lent. I believe that the answer to that question is to learn who he is and what God intends for him.

Let us look at the temptations.

First, we are told that Jesus was famished, not just hungry, but famished. And Satan says, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” He is asking Jesus to use his power to meet his personal needs; and Jesus says no.

Then Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world and offers him authority over them all. He says, I can give you personal power; and Jesus says no.

Finally, Satan takes him to the highest point of religious authority, the pinnacle of the Temple, and challenges him to throw himself off and make God prove who he is; and Jesus says no.

Satan is asking Jesus if his purpose is to seek to meet his personal needs, to seek personal power, to seek personal glory; and Jesus says no.

It is interesting to note that in the course of the Gospels, Jesus does everything that Satan asked, not for himself, but for others.

He creates bread, not for himself, but to feed others.

He is crowned King, not with a golden scepter, but with a crown of thorns.

He is thrown down and raised up, not for his own glory, but to lead us to eternal life.

Jesus is tempted in order to learn who he is and what God intends for him.

Jesus chooses to serve God and to serve others, rather than himself.

As a result, God’s people, you and I, are brought into a new covenant with God. Just as Noah’s 40 days brought us into covenant with God; and Moses 40 days brought us into covenant with God, and Elijah’s 40 days renewed our covenant with God; Jesus 40 days brings us into a new covenant, a new relationship with God.

So here we are, looking at Lent, wondering what it means and what we should be doing. There are many answers to this question. Good answers, answers steeped in tradition. But if we look at Lent in terms of the 40 day sojourns of Noah, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, we can find a new meaning to Lent and in it a new purpose, and a new discipline.

First, repent, turn away from your sins. Leave them behind. Don’t dwell on them; don’t wallow in them, just walk away from them.

Second, hear the voice of God saying to you, “You are my beloved child; in you I am well pleased.” Know in your heart that God has claimed you; that God loves you; that God accepts you. Know that for the truth and that truth will set you free.

Use these 40 days of Lent to examine and to ask yourself who you are, and what does God intend for you. Are you here for your own self interest? To meet your own needs, seek your own power, raise yourself up? Or are you here to meet God’s needs? To meet the needs of others, to bring power to others, to raise others up?

Renew yourself in covenant with God. Rededicate yourself to God.

If you do this, if you use Lent in this way, you will be ready to go out and tell the Gospel, to work miracles in the lives of those around you, to bring peace and healing to a world in so much need of peace and healing.

You will be ready to face the pain and the passion of Good Friday.

You will experience the wonder of Easter in a new way.

You will be lifted up.

Amen