Yesterday was a very important day in the church calendar – Ash Wednesday. Actually, it began the Sunday before if your being a strict liturgical follower with the celebration of the Baptism of Christ. Traditionally, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus on that sunday and then the following Wednesday we begin the Lenten Journey. It’s the time we remember Jesus’ wilderness time – his temptations. It was a period of 40 days in which Jesus physically emptied himself – emotionally and spiritually too.
I know I suffer with the false understanding that he went there to JUST be tempted by the enemy, but that’s not entirely true. Jesus went to the wilderness as the starting point of his ministry – He went there for the distractions to be removed and for a real focus and empowerment for his ensuing public ministry. See in the wilderness, we are stripped from all the things that get in the way and keep us distracted. Think about Moses and the refugee Hebrew people wandering in the wilderness for 40 Years! God didn’t have them out there because he didn’t know how to get them from point A to point Promised Land in the most direct route, but to strip away from them all the garbage they inherited from the egyptians – to let them find HIM.
The church remembers Christ’s time in the wilderness during Lent with the focus that it will lead us to the remembrance of what happened at Golgotha on Good Friday. Lent is a time to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus – the gift to the world – the initial act of restoring creation. It is a 40 day time period to draw our hearts to the events of Passion week. During these 40 days, the early church encouraged the followers of Jesus to fast and deny things that distracted from encountering God. Technically, Lent is 46 dys – the early church refused to fast on Sunday. Sunday was a weekly reminder of the resurrection – a time for JOY and celebration!
For millions of Christians, the observance of Lent is a time of self-denial and “giving things up.” But in that, Lent has also been a time of great abuse in the Church – penitence going beyond the intention of focus to a place of real despair. Some have used this time to punish people or themselves. Others have used Lent to give up things that act as more of a luxury rather than something that could be a distraction. Lent is more about taking on things then about letting them go – it is about stepping away and denying areas in our live that distract us, but it’s also about a real focus and intention on the Holiness of the God who loves us. I’m reminded of a quote by Marilyn Brown Oden in her book Wilderness Wanderings that shed a little light on this for me – “Our wilderness time does not shrink our boundaries but expands them, taking us to new depths and breadths and heights. We envision a new world, and–created in God’s image and empowered through God’s love–we have a part in shaping that world.”
This Lenten season, I invite you to join in Wondering through the Wilderness. How can you let go of things that distract but instead of thinking about “giving up things”, what can you take up that will bring you closer to the Father? What can you take up that will bring you to Holiness and His Righteousness? If you’re looking for resources, check out the book Wilderness Wanderings: A Lenten Pilgrimage (that’s the resource I’ll be reading and using on my Lenten journey this year). Several amazing authors have great books about the Lenten and Easter season – run out and read a new book or listen to a new podcast or series that will challenge you to take on something this Lent.
I wish you a joy-filled Lenten season!
Grace and Peace
Jim
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