Q: What is Lent? Why do people give up something they
enjoy? Are there any other traditions
associated with Lent?
Much like a school year or a
company’s fiscal year differs from our calendar year, there is also a church
year that includes seasons and festivals commemorated by Christians. Because Christmas and Easter are such
important festivals for the church, this calendar includes special seasons to
prepare for these festivals. The season
of preparation for Christmas is called Advent and the season of preparation for
Easter is called Lent.
Lent is a forty day season, but
Sundays are not counted toward the forty, so this results in the first day of
Lent being 46 days before Easter, which is called Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, many Christians gather to
receive the Lord’s Supper and allow themselves to be marked with ashes on the
forehead to remind them of their failure to keep God’s commands and that the
result is death.
Contrary to many misconceptions, Lent
is not intended to be a season of mourning for Jesus death or a season of
misery or despair for Christians.
Instead, it is a season where Christians are encouraged to pay special
attention to remembering all that Jesus has done for them by becoming human,
dying by crucifixion, and rising to life after three days.
Part of this focus includes an
emphasis on repentance which means to turn away from the desire for sinful
things and toward trusting in Jesus.
Another common misconception about Lent is that it is the only time that
Christians focus on repentance and remembering Jesus’ death. These two things are always focal points in
Christianity, but in Lent, they receive special emphasis as they are remembered
in preparation to celebrate Easter.
Because of the focus on repentance in
Lent, fasting has been a very common practice throughout history. The most intense form of fasting is to
refrain from eating or drinking anything except for water for a period of time,
but typical Lenten fasting only includes giving up certain types of food or giving
up food for certain portions of the day.
Historically, the most common type of fasting for Lent has been to give
up meat to various degrees. This could
be as simple as giving up beef one day a week or as drastic as eating a
basically vegan diet for the entire Lenten season.
In modern times, this fasting has
often expressed itself differently.
Catholics and Lutherans especially, but many protestants as well, will
give up something which they enjoy during the season of Lent, such as chocolate,
coffee, sugar, or television. However,
this is not intended to be a sacrifice to make up for sins or to earn God’s
kindness. Instead, giving up a favorite
luxury serves as a reminder to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us by
dying for sin. Celebrations like Carnival or Mari Gras original began as people enjoyed these favorite things
one last time before giving them up for Lent.
Other Lenten traditions in the church
include giving up more joyful parts of the Divine Service or Mass, such as
certain songs or the word “Alleluia.” In
the past, some churches have even stopped using their organ or other musical
instruments for the entire season of Lent.
The intention of Lent and of each of
these Lenten traditions is never that they be approached as a requirement to
satisfy church rules or as something we do to appease God or make up for our
failures, but that they are an exercise which helps Christians to remember
their need for a Savior from sin and that Jesus has fulfilled that need by
accomplishing everything necessary for the salvation of the world by His life,
death, and resurrection.
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