Progressive Thoughts About Lent
By Graham Campbell
“I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was a way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.” Philippians 3:10-11 The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language – Eugene H. Peterson, Translator
One of the changes that is occurring in me since joining FBC is a growing interest in the church year. In the past, those sorts of things met with distain from me. But here at FBC, I am finding it a new way to experience elements of our faith, so this post is about LENT.
First, some of the details or factoids about Lent. An afternoon of internet research taught me several things.
- Lent is always capitalized, like Christmas.
- Lent is a word that is not found in the Bible. It is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word which refers to spring and lengthening of the days. So early Christians chose to celebrate along with the pagans.
- Lent is first mentioned in Christian history in the early 4th
- Lent is 40 days long (not counting Sundays!!!) The 40 days is usually connected to Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan before Jesus began his ministry. The number 40 also connects with the 40 years the Hebrews spent in the desert after escaping from Egypt (Deuteronomy 29:5). 40 is also connected with 40 days of Noah’s flood (Genesis 7:12). And Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sanai while receiving the commandments.
All of these quite trivial factoids are a way of showing the deep connection Jesus had to the spiritual and religious history of Israel.
Secondly, and more importantly, Lent is the period of 40 days when we prepare, 2000 years later, for the most important events in our faith. We have the chance to focus on the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and how that impact out lives today. Personally, I am convinced that it is not just about his resurrection then but our resurrection today in the middle of this very dark time. Resurrection not just then and there but HERE AND NOW. The resurrection of his followers every year. There would be no Christianity without the resurrection then and the continued resurrection of all of us gives it contemporary vitality and power in out time. One without the other is only half the story.
Whenever a Christian takes time during these 40 days to learn new ways to embody the love which Jesus brought to us there is a resurrection. Every time we roll away the stone from the tomb of our half-lived lives and truly grasp the significance of our creation in Yahweh’s image, we experience resurrection. The miracle of the resurrection of Jesus has never stopped. It was not a one-time thing.
That’s why the church happened. So, we too could experience resurrection. Or, what Paul refers to as “The New Creation.” “So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17) During the time of Lent, we take time to prepare for this emergence in our lives, community and world every year.
For the original disciples, in the worst period of their lives, in the darkest deepest time, when all light was being snuffed out a resurrection burst forth. As we sang last Sunday:
“When aimless violence takes those we love,
when random death strikes childhood’s promise down,
when wrenching loss becomes the fabric of our days,
we know, O God, you leave us not alone.”
#632 | When Aimless Violence Takes Those We Love
We too can experience the new light dawning, the New Creation, the personal and community resurrection. When it sometimes feels like much of our world is being bombed into rubble, we can find that light resurrected again. We can access the power of resurrection which the Love that Jesus demonstrated. As we take time to reflect, pray, meditate, participate in ancient rituals like anointing (which we also heard about on Sunday), Ash Wednesday, and upcoming Maundy Thursday, we can gradually open our hearts wider as we work toward loving our neighbors, strangers, and foreigners, all of them without exception. In the 1970’s, the phrase most used to describe Jesus was “The Man for Others.” In our era of the 2020’s, Christians can become known as those with “Hearts for Others.”
Through this time, we can blossom, emerge, unfold, arise, transform, upgrade to version 2.0 of ourselves.
When I was a kid, Lent was about giving up something for 40 days in recognition of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Especially some of the Catholic kids worked hard to give up something important like television, meat, sports, or school lunches. But most gave up superficial things like ice cream or soda.
But in our time, we can take a somewhat different approach and decide to spend the 40 days giving in practical ways.
Our church provides a number programs that can provide opportunities:
- We can bring extra food for the church pantry which homeless and food insecure people make use of. This is the time they need its provision more than ever.
- We can bring more clothing for the Worcester Area Mission Society sharing events or volunteer to help staff one of those events.
- Some of our English language learning students are having trouble with transportation to and from classes here at FBC. Their usual rides are afraid of being harassed by ICE. Any one less likely to be harassed (as in white) could volunteer to drive.
- A number of our members volunteer at the Mustard Seed, an organization which has for many years fed those in need every day.
- We can add a bit more to our weekly pledge during this period.
These are ways to discover how to embody the love which Jesus spoke so passionately of in our lives in these times.
And there are less conventional activities during Lent in which people can engage. Not everyone will want to do these two but for some of us, they are part of engaging with a world that desperately needs the loving church to stand up and work for peace.
No Kings Day
March 28th 1-3 pm
Institute Park
(Peace Angels will have a delegation there.)
April 2nd
Nonviolent Resistance Training
A Forum After Church
Presented by Worcester Indivisible
And FBC’s Social Justice Action Team
As we progress through Lent, we have the chance to embody our faith in a different way. Again, as we heard last Sunday, Jesus says to the young girl who was considered dead, “Talitha koum” which translates to “Young Lady, I tell you to get up.” And she did exactly that. During Lent Jesus tells all the young and old ladies and men, to get up and live in the resurrection’s power of love.
Finally, there is one more sort of resurrection I want to acknowledge. As a rather left wing, very WOKE, tree hugging, bleeding hearted progressive Christian, I have often done my best to ignore many traditional aspects of church life. But, now in this part of my life some of those rituals and ceremonies are coming alive for me. I am very grateful.
