Lent – what if?

RB McFee

Email: drmcfee2020@gmail.com

"Then (after being baptized by John the Baptist) Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted….”

Matthew 4:1

Welcome to Lent, although it is fleeting fast. If we don’t pay attention now, we are in danger of missing it.  Especially since, out of the 40 days of Lent, what we have left is a short amount of time to experience Jesus’ last days.

Put differently, we are now two weeks from Maundy Thursday, the time of Jesus celebrating the Passover with His Disciples. A meal we refer to as “The Last Supper.” From that moment forward – crossing the Kidron Valley, praying at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ arrest and subsequent torture before being crucified before the start of Shabbat – what Christians refer to as “Good Friday,”  these are fast upon us.

If it was Christmastime and you awoke one day realizing it was just two weeks until Christmas, would you be bummed out? Would you lament “Oh my gosh, I’ve almost missed Advent, the Season, the preparations?”

But do we feel the same way about Lent? Does it capture our imagination, our enthusiasm, our spiritual core? Do we take note of these 40 days as if each and every one has a purpose in our life, for our life?

Lent is not the actual last 40 days of Jesus’ earthly ministry before His Passion, His Resurrection, His Ascension. But it has been bequeathed to us from the early church leaders for a purpose.

Have we thought about walking with Jesus before He embarks upon His Passion?

And have we considered what Lent really means for our spiritual lives, our worldly lives, our emotional lives?....what the true purpose of Lent is, or was meant to be?

Or do we wonder does it really matter at all in a 21^st century world?

After all, Lent was codified by the ‘church’ at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. And before that some of the practices included in “Lent” were done all the way back to the first century AD.

Does Lent still matter?

What if there wasn’t a Lent. Would we still be mindful of the journey in Christ we are taking or need to take? Would we consider the days before Jesus’ Passion as a time of preparation or just ordinary time until we land on Holy Week?

What if there wasn’t a Lent. Would we create one, in honor of Jesus’ great sacrifice? Would we take this bittersweet time and take it to heart? Would we invite a closer walk with Jesus so that we can experience more fully the purpose, the power, the gift that Good Friday and Easter provide us?

What if there wasn’t a Lent? Would we still take time to examine our current state of spirituality? Would we try to align ourselves more with Jesus? Would we try to learn more about and from Him knowing these are His last days before the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry?

Knowing now what the Disciples in live time still didn’t fully grasp, that Jesus was leaving them soon….therefore would we, will we choose to let these last few days of Lent go to waste, or will we commit to making them meaningful in Christ?

Lent was based upon Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness – being led there by the Holy Spirit, not His actual 40 days before His Passion.  In an upcoming article we’ll discuss the differences and what can be learned from them. But for now let’s stay with ‘traditional’ Lent.

Recall Jesus was just baptized. A time, a moment when God proclaimed Jesus as His Son.

Imagine the Almighty declaring you belong to Him, and in fact He is well pleased. Only to be led into the desert for over a month. Oh and you have to give up food for the entire time. And then you will be tempted. By the way there are wild animals all over the place – from big, biting insects, to venomous snakes, and other critters that pose a real threat to people. No hotel rooms either. But a great view of the stars in a pitch black region.

Take a moment and reflect on what it would be like to be Jesus in the wilderness.

Perhaps you are in a wilderness right now?

Why? To what purpose?

The time leading up to Good Friday is always a wilderness experience because it reminds us who we are, the journey we take, and the transformation in Christ we need.

Lent is a time of transformation – in fact the word for 40 in Hebrew “mem” means transformation to something higher, but embedded in it is the concept of trial, testing, before transformation and triumph.

Consider the important “40” moments in the Bible – especially the Old Testament, which is the scripture Jesus’ Jewish followers would know, and know well.

How long was Moses on the mountain receiving, discussing and writing the 10 Commandments from and with God?

How long were the Israelites in the wilderness transforming from former slaves to a new nation?

How long was Noah and family floating around before the storm ended and a new world began?

And there are other great moments of “40” if you take a peek into the early scriptures.

Then there is Jesus and His 40 days in the wilderness.

Why did God send His Son there? What was Jesus supposed to learn?  And what if Jesus wasn’t sent into the desert for 40 days? Would it have mattered?

It is something we will discuss in another article. But take a moment to think about it. I’ve been doing that for much of these last couple of weeks. The answers you are gifted from Above may be very instructive. Please email me if you would like to share why you think God led Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days.

Getting back to Lent – a time of repentance, which in the original 1^st century context would mean to give up our current selves and return to the One we have left – God.

And in the process, we are asked to pray, to give up something, and to give to others.

All these have something in common – self sacrifice….time (prayer), what we have valued perhaps above Who we should value (giving up our former ways using some object as a daily reminder), and almsgiving – sacrificing a portion of what we have and instead of using it for our pleasure, sharing it for God’s purposes…to help others.

Prayer – the time when we still ourselves from the outside distractions for an inner moment with God. How often do we

Giving up something -I don’t think God really cares if we give up chocolate or coffee or potato chips or whatever. But the act of self sacrifice does matter. Do we give of ourselves to Him, do we allow these 40 days to “mem” to transform us?

Giving to others – whether time, talent, or treasure, it is about disciplining ourselves in these 40 days and beyond to focus on God’s work more than our routine.

Lent – 40 days in the wilderness … with Jesus, with ourselves – a solitary journey of spiritual self exploration, emptying ourselves of what is no longer good or useful or helps us connect with God – dying to our former selves and leaving it behind in the desert, so we can become a vessel of honor for good and for God. Taking the time to talk with God, to ask for His guidance, to lead us from our spiritual, emotional, physical wilderness, into a time of purpose, even if that purpose involves growing pains, testing, trials, because like every other “40” journey in the Bible – days or years – what results is triumph and transformation in the Power of the Lord.

Photo: Royalty free from https://freechristimages.com/bible-stories/temptation-of-jesus.html