Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. If you are new to the church, or the church calendar is new to you, take a moment to read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday.
You see that historically, Lent has been observed by Christians either giving up something or adding something to their lives for 40 days. The idea is rooted in the spiritual discipline of fasting. Fasting is when a person, for reasons of personal devotion, abstains from food, drink or some other activity. It can be profoundly significant, quieting the noise of everyday desires and heightening awareness of God’s still, small voice. Fasting an prayer should be regular aspects of the life of any disciple. I think we should take a look at spiritual disciplines some time. For now, let me return to Lent.
Today, we are having two services of worship, 9:30am and 7:30pm. Over the course of the day, people will ask you, “What are you giving up for Lent?” While I am all for the Christian discipline of fasting, be careful as you prayerfully launch into this Lenten season.
Too often I hear people say that they are giving up something for Lent that they should be giving up for ever. Just yesterday, I heard of someone giving up gossiping for Lent. Lent fasting cannot be confused with the daily mortification of sin! Lent is not 40 days out of the year for us to actually take our lives and our actions seriously, while willfully indulging in sin the rest of the year.
In prayer, ask the Lord to show you how to observe Lent this year. If removing something from your life is the Lord’s call, pause to see if the call is just for Lent or for good.
Isaiah 58
58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
