My Lenten NonObservance
So as promised to myself, I have taken my fingers to the keyboard when I have massive insomnia.
I really do hate seeing the sun come up knowing I’ve only dozed for a few minutes and in the night my mind has basically solved world peace, world hunger and the economic downfall. The thought did come to mind, about Lent. Why? Because many people observe it and in these first world “issues” that we have many people decide to take Facebook fasts, fast from chocolate or other tasty treats they have hidden in the freezer for emergency like that tub of Haagan Daz. I spent years in an incredible Anglican Church in New York City that observed Lent. I didn’t know what Lent or Advent was growing up because I went to various non denominational, evangelical churches. My catholic friends did Lent. I wondered as a kid what it was and why they were giving things up that seems so vital to life when I was 10...like their allowance. It didn’t make much sense but then again neither did the whole Mary and rosary thing either.
When I went to the Anglican church it enriched my understanding.Lent can be a time of more concentrated study, prayer and fasting. It can be an enriching time.My favorite part of Lent at our Anglican church was after the service a window would covered with a white drape each week, shutting out the light and then BOOM on Easter the Light shone in sometimes even quasi blinded a couple people, everything was decorated in purple and the altar was adorned with flowers. The brunch they served at local Upper West Side establishments really did a bang up job and the festivities too. I always settled on H&H bagels or Zabars myself having to sit and smell the fresh yeast laden bagels baking and boiling...right...across...the street. Really tempting if you are fasting from enriched white flour and high calorie carbs, eating out, or my favorite back then was riding the subway. Really a bummer if you were late for work or it rained.
Lent can also be a time when the lines of tradition and doctrine are finely drawn. Many evangelical churches never mention Lent let alone observe it. Why is this?
Lent is never spoken of in Scripture as the early church still was predominantly Jewish and they still celebrated the Sabbath meal and calender when it came to feasts and holy days. Jesus never spoke to observe Lent in fact he observed Jewish holidays even insignificant ones like the Feast of the Dedication aka Hanukkah. The early church believed that Lent started with Christ in the wilderness, and was proclaimed a time of repentance and fasting to prepare for Easter. There are some documents that state this might be the case like the Didache but the Didache is not canonical scripture to draw doctrine from.There’s a bigger discussion somewhere in there that would make this blog way too long. I need to remember I’m writing to the MTV generation, which is now geriatric as opposed to the Youtube generation.
Nothing is new under the sun! This is Old Testament wisdom of Solomon. The fact is, many people do not celebrate Lent and still they go to church and are believers. I personally find a Facebook fast a predominantly first world crisis. In a country that is so full of abundance, educational privileges, religious freedom, political freedom and an overabundance of Starbucks with WiFi, Apple products and Free Trade chocolate I think God must laugh...or chuckle at thinking how we’ve "sacrificed" these precious times off Facebook and our “habitual sins” of overindulging in sugar free jello chocolate mousse while catching up on Downton Abbey. Now, I’m not hinting at one person or another so if you’ve declared a fast don’t worry...this is not about YOU. I just find it funny that people declare on Facebook, virtual Times Square their fast and leave their email as an alternative method of contacting them. Try turning off the electricity for 40 days and then Lent might get really ugly. In Radical by David Platt he writes how we might need to revaluate how the "American Dream" has crept into our call to discipleship and sacrifice as a way of life. My point is, I think Scripture calls for everyday should be lived like it’s Lent in praying without ceasing, abiding in Christ, and devoting our lives to the apostles teaching of the Gospel of grace. Jesus said it’s not what goes in your mouth that makes you clean, it’s what comes out of it that defiles us because we speak out of the heart. Jesus spoke very clearly that we must pick up our cross daily and follow Him. (Luke 9:23)This is personally why I don’t feel the need to observe the tradition of Lent. I am free not to.
So with that off my chest I will post this wonderful blog on Facebook, grab my coffee to get me through the day...so thankful I didn’t give up caffeine or I’d be screaming at the kids by noon and grasping desperately for that chocolate mousse. All the Facebook fasters will get this on Easter or sooner if they cheat. Don’t worry I won’t judge you (wink wink), it will just prove that when we are weak He is strong!
Lucy2Shoes
Lent can also be a time when the lines of tradition and doctrine are finely drawn. Many evangelical churches never mention Lent let alone observe it. Why is this?
Lent is never spoken of in Scripture as the early church still was predominantly Jewish and they still celebrated the Sabbath meal and calender when it came to feasts and holy days. Jesus never spoke to observe Lent in fact he observed Jewish holidays even insignificant ones like the Feast of the Dedication aka Hanukkah. The early church believed that Lent started with Christ in the wilderness, and was proclaimed a time of repentance and fasting to prepare for Easter. There are some documents that state this might be the case like the Didache but the Didache is not canonical scripture to draw doctrine from.There’s a bigger discussion somewhere in there that would make this blog way too long. I need to remember I’m writing to the MTV generation, which is now geriatric as opposed to the Youtube generation.
Nothing is new under the sun! This is Old Testament wisdom of Solomon. The fact is, many people do not celebrate Lent and still they go to church and are believers. I personally find a Facebook fast a predominantly first world crisis. In a country that is so full of abundance, educational privileges, religious freedom, political freedom and an overabundance of Starbucks with WiFi, Apple products and Free Trade chocolate I think God must laugh...or chuckle at thinking how we’ve "sacrificed" these precious times off Facebook and our “habitual sins” of overindulging in sugar free jello chocolate mousse while catching up on Downton Abbey. Now, I’m not hinting at one person or another so if you’ve declared a fast don’t worry...this is not about YOU. I just find it funny that people declare on Facebook, virtual Times Square their fast and leave their email as an alternative method of contacting them. Try turning off the electricity for 40 days and then Lent might get really ugly. In Radical by David Platt he writes how we might need to revaluate how the "American Dream" has crept into our call to discipleship and sacrifice as a way of life. My point is, I think Scripture calls for everyday should be lived like it’s Lent in praying without ceasing, abiding in Christ, and devoting our lives to the apostles teaching of the Gospel of grace. Jesus said it’s not what goes in your mouth that makes you clean, it’s what comes out of it that defiles us because we speak out of the heart. Jesus spoke very clearly that we must pick up our cross daily and follow Him. (Luke 9:23)This is personally why I don’t feel the need to observe the tradition of Lent. I am free not to.
So with that off my chest I will post this wonderful blog on Facebook, grab my coffee to get me through the day...so thankful I didn’t give up caffeine or I’d be screaming at the kids by noon and grasping desperately for that chocolate mousse. All the Facebook fasters will get this on Easter or sooner if they cheat. Don’t worry I won’t judge you (wink wink), it will just prove that when we are weak He is strong!
Lucy2Shoes
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