Why We Lent: Mark 1:9-15 - Ash Wednesday

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
  ²“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  ⁵“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  ¹⁶“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  ¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (NRSV)

Ash Wednesday by Lawrence OP.  Creative commons image on flickr

It started out innocently enough... 

It was Ash Wednesday; and with it being a busy day I decided to grab a quick dinner at Arby's.  I ordered the Roast Beef sandwich value meal, sat down in a booth and ate it.  I was wearing my clerics, by the way. 

I'd just taken the first bite of my sandwich when I looked across the dining room to a woman, about my mother's age, staring at me with her eyes bulging and her jaw dropped in shock.  My eyes probably got just as big with embarrassment as I realized what I was doing: a "man of the cloth" was eating meat on Ash Wednesday. 

I could've explained to her that I'm a Lutheran and that we Lutherans are under no ecclesiastical obligation to abstain from eating meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday.  But I didn't.  Instead, I scarfed down my meal as fast as I could chew it and left the restaurant.  And I never again ate meat on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday when in a public place, wearing my clerics.  I learned my lesson. 

It's wonderful that we are free in Christ NOT to undertake spiritual disciplines during Lent.  But is it really such a bad thing? 

I don't know about you, but Lent has always had this "doom and gloom" feel to it, which I certainly don't need in my life right now.  I don't need any more guilt about being a sinner.  I don't need to be burdened with any more disciplines when life is already so stressful—and eating chocolate or meat on Fridays may just help me feel good.   

People who fast during Lent remind me of people who wake up at 5 a.m. in winter to run fifteen miles: I have neither the time, the energy, the inclination, or the discipline to do such a thing.  If you can, more power to you.   

It's only lately that I've come to see the season of Lent as a gift, and here's why: it's not a spiritual boot camp to prove yourself worthy of Christ.  And it's certainly not a time for you to prove to yourself (or anyone else) that you can live without chocolate or meat on Fridays.  It's not about your self-discipline and willpower... 

Lent exists because of Jesus.  Jesus is the focus of Lent—and not what YOU DO (or don't do).  We're journeying to the cross, where the fullness of God's love is revealed; where sinners are forgiven and freed; where death and the devil meet their doom; where new life in God begins.   

But if you believe you can be a Christian without discipline, you are mistaken.   

Without discipline, Jesus is little more than an afterthought...  Out of sight, out of mind…  Forgiveness becomes permission to do whatever you want...  Service to one's neighbor is undertaken when it suits you...  Salvation becomes a get-out-of-hell-free-card to keep in your wallet or glove compartment, to present out only when needed...   

Just consider all of the noise of today's world: you're bombarded with thousands of advertising messages every single day, all of which promise that you can buy your way to happiness with their stuff.  You have talking heads on 24-hour cable news trying to win you over to their way of thinking so that you'll keep watching and get all your "news" their network.  You're under constant pressure to get results, meet people's expectations, deliver satisfaction.  We have more food, more clothes, more gadgets, and stuff than ever before—but all we have to show for it is a whole lot of trash.  Worst of all, we're stressed, exhausted, and miserable.   

Without discipline, anxiety will consume you until the day you die.  There has got to be an end to the constant anxiety of never having enough, never achieving enough, never knowing enough, never experiencing enough, never being good enough...   

Something has got to break the cycle.  Fortunately, Jesus did.  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  And Jesus is born into the vicious cycles that devour the gift of life, in order to lead you to the God who creates and restores life. 

This is why Lent is a gift.  This is why discipline is good.  God is breaking the cycle; gently calling us above the noise; giving shelter in the storm; bringing calm amid the calamity. Jesus disciplines you—not for punishment, but for growth.  For healing.  For transformation.  For freedom from sin.  For release from anxiety.   

In Christ, you do not have to accomplish more.  You do not have to control more or know more.  You don't have to consume more.  You can rest.  You can be at peace.  Instead of being lost in life's chaos, you are found in Lord. 

What's more is that the good Jesus aims to accomplish is not limited to you.  The discipline that strengthens your faith also strengthens relationships with your neighbor.  God's invisible power is made VISIBLE in people whom God sends to do God's work.  It's people who seek out and gather in the lost.  It's people who feed the hungry.  It's people who turn loneliness into friendship.  It's people who make God's presence real.  Ordinary people.  YOU. 

Lent is a gift.  Discipline is a gift—because the object of the discipline is Jesus, and the goal is new life.  He comes to be the passion that drives you; the love that inspires you; the hope that sustains you.  His love is too great a joy to miss by passing up an opportunity to do good.  Isn't Jesus a far greater treasure than a roast beef sandwich or a Hershey Bar?  Is it not a rich exchange to trade worldly anxiety for the resurrected life?