The Meaning and Purpose of Lent

Some years ago I spent some time at Cuddesdon Theological College on a Sabbatical during which time I made a further study of The Passion Narratives and the Doctrine of the Atonement.  In my studies I read the book ‘The Passion as Liturgy’ by the French Theologian Etienne Trocme in which he sets out the evidence for the Passion Narratives as being formed long before they became a part of the written Gospels as we now have them.  This could be evidence that not too long after the death of Jesus Christians visited the place of the Passion to remember and recall anew the events of the death of Jesus as a sort of spiritual pilgrimage of worship and renewal.

Christianity became legalised in AD 313 and Lent became regulated but there is evidence of some earlier Lenten preparation before Easter.  It became customary for Christians to fast before Easter with perhaps a fast for two days from Friday to Saturday.  Over the years this practice developed into the 40-day season of Lent.   One can understand why because the number forty features predominately in the history of God’s revelation of himself.  It rained for forty days and forty nights whilst Noah was in the Ark, the young nation of Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness in preparation to enter the Promised Land, and most significantly, Jesus fasted, prayed and was tempted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, as preparation for his ministry.

Clues to the meaning and purpose of the Season of lent can be found in the word of Saxon origin, ‘Lencten’, meaning Spring, renewal and re-growth. This translates for Christians into spiritual renewal and re-growth, which is a fitting preparation for the great feast of Easter.  Up until the fourth century Lent had evolved in different ways within Christendom of which fasting was very much a part. There were many different rules regarding what types of meat and other food from which to abstain. However, most significantly by the fourth century Lent was a time of making catechumens as they sought to be made members of the Christian Church by baptism at Easter.  This was an experience shared by the entire congregation when the catechumens were engaged in the study of the Creed, on which they were tested, as they learned Christian Doctrine.  The whole congregation, as well as the catechumens, examined their lives in the light of the Ten Commandments, Christian morals and ethics.   This was a time of repentance and self-denial as an act of penance.  It was also a time of receiving back the excommunicated by instruction, repentance, confession and absolution.  It was a time of prayer and sobriety. Very often the confessions were made publicly in front of the whole congregation.

Once they had passed this trial they were baptized and received Holy Communion either on Easter Eve or at Easter that was a great happy occasion shared by the entire congregation, who had undergone their spiritual renewal of Lent.  It was a time of restoration of the fallen into the fellowship of the Church and the Lord’s Supper, and also a time of great joy, which was more greatly appreciated after the discipline of Lent.  I remember vividly when whilst at theological college I took part in a realistic fourth century making of a catechumen, the testing, the baptism and confirmation of a catechumen, whose part I was playing.  In the bathroom opposite the lecture room I underwent a pretend baptism by total immersion. I really felt the power and joy of all things being new with the opportunities new life in Christ could bring.  A sense of really belonging to the Kingdom of God awaiting his promised return, whether in this world or the next.  In a way I felt that I was already in the next spiritually whilst bodily being within this world.  So it felt like that to those of whom took part in the exercise, how much more then for those for whom it had been a real experience!

During the fifth century infant baptism became the norm so the period between baptism and confirmation was extended.  Lent then became the norm for the entire congregation and was a way of trying to deal with post-baptismal sin.  In the early years there was a very real expectation that Jesus’ return would not be long in coming but as time passed by it was evident that this might not be so.  Therefore, what do you do with sin committed after the great experience of being born anew in baptism? So Lent became a time of real penance in preparation for Easter for all members of the Church, and not just catechumens.

Over the centuries modifications have been made with changing times and circumstances.  We have the forty days of Lent, which covers six weeks excluding Sundays.  Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday, when as an act of penitence we are marked with a sign of the cross in ash.  We begin our Lenten discipline, which is a journey of Spiritual Renewal and re-growth within our Christian Life. We are encouraged to reflect more deeply on the ministry and Passion of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Lent remains the serious season it is meant to be as we enter into introspection and penance with the same principles of discipline remaining, even if they may be done differently.  The liturgy remains in essence the same.

One discipline of Lent is an opportunity to fast as an act of penance which, when done sensibly, sharpens our minds as we reduce toxins in our body keeping us more alert.  This can enable a clearer mind for reflection, study and prayer.  A benefit of fasting is that the money we save by cutting back on the amount we eat can be donated to charities that minister to the hungry and the poor of the world.  This is a custom often carried out with good effect.  Another benefit is ‘that you often do not appreciate something until you have been without it’.  It will perhaps not be taken for granted again and our empathy for the hungry will be heightened along with a greater thankfulness for what we have.  We must though be mindful of the warning Jesus gave his disciples when he said do not fast like the Pharisees who made a great public show of pride in what they were doing.  If not we will, like them, be in danger of serving the self we seek to deny.

A further discipline of Lent is an opportunity for study and prayer to measure us against the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels.  Perhaps to read the text prayerfully and let it speak to us which can give us a subject for our prayers.  This can be a yardstick with which to measure our personal Christian journey and our relationship with God.  The Sunday readings can be extended when we take our pew sheets home by looking in our Bibles at the context of the readings.  We can look at ourselves in the light of what we read.  We could also read a book on spirituality and devotion.

Then there is the discipline of regularly attending the Sunday and weekday services along with any other acts of worship provided in Lent.  These can be an opportunity to offer to God what we may be discovering about our spiritual selves. To share with others through worship the journey of Lent corporately as a Christian Community.  There are themes and special Sundays during Lent, which we can only truly appreciate if we are present at worship on those days.  Lent is a corporate activity as well as a personal one because we are on a journey with others.  We walk out tonight with the sign of the cross on our foreheads, the beginning of Lent, with many Christians throughout the world.

Lent then is a time of preparation for Easter and an opportunity for spiritual renewal by measuring ourselves against the teaching of Jesus and his commands.  Reflecting on the way he said we should live and in the light of God’s Commandments and the teaching   Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount.  Yes and dealing with any sins and weaknesses which spoil and hinder our relationship with God.  It is a time of penance and confession if we feel that we have fallen short of the commands our Lord made, and the way of life he taught us to live, as his Body within the world.  There is always the opportunity for confession whether privately or to a Priest.

It is our personal choice what we make of or do with Lent and I truly believe that we should do something along the lines covered in this address. Lent is an opportunity for springtime in our spiritual lives.

I was advised many years ago by my warden for spirituality at the Community of the Resurrection Mirfield to think carefully and not take on more than one could manage in Lent. To do whatever one feels is needed and do it sincerely or else one may give up and arrive at Easter feeling a failure.  So we are to arrive feeling refreshed and renewed in joyful anticipation of Easter having concentrated our thoughts on the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through Lent.

The large poignant Crucifix behind our Altar here at St. Georges comes into its own during the season of Lent.  We see graphically the real cost and love of the Passion of Jesus and is a perfect visual aid to us at this time.

God planted the Cross-within the soil of history.  Jesus turned God’s standard into a standard of love, and he plants the standard of his love into the heart of every believer. The first and last verses of a Lent hymn by Charles Everest may suffice to remind us of this.

Take up thy cross, the saviour said,
If thou wouldst my disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.

To thee, great Lord, the One in three,
All praise for evermore ascend;
O grant us in our home to see
The heavenly life that knows no end.

The meaning of Lent is ‘Lencten’, meaning Spring, re-growth and renewal.

May we have a good Spiritual Spring this Lent.

Fr. Ray Chapman.  Preached on Ash Wednesday 2009.