Did you, like me, happen to abandon your Lenten disciplines last year? With pandemic news worsening by the day, it all felt a bit “too much” when we were immediately and without much warning thrust into giving up so many things not of our own choosing. As Andy Crouch famously quipped, “Honestly hadn’t planned up giving up quite this much for Lent.”
Now, nearly a year later, there’s a lot of reason to hope. Many are getting vaccinated and infection numbers continue to drop. Although it sure doesn’t feel like it this week, the worst part of winter, and Lord willing, the worst part of this pandemic is behind us. However, we’re mostly living under the same general restrictions. Working and schooling from home, masking up in public, and physically distancing from others has become our new way of life. Is this really the time to add more restrictions on our already restricted lives?
But I humbly suggest that perhaps the traditional Lenten disciplines might be exactly what we need at this stage of late pandemic fatigue. Many of us are feeling weary, lonely, and longing. Which is precisely the space in which spiritual practices can become powerful invitations for God to meet us, fill us, and form us. Over the next few days, I invite you to spend some time in God’s presence asking and reflecting on these questions:
God, what do I need from you this Lent?
What do I want from you this Lent?
What practices will help me receive it?
Lent has been traditionally marked by prayer, fasting, and giving. Below are some suggestions for how you might incorporate these disciplines into your life this season.
Prayer
Restoration is offering multiple opportunities for prayer this Lent. Join us for weekly Compline on Sunday nights. If your own words are hard to come by, commit a new prayer to memory or try praying in color.
If you’d like to do a bit of reading, this is my most recent favorite read on prayer (the title is misleading, I assure you, it’s not just for beginners!), but this one is a classic for a reason. You’re also invited to join us for a discussion on “Prayer in the Night.”
Lastly, mark your calendars for the morning of March 21st, where Deacon Cheryl from Church of the Cross will lead us in an experience of Immanuel Prayer.
Fasting
Fasting is simply the act of abstaining from something. We fast not for weight loss, better eating habits or for self-discipline’s sake but to learn to hunger for God. Sometimes, it helps reveal how much we don’t hunger for God. For most of us, all our needs and much much more are met on a daily basis. So intentionally removing something good from our lives creates a space where God might fill it with himself.
As a congregation, we fast from the word "Alleluia" during Lent. And many individuals will fast from meals (e.g., lunch on Tuesdays), meat, alcohol, sweets, television, or social media. My encouragement would be to choose small, doable fasts over daring feats of self-mastery (like my child who tried to give up bacon last year!). There is no prize for the most difficult fast, and it becomes very easy for the focus to become one's own sense of achievement or failure rather than God himself.
Some people also choose to adopt a new practice, either to replace what has been given up or instead of giving up altogether. For those with a tendency toward perfectionism, this can sometimes be a more helpful discipline than giving something up. A "fast" like this may include reading a Lenten devotional, adding a time of scripture meditation to your day, or any of the suggestions for prayer given above.
Giving
Lent is also a traditional time of service, the kind of fasting described in Isaiah 58:6: “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?”
This year, our Good Friday offering is going to an ARDF project in Eastern Kenya. We’ve got Mite boxes on the way, but you could also make one of your own. Perhaps the money you save on fasting from your favorite weekly treat could go toward this gift?
But there are many ways to give and serve throughout Lent. Make a double batch of soup and bring it to a lonely neighbor. Write a note of encouragement to a teacher or medical professional. Read up on our outreach partners and commit them to your prayers. Consider reading a new book or listening to new voices on an issue of justice and allowing that to inform your prayers and financial gifts.
Liturgy and Devotional
Finally, Andrew Preston has created a weekly liturgy and devotional with specific suggestions for practicing each of these disciplines. You can download it here. A printed version will be going out to all parents with the next batch of Worship Journals. And those who registered for Lenten Garden supplies will receive a printed copy as well.
However you choose to mark this season of Lent, I pray Lord will meet you exactly where you are and give you exactly what you need.
