Dialogue Column 2-14-07
Through a Glass Darkly by Rev. Chase Peeples
Next week, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. I can’t believe it is already here. Lent does come as a bit of a surprise every year, because the date of Easter and the forty days before it (Lent) changes year to year. (The process by which this happens is pretty obtuse. It has to do with the spring equinox and that’s about all I can tell you.) Given all that I have to do being the new minister in a new town, I’ve had the passing thought that Lent is an inconvenience this year. Yet when I consider what Lent is like in any other year, I have to admit that Lent is always an inconvenience—it’s supposed to be an inconvenience! When we take a moment to reflect upon our busy lives—meetings, jobs, getting the kids/grandkids to school, practice and whatever else they’ve got going on, our favorite TV shows, regular errands, etc.—we may realize that our lives can pass us by without us stopping to consider the significance of what we are doing and why. Lent gives us a chance to do just that—to be inconvenienced from our daily busyness in order to concentrate upon what really matters.
Richard Chartres, the Anglican Bishop of London, writes that contemporary society results in “a succession of passing moments (hyped, but ultimately deadening)” which in turn lead to “spiritual exhaustion.” He goes on to say, “Lent can be a time for reducing some of the chronic over-stimulation which is so much a part of modern living; a time when we protect ourselves a little more from the daily bombardment of images and stimuli, the pressures which keep us trapped on the surface.” In other words, the inconvenience of Lent may help us to be open to God’s life-giving presence that we so desperately need in our lives.
So, how do we make room for this holy inconvenience? A little background on Lent might help answer the question. The term Lent originally meant “springtime,” but it came to indicate the forty days prior to Easter (not counting Sundays). Beginning in the fourth century, the season was used to teach spiritual disciplines and for fasting in preparation for Easter. During the Protestant Reformation, the reformers reacted negatively against the rituals of the Catholic Church, including Lent. During the twentieth century, however, many Protestant churches have rediscovered the beauty and necessity of the Lenten season. As the Christmas season became more and more commercialized and took a more prominent place in American culture, Easter became somewhat of an afterthought. Lent became a way for Christians to remember “the other major Christian holiday” and to reflect upon humanity’s need for God’s grace. Today, we celebrate Lent in order to prepare for Easter and to recognize God’s ability to redeem our failures and to restore to wholeness what is broken.
Beginning on February 21, Ash Wednesday, we will begin our Lenten journey together as church as we look towards Easter and look within ourselves. Traditionally, people have given something up for Lent in order to remember Christ’s sacrifices and to be mindful of the season. Doing so might be a worthy discipline to consider, provided the sacrifice is actually meaningful and can provoke spiritual reflection rather than resentment. Another option for Lent is to take something new on—something you’ve been meaning to do but have not managed to get around to—again provided it’s actually meaningful and causes you to think about your spiritual life.
This Lenten season, I am going to ask the membership of First Christian Church to take something new on. During Lent, I am asking every member of the church who is in town and physically able to do so to be present in worship on Sunday mornings. For some this will not be very extraordinary, but for others it will be a challenge. There are five Sundays in Lent before Palm Sunday and Easter—can you be present at them? Will you allow yourself to be inconvenienced by God during this Lenten season?
Grace and Peace,
Chase
Through a Glass Darkly by Rev. Chase Peeples
Next week, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. I can’t believe it is already here. Lent does come as a bit of a surprise every year, because the date of Easter and the forty days before it (Lent) changes year to year. (The process by which this happens is pretty obtuse. It has to do with the spring equinox and that’s about all I can tell you.) Given all that I have to do being the new minister in a new town, I’ve had the passing thought that Lent is an inconvenience this year. Yet when I consider what Lent is like in any other year, I have to admit that Lent is always an inconvenience—it’s supposed to be an inconvenience! When we take a moment to reflect upon our busy lives—meetings, jobs, getting the kids/grandkids to school, practice and whatever else they’ve got going on, our favorite TV shows, regular errands, etc.—we may realize that our lives can pass us by without us stopping to consider the significance of what we are doing and why. Lent gives us a chance to do just that—to be inconvenienced from our daily busyness in order to concentrate upon what really matters.
Richard Chartres, the Anglican Bishop of London, writes that contemporary society results in “a succession of passing moments (hyped, but ultimately deadening)” which in turn lead to “spiritual exhaustion.” He goes on to say, “Lent can be a time for reducing some of the chronic over-stimulation which is so much a part of modern living; a time when we protect ourselves a little more from the daily bombardment of images and stimuli, the pressures which keep us trapped on the surface.” In other words, the inconvenience of Lent may help us to be open to God’s life-giving presence that we so desperately need in our lives.
So, how do we make room for this holy inconvenience? A little background on Lent might help answer the question. The term Lent originally meant “springtime,” but it came to indicate the forty days prior to Easter (not counting Sundays). Beginning in the fourth century, the season was used to teach spiritual disciplines and for fasting in preparation for Easter. During the Protestant Reformation, the reformers reacted negatively against the rituals of the Catholic Church, including Lent. During the twentieth century, however, many Protestant churches have rediscovered the beauty and necessity of the Lenten season. As the Christmas season became more and more commercialized and took a more prominent place in American culture, Easter became somewhat of an afterthought. Lent became a way for Christians to remember “the other major Christian holiday” and to reflect upon humanity’s need for God’s grace. Today, we celebrate Lent in order to prepare for Easter and to recognize God’s ability to redeem our failures and to restore to wholeness what is broken.
Beginning on February 21, Ash Wednesday, we will begin our Lenten journey together as church as we look towards Easter and look within ourselves. Traditionally, people have given something up for Lent in order to remember Christ’s sacrifices and to be mindful of the season. Doing so might be a worthy discipline to consider, provided the sacrifice is actually meaningful and can provoke spiritual reflection rather than resentment. Another option for Lent is to take something new on—something you’ve been meaning to do but have not managed to get around to—again provided it’s actually meaningful and causes you to think about your spiritual life.
This Lenten season, I am going to ask the membership of First Christian Church to take something new on. During Lent, I am asking every member of the church who is in town and physically able to do so to be present in worship on Sunday mornings. For some this will not be very extraordinary, but for others it will be a challenge. There are five Sundays in Lent before Palm Sunday and Easter—can you be present at them? Will you allow yourself to be inconvenienced by God during this Lenten season?
Grace and Peace,
Chase
2 comments:
sorry, Nancy and I will be unable to accept your Lenton Challenge, even tho if available we surely would have...Our first Sunday back in church at First Christian will be Palm Sunday. Currently residing in chilly Florida...
John,
No worries. You and Nancy fall into the "gengraphically unable" to make it category. You are excused. I am still jealous, however, that you all are in Florid and I'm not.
Chase
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