And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. — Mark 1:13 (ESV)
Thus began Jesus’ incarnate ministry on earth. Not with trumpet blasts or processions announcing the reign of the King of kings (as would have been the case for Caesar, Herod, or other monarchs of his time), but rather in modest preparation reminiscent of his humble birth.
Having grown in stature, wisdom, and grace as Luke describes (2:40), the adult Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) to sacrificial prayer and communion with the Father amid distraction and temptation by Satan. Before embarking on his mission in this world, Jesus chose to forego comfort in order to fill his spiritual reservoir for the battle ahead.
The Early Church (4th century) established a 40-day fast before Easter as a time for self-examination and repentance in preparation for the holiest and most important day in Christianity: Easter. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ conquered death for all who believe in his promise of salvation and ensured forgiveness of sin for those who truly repent and turn to him.
This sacrifice and gift that God offers us should draw us to our knees in humble adoration and gratitude, yet I remember growing up with the admonition that I needed to give something up for Lent, without any explanation regarding prayer or restored relationship—just the duty to give up something I enjoy (like desserts). For some unknown reason, I was told that God wanted me to do this. There was a shallowness to this type of Lent that stayed with me for many years.
I’ve since come to realize that God offers this time of sacrifice for our benefit, and that our sacrifices can be an intangible like time instead of twinkies. The idea of a sacrifice in biblical times meant setting something apart from everything else for a particular purpose, usually involving a deity. We can set some of our time aside and dedicate it to developing a closer relationship with Jesus. Adding conversations with God as we replace some activities with others creates a habit that can continue beyond the Lenten borders. Adding a new daily devotional or a prayer walk through our neighborhoods needn’t stop with our celebration of the resurrection. The 40-day journey into the wilderness was real spiritual preparation for Jesus, not a symbolic ritual. Our Lenten practices can become holy habits if we are willing.
Beyond giving something up, our sacrifice during Lent can be a giving out to our communities: Helping at a mission or shelter, visiting and praying with the elderly in nursing homes, volunteering at local charity thrift stores, any number of apostolic actions that let us be the hands and feet of Jesus as we use that time prayerfully to draw even closer to him.
There’s nothing wrong with giving things up for Lent; our sacrifice, however, would be more fragrant if it included giving out from our hearts as well. The statement in John’s Gospel that God “so loved the world” (John 3:16), refers to his method, not his intensity. The word translated as so would in today’s usage be in this way. John shows how God loved the world: by giving his son over to torture and death so that we might be saved. It seems that
in God’s lexicon, love is an action, not just a status. That we are loved by God reflects his decisive action and determination toward our salvation through his grace.
I pray that our own Lenten sacrifices may be similar demonstrations of our intentional love for our Lord, in whichever way we are led to profess them.
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. Austin