This year is going so fast the Christmas season is only four weeks in the past and already it is Lent. Lent can be confusing there are so many opinions about the practice and meaning of Lent It ranges from not observing Lent at all in some protestant churches to a time of self denial and repentance in stricter forms of Catholicism.

The origins of Lenten practices are somewhere in between these two extremes. In early practices Lent was the time when new believers prepared for their Baptism which would take place on the Saturday before Easter during the Easter Vigil, a time which lifts up our understanding that we are Baptized into Christ’s death so we might also share in his Resurrection.

This means that Lent is a time to prepare for our Resurrection Life. A time when “were taught to put away our former way of life, our old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds” following the teaching of Saint Paul. (Ephesians 4:22-23) another way of looking at this is to say that Lent is a time we set aside to focus on our New life in Christ and our relationship with God. This means it is both a time to examine our lives to see what kind of unneeded baggage we are carrying around with us from our old lives and a time to develop new habits of the heart that will deepen our relationship with God.

If we accept this understanding it means Lent is about relationships, both our personal relationship with God and our relationships within the Body of Christ. The key understanding that runs throughout all of Scripture that can put us on a firm foundation in our Lenten practice is righteousness. Culturally our understanding of righteousness and justice are the same. A righteous person and a just person are interchangeable terms. They refer to a person who follows the letter of the law and lives a pretty much sinless life. That is a pretty good definition of a just person but it falls far short of an appropriate understanding of righteousness. Justice is about laws. Righteousness is about relationships. Righteousness is about the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship, whether that relationship be with other human beings or with God. Each relationship brings with it different demands. The demands of a good relationship another person are time spent, compassion and understanding, being fair, openness with one another and taking joy in each other’s presence. Actually justice fits within this definition to some degree.

A good place to begin our Lenten journey and deepen our understanding of righteousness is the story of Jesus’ Baptism. “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.” (John 3:13-15) This has always been a difficult text to understand.

Why would Jesus who is sinless, need to be baptized by John for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus does not answer in terms of justice. It is not a matter of law. Instead he says simply that in should be done in order “to fulfill all righteousness.” It was done in order that Jesus might know us, have a meaningful relationship with us and so we would not see him setting himself above us. He is living out his simple statement : “I am with you.”

Starting from the understanding that God desires to have a meaningful relationship with us gives Lent a whole new twist. Legalism will never be enough it is too cold, too mechanical. Lent is a time we set aside to work on our relationship with God. We can decide to spend more time in this relationship, perhaps we can decide to give up some of the things we do that we know irritate God or make our relationship more difficult.

Maybe a good way to think about Lent would be to equate would be to equate it to St. Valentine’s day. That is a day that is dedicated to loving relationships. We give gifts and go out to dinner so we can spend quality time together. All of those righteous acts are applicable in a different form to our relationship to God. So what about giving something up? How do you think a wife would respond of a husband who took her to dinner, and at dinner in a card promised to try and give up a thirty year addiction to smoking? The true gift hidden in that act of discipline and self denial might turn out to be an extra decade added to the future of their loving relationship. It is a truly righteous act. It is a gift that will greatly add to their relationship.

This year don’t think about what you might give up for Lent, think about positive ways you can better meet the demand of you relationship with God, both in an intimate personal way and in your relationship with the Body of Christ, the church as well.

God’s blessing be with you as deepen our relationships with God and with one another this Lenten season.

Pastor Jim Bliss
February 2008