Lent always seems to sneak up on me. As someone who really tries to intentionally observe the Lenten season, I hate feeling rushed to come up with “what I’m doing for Lent.” Furthermore, it has been my general observation that those hurried Lenten commitments made without prayer or much reflection tend to be a bit more… well, superficial.
I’m giving up sweets for Lent.
I’m giving up soda for Lent.
I’m giving up chocolate for Lent.
It seems that Lent is frequently treated as an opportunity for self-improvement, rather than a call to holiness.
Let me clarify: There is nothing wrong with giving up chocolate for Lent. In fact, for some, it might actually be appropriate. I have a friend who gave up chocolate for Lent one year in college. She noticed that when she felt stressed or overwhelmed, she would often “give herself a break” and nibble on some chocolate from her chocolate stash. In other words, she realized she had a tendency to stress eat. I think it is important to note that she wasn’t looking to lose weight or even ‘trim up’ a bit; she was looking to develop a different habit— prayer. She had been inspired by another friend of ours who made the commitment to pray whenever the feelings of anxiety began to overwhelm her. She would stop whatever she was doing and pray until she had fully surrendered her stress to God. Sometimes it was just took a few minutes. Sometimes it took over an hour. That’s pretty gutsy, I thought.
In her chapter on Lent in Let Us Keep the Feast (edited by Jessica Snell), Cate McDonald encourages us to examine Isaiah 58 for a closer look at the purpose of fasting.
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the LORD?
“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?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
(Isaiah 58:3b-9a, ESV)
McDonald reflects, “It appears in this passage that the Lord has chosen a fast that is, in a way, no fast at all. He does not tell us what to give up, but instead what to do. The fast the Lord has chosen is charity, justice, and generosity. The fasting is irrelevant— or at least it could be, depending on how you use it.”
Giving up sweets, alcohol, or coffee might be a really good spiritual exercise so long as the practice of self-denial provides a real opportunity for our love of Christ to increase. By giving up chocolate for Lent, my friend came to trust God more fully with her life and, as a result, experienced his love and faithfulness to her. Fasting should redirect our attention toward God and obedience to him; we practice Lent to become holy, not to embrace a healthier lifestyle.
So, what should you give up for Lent? What self-indulgent habits keep you from opening your heart to God and responding to the needs of your neighbor? Perhaps you need to limit your commitments and devote your attention to the people you regularly interact with, but rarely make time for. Perhaps you need to commit yourself to memorizing Scripture or praying the Psalms. Perhaps you need to give up chocolate. Whatever you choose to commit yourself to this Lenten season, choose in prayer and not in the pressure of the moment.
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