How Lent Can Make a Difference in Your Relationship with God: Introduction to Lent

February 13, 2012 By Mark D. Roberts 1 Comment

The Christian season of Lent begins next week on Ash Wednesday. For many Christians, this is a special season of the year for growing in one’s relationship with God. Other Christians aren’t so sure about Lent’s meaning or value. I am putting up this post before the start of Lent so that you might have time to think about how, if at all, you want to participate in the observance of Lent. (I put up a couple of posts on Ash Wednesday last week. You can find them collected here: Ash Wednesday: What? How? Why?)

Growing up as an evangelical Christian, I experienced Lent as little more than a joke. “What are you giving up for Lent?” my friends would ask. “Homework,” I’d say with a smirk, or “Obeying my parents.” Lent was one of those peculiar practices demanded of Roman Catholics – another great reason to be Protestant, I figured. It never even occurred to me that Lent was something I might actually be interested in, or benefit from, or decide to keep, or come to value as a way of getting to know God better.

In the last fifteen years, I’ve discovered that Lent is in fact recognized by millions of Protestant Christians, in addition to Catholic and Orthodox believers. (The Eastern Orthodox Lent is longer than the Catholic or Protestant Lent, and it begins before Ash Wednesday.) Lent (the word comes from the Middle English word for “spring”) is a six-week season in the Christian year prior to Easter. (Technically, Lent comprises the 40 days before Easter, not counting the Sundays, or 46 days in total.)

cross-lent-purple-drape-5.jpg

In the ancient church, Lent was a time for new converts to be instructed for baptism and for believers caught in sin to focus on repentance. In time, all Christians came to see Lent as a season to be reminded of their need for penitence and to prepare spiritually for the celebration of Easter. Part of this preparation involved the Lenten “fast,” giving up something special during the six weeks of Lent (but not on Sundays, in some traditions.)

Historically, many Protestants rejected the practice of Lent, pointing out, truly, that it was nowhere required in Scripture. Some of these Protestants were also the ones who refused to celebrate Christmas, by the way. Understandably, they wanted to avoid some of the excessive aspects of Catholic penitence that obscured the gospel of grace. These Protestants saw Lent, at best, as something completely optional for believers, and, at worst, as a superfluous or harmful Catholic practice that true believers should avoid altogether.

A Pastoral Word: Let me note, at this point, that if you think of Lent as a season to earn God’s favor by your good intentions or good works, then you’ve got a theological problem. God’s grace has been fully given to us in Christ. We can’t earn more of it by doing extra things or by giving up certain other things in fasting. If you see Lent as a time to make yourself more worthy for celebrating Good Friday and Easter, then perhaps you shouldn’t keep the season until you’ve grown in your understanding of grace. If, on the contrary, you see Lent as a time to grow more deeply in God’s grace, then you’re approaching Lent from a proper perspective.

Some segments of Protestantism did continue to recognize a season of preparation for Easter, however. Their emphasis was not so much on penitence and fasting as on intentional devotion to God. Protestant churches sometimes added special Lenten Bible studies or prayer meetings so that their members would be primed for a deeper experience of Good Friday and Easter. Lent was a season to do something extra for God, not to give something up.

My local gas station is advertising Lent food specials on its gas pumps. I don't think the "Low Low Prices!" on cigarettes are consistent with Lenten themes, however.

After ignoring Lent for the majority of my life, I’ve paid more attention to it during the last two decades. Sometimes, I’ve given up something, like watching television or eating sweets, in order to devote more time to Bible study and prayer. (The television fast was especially tough because I love watching March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament, on TV.) Sometimes I’ve added extra devotional reading to my regular spiritual disciplines. I can’t claim to have had any mystical experiences during Lent, but I have found that fasting from something has helped me focus on God. It has also helped me look ahead to Good Friday and Easter, thus appreciating more deeply the meaning of the cross and the victory of the resurrection. Before I began honoring Lent, Good Friday and Easter always seemed to rush by before I could give them the attention they deserved. Now, I find myself much more prepared to meditate upon the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and to celebrate his victory over sin and death on Easter.

Let me be very clear: Lent is not a requirement for Christians. Dallas Willard has said that if a certain spiritual discipline helps you grow in God’s grace, then by all means do it. But if it doesn’t, don’t feel like you must do it. I’d say the same about Lent. If it helps you get ready for a deeper celebration of Good Friday and Easter, if it allows you to grow in God’s grace, then by all means keep it. If Lent isn’t your cup of tea, then don’t feel obligated to keep it. You should realize, however, that millions of Christians – Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Independent – have found that recognizing the season of Lent enriches our worship and deepens our faith in God.

In my next post on this topic, I’ll consider some of the symbolism of Lent, and suggest some possible Lenten practices to help you keep the season.

Filed Under: Christian Year (Liturgical or Church Year), Lent Tagged With: , 1 Comment

How Do We Know God? The Answer of Epiphany

January 6, 2012 By Mark D. Roberts 4 Comments

2 Timothy 1:8-11

And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.

How do we know God? The Christian answer to this question flows from the essence of Epiphany.

"The Baptism of Christ," by James Janknegt. http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~janknegt/r0012.html

Today is Epiphany, the day after the twelve-day season of Christmas (or in some liturgical calendars, the twelfth day of the Christmas season). The English word “Epiphany” comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means “appearing” or “revealing.” Epiphany focuses on God’s self-revelation in Christ. On this day, some Christian traditions pay special attention to the visit of the Magi, whose encounter with the Christ child represents the revealing of Christ to all nations. Other traditions focus on the baptism of Jesus, especially the voice from heaven that identifies Jesus as God’s Son. In either case, the emphasis is upon God making himself known to the world through Jesus, the divine Son.
Epiphany is a holiday in the Christian Year (sometimes called the Liturgical Year or the Church Year). If you’re not familiar with the Christian Year, let me refer you to my online article: Introduction to the Christian Year.

The theological essence of Epiphany is found in 2 Timothy 1:10: “And now [God] has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.” If you were reading this verse in Greek, you’d find the word epiphaneia where we have “appearing.” God has made “all of this” plain to us through the epiphany of Christ.

But what is “all of this”? We find an answer in the previous verse: “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” The original language makes it clear that “all of this” is God’s plan (or purpose) centered in God’s grace. In other words, through Jesus, God not only reveals himself to us, but also he makes known his plan to save us, a plan saturated with grace.

On the day of Epiphany, we are reminded that if we want to know God, we must turn our eyes to Jesus. In his words and deeds, and most of all in his sacrificial death, he reveals God to us. In Jesus, we see and experience the grace of God. So, on this special day, let us thank God for making himself known to us in such a marvelous and gracious way. Moreover, let us renew our commitment to sharing this good news of God’s grace through Christ with the whole world.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Can you think of some specific attributes of God’s character that you have come to know through Jesus? Are there people in your life with whom you might share the good news of God’s love in Christ? Are you willing to ask the Lord to use you to communicate his good news to them?

PRAYER: Gracious God, today we thank you for making yourself known to us in Jesus Christ. Thank you for helping us to know your character, your glory, and your grace.

All praise be to you, O God, because you have revealed yourself to us.

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you have shown us the Father, and because you have embodied divine grace so that we might receive it.

All praise be to you, Holy Spirit, for helping us to live in that grace each day.

Fill us afresh with your power, Spirit of God, so that we might share the good news of Christ with the world…beginning with our friends and neighbors. Amen.

Filed Under: Christian Year (Liturgical or Church Year) Tagged With: , 4 Comments

Advent Begins Tomorrow. Today Is The Last Day of the Christian Year. Should You Care?

November 26, 2011 By Mark D. Roberts 1 Comment

Tomorrow is the first day of Advent. In yesterday’s post, I encouraged you to get ready for Advent. Today, I want to think with you about the broader context in which Advent makes sense.

This chart lays out the basic order of the Christian or Liturgical year, along with major themes and colors. To see this chart in higher resolution, click on the image above.

Today is the last day of the Christian Year, also known as the Liturgical Year or the Church Year. For those who follow the Christian Year, the latest one began last year on November 28, which was the first Sunday of Advent. We have moved steadily through Advent, Christmas Day, Christmastime, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday,Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Eastertide, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, and a number of other holy days. The bulk of the year is Ordinary Time, not in that it is plain vanilla, but because it is “ordered.”

Should you care about any of this? Does it really matter?

Ever since I have been writing about aspects of the Christian Year, I’ve been getting questions like this. Sometimes, people are genuinely curious. Sometimes, my interlocutors are critical, believing that I have lost touch with biblical faith and have fallen into some sort of high-church, traditionalist pit.

Let me begin my answer to the “Should you care?” question by noting that nothing in Scripture requires a Christian to pay attention to the Christian year. Nothing in Scripture necessarily prohibits it, either. You could try to argue on the basis of the Old Testament festivals that God wants us to structure our year theologically with various holy days. But, one might respond that these festivals were part of the Old Covenant and aren’t relevant for Christians. I think Paul has given us definitive guidance about such things in Romans 14:5-6a: “Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord.” This suggests that Christians are free in Christ either to set aside certain days as holy days or not to do so.

Freedom in Christ. This is key. If ever we turn our rituals into some sort of legalism, if ever we suggest that “real Christians” will do extra things, then we run a serious risk of turning the Christian life into a matter of obligation rather than living in the flow of God’s grace. Nobody should keep the Christian Year as a way of trying to earn that which God gives us freely through Christ.

But, there are many people, and I would now number myself among them, who have found in the Christian Year a way of experiencing God’s grace more profoundly. I would never say that all people should do as I do. But I do in fact believe that many Christians would find it helpful to structure their years according to the Christian calendar.

This calendar, by the way, is built upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Advent: We prepare to celebrate the first coming of Christ and anticipate his second coming.
Christmas: We celebrate the Incarnation of the Word of God, the birth of Jesus the Savior.
Epiphany: We remember the revealing of God through Christ to the whole world.
Ash Wednesday: We are reminded of our great need for a Savior.
Lent: We focus on the life of Jesus in preparation for Holy Week.
Palm Sunday: We celebrate the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem.
Maundy Thursday: We remember Jesus’ foot-washing and his command to love.
Good Friday: We worship Jesus who gave his life on the cross for us.
Easter: We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the victory of God.
Christ the King Sunday: We worship Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.

If we rightly understand the Christian Year, we will see it as a way to structure our lives in light of the life, ministry, and lordship of Jesus.

You might be wondering, “But why do I have to structure my life in any particular way? Why can’t I just live each day for God’s glory?” You can, thanks be to God. But, in fact, all of us have our lives structured by our culture, traditions, and personal inclinations. For example, many of us experience life primarily in terms of the school year. We think of life as divided up into “the school year” and “the summer.”  Others see life in terms of the fiscal year, with key IRS reporting dates giving structure to their internal and shared lives. Still others think in terms of “regular working life” and “vacation.” Perhaps the majority of people order life according to the secular calendar (We’re now in 2011) or the seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall).

If it’s true that we will structure our lives somehow, then why not by the life and work of Christ? Why not begin to think of the first Sunday of Advent as the first day of the year?

Again, I’m not saying that all Christians must do this. I am saying that there is no strong reason not to do it, and, in fact, plenty of reasons to do it. For me, I’d rather think that my year begins by focusing on the coming of Christ than by waiting for some blazing crystal ball to descend in Times Square. I’d rather start my year by lighting a candle to kindle my yearning for Jesus than by yelling “Happy New Year” and then watching a bunch of football games (which I do on January 1, quite happily, I might add).

If you’re interested in the Christian Year but looking for more information, you might find helpful a blog series I’ve written called:

Introduction to the Christian Year
What is the Liturgical Year or Church Year?
How Can it Make A Difference in Your Relationship with God?

And if you’re eager to start living according to the Christian Year by celebrating Advent, let me once again provide links to more information about Advent. These are the same links that appeared in yesterday’s post.

At any rate, as we come to the end of this year, may we give thanks to God for his blessings in the past and prepare our hearts to rekindle our yearning for him as the new year begins tomorrow with Advent.

Resources for Advent

What is Advent? An Introduction to Advent

My blog series covers the basics of Advent: its meaning, traditions, and spiritual purpose.

Advent Devotional Guide: Preparing for the Coming of Christ

This devotional guide is meant for individuals, families, groups of friends, or worshiping communities. It uses an Advent wreath, and contains Scripture readings, prayers, and basic explanations.

Discovering Advent: How to Experience the Power of Waiting on God at Christmastime

My new e-book tells the story of my personal discovery of Advent, something Christians have been celebrating for centuries, but which has been a relatively new addition to my life. As I share my story, I explain the meaning, traditions, and purpose of Advent. I suggest ways you can grow closer to God in Advent as you wait upon him. I also deal with specific questions such as: Is Advent biblical? Discovering Advent also includes an Advent Devotional Guide for personal, family, or group worship.

Kindle edition – $2.99 · · · · · · Nook edition – $2.99

Given the fact that I have lots of free material about Advent on my blog, you may be wondering about the benefit of purchasing Discovering Advent. In truth, the basic material on my blog is quite similar to that in the e-book. After all, Advent is Advent. But the e-book is a thorough rewrite of everything I have previously written, with some new material added. If you have a Kindle or Nook, I think you’ll be happy that you bought Discovering Advent.

Filed Under: Advent, Christian Year (Liturgical or Church Year) Tagged With: , , , 1 Comment

What is Pentecost? Why Does It Matter? What is the Spiritual Significance of Pentecost?

June 11, 2011 By Guest Contributor 7 Comments


Part 3 of series:
What is Pentecost? Why Does It Matter?

My last post in this series began to answer the question:

So, then, what difference does it make for us today that the first Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit almost two millennia ago on the Jewish festival of Pentecost?

I suggested two ways that Pentecost makes a difference today:

1. Pentecost underscores the presence and power of the Spirit, thus inviting us to be open to the Spirit’s work in and through us.

2. Pentecost illustrates the centrality of the church in God’s work in the world, thus encouraging us to recommit ourselves to being an active part of the body of Christ.

Today I’ll offer two more answers to the question: Why does Pentecost matter?

3. The Multilingual Nature and Mission of the Church

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowered believers in Jesus to praise God in many languages that they had not learned in the ordinary manner (Acts 2:5-13). Symbolically, this miracle reinforces the multilingual, multicultural, multiracial mission of the church. We are to be a community in which all people are drawn together by God’s love in Christ. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

“Pentecost” by Giotto di Bondone, 1320-25, National Gallery, London.

Personal Implications: Although there are some glorious exceptions, it seems that the church has not, in general, lived out its multilingual mission. We are often divided according to language, race, and ethnicity. Pentecost challenges all of us to examine our own attitudes in the regard, to reject and repent of any prejudice that lurks within us, and to open our hearts to all people, even and especially those who do not share our language and culture. Yes, I know this is not easy. But it is central to our calling. And it is something that the Spirit of God will help us to do if we are available.

4. The Inclusive Ministry of the Church

After the Holy Spirit fell upon the first followers of Jesus, Peter preached a sermon to help folks understand what had just happened. In this sermon he cited a portion of a prophecy from Joel:

‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants–men and women alike–
and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18; Joel 2:28-29)

Later, Peter explained that the Spirit would be given to all who turned from their sin and turned to God through Jesus (Acts 2:38).

This was a momentous, watershed event. For the first time in history, God began to do what he had promised through Joel, empowering all different sorts of people for ministry. Whereas in the era of the Old Testament, the Spirit was poured out almost exclusively on prophets, priests, and kings, in the age of the New Testament, the Spirit would be given to “all people.” All would be empowered to minister regardless of their gender, age, or social position.

Although this truth would not mean that every Christian would be gifted for every kind of ministry, it did imply that all believers would be empowered by the Spirit. The church of Jesus Christ would be a place where every single person matters, where every member contributes to the health and mission of the church (see Eph 4:11-16).

Personal Implications: Each Christian needs to ask: Am I serving God through the power of the Spirit? Am I exercising the gifts of the Spirit in my life, both in the gathered church and as I live for God in the world? Pentecost is a time to ask God to fill us afresh with the Spirit so that we might join in the ministry of Christ with gusto. And it is a time to renew our commitment to fulfilling our crucial role in the ministry of God’s people in the world.

Moreover, those of us who hold positions of power in the church should examine our attitudes and actions. Are we encouraging all of God’s people to minister through the power of the Spirit? Are we open to what the Spirit of God wants to do in our churches and communities through his empowered people? Or are we gatekeepers of the church who would even keep the Holy Spirit out of our carefully tended and controlled communities? As a pastor, my role is to equip God’s people for doing the ministry of Christ in the church and the world (Eph 4:11-12). Sometimes, however, we pastors are so concerned about our own position and power that we fall short of this central pastoral calling. Pentecost is a day for pastors and other church leaders to recommit to equipping and encouraging all Christians for their ministry. When we do this, the Holy Spirit will be free to use the church of Jesus Christ for God’s purposes in the world.

Filed Under: Christian Year (Liturgical or Church Year), Church Life, Pentecost Tagged With: , , , , 7 Comments
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