The time is quickly approaching! Easter is coming!
Granted, we have some time before Easter Sunday arrives and we’re doing whatever we do on Easter (and whatever we do this year on Easter will likely still look different from whatever we’ve historically done on Easter in the past…I imagine that masks will still be involved and the large, extravagant buffets won’t be happening yet…but that’s just a guess). Regardless, Easter is coming! It will soon be time when we celebrate the Risen King!
The fact that Easter is coming also means that the lead-up to Easter is coming. The season of Lent is almost upon us. With Ash Wednesday happening on the 17th, the Lenten season will be starting within a couple of blinks of an eye. Yep. The “fish fries” will be here. Fish sandwiches will be happening everywhere. If you want fish on a Friday, you will be sure you can find it! Even places known for their chicken (ahem…Chick-fil-A), are sure to offer fish during Lent. After all, most restaurants want to make sure that they, too, are getting ready for Easter, and eating fish on Fridays is how you get ready for Easter! (This certainly wouldn’t just be a business savvy move to maintain and even boost their Catholic clientele over the Lenten season.)
Alright. I’m being a little sarcastic and possibly a little unfair. I’m not trying to knock the Catholic practice of fasting during Lent. Nor, am I inherently opposed to Chick-fil-A offering fish (though I do think this is primarily a business decision rather than a religious decision). Still, I have to ask…what about those of us who are Protestant? What about those of us who don’t follow the Catholic guidelines for Lent? What about those of us who don’t even like fish? (I like it fine, but it’s not high on my list.) Should we even bother with Lent? Does the season even hold any meaning? Do we even need to “do” anything? Some might even ask…"Pastor Chris, are you going to tell me about chocolate again?”
There’s a song by The Impressions called “People Get Ready.” It popped into my head today as I was writing the devotional. If you’re feeling soulful and you know the song, feel free to belt it out, but if you don’t, here are the lyrics to the first verse.
People get ready, there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord
Now, I know that the song isn’t talking about getting ready for Easter, per se. Instead, if you continue on through the lyrics, it’s speaking more about getting ready for eternity, about boarding the “train to Jordan.” It’s talking about getting into heaven…an important destination for which one should be ready. Historically, though, the song’s meaning isn’t limited to imagery of the everlasting. Written in a time of great civil unrest, “People Get Ready” is also tied to the Civil Rights movement, and it can be heard as a Black American “freedom song”, a song that looks towards freedom from oppression, towards a better day. Both of these meanings and interpretations are valid and important. It’s important for people to get ready for the train to Jordan. After all, death will come for all of us, and it will be good for us to be aboard the train that leads to everlasting life. It’s also important to recognize the suffering of others, to hope, to pray, to work towards freedom for all. Both of these applications of this song are meaningful, are important.
Both meanings are also applicable to us in the context of Lent.
For Catholics, the Lenten season should be marked by three things. 1) Seeking the Lord in prayer & Scripture. 2) Service by giving alms. (In other words, making an extra effort to take care of the poor & needy.) 3) Fasting. (That practice of giving something up, of sacrificing so that something greater might be gained. Denying oneself in order to focus more fully on God.)
I know. I know. I can hear you saying it, “BUT I’M NOT CATHOLIC!”
Neither am I.
Still, I wonder if it might be time for us to get ready. Is it possible that we could learn from these three practices of Lent? Might this be an opportunity for us to grow closer to God? Is it possible that the Lenten season for 2021 would be a season where we see our life in Christ grow just a bit more?
Let’s consider each point.
First, Seek the Lord in prayer and Scripture. I hope, I pray, I plead, I beg, I encourage for this to be an “all-the-time” kind of a deal for you. Not just a Sunday thing. Not just a “I need something” time. Not just a Lenten practice, but an all-the-time thing. Prayer and Scripture. Prayer and Scripture. Prayer and Scripture!!! Still, Lent offers us an opportunity to examine our prayer and Scripture patterns and habits. Remember what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray continually” or “pray without ceasing.” So, I ask, where in your life can you add a bit of prayer? During Lent, where is an opportunity for you to pray a bit more? Where can you be intentional about adding prayer and Scripture to your daily routine? A new memory verse that you say as you walk up your flight of steps each day? A sticky-note that you have on your bathroom mirror with a Bible verse? A new practice of praying for the mail carrier when you get the junk mail out of the mailbox each day? A couple minute prayer over the prayer list at the bottom of this mailing? Prayer and Scripture. People Get Ready. Add it to your Lenten practices this year.
Second, Care for the poor. Again, I hope that this is an “all-the-time” thing. I hope that we care for those who are less fortunate than us. Why? Because we are earning something? No. We care for those who are less fortunate than us because we realize that we are unworthy of the love that we have received in Christ Jesus. We recognize that we, too, with different circumstances, different environments, different countries of birth could have been in the exact same position. We remember that we are called to care for the widow, the orphan, the poor, the needy. Also, as an added incentive in case we needed one, remember what Jesus said in Matthew.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)
In context, this verse is talking about those who are welcomed into the kingdom of heaven, those who cross the Jordan, those who welcomed into eternity by the Father (People Get Ready!). Those who are welcomed into the Father’s house are those who have cared for the poor, and by caring for the poor, they have cared for Jesus, himself. So, I ask, in this upcoming season of Lent, how might you stretch yourself a little bit more in caring for the poor, for the oppressed? Can you pack up a box to donate to the local food bank? Can you send an extra gift to a ministry that feeds the hungry? Is there an extra coat that you can give away? Is there some other thing that you might do? Could you possibly connect the first point, to pray, with this second? Care for the poor. People Get Ready. Add it to your Lenten practices this year.
Third, Fasting. Fasting doesn’t always get a lot of attention. We don’t often talk about fasting as a practice or as something that we can/should do as a believer in Christ. Even though that is the case, I would argue that it should fall into the “all-the-time” category. (Not that we are literally fasting from food or drink all of the time, but that we are putting fasting into regular practice.) Do you remember what Jesus did after he was baptized in the Jordan River? He fasted. Do you remember what Jesus said when he was questioned about the disciples fasting practices? He said that the time will come when they will fast, even though they weren’t fasting right at that moment. (Mark 2:20) Also, do you remember what Jesus said regarding the practice of fasting? He said this:
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)
When you fast…
That would seem to imply that we do what? Fast. Now, I’m not going to go into an exhaustive conversation on fasting right now. However, I will suggest that you don’t go all “extreme” and decide that a complete, 40-day, no food, no water, Jesus in the wilderness type fast is what you want to do. Start smaller. Much smaller than that. What am I suggesting? How about adding a little bit of fasting to the Lenten season this year? What if you took the five minutes of ice-cream time after Tuesday’s lunch and spent that same five minutes in prayer and reading the Bible? Or even if that was in prayer for someone who is less fortunate than you? (See what I did there? I combined all three into one.) Or, what if you took it a step further? What if you skipped lunch on Wednesdays during Lent (provided that you aren’t diabetic or have other preventing health issues)? What if you spent that time in prayer and reading the Bible, etc.? Is there something, even if it is something small, that you can fast from and spend that time getting closer to Jesus? A TV show you might skip? A sports blog that you may not read for a day? Fasting. People Get Ready. Add it to your Lenten practices this year.
I’m not Catholic. I’m not going to be eating fish sandwiches on Fridays during Lent. Still, I do not want to miss an opportunity to be drawn closer to God during this season. I don’t want to see Lent pass me by without giving it a thought. Instead, I hope to use the season as a reason to be more focused in some areas of my faith. I hope to use the season as a reason to be more concentrated in prayer & the Scriptures, to be mindful and caring for the poor, for the oppressed, and to fast. How about you?
People Get Ready. There’s a train a comin’.
~ Pastor Chris
