I do not want you to be deceived: there simply is no mandate to participate in what we know as Lent. Just because there is no mandate does not mean that it cannot be useful. The early church understood this, which is why it became such an important piece of their yearly rhythm.

We should not abandon all things that can be abused by humankind. I think of my own Quaker predecessors, who argued with validity against the abuses of the church in their day concerning outward expressions such as baptism and communion. Of course, the church more broadly considers these practices wholly different from Lent. My point being, the church and its leadership have wrongly used even the most sacred of practices, and even misguided the faithful regarding Lent. That should not, in our mind, disqualify the use of the tool which is fasting and Lent.

The early church found much inspiration in Scripture in forming the practice of Lent. The primary model with which they drew is the fast Jesus participated in during his time in the wilderness and the time of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13).

In this passage, Jesus has just been baptized and is forced into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. Jesus fasts for 40 days and nights, and at the end of the fast, is tempted by Satan. The fasting, though it weakens the body, strengthens one’s dependence on God’s strength. By controlling what goes into one’s mouth, it strengthens the will and removes every dependence on worldly assistance. This passage serves several roles for us: that Christ has been tempted in every way just as we have been and therefore serves as our great High Priest, and also that Christ, as the second Adam, defeats temptation, reversing the story of the fall, and in him, we find a Way into life freed from the bonds of temptation and sin.

This leads into the ministry of Christ, where he pronounces that the kingdom of heaven is near, having come in his own life, death, and resurrection.

The early church takes this beautiful story of victory and brings it to bear on our own life and ministry. Not just for the professional ministers, but the whole of the Christian body as we are all now of the priestly class and ministers of reconciliation. There is none who is exempt from ministry in some fashion. This time of Lent places us into this story of Christ, grounding the memory of the story not only into our minds but into our bodies, evidenced by the crying out of our own stomachs.

And why should we be reminded of this as we approach Easter?

For one, it is a time of special remembrance and devotion to Christ. If you have done any time of fasting, you know it has a special way of bringing clarity of mind and a sharpness of thinking about God. It also has a way of showing our weakness, and thereby the strength of God, for when we are weak, we see clearly how strong God is and how blessed we are to be under God’s care. This brings about a type of worship that is special, which is good for this season of Easter.

Secondly, Easter is a time of great sending. If Christ has truly risen from the dead, how can we remain silent? The burden of evangelism is pressed on us. The spark of ministering to the needs of the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the immigrant is grown into an inferno. The desire to speak of the unimaginable is brought to the edge of our lips, and joy bursts from our inward parts. From Easter, we sing a new song, and we are reminded of the life we now live, new again every day.

You are ministers being sent to every corner of the world. May you grow in your hunger for the Word, for the Savior, and for the harvest that surrounds you.

This theme of 40 days is not unique to the fast of Jesus, but draws itself first from the flood narrative in Genesis, which in turn lends itself to the time of Moses on Sinai, the wilderness journey of the Israelites, and Elijah’s journey. This 40-day (years in the case of the wilderness wanderings) period is a sign of trial, of preparation, and of divine encounter. It is an allowed time that God uses the test faith as a welder would prove the strength of this new metal being formed together. It is a time that removes every crutch, revealing how dependent we are on God.

There is a much broader use of fasting in Scripture that also develops for us this idea of Lent. Fasting was used throughout Scripture as a call to return to God. Think of the passage found in Joel 2 where, after being told of the coming judgement, there is a call to return to God as signaled by fasting and a rending of their hearts because the Lord in His grace and mercy may relent the coming disaster in response to their posture. In Lent, we may use the time of fasting to pray for the conditions of a specific cause with the hopes of divine intervention.

Jesus himself tells us that when, not if, we fast to do so in a way that it may be secret so that we do not receive the praise of others but of God, that those who fast would experience a type of inner transformation rather than outer reward. Not that fasting is the only way to experience such a transformation, but that it can be a beautiful way of understanding and participating in such a change.

These are the biblical foundations for Lent and fasting, but it is by no means meant to become Law for us to do. It is a tool to discipline and to build communal devotion, but it in no way earns us the grace of God.

The early church incorporated fasting not because it earned them favor with God, but because they experienced spiritual benefits from their participation. Fasting is a mirror, allowing us to clearly examine our hearts. Fasting has a special way of removing the clouds of our minds and spirit, opening pathways to prayer and focus. Fasting shrinks our desires and draws us toward the hope of Easter. Fasting is a way that we insert ourselves into ancient rhythms of living found in the Bible that pattern the process of waiting on God and finding in God redemption.

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