What to Give Up for Lent

Tomorrow, March 9, is Ash Wednesday, of course, the beginning of the season of Lent. Among some of the more scrupulous (or wanting to be so), one hears of what they will be giving up for Lent. A popular move this year is to give up Facebook for the period.

Why "give up" anything at all? You'll hear it from a 5-year-old, but even a 95-year-old might wonder as well. Doesn't matter if you belong to a highly liturgical, formal church, or one that gathers around a kitchen table -- what is this "giving X up for Lent" stuff?

In the formative centuries of the infant Church, the liturgical year began to cohere as an attempt to integrate our lives into the life of Christ. So, through scripture and ritual practice, Christians followed their Lord, trying to inculcate his ways into their way -- or, better, their ways into his Way. Lent became a period of preparation for a renewed experience of the Resurrection living in the community of faith, the living embodiment of the ministry of Jesus powered by the Spirit of the risen Lord (I know, I know -- dense stuff). So, just as Christ wandered through the wilderness for 40 days, now so did we. He abstained from food, so did we (mostly). He gave up something -- so will we. Imitating our Lord.

So far, so good. But probe deeper. Beyond mimicking the chief figure of Christianity, why bother "giving up" something? Spiritual heroics? A test of willpower?

Many do it because somebody in (religious) authority "says I'm supposed to." Others, a bit wiser, make a sincere effort to imitate Jesus. For some, it is simply an opportunity to cleanse themselves from a minor vice (for a brief period). For a few, it is a demonstration of mastery over X -- the triumph of spirit over flesh (however that is defined).

Notice, though, that these reasons, noble though they may be, tend to focus upon ourselves. We end up working at maintaining our sacrifice. Even if it is for Jesus. And then, at the end of Lent, we can heave a big sigh, relax, and get back to real life. Sometimes we may even feel virtuous.

Which misses the point entirely. What was Jesus doing out there on the backside of beyond for 40 days? Why did he endure the 3 temptations by Mr. Bad? Was he showing off? Was he just going through a divinely-ordained script? No. After dropping onto him in his baptism, the Holy Spirit drop-kicked Jesus into the wilderness (Mark uses that sense of the word in his version). Out there, Jesus was busy preparing himself for his ministry. Away from all distractions, he had plenty of time to consult with God.

The early Christians saw Lent as just such a time of preparation. In fact, for those who were preparing for baptism on Easter, Lent was the home-stretch of a three-year time of study, prayer, fasting, and life re-orientation. So the entire period was seen as a season of re-orientation toward the ways of God -- for the first time, or the latest time.

So it can be even in these tawdry times. The forty days of Lent can become a time of intensive study, of deep prayer (call it face-time with God), of self-examination -- not to highlight what worms we are, but to assess who we are and who we are not, and how we might re-re-orient our lives toward God. And, yes, it can be a time for "giving up" the things which impede our walk along the Way of Jesus. "Giving up" in this model becomes not so much a heroic enterprise ("see what I'm giving up for you, Jesus?"), nor a burden ("can't wait till Lent is over!"), but rather focusing on tuning our lives to God's wavelength, that the excess simply drops away. Bad habits, dirty words, etc., maybe. But also anything in our life which interferes with our following Jesus. Which can include "a few of my favorite things" -- or even the people we love.

Lent can be a time when we let Jesus do a little "interior decoration" job on our lives. Let him move the furniture around a bit. What we really "give up" is control. The "things" we may give up are just signs that we're handing over the control to God again. In order to "know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day" (to swipe the words of Richard, Bishop of Chichester).

Lent can indeed be a dour time -- if we do it thoughtlessly. Or it can beckon us to plunge into a "closer walk with Thee." Not so much "giving up" as giving in to the Love that will not let us go.