This article was originally published in Anamnesis #25: Summer 2011.
Let me declare upfront that I am a fan and proponent of the worship year, or liturgical year or whatever you prefer to call it. Left to my own myopic devices, however sincerely I seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in worship planning and Bible teaching preparation, I will tend to focus on a few aspects of God’s self-disclosure in salvation history that interest me most and inadvertently ignore other ones just as essential to the story. It is just human nature.
But even though the use of a lectionary to guide us through scripture reading has been in successful use for three millennia, it still has its pitfalls. One is what I’ve come to call the “forest or the trees worship year syndrome.” We worship planners, worship leaders and preachers can become so focused on the cluster of trees that comprise the bit of the forest we are currently in (e.g., Lent) that we can forget the glory and power of the resurrection or the joyful anticipation of the first arrival and his coming again. When we are in the Advent, Christmas, Epiphany or Easter cycle we can just as easily forget the essential part of the forest we were in during Lent, leaving un-walked the valuable paths of self-examination, prayer, fasting, giving and intercession.
Let’s revisit what the Lord Jesus said about prayer, fasting and giving in Matthew 6, and how that teaching connects with everyday, year-round Christ-following.
If we are followers of Jesus, we will find occasions to pray, fast and give. It is just that simple. When Jesus gives instructions about how to pray, fast and give he does not say, “If you pray, fast and give,” he says, “When you pray, fast and give.”
“What did you give up for Lent?” That has always seemed like such a disconnected, irrelevant question and issue to me. But the wilderness temptations of Christ and the categorical breakdown-of-sin in 1 John 2:16 may begin to open our understanding to the spiritual power and the pure practicality of the Lenten disciplines elaborated on in Matthew 6.
The apostle wrote: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” The verse very practically breaks down all our temptations into three groupings. And the Lord Jesus, being tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin, is methodically attacked in each of these three categories in his wilderness temptation.
These temptations are spelled out for us in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The first gambit plays to the Lord’s physical hunger and desire for food. The enemy loves to begin with the lust of the flesh, perhaps the most basic category of yearnings. But Jesus counters that the most vital bread is not physical bread, but the very word of God. By voluntarily denying himself the food he desired for a season he was exercising “soul muscles” that would strengthen his ability to resist all the lust of the flesh.
Then, the enemy proceeds to the pride of life. Twisting promises from Psalm 91, he dares the Christ to jump off the Temple pinnacle’s 700 feet height to prove that he is who he claims to be. Vertigo alone would have prohibited me from making a thoughtful, Spirit-led retort. But here is where prayer is shown to be such a strategic friend in navigating the spiritual warfare of life. If we regularly acknowledge and depend on the One who is greater than we are there is little need to vindicate ourselves. Because Jesus had been “full oft in prayer” the answer came easily. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” When we pray we exercise soul muscles that strengthen our ability to rely on the One higher than ourselves. And when the tempter comes to tempt us we can be ready and not overwhelmed.
Finally, the enemy of our souls takes Jesus to a very high mountain and tempts him with possessions and power beyond anything we can imagine. This is the lust of the eyes. Who among us does not want more than we have? A survey once sought to find how much more the average person thinks would be “enough” salary-wise. The average answer seemed to be, “About 25% more.” Jesus had already regularly practiced the discipline of tithing and giving. And by exercising those soul muscles he could easily see through and reject the deceptive offer.
Perhaps Lent slipped away from you this year. Perhaps you have not prayed, fasted and given. First of all, resist any temptation to feel guilt. These are not laws for us to keep, but disciplines that can simply make us stronger and even wiser. Also, who is to say these practices should only be confined to the season of Lent? When the Lord gave the teaching recorded in the 6th chapter of Matthew the season of Lent had not even been conceived, much less instituted. To be sure, praying, fasting and giving come to the fore in Lent, but they are deeply practical and powerfully useful exercises on a year-round basis.
May we all find more occasions of these disciplines in our personal walks with God, in our families and in our worship communities. May your Lenten observance always be deeply enriched by God’s Spirit and may your resurrection celebration always be glorious year after year, Sunday after Sunday and moment to moment!