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Episode 3: What Is Lent, and Should We Celebrate It?
52 Plays3 years ago
Mentioned in this episode:
Season 1 Episode 2: How God Changes Us
Links to additional devotions to use during Lent:
Journey to the Cross: A 40 Day Lenten Devotional by Paul David Tripp
To Seek and to Save by Sinclair B Ferguson
Uncovering the Love of Jesus: A Lent Devotional by Asheritah Ciuciu
From the Grave: A 40 Day Lent Devotional by AW Tozer
The Easter Storybook: 40 Bible Stories Showing Who Jesus Is by Laura Richie
Connect with Ruth here:
Connect with Pat here:
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This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction to Root Like Faith Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Hi, I'm Ruth Schwank and I'm so thrilled you're listening in with us here at Root Like Faith. Here at Root Like Faith, it's our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's word, transformed by the love of Jesus and moved by his mission and the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.
Series Introduction: 'Dying to Live'
00:00:22
Speaker
Well, I'm really excited for today's episode of Root Like Faith because we are kicking off a series called Dying to Live.
00:00:30
Speaker
Yeah, I guess maybe that doesn't sound so great, but this is going to take place over the season of Lent.
What is Lent?
00:00:37
Speaker
And in each episode during this series, we're going to be talking about that tension between who we are and who we want to be.
00:00:47
Speaker
And today we're going to start specifically just answering that question, what is Lent? And honestly, should we even be practicing it? So I think this is a question that a lot of us have, both of these questions. What is it? And should we practice it? So I'm really excited. I think this is a very important topic for us to dive into. I can't wait. Let's get started.
Exploring the Depth of Lent
00:01:11
Speaker
Hey, well, today we're kicking off this series called Dying to Live. And it's a paradox in the Bible, this idea of how we need to die in order to live. Sounds so gloomy. But it's not. We promise. We promise.
00:01:28
Speaker
It does sound so gloomy, but I... It's biblical. And there's a depth there, once we really understand this. So we're talking about this season of Lent that we're about to enter into tomorrow. And I don't know if you're like me, but I grew up, once I became a Christian in high school, the churches I attended did not celebrate Lent. They weren't against Lent, but it just wasn't something that we talked about or celebrated.
00:01:55
Speaker
And so it wasn't until I was older that I really started to learn about Lent and put it into practice. So I feel like there's probably, honey, don't you agree? Of course, there's Christians who have celebrated Lent and completely understand it, but I would say there's probably a fair amount of people that they just don't even necessarily understand. Yeah, maybe they think, okay, I give something up, but they don't really understand Lent. And they also don't even know if they should, as a Christian, practice Lent.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think that at least in the circles that we've been in, that's definitely true. And so, depending on where you grew up or the background you come from, I mean, the majority of Catholics have celebrated Lent. If you're Eastern Orthodox, you've celebrated Lent. Even if you're a Protestant mainline,
00:02:41
Speaker
or part of a Protestant mainline denomination, like if you're Lutheran, then Lent is very familiar to you, or maybe Anglican. And so I think it just depends on what church background you've grown up in and you're familiar with. But you're right, I think there are
00:02:56
Speaker
many Protestants who are not. I mean, we're really good at celebrating Christmas and Easter, and that's about it. You know, those are our two holidays, and yet the church for almost 2,000 years has celebrated Lent. And so...
Personal Experiences with Lent
00:03:10
Speaker
And I just want to say, I feel like we're missing out.
00:03:12
Speaker
There is, there's so much I think to this time of the year that is really rich. And it's not just about giving something up. So let's talk for a second because you guys, I have to tell you, first of all, my husband right here sitting next to me, Patrick, has an obsession with Chipotle.
00:03:34
Speaker
I'll just say that. Because it's the time of Lent, I will confess that. I will own that. Anyways, so last year, I'm sharing this because it's funny, just the different things we give up for Lent. Well, last year he decided, okay, I'm going to give up Chipotle for Lent. Well, except for some of you are like, oh, that's no big deal, except for it is for him because he probably has it. Huge deal.
00:03:58
Speaker
Every week, every week, easily. At least once a week, honey. Yeah, it's true. It's true. And you know what happened last year, you know, as we were beginning to celebrate Lent, I decided that's what I was going to give up because that's about what I knew, you know, is related to Lent. I mean, I grew up with friends who were Catholic and they were always giving up, like,
00:04:16
Speaker
baseball cards or bubble gum or something like that. I'll just give up Chipotle. So that's what I did. Now, you know, Lent, of course, begins in usually the middle of February. So last year, you know, I gave it up and I was counting the days till I could have a chicken burrito again and then COVID hit. And so my 40 day of fasting from Chipotle turned into like four months or something. And so that was tragic. And so anyways, but I think that is,
00:04:43
Speaker
I'm just bringing that up because it's funny. That's how it used to understand Lent, is you just give up bubble gum, like you said. Although, do we even say that word anymore? I don't know.
Purpose and Practices of Lent
00:04:53
Speaker
Anyways, I think the reality, though, is I think when we think about Lent, if what we're giving up or what we're doing during the season of Lent does not cause us
00:05:02
Speaker
to become more like Jesus than we've missed the point. And I think that's really the heart of Lent. It's this time to draw near to Jesus and to allow Him to continue changing us and transforming us. And that's the goal of Lent. It's to take our sins serious and to draw near to Him and to have His power through His Spirit resurrecting us. And so if what we're giving up,
00:05:25
Speaker
is not leading us towards that, is not opening us up to God's work in our life to make us more like Christ. And we really miss the point. And I don't know that giving up Chipotle made me more like Jesus. There are many days I actually worked against me becoming like Jesus. Right, because then you really were obsessed about it. But you know, it's this idea of giving up so that we can give more of ourselves to Christ. And I just, I love that picture.
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah, and I think maybe just really simply, I mean, Lent is a, it's basically a 40-day preparation for Easter, you know, and so I think the celebration of Lent goes back, I mean, some would say it goes all the way back to the biblical time. I mean, think about the number 40 in the Bible. I mean, it's all over the Bible, and so, I mean, just maybe a couple examples of that. I mean, you see Moses,
00:06:09
Speaker
you know, going up on the mountain for 40 days. I mean, that's in Exodus chapter 24. The spies were in the land for 40 days. That's Numbers 13. You know, Elijah, you know, he travels for 40 days. That's in 1 Kings 19 before he gets that vision in the cave.
00:06:24
Speaker
Nineveh was given 40 days to repent. That's Jonah chapter 3. And then, of course, Jesus in the desert as he's fasting and being tempted by the devil, he's in the desert for 40 days. And so the church has gone back to that number, that biblical number. And so we're gonna celebrate this time of the year, this preparation for Easter for 40 days
00:06:44
Speaker
And I think it's a long kind of complicated history, but most would point to the fourth century. So the 300s AD to when the church officially kind of formulated this season of observation or this celebration. So you think about that for a moment. I mean, that's a long history.
00:07:02
Speaker
of celebrating this particular season. And so it's a 40-day preparation for Easter where we're intentionally carving out time and drawing near to Jesus.
Symbolism of Lent's Timing
00:07:15
Speaker
We're maybe repenting of sins, we're confessing sins, fasting, praying, reading scripture. So it's this intentional time, this season of preparation for 40 days leading up to Easter. And one of the things I love
00:07:27
Speaker
is that I just love where it lands on the calendar. So you think about that for a moment that Lent begins in February. It begins in kind of the dark, cold winter month of February, and yet it ends in the springtime. That's where the word Lent means spring or springtime. And so it begins this season of dying with Christ, of reflecting upon sin and confessing sin, drawing near to the life that He wants to give us. It begins in the winter, and yet it ends with this celebration of Jesus
00:07:57
Speaker
resurrected in the springtime. And so just even on the calendar, what that symbolizes, what that means, I just love that picture. Well, and for your soul, what that means, you know, I can walk through this really hard, you know, this hard work that I'm doing on my heart and in my soul towards this resurrection, how God really brings new life
00:08:20
Speaker
And that's that dying to live theme, right? That we see throughout the description. We'll share a couple examples of that in a minute. But yeah, I think it is. It's such an important time for us. You use the word soul. I mean, I think it's, the reality is our soul is sick because of sin. I mean, Jesus said, I came not for the healthy, but for the unhealthy. For those who are sick, who need a savior. And we believe that Jesus died for us. He rose again, that he's
00:08:46
Speaker
freed us from the power of sin, and yet the presence of sin is very real in our life. And so we focus intentionally on this time of Lent, of really drawing near to Jesus. And we're going to talk about confession in the next episode, but it's an intentional time to allow the Holy Spirit to really search us and to root out those areas of our life that are dead and dying where Jesus wants to give us life.
00:09:10
Speaker
And so it is, it's a very rich time of the year, you know, in the church calendar, where we are preparing for Resurrection Sunday that Jesus has died, and we've died with Him, and He's raising us to new life.
00:09:23
Speaker
And that's what I love about these observations and celebrations. It's this work on our spiritual life that we do throughout the year at different times. It's so powerful. It is.
Reflecting on Sin and Grace
00:09:38
Speaker
Before we move on, will you read Isaiah 53? I think that's such an important passage of scripture that many of our listeners will be familiar with already. But as we kind of think again about this season and what it means, let's start by reading Isaiah 53.
00:09:53
Speaker
Okay, let's see. So Isaiah 53 starting in verse four. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering. Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way.
00:10:20
Speaker
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yeah, boy, that is such a powerful, powerful passage. And again, that's Isaiah. That's an Old Testament prophecy predicting the coming of Jesus, the coming of the Messiah, but also his suffering and what he will go through because of our sin. And so I think it's such a reminder this season to go, sin is that serious. Sin is that powerful. It matters that much to God.
00:10:49
Speaker
that His Son Jesus would endure what He endured on the cross. And so I think this time of the year, as we meditate on maybe Isaiah 53 or other passages, as we meditate on the cross, I mean, to think about what it costs God in the flesh, that our sin really does matter, that it really is that serious.
00:11:10
Speaker
and what Jesus did for us. Grace is free to the one who receives it, but it's incredibly costly to the one who gives it. And Jesus gave his life, right? I mean, he offers us grace and forgiveness, but it was a costly grace to be given by him. It's one that we freely receive by faith. And so I think this time of the year, it's a time to really reflect upon that. It's not a time for us to go, boy, I need to try harder. I need to be better. That should never be the motivation of our heart.
00:11:40
Speaker
our entire life ought to be a response to the love of God as expressed through the cross. And so we look at our sin, we look at what it costs Jesus, but we also really take serious the ways that sin can destroy us today and just how dangerous it is to our own soul, to maybe a marriage, to a family, to a church. And so it's a time for us to very intentionally reflect upon our own soul and the power of sin or the presence of sin, to be able to confess that, to ask
00:12:09
Speaker
God's grace to come and to give us strength to overcome particular areas of our life that we're struggling with. So we might ultimately draw closer to Jesus and experience the life that he wants to give us, the life that he promised us. Yeah. And I love that you brought up the idea of trying harder because I would gather, I would imagine that our listeners, you know, there's a lot of people that would identify with that because I feel like some of these observations and celebrations
00:12:37
Speaker
There would there could be the tendency to feel like okay. This is because I'm gonna try harder to be more spiritual to be more godly But what if we shifted that perspective to more of a receiving, you know We we give of ourselves to receive more of him, right? Absolutely, and I think that that's a really powerful way to look at a season like lent I
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're exactly right. I know this feels like 100 years ago now, but early on when we started Root Like Faith, we did an episode on kind of wrong ways to change. We talked about the willpower theory, and if I just try harder, then God will change me, or I might just... The zap theory where God's just magically going to change us. And one of the things we talked about is that as a follower of Jesus, God changes us by virtue of the relationship that we're in with Him.
00:13:27
Speaker
that it's inherently relational, it's relational transformation. And so John 15, I mean, we abide in Christ and he abides in us that apart from him, we can do nothing. And so just as you hang out with a good friend and begin to kind of take on that person's mannerisms or the things that person says, I mean, we can sort of see that illustrated in everyday life. The same is true in our walk with God that as we abide in him and spend time with him,
00:13:52
Speaker
that by His grace through the power of His Spirit, He's changing us and transforming us, and so it's much more us opening up to who He is, opening up to His love and His truth and His grace, and that relationship is inherently transformational. It's not trying to be like Jesus. First and foremost, it's being with Jesus, and when you're with Jesus, you're gonna become more like Him. Right, and that's what we shared in that episode. I'll make sure that I put a link in the show notes to that episode in case you wanna listen further.
00:14:19
Speaker
When I think there's some great biblical examples, I mean, we kind of started out talking about this idea of dying to live, and it does. It sounds kind of like, oh, I don't want to, you know, that sounds paradoxical. Yeah, but once you're living, it's like, yes, you know, once you've died to live. But I love, you know, one author will look at a couple of biblical examples here in just a moment of where you see that theme of
00:14:39
Speaker
dying in order to experience life. One author talks about how Lent is an oasis, and I just love that. We go through life, and it's so easy to not think about God, and we live externally. We're just reacting and responding to life's events, a text message, a phone call, a child's needs, and we just can go day after day, week after week, just
00:14:59
Speaker
living externally, living out of just a reaction to everything that life throws at us. And it's really easy to then kind of live in the desert, right, to grow spiritually thirsty or hungry and to not think about God. And yet, Lent is this oasis. It's this time to draw near to Him, to open our hearts to Him, and to receive living waters and real food from Him, spiritual food, and to be strengthened and nourished and to live internally, to live out of that relationship.
00:15:27
Speaker
that is rooted in Christ. And so it is such a powerful time of the year to very intentionally reflect upon what Jesus has done for us and to draw near to Him. And so again, I think there's some great examples before we share some practical ways to enter into Lent this year. Let's look at a couple practical, or I'm sorry, a couple biblical passages of where you see that theme of dying to live. And so I want to just share a couple of those. I think
00:15:53
Speaker
the very beginning, of course, Genesis 1, which we've talked about before, that we were created for life, that God has made us in His image, that He has made us to know Him and to walk with Him and to serve Him, and that our deepest happiness, our deepest joy is living out of that reality, living out as a son or a daughter of God, as His image bearer. And so we see that at the very beginning of Scripture,
00:16:16
Speaker
that we were made for that. And then we see the fallout of that, right? In Genesis chapter three, where sin isn't just breaking rules on a sheet of paper. I mean, sin is ultimately breaking relationship with God. It's stepping out of the life of joy and peace and happiness and goodness and beauty and truth. I mean, it's dislocating ourselves from that life-giving relationship. And you see that in Genesis three,
00:16:42
Speaker
at the very beginning of the Bible. And so as God promises then to send a Savior, to send a Redeemer, as we put our faith and trust in Jesus and begin to follow Him, He's restoring us back to what we were created for, that life with God. It requires dying to ourselves, dying to our ego and all of our selfish desires and passions. And you see that in Luke chapter 9,
00:17:03
Speaker
For example, 23 through 24, or Galatians 2, verses 20 through 21, where Paul says, I've been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me in a life that I now live by faith. I live for the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And I think that's such an important passage when you think about Paul saying, I've been crucified with Christ, I've died to who I was.
00:17:29
Speaker
I am dying to my selfish desires and things that I want so that Christ might reign in me and rule in me because that's where life is found. That's where the good life is found. And so he's saying, I've been crucified with Christ. I no longer live. It's no longer about me, but Christ lives in me. And so Jesus wants to live his life through your life.
00:17:48
Speaker
Right. And that's I mean, that's just those are like when you read those passages or talk about those passages in the Bible, we I think it's just like, oh, that makes sense. You know, dying to live this whole idea of dying to live makes sense when we see what God can do in our hearts and in our lives when we surrender completely to him.
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, Romans 6 is another great biblical example. You know, really, I hope I won't read that whole passage, but Romans chapter 6, verses 1 through 13, where Paul is saying, if we've died with Christ, we believe that we also will live with Him. And that's really what baptism is all about. We believe in Jesus and we're baptized. In Romans 6, Paul is saying we've been baptized
00:18:32
Speaker
into His death. But if Christ died and rose again, if we're in Him, we've also died and been risen as well. And so you just see that theme over and over again throughout the scriptures of dying to live as we lay down our selfish desires and our passions and
00:18:48
Speaker
offer up things that we're struggling with, or whether it's sinful desires or thoughts or our will, what we get in return is the life that we were created for. And God gives us new life. And He really gives us our deepest joy, our deepest happiness.
00:19:05
Speaker
OK, so let's so we've kind of talked about Lent, what it is, what it really, you know, means to to die to live. And I think it would be really helpful to kind of talk to, you know, transition to a more practical conversation
Practical Observance of Lent
00:19:22
Speaker
here where like, what is this? Like, what are my options? Like, as if I want to celebrate Lent, which Lent begins tomorrow, which is February 17th.
00:19:33
Speaker
And I know some people are like, well, how how do I do this? Like, if I really if I OK, so this year I'm going to observe Lent. Like, what do I do then? Now what? Yeah, exactly. Like, how do I do this? So what would honey, what would you tell somebody that came to you with that question?
00:19:51
Speaker
I think if somebody who really wants to observe Lent in a similar way that they observe Christmas or Easter, I think Lent is a great time to, as a family, go to an Ash Wednesday service. There are lots of churches that offer Ash Wednesday, which is tomorrow at the beginning of Lent. And that's a great way to kind of kick off the Lent season.
00:20:10
Speaker
And so, I know there are a variety of churches, and many Protestant churches, so that is a great option of how to begin Lent. But on a very, I think, practical, personal, sort of individual level, as we were talking about before, Lent is also a great time to say, for the next 40 days, I'm gonna give up this, because this, whatever this is, is standing in the way between me and a closer relationship with Jesus.
00:20:37
Speaker
And for some people listening, that might be food. That might be television. It might be binging on Netflix. It might be social media. It might be just the- It might be Chipotle. It's too soon, honey. Do you really feel like Chipotle was standing in the way?
00:20:55
Speaker
Like I said, last year I had a limited understanding of what that was all about. Yeah, because if that's true, then we probably need to have more discussions about this. I don't know if you should be having trouble. But here's where food can become. I think like anything, food can be an expression of how empty my soul is. And so when I look to food to soothe me. Oh, man. Honey, you just took that. That is so powerful. Honey, I'm a pastor.
00:21:20
Speaker
But food can be an expression of really how empty our soul is, and so I need to fill myself. And so when I'm looking to food, whether it's an extra dessert, I'm really trying to soothe my soul, I'm trying to comfort myself. We joke about, I'm gonna go eat my emotions. We kind of talk about that as well.
00:21:37
Speaker
a Michigan fan this year. But anyways, so food can be that for some people. Social media, I mean, just sort of the mindless scrolling of Instagram or Facebook and you realize, well, I just spent 30 minutes or two hours of my night where I could have been reading my Bible, I could have been praying, there are all sorts of things. So the first thing I would say is that there are some great opportunities maybe in your community to go to a Lent service, a Nash Wednesday service,
00:22:04
Speaker
But on a very personal level, an individual level, is looking at what is it that I'm looking to to give me joy, happiness, security? Is there something that I know is standing between me and a closer relationship with Jesus? I run to that.
00:22:19
Speaker
I numb out to that, I veg out to this or to that, I pass time with this, whatever this is, to be able to offer that up, to give that up, I mean that's the idea of giving something up for Lent so that instead you might be able to draw closer
00:22:35
Speaker
to Jesus, to be reminded that He is the one who ultimately satisfies you and fills you with deep happiness or joy. Yeah, and then I think throughout the Lent season, just a really powerful way to every day be reflecting on this is making sure you have a time set aside each day.
00:22:54
Speaker
To to pray reflect maybe you have a book or a devotional that you are going to go through I know there's so many different like 40 day type devotionals if it's something like that But I think that's a really good way to you know daily be focusing on this whole theme of Lent
00:23:15
Speaker
I think reading through the Gospels is another really practical thing to do, or to pick a Gospel. And during the season of Lent to say, you know, I'm gonna get up every morning or before I go to bed, or whatever makes sense for your schedule, to really take that time during Lent to closely look at the life of Jesus and to meditate on what he did or what he said. I mean, that can be a very... Like you're saying, I did a devotional last year. There's so many great devotionals.
00:23:39
Speaker
around Lent, and so to intentionally go through a devotional as well is a great idea. And so I think those are just some very simple, practical ways. Again, it's a time of confession, it's a time of repentance, it's an intentional time of drawing near to Jesus. And so I think we're gonna talk about confession in the next episode, but just real quickly, I think this period in particular is meant to be a time where we are paying closer attention
Deep Reflection and Spiritual Preparation
00:24:06
Speaker
to the sin in our own life and confessing that, repenting of that, asking for God's grace has helped to overcome that. And so I think getting into that daily rhythm of doing that as well can be a very simple, practical way of entering into this time, this season of Lent as we prepare for Resurrection Sunday.
00:24:24
Speaker
I love that. One thing that I keep thinking about that you said just a little bit ago is that Lent is an oasis and I just think that's such a powerful picture for us and who doesn't want that, right? Who doesn't want an oasis for their soul and I think when we can look at Lent and see that by giving up
00:24:44
Speaker
whatever it is that stands in the way that we get more of Jesus. Like I want that. You know, I want to be a part of that. So wow, this was such a great conversation.
Listener Engagement and Closing
00:24:56
Speaker
We will be sure to put everything we discussed and maybe even a few ideas. Honey, don't you think we could put a few ideas for, yeah, maybe we can link to a couple of devotionals in the show notes at root like faith.com forward slash podcast.
00:25:10
Speaker
And hey, we want to get to know you as listeners. So if you are not already, please follow us on Instagram at Patrick W. Schwank and at Ruth Schwank and introduce yourself. We would love, love, love to get to know you. And hey, also, if you need a virtual hug, let me just tell you, we are so thankful that you are here listening. What about that, honey? A virtual hug, you know? Sure. Let's start doing that.
00:25:39
Speaker
I was wondering where you're going to go with that virtual hug. I've never heard you say that before. Well, we're starting today. We want to welcome you. I can hear Facebook right now saying, you know what? We need to add that to our options. Like, love, laugh, and virtual hug. All right. All right. Well, we want to welcome you as a listener here into our family here at Root Lake Faith.
00:25:59
Speaker
We'd be so grateful if you would do us a big favor and leave us a review or rating. It just takes a second. It's a tremendous help to us as we spread the word about root-like faith and share this episode with your friends. We are so grateful for your help in getting the word out. Okay friend, well we will chat soon and I hope you have a great week and hey, I hope you have a great start to Lent. We can't wait to hear how it goes.
00:26:28
Speaker
Bye!