By Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD
There are some words associated with Lent in our western tradition that I can’t find in any Bible translation or concordance. Chocolate. Diet. Exercise. Smoking. Drugs. Alcohol. Apple. Chocolate.
Adam and Eve didn’t eat an apple that we know of. Jesus didn’t smoke that we know of, but he most certainly drank alcohol. He didn’t need to diet or go to the gym because he walked everywhere. I don’t think there were cocoa beans grown in the Middle East so he probably didn’t eat chocolate.
There are other words associated with Lent that most certainly are in the Bible. Pray. Obey. Fast. Eat. Repent. Joy. Love. Care. Compassion. Study.
How can we get away from our fixation on personal resolutions, making ourselves better people, trying not to get tricked by the little red guy with horns and a pitchfork or the creepy green snake?
The prophet Micah says there are only three things necessary: “He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.“
If that’s the case, then what is Lent really about?
Diana Butler Bass, who is one of my favourite contemporary writers, wrote a reflection for Ash Wednesday that says perfectly how I feel about Lent this year:
I don’t need to be reminded on Ash Wednesday that I’m going to die someday. I’m getting older. I know that. I don’t really need to be told to do a whole lot of repentance or self-examination this year. I look around and I’m not the problem, frankly.
I know that the church won’t like to hear me say that, but that’s the truth. I’m not the problem. The problem is that the systems and structures in which we live have given rise to horrible sin and evil. And I have spent so much of my energy trying to stop that in the last few years and especially in the last 15 months.
I’m not the problem. I do not need to be told that I’m going to die at my age, with all of the various medical challenges that come the way of us older folks. And I definitely don’t need to be told that I’m the problem right now with the fact that the world is full of sin and evil. No, I’m not. I’m part of the solution. I’m part of the love that is coming forth from the heart of my own faith and saying no to the evil. Ash Wednesday just seems ridiculous to me this year. Absolutely ridiculous. I’m kind of mad at it, frankly.
Even though I actually like Ash Wednesday, I find her reaction to it refreshing, especially this year. The red guy with the horns is just too close to us, and is wreaking havoc around the world. What if we start seeing ourselves not as abject sinners who contribute to the evil in the world – but as part of the solution, called like Micah challenges us, to love mercy and kindness, be just, and walk humbly with God? After all, it’s the devil who shows us the opposite of humility. The little red guy doesn’t want to be part of God’s creation, he wants to be God. So let’s spread humble love instead. Humility comes from the same Latin root as humus – that spread we all love. It means from the earth, earthy. Every time you eat humus, remind yourself that you are part of God’s creation, not the creator. Chocolate comes from the earth too, just like other beans – coffee beans, green beans, kidney beans.
The ancient story of a man and woman created out of the dust of the earth is a perfect example of what it means to be human – from humus – humble. Adam and Eve were created to be in deep relationship with God, to love and till the earth which our generation is gradually destroying. It isn’t an apple that got them – it was little red man or the creepy green snake who convinced them that they would have power if they ate the deadly fruit. They forgot what it meant to be in relationship with God and each other and they sought instead the kind of knowledge that leads to power. No longer stewards of the earth, they became its Lord. Rather than learning about good and evil, they lost the ability to discern the difference.
When Diana Butler Bass says she is not the problem, she is part of the solution, it reminds me of the beginning of the baptismal service. And it may be helpful to know that Lent actually started in the early centuries of the church not primarily as a season of repentance, but as a preparation for baptism and entry into the church. Repentance was part of that, but not the major part.
In the baptismal rite in the BAS, the person about to be baptized (or the sponsors in the case of a child), are asked six questions, the first three of which are renunciations traditionally connected to the three temptations of Jesus in the desert:
Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
“The world, the flesh, and the devil” as the Book of Common Prayer referred to them. Jesus’ temptation to turn stones into bread – to show off his divine powers which are given to be use for healing. His temptation to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple – to prove that God will save him. His temptation to worship Satan rather than God, Evil rather than Good, for the sake of power. So at our baptism we renounce these temptations.
And then even more important, after the three renunciations, we have to “turn” – to turn away from evil and turn to face God. Turn from walking west, away from the sun into our shadow and toward the east, facing the sun, with our shadow behind us. As we turn we are asked three questions:
Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Saviour?
Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?
Do you promise to obey him as your Lord?
These are all the mirror image of the temptations or renunciations. This is what Jesus’ temptations are about. Who will he follow? And this is what Lent is about for us. Who will we follow?
My friends, we actually are not the big problem right now in the world. We are called to be part of the solution. Love mercy and kindness. Work for justice. Walk humbly with your creator. Eat chocolate without guilt. Amen.
Image credit: detail of Christ in the Wilderness by Moretto da Brescia, (1515-1520).