February 21, 2010: Lent 1
Lent for most is a time to practice the spiritual discipline of self-denial. Yes we can take on new patterns of life or certain forms of prayer as a Lenten discipline, but the more commonly understood pattern for a Christian during Lent is to choose something in one’s life to give up, to deny ourselves something we like or enjoy. Self Denial can be dangerous, though. Our choices in self-discipline be opportunities for growing apart and not toward God. The essential element of Lenten disciplines is that they are not about us. Our choice to pursue self-denial as a spiritual exercise is about our relationship with God.
Jesus chooses to deny the use of the many powers he has as the Son of God, choosing instead the path of the righteous human. Jesus chooses to walk the path of one who knows the right way, the way God wants us to walk. Jesus is an example for us. Our journeys and his are fraught with the trials of Satan that press upon in, attempting to distort the relationship between us and God. Jesus demonstrates through his self-denial that he is fully committed not to himself but to his relationship with God. All the power in the world is not worth abandoning that most sacred of bonds. And through Jesus we too are invited into that most special relationship with God.
Like Jesus then, we practice self-denial as part of our faith journeys. Several options are open to us for practicing self-denial. Giving up chocolate has been used countless times, as well as the more far reaching “no desserts” abstention. Some give up certain ingredients of our foods, like extra sugar or cream. And that reminds me that some crazy folks actually give up coffee for Lent. My prayers for their spouses and colleagues.
Coffee may lift us in the morning, and other things help us unwind at night. Here too are possibilities for our Lenten practice. A popular tradition in parts of my family is to give up alcohol for Lent. That makes the after Easter brunch all that much more exciting. Less obvious but in the same direction is the giving up of the television, that scourge of our free time. Nothing takes our minds off the stresses of the day more than a gripping Law and Order drama, hysterical Jersey Shore episode, or tantalizing battle on Iron Chef, let alone the voyeurism of peering into other people’s lives on Oprah. Yes, giving up the TV may sound extreme, but it can be done!
Others may take on more ancient disciplines of self-denial. Complete fasts are becoming a less rare topic amongst the spiritual seekers in the world. Whether it be a daytime fast like the Muslim practice of Ramadan, where food is avoided while the sun is up, or a more strenuous 24 hour or 36 hour fast, the encounter with hunger can be a profound experience. And next Sunday, be sure to ask our youth about how 30 hours of hunger has changed their lives.
All of these (and so many more) choices for a Lenten discipline can be fruitful for your spiritual journey. Not because of the strenuousness or challenge, nor because they address particularly notorious sins and illnesses in life, although any one of them could! The Lenten discipline of self-denial is meant to provide a space in our lives for us to become more aware of God’s providing. By denying ourselves those things that we can provide ourselves, we have the opportunity to witness more directly how God provides for us. If but once during the 40 days of Lent the yearning for the TV or chocolate and the subsequent denial of that want opens your heart and mind to consider just what that supposed ‘need’ really is in life, then the discipline has reaped a reward. If one afternoon you encounter hunger and find your heart not closed and irritable but instead profoundly opened and aware of other’s struggles with finding food and being nourished, then your discipline has made its positive mark in your life.
Yes our spiritual disciplines can be positive experiences, but they also can be markers of illness. Sadly a person suffering from anorexia can find in a Lenten discipline just the excuse needed to pursue an ever more damaging course of abusive self-denial. Maybe less tragic are the countless others, whose body image problems to use their Lenten fast as a way to save a few calories in the hopes of improving on their all important body. Lent as diet plan, I like to call this. Sounds harmless, and even a way to achieve two things at once (a remarkable justification), but when our Lenten discipline is serving us and not God then we have missed the point entirely. A diet plan is not a spiritual discipline, it is a self-serving program aimed at our own ends.
We serve ourselves through our pursuit of Lenten disciplines in other ways, too. Nothing feels better than accomplishing some mighty feat, like going 47 days without something. You can lift your arms and cheer as you cross the finish line Easter morning, just like the triumphant skiers and skaters and snowboarders and yes curlers that we see on the wonderful Olympic stage. And yes you can feel dismayed or even distraught if you wake one morning and realize that you did not quite make it to the finish line, feeling the crushing pain of failure even.
But these feelings of success and failure are losses for us. When Jesus reminds Satan of God’s instruction “Do not put God to the test”, he put success on the hot seat. Whether God will give us the power or strength to succeed in our endeavor is not the point of our Lenten disciplines, and if it becomes the focus then we lose even if we succeed. Our Lenten disciplines are about serving God, not serving ourselves. It does us no good for God to give us the power to avoid chocolate for 47 days just for us to celebrate that ‘amazing’ miracle. Lenten disciplines are not about us.
The goal of any spiritual discipline is not success or failure but to be brought to places where you find yourselves closer to God, where you are drawn near to God as he walks toward his and your cross. The steps of your journey take on less and less personal importance as they instead become footsteps for God’s love and life. The discipline are about letting go of ourselves and finding ourselves more in God.
Self-denial is not an easy and simple part of your spiritual journey. It, like all others, can be as ego centered and as personally damaging as any other pursuit taken without consideration for the intention. Our intention is to draw nearer to God, to find ourselves, our hearts our souls our bodies, being led and being welcomed into the journey of Jesus Christ. Your hungry stomachs and yearning spirits are not Olympic challenges but doorways. Have courage and walk through the portals to a life lived no longer for yourselves but for the God who created you and blessed you. To walk that journey, God’s journey and not our own, is our desire and aim, and our disciplines can open the way.
