Should Christians Celebrate Lent What is Lent? Is Lent Biblical?

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So today's Lent. Let's talk about the history of Lent.

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Why do Christians do Lent? So this is going to be more of a pop history overview

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and not really a deep academic dive,

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but that should be sufficient for most people who are curious about the origins

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of Lent or are unfamiliar with its practice. And first, this is pretty important.

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Lent, L-E-N-T, is not a mandated biblical practice, but in many ways,

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it has its roots in biblical practices.

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Many wings of the Christian church have been practicing Lent for centuries,

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maybe even since the second century or the third century, maybe even earlier than that.

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But the word Lent itself is really first mentioned in the Council of Nicaea,

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which happened in 325 AD.

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And the way they mention it in one of the canons of the Council of Nicaea,

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It's pretty clear that the church had been practicing it for quite some time at that point.

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So what does the word even mean? L-E-N-T. Is somebody borrowed something?

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It really has nothing to do with that at all. It comes from an old English word,

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L-E-N-C-T-E-N, which stood for the spring season.

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And that word seems to come from a different word or a related word that could

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mean long as in longer days, which, you know, kind of begins to happen in the

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spring season. You get to have more and more light.

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In other languages like Greek and Latin, the word for Lent actually refers more

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to 40 days, as in the 40 days before Easter.

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So, Lent in the Greek is Tessaracosti, and in Latin, it's Quadragosima.

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And I don't speak Greek or Latin very well there. So, why does Lent start today

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on February 18th, when today is actually 46 days, not 40 days before Easter?

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Well, The thing is, the answer to that question lies in church history.

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Pope Gregory I, in 601 AD,

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so a long time ago, moved the beginning of Lent from where it was at the time,

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which is 40 days before Easter,

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to 46 days because in that day, most Christians suspended fasting on Sundays,

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which were considered feasting days.

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And beyond that, most Christians who observe Lent, even today,

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don't do a complete fast.

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In the early church, Christians might have fasted meat or rich foods or foods

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with a lot of spices, that kind of thing.

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Many today pick one thing to fast, like sugar or meat or treats or whatever,

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and some others only fast until sundown.

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Almost nobody that observes Lent does a complete fast like the one that Jesus did in the wilderness.

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Let's look at the biblical roots of Lent, and then we're going to look at the

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historical roots of Lent, and maybe then a word or two on whether or not Christians

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today should celebrate Lent and why they celebrate Lent.

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And as mentioned earlier, there's no indication that the early church,

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as recorded in the book of Acts and the letters of apostles,

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there's no indication the early church practiced Lent, but they did fast.

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Jesus predicted that would happen. In Luke chapter 5, verse 35,

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he says, the time will come when the groom, referring to himself,

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will be taken away from them, then they will fast on those days.

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And we do see the early church fasting in passages like Acts chapter 13,

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verse 2, where it says, it's talked about when Paul and Barnabas were commissioned

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as missionaries, and the word says, they were ministering to the Lord and fasting,

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and the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.

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Fasting was a practice the Jews were very used to, and they fasted on the Day

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of Atonement many other times, and that fasting among the Jews was still very

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prominent in the early church,

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even among the Christians, as we see in Acts 27.9, which says,

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By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous.

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Since the fast was already over, Paul gave his advice.

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And Acts 9.9 says that Paul himself fasted three days and three nights after

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he was saved by Jesus encountering him on the road to Damascus.

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And fasting was just common in the biblical church and the early church and

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is still common today in the modern church.

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Interestingly, even though it has been common over the entire history of the

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church, fasting is not commanded in any of the New Testament letters or any

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other place in the New Testament.

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It wasn't commanded by Jesus.

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So why should Christians fast? Well.

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The answer to that question is really because fasting is modeled in the Old Testament,

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mentioned well over two dozen times, and much more significantly,

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Jesus himself lived a life of fasting, and he modeled it for us.

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David Mathis from Desiring God says, Faithful fasting, whatever the conditions

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of its origin, is rooted in human lack and need for God. We need his help,

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his favor, his guidance.

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We need his rescue and comfort in trouble.

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We need his forgiveness and grace because we've all sinned. We need God.

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He, not human circumstances or activity or materials, is the common denominator of fasting.

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Fasting expresses to God our pointedly felt need for God.

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We have daily needs and some unusual ones. We pray for daily bread,

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and in times of special need, we reach for the prayer amplifier called fasting.

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In fasting, we confess we are not home yet and remember at the same time that we are not homeless.

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In fasting, we cry out to our groom, Jesus, and remember that we have his covenant promises.

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In fasting, we confess our lack, and we remember that the one with every resource

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available has pledged his help in his perfect timing.

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So Lent grew in the early church because the Old Testament saints fasted and

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because fasting happened in the New Testament also.

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And like I said, most especially because Jesus himself fasted.

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And of course, Jesus fasted for 40 days and Lent, even though it's 46 days, it.

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Is a 40-day fast. So how did we get from those facts, the Old Testament saints

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fasted, the early biblical followers of Jesus fasted,

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and Jesus himself fasted 40 days in the wilderness to where we are now with

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kind of complicated rituals surrounding Lent,

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like Ash Wednesday and the ashes on the forehead and things like that.

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And the answer to that question is church history and church tradition,

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even very early church history.

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As noted above, the first time that Lent was mentioned in anything that has

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survived, in other words, in any document that we still have,

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is Canon 5 of the Council of Nicaea.

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And the funny thing is that canon has nothing really to do with fasting at all,

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but it's about excommunication.

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And the pertinent part says this, It is decreed that in every province sentence

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should be held twice a year in order that when all the bishops of the province

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are assembled together,

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such questions may by them be thoroughly

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examined so that those who have confessedly offended against their bishop may

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seem by all to be for just cause excommunicated until it shall seem fit to a

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general meeting of the bishops to pronounce a milder sentence upon them,

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and let these synods be held, the one before Lent.

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That the pure gift may be offered to God after all bitterness has been put away,

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and let the second be held about autumn.

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So the point of the mention was that those who have been excommunicated,

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and we know that apparently many excommunications were not permanently,

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and that means to be expelled from the church.

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So those who have been excommunicated might possibly have the grace to be restored

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by the early church before Lent and Easter and the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated.

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And the way that that Canon 5 refers to Lent, it's very clear that this is not

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the first time that those Christians have heard of Lent or have been practicing Lent.

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And it indicates that by 325 AD, early in the 4th century, the church generally

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observed Lent prior to Easter.

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So how long had it been going on prior to that?

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Well, of course, we have no idea. But we do know that the Didache.

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Which is a compilation of early church teachings that dates to the 2nd century,

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possibly even the 1st century,

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did prescribe or command fasting before baptism.

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And in the Ferdinand passage, the Didache says, concerning baptism.

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Baptize this way, having first said all these things, baptize into the name

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of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28, 19, in living water.

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But if you have not living water, baptize into other water, and if you cannot, in cold, in warm.

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They preferred cold over warm for baptism. But if you have not either,

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pour out water three times upon the head into the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit.

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But before the baptism, let the baptizer fast and the baptized and whatever others can,

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but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two, not 40,

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but one or two days before.

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Connected to that, we know that Tertullian, an early church father that lived

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in the late 100s and the early 20s, wrote around that time that Easter and Resurrection

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Day was a most solemn day for baptism.

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So putting it all together, I think we can clearly see the origin for Lent with

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roots in the Old Testament, roots in the New Testament, roots in the practice

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of Jesus, and roots in the practice of the earliest apostolic churches.

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Many, if not most, traditions of Lent developed well after the New Testament

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and even after the time of the early church of the first centuries.

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That doesn't mean that the practices are invalid, but for many Christians,

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the teachings of Jesus and the apostles contained in the New Testament are the

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ultimate authorities for our practices and not church tradition.

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That said, while the practice of Lent is not commanded by the Word of God,

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It certainly has its roots in the Word of God, and it's not prohibited.

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In that spirit, I would like to offer some cautions and encouragements.

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So let's start with three reasons to practice Lent and three reasons maybe to not practice Lent.

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Number one, the practice of Lent, fasting before the celebration of Easter,

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is, as noted, rooted in Scripture.

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Fasting is a good thing, biblically speaking, a lone noted Christian spiritual

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discipline that has been done fruitfully by believers in Jesus Christ for nearly

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2,000 years in the Christian church.

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John Piper says, Christian fasting is unique among all the other kinds of fasting in the world.

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It is unique in that it expresses more than longing for Christ or hunger for Christ's presence.

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It is a hunger that is rooted in, based on an already present,

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experienced reality of Christ in history and in our hearts.

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In Christ, fasting is not just a Godward expression of our need.

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It is not just an admission that we are not fooled.

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Fasting is a statement in the very midst of our need that we are also not empty.

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Number two, in fasting and Ash Wednesday, when Christians put ashes on their

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foreheads, they do so in solidarity with the great saints of the past.

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For instance, Esther chapter 4 verse 1 says that when Mordecai learned all that

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had been done, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went through

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the city wailing with a loud and bitter cry.

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In Job 42.6, as Job repented before God, he says, disown what I have said,

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and I repent in dust and ashes.

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In Daniel chapter 9, 3, Daniel describes his approach to God saying.

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I turn to the Lord God to seek help in prayer and in petition with fasting sackcloth and of ashes.

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So the ashes symbolize biblically repentance and an intentional focus on pursuing

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the Lord, which is obviously an ideal practice during the weeks leading up to

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Easter and, to be clear, any other time too.

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With ashes in the shape of the cross, Christians who do that practice remember

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that we are not Old Testament saints laboring under a sacrificial atonement

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system based on the slaughter of animals,

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but rather a new covenant system founded on the slaughter and resurrection of Christ the King.

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Number three, why should Christians consider practicing Lent?

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Well, in fasting, we imitate Jesus who also fasted, which is a wonderful thing

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in the same way that some have their quiet times of prayer and Bible reading

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at the precise same time every day and others don't.

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Some Christians fast at certain times during the year following the ancient

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church calendar and some Christians fast based on need and situation.

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As Charles Spurgeon will tell us in a moment, both approaches are okay according

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to the Bible and neither should be judged or treated as better than the other.

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So Lent, if, big if, if it focuses on us, on Christ,

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and prepares us to appreciate and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in a more

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intentional and deeper-reaching way, it can be a great thing, a wonderful thing.

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However, Lent, another big if, if it becomes ritualized without meaning,

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can become a vain and empty practice that has no spiritual value.

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Or maybe even worse than that, if Lent is viewed as a way to receive salvific

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grace from God by the works of fasting and self-denial,

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then Lent can almost become idolatrous in that our own practice has the potential

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to replace the finished work of Christ on the cross.

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And along those lines, here are three cautions about Lent. Number one,

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Lent should not provide us an opportunity to judge other Christians in their pursuit of God.

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Along those lines, Paul writes in Colossians 2, verse 16, Therefore,

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don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a

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festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

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These are a shadow of what is to come.

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The substance is Christ or the Messiah.

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Because Lent is not commanded in Scripture, it's wrong and unwise to judge the

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behavior of other Christians based on whether or not they observe that season of fasting.

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Similarly, Paul says in Romans 14, 5, one person esteems, or holds up as important,

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one day as better than the other, while another person esteems all days alike.

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Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

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In other words, in Romans 14 and Colossians 2, we find there is room in the

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body of Christ for a real difference of opinion on whether or not festivals

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and observations and things like Lent should be observed,

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and we should not judge or look down on other Christians because they do or don't do this.

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As Paul says in Romans 14, 4, we are to leave the judgment of every Christian

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to his own master about whether he stands or falls.

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Number two, Lent should not become for us an avenue of receiving salvific grace

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from God through works. And I know that's a point of contention between Protestants

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and others, but fasting can be a good thing.

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It's certainly a way to mortify human fleshly desires that are sinful and provide

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an avenue for growing closer to God, and that's good.

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But when Lent is looked on as a means of saving grace, a means of earning merit

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to be saved, then it becomes very, very dangerous.

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Again, as Charles Spurgeon said, commenting on Colossians 2.16.

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Don't let anybody come in and tell you that it is necessary for your salvation

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that you abstain from this meat or that drink,

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that there is a merit in fasting for 40 days in Lent or that you cannot be saved

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without observing such and such a holy day.

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Your salvation, listener, if you have salvation, is in Christ.

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Keep you to that and add nothing to this one foundation, which is once and for all laid in him.

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Good words by Spurgeon. Finally, number three, I think it's dangerous to mandate

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or force or make a practice that is not mandated by scripture.

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St. Augustine of Hippo, or Augustine if you prefer that, wrote in the 5th century,

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our fast at any other time is voluntary, but during Lent we sin if we don't fast.

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Now look, I like St. Augustine. I'm grateful for him, but I disagree with our guy here.

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We should not declare something a sin that Scripture does not declare is sinful.

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That's a dangerous practice.

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Reformation 21 writer Carl Truman concurrently says,

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But that same commitment also means that I object most strongly to anybody trying

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to argue that it should be a normative practice for Christians to impose it

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on their congregations or to claim that it confers benefits that are unavailable elsewhere.

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Tim Challies is an excellent Reformed writer, and he says that he's cautious

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about the observation of Lent.

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He says, I do not myself observe Lent.

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I never have and don't ever expect to. My reasoning is first biblical.

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I'm hesitant to add practices the Bible does not command, especially when it

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seems tepid, lukewarm, at best about similar practices.

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Then there's the practical. My church covers this ground every week as we corporately

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remember Christ's sacrifice and confess our sins and receive assurance of God's forgiveness.

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And then there's the historical angle. I want to be historic,

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says Chalice, not innovative in my faith, and I find avoiding Lent to be most

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consistent with the Reformed tradition.

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Now, I don't know that I myself would be as cautious as either Truman or Chalice

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is, but I do think that Baptists, such as myself,

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would benefit often from being more intentional and more moored,

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slightly more, to the biblical aspects of church history and practice.

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At the same time, Lent, like any other unmandated Christian tradition observance,

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such as Easter and Christmas,

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which my family observes, but I know those things are not mandated to be observed.

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And Lent and celebration of

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Christmas must never replace the intimacy and vibrancy of knowing Christ,

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reading his word, turning away from our sins, confessing them and repenting,

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and remembering daily the sacrifice of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection.

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If Lent helps you do that, then it might be a good thing.

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But never let any ritual supplant Christ and his word in you,

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which is the hope of glory.

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Well, thanks for listening. Hope it's a great day for you. And I hope whatever

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happens today, it draws you closer to Christ. Good day to you and Godspeed.