Some thoughts in the hours before Ash Wednesday

Tonight’s the night when traditionally we feast on all the remaining fat and flour in the house in the form of pancakes (best eaten, of course, with sugar and lemon juice or maple syrup). For tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, when the fast of Lent begins.

Lent is not found in the Bible – the name refers to the lengthening of the days in spring – but the tradition relates to Christ’s 40 days of fasting in the desert at the start of His ministry. It is a time of repentance and self-denial before the events of holy week, Good Friday and the resurrection at Easter.

Why is a Baptist writing about Lent, with its high church connotations?

One reason is that I have many Muslim friends and they often ask me about Lent – perhaps wondering how it relates to their fasting month of Ramadan. During that time, Muslims do not allow any food or drink to pass their lips during daylight hours. Explaining that we Christians have bravely chosen to forego chocolate for the season tends, perhaps, to leave them wondering about the strength of a Christian's commitment to God.

Another is that our free churches – you remember them? the ones with the perfect ecclesiology – have tended to neglect fasting: an example of how we cherry-pick our Bible teaching. In chapter 6 of Matthew’s gospel, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches “When you pray…” and offers His hearers the words of the Lord’s Prayer which, for most Christians, are pretty central.  We would argue strongly with anyone who wanted to disregard the Lord’s Prayer.  Except that a few verses later, Jesus teaches “When you fast…” At that point many Christians start to think this is a little extreme. 

I do not want to build a theology of fasting on the one word “When.” Nor do I regard the Bible as a book of rules we must keep.  We are set free from living under written rules in order to live by the spirit.  But fasting – however you do that - does seem to me to be a normative concept in the teaching of Jesus and the bible. That is, we are led to believe that it is good for Christians to do something intentionally for a time to remove the focus from the (good but) demanding drives of our human nature so that we can focus upon God’s values and listening to Him.

But if fasting in any way puts us back on God’s wavelength then we must move beyond religious practices alone:

 “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

“Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”  

Isaiah 58: 6-7

God links the spiritual with the practical. He tells us that we need to see and treat people differently if we want to be His followers. It is impossible to love God with all our hearts while, at the same time, ignoring God’s call to care for people on the edges. People who tend to get sidelined.  

The extent to which we love others is the only accurate way of knowing how much we love God.