Lenten Sacrifice and Self-Denial
Lent is a time of self-denial and sacrifice. These aren’t terribly popular words in our culture. They seem to many today part of a dark and dingy past when religious superstition dominated all. But what of the rampant self-indulgence that governs today? Is the ability to eat, drink, spend, or have sex whenever you want to – which seem to be the goals lifted by most television programs I see – really an expression of freedom, let alone dignity or meaning?
What is strength is you cannot govern yourself? What is wealth if you go to bed each night fearful that you do not have enough? What is power if you are constantly driven by the need for more?
Jesus did not fast at all times. In addition to his time in the wilderness he also eat and drank and reveled with all manner of people, many not deemed particularly religious or proper in his day. But whether fasting or feasting, he knew who he was, why he had come, and where he was going. He knew, that is, that he was created by Someone for Something and would therefore not be held captive to the pleasures of the day or whims of those around him.
Can we say the same? Lenten sacrifice and self-denial are exercises, reminders that we are made for more than simply what we can buy or sell, that we are meant to enjoy not merely more stuff but abundant life. And there is simply no way to abundant life if you cannot learn to do without, to refrain, to sacrifice so that others may have more, to share in the joys and suffering of those around you that you may be knit to them in spirit.
This is what it means, I think, to find yourself by losing yourself, as when we hold back, sacrifice, and give ourselves to others we are joined to Christ and all humanity and approach the communion of spirit that God intended from the beginning. That doesn’t happen all at once. And so Lent is a time to practice holding back that we may embrace the greater gifts of God.
The following 6-minute video shares some of N. T. Wright’s thoughts in a similar vein. It’s put out by the good folks at The Work of the People. I hope you find it helpful as you continue your Lenten practices.
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