The Power of Lent

I was going through some old sermons I had on file and ran across this one I wrote for Ash Wednesday some years ago. Since we are in the season, I thought it a good ideal to share again. Your comments are welcome.

Lent is a time in the Christian year that is, at best, misunderstood and at worst, ignored. Traditionally, Lent was a time of repentance spent in preparation for new believers to be baptized into the family of Christ. Over time, the importance of the season and the disciplines associated with it has been reduced to the point that we barely pay it lip service and rarely, if ever, participate.
Jesus did not begin his ministry on a whim. He prepared himself fully before he started his ministry; mentally, ritually and spiritually. Jesus prepared himself mentally through years of studying the scriptures, which armed him with full working knowledge of both Mosaic Law and the prophets, because he knew that he would come up against criticism from learned priests, scribes and Pharisees, and he knew he would have to defend himself as well as prove himself scripturally to anyone that questioned him.
Jesus prepared himself ritually through the public act of baptism after which he received his ordination from God proclaiming him to be God’s son, the Messiah, the savior who would free mankind from sin and death.
The third phase of Jesus’ preparation for ministry was his spiritual formation. The gospel of Mark tells us that immediately after his baptism he went out into the wilderness to fast, pray and meditate. It is this third and final phase of preparation that we honor and emulate during the season of Lent and it deserves close attention, if for no other reason than because it is a discipline ordained by Christ; a sacrament, if you will, just as important as Holy Communion or baptism.
Spiritual enlightenment and fulfillment begins with the practice of fasting. This is an act of self-denial and purging of the trappings, temptations and distractions of our lives with the purpose of allowing more room in our lives for the Holy Spirit to come in to. The more we give up of worldly distractions, the more aware of, and attentive to, the workings of the spirit we can become. And it follows naturally that the more we allow the Holy Spirit into our lives, the better prepared we will be to address spiritual challenges.
The second discipline of Lent is that of prayer. Through prayer we enter into a communication with our Lord. This is a time for repentance and humility. It is a time whereby we can freely speak to our maker about our own shortcomings and misgivings. It is a time to ask questions, and yes, a time to be still and quiet so that we may hear the answers also.
Finally, there is the act of meditation where we then reflect and discern what we have learned through our prayers, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Only after diligently following these three disciplines are we fully prepared to resist the evils and temptations of this world.
The scriptures are clear as to the necessity for being spiritually prepared in this manner. After Jesus had been in the wilderness, fasting, praying and meditating for 40 days we are told that the devil came to tempt him. This was a grave error in judgment on the part of Satan. Satan assumed, wrongly, that in his physically weakened human state, Jesus would be most vulnerable to human temptation. He could not have been more mistaken. Not being human himself, but spirit, Satan could only be defeated by spiritual strength, and although weakened and famished physically, Jesus was spiritually at his strongest and able to easily resist. That is the power of Lent!
We must then ask ourselves when, where, and under what circumstances, does Satan come to tempt us? When and where and under what circumstances are we most vulnerable? How prepared are we to resist him and the evils of this world that surround us every day? If we cannot answer an emphatic yes to that last question then we must ask, what are we going to do about it?
The season of Lent is not something to be ignored, watered down or rewritten for our own convenience through false justifications. Lent is to be looked forward to and embraced, joyfully, with anticipation and expectation. Lent is a season of empowerment. If we study the word, accept Christ as our savior through baptism and allow the Holy Spirit to come in and fill our minds, our bodies, and our very souls, then, then can we be fully prepared disciples of Jesus Christ!