Now That It's Ending, What Does Lent Mean?

It wasn't too long ago that I was preaching my first Lent sermon. I can still remember preparing for it quite clearly. I especially remember how shocked I was when I found out that the word "Lent" literally just meant spring, as in the season (it comes from the root lencten, as in the "lengthening" of days as winter turns into spring). I had hoped for the sake of my sermon that the word would have some kind of profound, spiritual origin. 

Yet though its name doesn't have a very compelling origin, Lent, and the Easter season that it leads up to, do. Perhaps that's why I had such high hopes for its etymology. Lent, as we know, is the 40 day period of reflection, prayer and, for many followers of Christ, fasting that preceeds Easter. Yet perhaps not as many know that the dates of Easter and Lent move around so much from year to year because Easter is calculated according not to our regular solar calendar, but to the lunar calendar. This is because it is meant to coordinate with the Jewish Passover, just as is described in the gospels. 

Though Christianity shares more than half of its scriptures with Judaism, many Christians have little familiarity with the Jewish faith. In fact, many Christians even today show animosty towards Jews. Yet the fact remains that Jesus of Nazareth and all of his disciples were born and raised as Jews.  Jesus' decision to use the Passover meal to initiate one of the foundational practices of the church, communion, was not an accident. For Christ's followers, the rites, traditions, and stories of Judaism were their world, their way of life, and it was directly into that that Jesus came. 

Since many, if not all of us, were not raised in synagogues but in churches, I think that we miss out on some deeper understandings of what Easter and the Lord's Supper are about. That's why this Friday at United Life we're planning on experiencing a Passover Seder together. Though it will be somewhat different than a traditional Jewish Seder (we'll be focusing on those aspects that correspond with Jesus' ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection),  it will give us a chance to understand Easter a bit more from the disciples' perspective. I invite you to join us!