“Remembrance”
is key to Biblical worship. To remember what Jesus did for our salvation is therefore
the benchmark of a Biblical celebration of the Lenten Season, Holy Week and
Easter.
Remembering
is rooted in Old
Testament worship.
Devotional
life in the Old Testament was based on “remembering” the great deeds of
salvation and liberation by the God of Israel. Each one of the feasts
prescribed in the Law, remembered, celebrated and taught what God did in the
history of his people, creating and strengthening the belief that he will
continue to keep his grace covenant and be their God and the God of their
children while encouraging them to, as the people of God, seek obedience to the
Lord.
It
was at such a feast of remembrance, the Passover, that Jesus instituted his
Supper. It seems to
me that in the mind of Jesus faith would still be sown and grown through “remembering” as part of the New
Covenant. The Kingdom of God is coming
and Christ’s church is established when we remember what Jesus has done to set
us free and make us his own.
Jesus
gave us the key to Christian worship when he said: Do this in remembrance of me!
Remembering is rooted in the Lord’s Supper.
The
Lord’s Supper is irreplaceable and unique. But it does refer us to the
principle that remembering God’s gospel events has great value. Christian worship and fellowship is defined
by doing it in remembrance of Jesus, our Lord to the glory of God, our Father.
Systematically
proclaiming the Scriptures during days and seasons of remembrance and
faithfully preaching what the Bible tells us about the suffering, death and
resurrection of Jesus can never be wrong. It is a disciplined and structured
way of teaching and preaching the full council of God, a task our Reformed
fathers showed us to do.
The Days
of Remembrance that we observe are rooted in Church History.
All the
commemorative days on the Christian calendar go back a long way before the
Reformation. We should be open to learn
about the original intentions and meanings of these days and why and how they
came into the life of the church. With the Word of God as our foundation and
our Confessions of Faith as guidelines, it becomes easy to discern what would
be God honouring and build up the people of God.
“Remembrance”,
the key to understanding worship, should also be the key to unlocking a
reformed, protestant identity when celebrating these commemorative days and
seasons.
Ash Wednesday.
In the
Western Christian Calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent for the last
1 300 years. It occurs forty days before
Easter, not counting Sundays, which as the first day of the week, always remains
a day of the celebration of the risen Lord
Ash
Wednesday sets the tone for the season of Lent and because any form of
spiritual discipline, prayer and fasting during this season will result in a
closer walk with the Lord, Ash Wednesday is both useful to help us to observe the
Lenten season with humble and contrite hearts.
Historic Background of the Lenten
and Resurrection Seasons.
Resurrection
Sunday (more often called Easter Sunday) is the oldest commemorative day in
Christianity. It was observed since the first century as a result of the
influence of the Jewish Passover. It is the result of the first Christians, from
the very beginning of the church, celebrating the resurrection every week on
the Lord’s Day, by celebrating the
Lord’s Supper in remembrance of him.
During
the second century it became customary to baptise all converts on Resurrection
Sunday. They had to be prepared for the public confession of their faith and
for their challenging walk with the Lord during those ages of persecution and
martyrdom. These preparations lasted 40
days – not counting Sundays. It relates to the fact that Jesus was prepared
for 40 days in the desert before his ministry started.
The
church fathers in the second century required these forty days of preparation
for baptism. Apart from teaching the gospel truth, discipline, fasting and
prayer played an important role during this time. Those who taught the candidates for baptism
shared in observing a time of strict spiritual discipline. After some time,
other Church members felt the need to “do the course again”, although they
would not be baptised on Resurrection Sunday. This season very early on became
the Lenten Season of the Church, meant as a preparation for a joyful
celebration of Resurrection Sunday.
It is
easy to see how the other gospel events such as the suffering and death of
Jesus, the Palm Sunday history, Ascension and Pentecost followed and claimed
their place in the Christian calendar.
The Resurrection of Jesus is the
culmination, the peak, of the Christian
Calendar.
The
shortest version of the gospel truth is to say that Jesus has risen – that he
has risen indeed. Our Reformed / Presbyterian
tradition emphasises that all worship, including the Lord’s Supper, is fellowship
with the living Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Is it not Jesus who through the signs and
seals of bread and wine ensures us of our salvation and inclusion into the
covenant of grace? Is it not our living
Lord who nourishes and feeds through his body and blood?
Should Christians observe Lent and
Easter?
It is an
edifying tradition if we do not fall short of continuously worshipping,
praising and having fellowship with our risen Lord.
It is a good
tradition if we can steer clear of legalistic prescriptions and inflexible
observances of culturally based customs, particularly those that encourage
ritualistic worship with ideas strange to the simple gospel of salvation.
It is a
good practice if we rely on the Word to reveal the gospel truth, if we preach Christ,
the crucified, risen Saviour and if we are careful to require nothing more from
worshippers than to rely on and celebrate God’s sovereign grace, when we
observe these age old commemorative days and seasons.
It is
good ministry if it grows the faith of the believers and brings all who
participate to a place where they through faith celebrate the wonders of
salvation given to us in and through Jesus Christ.
Rooted
in Christian history much older than the reformation, observing these holy days
and seasons is edifying once we ascertained that the way in which we celebrate
these days and seasons are inspired by the Gospel, guided by the Word, directed
by our Confessions and Creeds and is celebrated to the glory of God, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
How do I participate?
Various
church services on Sundays and days of commemoration reflect on the gospel
events during both the Lenten and Easter seasons. Preaching, hymns and prayers during these
seasons find their inspiration in the suffering and death, resurrection,
ascension, exaltation and return of Jesus.
We participate by ensuring that we celebrate and remember when
the church of the Lord meets for public worship during these various days and seasons
of remembrance.
We also participate when our private devotions /
quiet times during
these seasons, reflect on what these gospel events teach us and what message the
Lord personally has for us.
We
may want to participate by, like millions of Christians in the world do, decide
to “give up something for Lent”.
The
original thinking behind this custom was the deepening of our faith and spiritual
discipline through fasting and prayer. “Giving up something” is a way to
encourage spiritual growth and not an end in itself. The basis of observing Lent in this manner was
and should always be that it adds to growing our faith and our relationship
with God and with our fellow believers. The idea is that we grow spiritually
through these Lenten disciplines.
And discipline is the key word - the Greek word Paul uses for
"Godliness" implies discipline, moderation, frugality, charity,
meditation, prayer, and study. Godliness
is a lifestyle that draws us closer to God and to seek to live holy lives because
we are grateful for the grace and mercy of God.
The idea of adding to our devotions on the one
side and “giving up something” on the other is to bring us to a closer walk
with God.
Lenten
additions include, amongst others,
- coming closer to God through times of focussed
prayer, reflection and worship;
- growing through the creation of good habits
and breaking bad ones;
- touching
others through charity and kindness.
The
challenge is this: "What, if anything, are you going to
consciously do to ensure a closer walk with the Lord as you prepare to remember
Christ’s resurrection during Easier?
What do protestant Christians emphasise during the
Lenten season?
There
are two important aspects:
*
Penitence: We realise our own brokenness and our need for Christ. God’s commandments become our teacher that
drives us to Christ for forgiveness with a thirst for sanctification.
*
Preparation: We strive to open our hearts wider for remembering Christ’s
suffering and death and the celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
During Lent people add to, or subtract, from
their daily routines in order to draw closer to God.
Prayer, Bible study and contemplating the
gospel are key to observing Lent. Reducing TV time, getting up
earlier to do more to deepen our quiet times and following Bible study guides
are practical things that add to a fruitful Lenten season. Coming to Church and sharing with the
faithful in our community will teach us to be disciplined in worship.
Fasting or giving up something during Lent is helpful if it lends
a hand to become more disciplined disciples of Jesus Christ.
Seeking justice in the world by giving donations to the less
privileged, volunteering time for charity and promoting causes for justice while
reaching out to those who do not know the Lord Jesus as Saviour and God as
their Father.
Keeping Perspective... There must be no legalism about any of this. We are not trying to
impress God. We're trying to prepare our hearts. Observing Lent in the ways discussed here is
no obligation!
It is
not a Biblical requirement!
It is a
good custom that helped many Christians over many centuries to, in fellowship
with their fellow Christians, seek a closer walk with the Lord that lasts during
all seasons!
Lent is an opportunity rather than a burden and
we pray that yours will be meaningful!
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