A questioning view of Lent

This past Ash Wednesday I saw Vice President Joe Biden on the television screen. He had an ash smudge on his forehead. My reaction was positive. It was his own quiet way of identifying himself as a Christian man in the Roman Catholic tradition. At the same time, I noted that putting a smudge of ash on my forehead on Ash Wednesday was a completely foreign practice to me.

I am a Baptist by birth, choice and practice. My identity is more closely tied to Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, who many believe initiated the Protestant Reformation rather than Martin Luther. Zwingli, in his protest against the Roman Catholic practice of Christianity, celebrated Ash Wednesday by cooking up a big batch of sausage, which he shared with his friends with similar convictions.

For those who might not know what Lent is, here is a word of explanation. Lent is a 40-day special period of spiritual discipline leading up to the celebration of Easter. The 40 days are counted excluding Sundays. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The word itself simply means spring. Lent is typically marked by self-denial and repentance. Often it includes fasting, and many devout Christians give up specific things they enjoy. Coffee, tea and chocolate head the list of things given up.

Baptists, following the lead of Zwingli, have never taken much interest in Lent, pointing out that Lent as a special period of spiritual discipline has little, if any, precedent in the Bible. Those who find help in the Lenten tradition point out that, according to three of the gospel accounts, following his baptism, Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit, where he spent 40 days. He is reported to have fasted during the whole time and was then severely tempted by Satan. Jesus resisted every temptation and was then ready to take on his ministry. While the Lenten tradition can only be traced to the second century C.E., advocates of the Lenten tradition point out that a spiritual pattern is set by the Jesus story. Before Christian service and living can become a reality, self-denial must be an essential discipline.

Doesn’t that give us reason enough to perpetuate the tradition and enter into its disciplines?

My first critical observation is that our best Bible scholarship strongly suggests that the 40-day fast and temptation never happened. It was an add-on fabricated decades after the death of Jesus. There is a serious discrepancy among the accounts of what happened to Jesus following his baptism. The accounts of what happened after his baptism cannot be reconciled.

The Bible foundation for Lent becomes shaky ground. But does that matter? Is it possible that the message of self-denial before genuine service in God’s kingdom is a truth that stands by itself?

That brings me to my second observation. In the accounts of the temptation of Jesus, when challenged by Satan he turned his back on not just food, but wealth and power also. In the story of his fast and temptation, Jesus embraced the values that led him to a life of serving the poor, the outcast and the needy, and to his early death.

The tragedy of modern Lenten observances is seen by the contrast. Jesus gave up food, wealth and power. Modern American Christians give up coffee, tea, chocolate and possibly meat for 40 days. After the 40 days we are free to go back to our greedy, gluttonous ways.

My third observation about Lent is that it does not fit very well into my theological understandings. About 40 years ago, someone drew my attention to a picture of Jesus. I loved it from my first sight. Jesus was laughing heartily. I wanted a copy of that picture. I did my homework. It first appeared in Playboy magazine. I inquired and found that it was available in poster size. I bought two copies. I hung one in my office. People either loved the picture or were disturbed with it. One parishioner who was bothered by it said, “He is laughing at me.” I countered, “No, he is laughing with you.”

Lent is again upon us. Once again I have pondered its meaning. I recognize the value of the disciplined life. I believe that denial of self at times is required to serve God and neighbor. My theology is tied to Bible rather than tradition. Tradition often informs us with wisdom, but more often it deadens us to life and to the laughing Jesus. I find that I cannot read the Bible material with a gloomy spirit. I love this season of the year as collectively Christians face the pain of the death of Jesus and the joy of his resurrection.

The joke of the ages is that those dumb Romans thought they could kill Jesus. For now, I am going to have another cup of coffee, eat a hot fudge sundae and laugh straight through to Easter.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.