The denial of self in the tradition of Lent

In the rural community in which I grew up, little note was ever taken of the season of Lent. The town was almost 100 percent Protestant. There were a few Roman Catholics and I saw them as needing salvation. Their ways were strange. They did not eat meat on Fridays and they gave up something during a period of time that they called Lent. Lent, so I thought, had little relevance to living a Christian life in my Baptist tradition. I had a lot to learn.

It is true that the Bible never mentions an annual period of time called Lent. The Bible was the only authority for my Christian faith. I had no appreciation of tradition as a tool to facilitate the living as a Christian.

Lent is an ancient tradition. As early as the second century C.E. we have written records of a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter. From earliest days, though undefined in details, Lent was seen as a period of self-denial. Today’s Christians need to be reminded of the witness of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke that denial of self is an essential to the Christian life. As recorded in the three gospels, Jesus said “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me.”

In the Luke Gospel Jesus continues, “For those who want to save their lives will lose it, and those who lose their lives for my sake will save it.” Mark this down! The only way to become whole (be saved) is through the loss of self on behalf of Christ and his Kingdom.

The challenge of self-denial is both attractive and frightening. We admire people who make a sacrifice of self for the good of others. I was impressed when the newly elected Pope took on the name Pope Francis. He had taken the name Francis from Francis of Assisi.

Francis was the son of a very wealthy Italian merchant. As a young man in the early 13th century, he reveled in the wealth of his family. There are multiple stories about how Francis came to reject the wealth of his family to live out his life in poverty. Exactly how he left wealth for poverty in order to follow Christ is open to research, but the reality is that he did. He joined street beggars to survive. Quite quickly his austere way of life attracted followers. His instructions to his followers were simple. Do good. Follow Jesus. He founded the Franciscan Order for male followers and the Order of St. Clare for women. Today these two orders continue the Franciscan standard of electing poverty and the doing of good in the name of Jesus their Christ. The very name of Pope Francis will be to me a constant reminder that the forsaking of everything to follow Jesus is my highest calling. I was very happy when I heard that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had taken on the name of Francis. As followers of Jesus we claim life by losing our own in the doing of good.

As I have become more aware of the Church’s liturgical year and the observance of Lent in particular, I have come to appreciate these traditions as great reminders of the essentials of Christian faith. I remain an Evangelical Baptist, but that does not stop me from appreciating the impact of a name like Francis and a season of the year called Lent.

The cover story of a recent edition of Christianity Today was titled The New Radicals. I read the article as one more chapter in the story of emergence Christianity. Young Christians, sometimes pastors, are popping up and calling comfortable Christians to a more fully committed lifestyle. One theme that runs through all the stories of the new radicals is the conscious forsaking of comfort and security for wholehearted, even extreme discipleship.

We live in a consumption culture. Francis forsook his own consumption lifestyle and adopted the life of denial of self in order to serve others. Typically we admire the Franciscans and return to our selfish ways. We turn away from the ways of Francis not because we believe he was wrong, but because we are afraid to follow in his footsteps.

For centuries tradition has given us each year a period of 40 days to reconsider the price of following Jesus in a more radical way. We are reminded that Lent is not a period of time to give up meat, coffee, or even candy. It is a period of time in which we are urged to become whole by forsaking our selfish interests and embracing the earthly work of the Kingdom of God.

Now with a Pope named Francis we will face that challenge 365 days a year. Frightening but rich with promise.

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

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