When God’s people were liberated from slavery in the exodus, their understanding of the world changed. Their whole lives—their food, their worship, their very calendars—were ordered in such a way as to tell that story of redemption to themselves, to their children, and to the world. So they gathered together, week after week, month after month, in feasts, in fasts, in songs, and in tears, to tell the story of God’s liberation of His people from slavery. And they did this not so that God would deliver them—as though by the keeping of these fasts they would find favor with Him—but because He had delivered them. Salvation was theirs, and as a result they ordered their lives in such a way as to tell that story to themselves, to their children, and to the nations who lived as their neighbors. When the earliest Christians came to understand Jesus as the bearer of a new Exodus—not merely from slavery, but from sin and death—it seemed good to them to order their lives and their calendars around the story of salvation. They called it “the sanctification of time.” And so the season of Advent became a time when the church told the story of the coming of the Savior. The season of Epiphany became a time when the church told the story of the earthly ministry of the Savior. The season of Lent became a time when the church told the story of the suffering and death of the Savior. The season of Pentecost became a time when the church told the story of the abiding presence of the Savior by the power of the Holy Spirit. All these seasons were celebrated not in order to secure God’s special favor, but because in Christ, this favor has been freely given. Their purpose is simply to tell the story of God’s salvation in Christ—to ourselves, our children, and to our neighbors—as clearly and intentionally as possible.
Wednesday we begin the season of Lent, the time when—in anticipation of the great celebration of Easter—we tell the story of the suffering and death of Jesus for our sins and the sins of the world. It is a time when we, through intentional and particular reflection on the last weeks of Jesus’ life, tell the story of the gospel.First, it is a time when we tell the story of our need. We tell of our need for forgiveness of sins— and so Lent is a time of confession. We tell of our need for repentance in life—and so Lent is a time of self-denial. We tell of our need for resurrection from the dead—and so Lent is a time of reflection on mortality. Each of these is symbolized powerfully in the imposition of ashes—the humiliating sign of our own broken mortality. And we do this before the eyes of a culture that does not believe itself mortal and doomed to die. And yet we also tell the gospel story of Jesus’ work on our behalf. We tell of His work of forgiveness—and so Lent is a time to remember His willingness to forgive sinners. We tell of His work in enabling our repentance—and so Lent is a time to remember His power in our weakness. We tell of His work of raising the dead—and so Lent is a time to anticipate His resurrection from the dead. And we do this before the eyes of a culture that, even if it believes it needs a Savior, does not believe that it has one. And again, we do these things not to drown in our misery, or to secure God’s blessing through our self-denial, but because in Christ, these blessings are ours this day.
So in celebrating Lent, here is what we are doing: We are simply coming together to tell the story of the gospel and to live that story out before ourselves, our children, and our neighbors—mourning together the sorrows of the world and, in time, celebrating the glory of the resurrection.
