Easter | Elizabeth Turnage

Preparing for Easter: A Lent Encouragement

by Elizabeth | Mar 11, 2019 | Bible study, Easter, Lent, Seasons & Holidays

As we continue to prepare our hearts to celebrate the Resurrection, my friend, writer Suzanne Marshall, author of two studies for Lent, joins us with a guest blog about how to awaken our hearts to Easter.

As hard as it is to believe, Easter is just around the corner. Spring clothes, baskets and family gatherings come to mind. These colorful scenes, though, are followed by more solemn ones. I stand with the congregation Easter morning, trying to rev my heart during the alleluias, while deep down I know that I’m not all that joyful and thankful. What happened to my soul’s love?

In Luke 7, we read about Simon, a church leader, who must have allowed his love for God to wane as well. Simon invites Jesus to eat dinner with him at his house, and while the two men recline at the table, a prostitute stands behind Jesus. She clasps an alabaster vial of perfume and weeps. Tears course down her cheeks and fall onto Jesus’ feet. She drops to wipe her tears with her hair, and so moved, she pours the perfume and adds her kisses as she washes his feet. Simon secretly reasons that Jesus couldn’t be a prophet, because he obviously isn’t savvy enough to know that the woman with her hands all over his feet is one of those kind of women.

Jesus knows Simon’s thoughts and leads his host through a parable, to help Simon see himself and the woman more accurately. Jesus’ story unfolds. Two people owed money to a banker. One owed fifty coins and the other owed five hundred. The banker tore up both loans, forgiving the debts.

“So which of them will love him more?” Jesus asks.

“I suppose the one whom he forgave more,” Simon answers (Luke 7:42-43).

Then, turning toward the woman, Jesus says to Simon,

“Do you see this woman?

I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet.

You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil.

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:44-47).

Did you catch that Jesus turns to the woman, not Simon, as he replies to Simon’s answer? Jesus extends love and forgiveness to the woman in his gaze, the same love that liberates her and moves her to adoration. Jesus does not look down at Simon or shake his finger at him but asks if he saw the woman. Does Simon see her as a person, with worth? Does he see her love in action, love given because of love received? Jesus points out what Simon cannot see, that he is sinful and needs forgiveness as much as the prostitute does. The difference between Simon and the woman is that she recognizes her sin, but Simon doesn’t recognize his.

The reason my love lags on Easter is because, like Simon, I have lost sight of the extent of my sin and of God’s astounding love in forgiving and accepting me. How can I recapture my gratitude and celebrate Easter in sincere joy? Like the early fathers and others through the centuries, I can prepare my heart for Easter. I begin weeks in advance, just as I prepare for Christmas during Advent. The season of Easter preparation is called Lent. Many Protestants are returning to Lent, not to earn salvation, but to appreciate salvation.

During Lent, we pray and fast. A fast may be a limitation of food or drink or a giving up of some other daily part of our lives. Some people choose to take up an action instead of abstaining from something. Practicing Lent with these intentions of giving-up or taking-up engages our bodies; in this way, our soul is powerfully awakened to attend. Just as Jesus pointed to the woman’s actions to help Simon recognize his need, our Lord uses our intentions as tools to reveal our need and his fathomless love.

Do you yearn to greet Easter with the joy of first love? Consider engaging in Lent this year. Though the season began last Wednesday, it’s never too late to dive in. Let us sing joyful alleluias to our King.

Note: Four years ago, I sought a Lenten devotional but did not find one that met my needs. The Lord then prompted me to write the lessons He would teach me during Lent. The next year, I combined these lessons into a devotional, Running to the Empty Tomb: Finding the Joy in Easter. Many people who purchased the devotional were unfamiliar with Lent, so I also wrote and led A Bible Study for Your Easter Journey. The study corresponds with the devotional and more fully explains participation in Lent. An Answer Guide with suggested answers to the Bible study may be viewed for free on my website, SuzanneDmarshall.com, under the Publications tab.

Photo by Suzanne Marshall

Begin your study of Lent!

Mardi Gras, Lent, and Fasting: What You Need to Know

by Elizabeth | Mar 4, 2019 | Easter, Lent

To fast or not to fast?

Your news feed today may reveal scenes of wild celebrations in New Orleans and other cities on the Gulf Coast. Maybe you wonder, as I once did, what these rowdy scenes have to do with a holiday in the Catholic church.

Mardi Gras originated in the early centuries AD, when pagan Romans celebrated a fertility god with debauchery and drunkenness. Early Christians decided to transform the raucous celebration and make it a day for feasting to mark the end of “ordinary time” after Christmas and the beginning of Lent, the season of fasting and repentance before the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The French first coined the term “Mardi Gras” (Fat Tuesday) as they ate up all of the eggs and milk they would be fasting from during Lent.

Lent, short for Lenten, comes to us from the Old English word for “Spring”: lenten, which meant “lengthen.” As the daylight lengthens, life springs into view, buds blooming and bright stalks shoving their way through the earth.

Lent now refers to a season in the church calendar in which many Christians prepare for Easter by reflecting deeply on the love and sacrifice of Jesus our Savior. Some people choose to fast, giving up something they enjoy, or taking up a sacrificial act. Fasting is not believed to make people right with God; rather, it reminds us that we desperately need a righteous Savior and makes us grateful for God’s “plentiful redemption” (Psalm 130).

As Lent begins tomorrow, it’s a good time to consider the question: to fast or not to fast?

3 misguided reasons for fasting:

When our children were in elementary school and junior high, they attended a school which encouraged giving up something for Lent. I insisted (to a fault, I confess), that they not fast for the wrong reasons.

Because “everyone” is doing it. Teenagers aren’t the only ones who do religious things because of peer pressure. If we choose to fast only because it’s the thing to do, we may be worshipping people rather than God.
To show off our spirituality.This reason is closely connected to the first. Jesus warned his followers against fasting to show off.
To test our willpower. While discipline for the purpose of glorifying God is good, we need to beware of fasting only to glorify our own strong willpower.

Jesus’ warning to his followers aptly sums up these three misguided reasons for fasting:

“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity, but it won’t make you a saint.” Matthew 6:16.

Self-discipline can be dangerously self-focused. The purpose of fasting is not to puff ourselves up. Share on X

4 good reasons for fasting:

There are clear biblical models for fasting, most notably, Christ’s practice while facing temptation in the wilderness. Consider these four ways God may work in us through this spiritual grace.

To identify our cravings: Fasting can reveal the food, drink, activities, etc. that we turn to for fulfillment of our longings and desires.
To practice waiting on the Lord: When we’re craving something we love, we can remember that it is good to wait on the Lord’s goodness: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” This verse leads to the next powerful reason for fasting:
To discover how plentiful redemption is: When we let go of things we depend on, we begin to see how paltry they are in contrast to the generosity of God’s love for us in Christ.
To highlight Christ’s righteousness: If we try a fast for forty days, we will likely fail with regularity. (Even if you never break your fast, take note of how irritable you may become while keeping it!) We become even more grateful that our salvation is not based on our perfect keeping of any law but on Christ’s.

The problem with the food, drink and activities that we fill our lives with is that, like the well-water the Samaritan woman seeks, it will never satisfy. The fact is, unless we feed off Christ’s righteousness, we will starve. Though fasting has historically been way down on my list of spiritual practices, when I’ve tried it, God has filled me to overflowing with his grace.

Fasting from emotional fillers will draw us to feast on the grace which truly satisfies. Share on X

A Prayer about Fasting or Not Fasting

Lord, whether we choose to keep a fast in the next forty days or not, we confess that we often try to fill our stomachs, our hearts, and our minds with things that do not satisfy. We bow before you, acknowledging our desperate need for the living water you have promised to give in our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us mourn our sin during this season; let us rejoice in your salvation. In Jesus’ name we ask, Amen.

What about you? What experiences do you have with fasting? What other good or bad reasons for fasting would you suggest?

Photo by Thomas Kinto on Unsplash