This week we began the 40-day Lenten season with Ash Wednesday – it ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. The word Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon lencten, meaning spring. Lent is traditionally a time for repentance, self-reflection, and recalibrating ourselves spiritually. It is a time when we practice spiritual disciplines in an intentional and concerted effort to grow closer to God in our faith. Giving, fasting, and prayer are foundations of these practices. For Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, almsgiving or giving was an expression of our love for God and neighbor. He gave away all the coins in his pockets on the way home every day, and most of his wealth during his life. Giving is part of holy living. Remember Wesley’s rules – gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. He complained that many Methodists ignored his third ruleto give all you can. This means living simply and not wasting.
During Lent:
o We can have a simple meal one day a week, and donate what you might have spent.
o We can donate to a food pantry or help out at the food bank.
o We might increase our offering as able for these 6 weeks.
o Or donate to UMCOR to help those in need from recent fires and storms.
Fasting was another important practice for John Wesley. The family lived in poverty, and his mother Susannah was a strict disciplinarian, so not snacks were allowed between meals. When he went away to school, the older boys frequently took the younger boys meat. Wesley himself said that from age 10-14, he often had nothing but bread to eat, and not much of that. Most of his life Wesley fasted once a week, from after supper on Thursdays until 3 p.m. on Fridays, consuming only water and tea. And even Wesley said those with physical conditions should be cautious and recommended instead to abstain from eating a favorite food, and pray when you are missing it. That might be a good option for many of us – fasting one day a week from a particular food.Fasting isn’t easy, and it isn’t just skipping a meal here and there. The author of the Every Moment Holy books, Justin Earley, says, “Fasting without prayer is just a bad diet – so as we lean away from food, we lean into prayer. Fasting involves spending time with God in place of what we give up. We might also think about what we spend too much time on – and think about fasting from things like Facebook, online shopping, or screen time. What’s important is to give up something that is keeping us from focusing on God and then use that time to pray and study God’s word. Wesley was known to rise early so he could spend several hours in prayer, and to increase those hours as he got older. Prayer is how we communicate with God and grow in our relationship to God. Whatever your normal pattern of prayer – can you make an intentional commitment to adding prayer?
o Try praying at noon or a different time every day.
o Pray the Psalms.
o Pray by reading a scripture text several times through.
o Pray as you walk outside;
o Sing or say hymn lyrics.
o You could try breath prayers, thinking or saying one phrase or word as you breath in, another phrase as you breathe out…
Try this: close your eyes, and inhale saying: Peace…..then exhale, saying: Jesus. Repeat this at least three times or several minutes.
o You might try praying with prayer beads, or a palm cross.
o And, maybe our prayer needs less talking – and more listening. Can we regularly practice some silence in our prayer time – to better hear what God is saying to us? This year, many of our friends have contributed their stories to our Lent devotional booklet. This is available at church, but the readings will also be sent via email and on social media. We invite you to commit to setting aside time each day to read one of these inspiring stories – and then think about what it means to you, and say a prayer. You might even find practices in the book that you’d like to try!
The habits we practice transform our brains, our hearts and our lives. You might be surprised to find you want to continue a particular practice even when Lent is over! The 6 ½ weeks of Lent lay before us. I pray that each of us will commit to disciplines that give us hope and nourish our faith as we grow closer to God this Lent.
Amen.
Pastor Becky