Invitation for this Lenten Season🌱

by Mike Seawright

This letter originally appeared in the weekly newsletter for Trinity Anglican, a church plant in the Diocese.

Dear Friends,

I think the church calendar is such a gift. The seasons give rhythm to our lives and our worship and our life together. They teach us (among other things) to celebrate, to hope, to grieve, to remember, to go, to wonder, and to walk. 

This Wednesday, with Ash Wednesday, the Lenten season begins, as we gather for worship at 6 p.m. at the Woods Community Center.

Originally this season was primarily for new converts, and it was the final season of preparation before they were baptized during the Easter Vigil and welcomed into the full life of the church at the Lord’s Table.

Today, Christians around the world join in this rhythm of fasting for 40 days — just as Jesus fasted for 40 days in preparation for his public ministry — in preparation for Holy Week and Easter. We’ve been doing this for thousands of years.

In Luke 9:23, just before the transfiguration, Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

That’s how I’ve been thinking about Lent this year — as a way to learn to say “no” to myself (“deny himself”) and say “yes” to Jesus (“follow me”), and in doing so to nurture a soft heart towards God and others.

Here’s another, slightly different way of thinking about it: in the four gospels, one of the ways you can identity whether someone has a soft heart or a hard heart towards Jesus and others is by observing their proximity to Jesus and their posture towardsJesus. Soft-hearted characters do things like run towards Jesus (proximity) or reach out towards Jesus (posture). Hard-hearted characters (such as the Pharisees) often turn away from Jesus, a motion that speaks both to proximity and posture.

And so, as I think about a Lenten fast, I’m thinking about how to pay attention to my proximity to Jesus and my posture towards Jesus. Are there habits in my life that discourage me from turning towards him or moving towards him or approaching him with open hands? How might I go about re-orienting my head, heart, and hands towards Jesus rather than towards myself?

We don’t do this alone. Following Jesus isn’t meant to be done in isolation. We learn to walk in the way of Jesus together. We fast together. We’ll begin the season (together) on Ash Wednesday in worship and prayer. Our worshipping rhythms will change a bit to reflect the season, too — we’ll “fast” from Alleluias in worship, we’ll switch our the Gloria for the Kyrie (“Lord have mercy”), and we’ll say the Sanctus (“Holy, holy, holy”) instead of sing it during the communion liturgy. Our colors will switch to purple and (prepare your children!!!) we’ll skip donuts after church.

As for me? I’m not totally sure yet what my Lenten fast will look like. I know the point isn’t to just fill my life with spiritual practices or fast from chocolate, but to reorient my life towards Jesus and his Kingdom. 

Typically I like to fast from something (“deny myself”) and add something "(“follow me”). The last few years I’ve fasted from sugar and alcohol, those foods I seek comfort in when I ought to turn to Jesus for comfort, and added a prayer-walking practice. Sometimes adding a thing — like a prayer walk, or a sabbath — requires fasting from all sorts of things in order to keep the commitment.

This year I’m thinking about my relationship with my phone and social media. Perhaps I’ll fast from my phone until I’ve prayed Morning Prayer (“seek ye first the Kingdom of God”), and put it away once I’ve prayed Compline, that God might be the first on my mind in the morning and last on my lips in the evening. I don’t think I need my phone in my bedroom — I’m too quick to reach for it. I think I need a break from social media. I know it’s generally wise to commit to something real, that is actually a bit costly, that I’ll notice in my day-to-day. But I also know that the point of the fast isn’t actually the fast itself, but life with Jesus, and I know if I commit to something too far beyond the pale, I’ll end up with it twisted. Fortunately, I still have a day or two to figure it out.

Our eucharistic liturgy includes what is called a “proper preface” that rotates with the season, and is said by the priest towards the beginning of communion. For the Epiphany season, it’s been this: 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who took on our mortal flesh to reveal his glory; that he might bring us out of darkness and into his own glorious light.

For the Lenten season, the proper preface is as follows:

You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal (that is, pertaining to the resurrection) feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.

That’s the invitation for this Lenten season: to turn from sin, and prepare with joy for the resurrection season. It’s an invitation to forty days of intentional reorientation together in response to the grace of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord and empowered by his Holy Spirit.

Your friend in Christ,

Rev. Mike Seawright

PS — as always, if you have thoughts or questions, don’t hesitate to be in touch!

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The Rev. Mike Seawright the Vicar at Trinity Church Plant in Burke, VA.