Intentional Love
I struggled with the meaning of Lent this year. With the wars and so many conflicts in our own town, country, and the world, I wondered what my Lenten practices should be? Would fasting from food help in a world full of suffering and uncertainties? What should be my prayer focus? What should I do as almsgiving for Lent this year? Essentially, I am asking myself, as one Jesuit priest reminds me, “Am I to do these practices as a Lenten obligation like a renewal of a New Year resolution that is almost bound to fail?” So, why Lent? What is the significance of observing Lent, particularly Lent 2022? How would the Lenten practices help me live as a Christ-followers in the suffering world?
Our church follows the Anglican lectionary for our daily reading and Sunday worship this year. On the first Sunday in Lent, the Gospel reading was taken from Luke 4:1-13 on the temptation of Jesus. This passage is a very familiar one and quite possibly how the church has developed the Lenten practices of fasting and prayer for forty days. However, for the very first time, the first verse in Luke’s passage captured my attention. Luke says that the Spirit led Jesus (in some translations, drove) into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil. If I am allowed to paraphrase it, then God, in His Spirit, intentionally led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. Why? A traditional interpretation may be that these forty days are the preparation of Jesus for ministry, which is probably true. But this passage also ends by saying the devil “left him until an opportune time” (v.13). The indication is that the devil’s temptations do not cease at the end of the forty days. Understanding it this way, we can probably say that the life and ministry of Jesus was a constant battle with the devil. If this is true, then Jesus’ wilderness experience is an intensive and intentional time of preparation for resisting the devil’s lifelong temptations. How Jesus handled the devil should, therefore, be a lesson for us to learn how to prepare for our own ongoing struggles with the devil.
It is worth noting that Jesus’ answers to the devil were all taken from Deuteronomy, and the first answer, “it is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone,” was taken from Deuteronomy 8:3. In its own context, I again see the intentionality of God in training his people.
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut 8:2-3).
Accordingly, God’s causing the Israelites to be hungry, and our hunger from fasting is to humble us, testing our hearts and seeing if we would keep God’s commands or follow our fleshy desires.
Jesus’ responses to the second and third temptations were taken from Deuteronomy 6, in which Moses reminded the Israelites of the commands of God. These commands summarize in the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut 6:4-5). To that, Jesus added, “and love your neighbours as yourself” (Mark 12: 29-31).
Reading the passage of Luke 4:1-13 this way helped me to rethink Lent. Perhaps the Lenten practices of fasting, prayers, and almsgiving are practices of love. Doing so intensively for 40 days is a response to God’s intentional invitations for us to humble ourselves, learn to obey him, love him and one another.
When I think about fasting this way, A teaching attributed to Pope Francis is helpful, particularly in the current time of wars and conflicts.
Do you want to fast this Lent?
Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others. [1]
Obviously, our fasting from food remains a good humbling practice for obedience. But what Pope Francis has reminded me is the need for active and intentional actions as part of my fasting practices. As I fast, I want to be concerned about those who are hungry, those who live in the war zones and refugee camps and ask God to direct me on what I should do to love them.
As I pray for the world’s peace, I want to ask God for the forgiveness of the hatred or negative feelings I have harboured in my heart. I am learning to pray for those who have hurt me, and I need to be honest to say that this has not been easy. Paul’s words keep reminding me: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Eph 4:32). Indeed, I cannot honestly pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven if I, being a member of his Kingdom, cannot live like a citizen of God’s Kingdom on earth. I figure this is probably why more than ever, I need to engage with the Lenten practices, asking God to deal with my pride, giving me a clean heart and a desire to love him and all peoples that he has created, just as he has loved us. Will you pray with me?
Lord Jesus,
Thank you for your example of humility and utter obedience.
Remember that we are all sinners that need your forgiveness.
Help us learn to forgive those who trespass against us.
Send your Spirit into our hearts and free us from the hold of sin.
Shine your love into the dark corners of the world.
Open our eyes and our hearts for those who are hurting.
Guide us to love intentionally and sacrificially for the people that you bought to our attention.
Feed the hungry.
Set the captives free.
May all peoples and nations taste the goodness of your Kingdom through your church.
Humbly we pray in your holy name.
Amen.