A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: REDEDICATING OURSELVES
The last couple of years, I’ve seen people making the same sardonic joke at the beginning of Lent: “this year for Lent, I’m giving up.” The reference, of course, is to the practice of giving something up for Lent, a practice that is particularly prominent in the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian traditions.
Generally, what is given up is something that provides pleasure or convenience 
or distraction, such as chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, or even social media. The joke, of course, is about wanting to give up the cumulative burden of stress over the last few years from the ongoing pandemic, economic uncertainty, national division, and international strife, or just giving up trying to handle it all.
But I think this also creates a helpful opening for us to observe Lent more constructively. We are not in need of yet more deprivation, however small or significant. But the point of Lent is not to make ourselves suffer and sacrifice in some way as a means of demonstrating our appreciation for Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice and our willingness to follow him. That’s the problem with emphasizing Lent as being about giving something up.
Which is why Presbyterians have traditionally avoided giving things up for Lent and instead stressed the importance of taking things up for Lent: engaging in additional spiritual disciplines of prayer, Scripture reading, and service to deepen one’s understanding and practice of faith.
This actually goes back to the origins of Lent, which was developed after Christianity was unbanned and legitimized by the Roman Empire and the church needed a means to prepare the sudden surge of people interested in Christianity to receive the sacrament of Baptism. Their answer was Lent: a 40-day period of intensive study, worship, and preparation to be baptized on Easter.
And this is the dimension I want to suggest for us to claim in Lent this year. As I mentioned in the Ash Wednesday service this week, repentance means both turning away from things and turning towards new things. And that connects right into the traditional questions in the sacrament of Baptism, which include both those turns: turning away from evil and sin, turning towards Jesus Christ and then following him in our lives of faith.
So I want to encourage us to remember our baptisms this Lent, to remember that God’s grace has claimed us and called us by name, and nothing in heaven or earth can separate us from that. And in doing so, we can also reclaim our baptisms and rededicate ourselves to responding to God’s grace intentionally and actively and with gratitude.
So, I invite you to observe Lent by turning towards Christ with renewed commitment and expectation, taking up new ways of Christian worship and learning and service. And as you do so, I am confident that Christ will meet you in that and bless you in Lent with insight and growth and fullness and joy.
Grace and Peace,
J.C.