The Meaning and Worship Services Included in Lent
Each year, we receive questions about this season of the church year called Lent. What are the worship celebrations? And, why are they called what they are called? So, I am going to take some time to explain these worship events.
The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. Easter is the greatest celebration of the Christian year. It is the time when we celebrate Jesus’ victory over death—a painful death which was endured in order to bring about our salvation. In recognition of this great sacrifice, the Church decided that prior to Easter, Christians needed to observe a season of penitence—and season when we repent—turn aside—from our sinfulness. Lent lasts for forty days—not counting the Sundays. Sundays are not counted because the early church recognized every Sunday, every Lord’s day, as a “Little Easter.” The word Lent comes from the old English word lenten, meaning spring. Lent, then, is a time to do some spring cleaning of the soul. The season begins with Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday
On Ash Wednesday, the foreheads of worshippers are marked with ashes. In ancient Israel ashes were a symbol of human sinfulness and death. Ashes represented that which in human experience was burned out and wasted, that which once was but is no more. When Jonah called the people of Ninevah to repent, and they did, the sign of their repentance was to put on sackcloth and ashes. So the Christian Church took this symbol of ashes to mark the beginning of Lent. As we put on ashes, we confess all the ways that we have fallen short of the glory of God, all the ways that we are burned out and our lives wasted. We put on ashes to remember that we are dust—that God created us out of the dust and ashes and dirt, and to this dust and ashes and dirt, we shall return.
Holy Week
Holy Week contains the final worship celebrations leading up to Easter. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, also called Passion Sunday. Worship on this day celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem amidst the joyful welcome of his followers. However, it also deals with the story of Jesus’ “passion” and death. The word “passion” means “intense or overpowering emotion such as love, joy, hatred or anger.” God was and is so passionate about God’s people (you and me) that he took on the sins of the world through his son Jesus. The events from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his final supper with his disciples, his arrest, conviction, beating and crucifixion are the events of his “Passion” which we remember.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ final and triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem, the holy city of Israel. Jesus entered the city on a donkey, and his entrance, though humble, was still the entrance of a king. The people hailed him as a king, shouting “hosanna” and waving Palm Branches—thus the name Palm Sunday. It was a victorious entry. A king, the Messiah, was entering the city and many thought he would claim the holy city. However, all too soon the people realized that Jesus would not be like any ordinary king. He would not be a conquering king who would wipe out the Roman government. His kingdom would be based not on power but on love. All too soon, the cheers of Palm Sunday turned to the jeers of Good Friday.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday (a.k.a. “Thursday of the Lord’s Supper”) commemorates Jesus’ Last Supper when he broke bread and gave the cup to his disciples, initiating the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Maundy Thursday takes its name from the Latin word for commandment, “mandatum,” referring to Jesus’ mandate that we remember him in this way, and love one another as he loved us.
Good Friday
Good Friday or Black Friday commemorates Jesus’ death on the cross. Worship on Good Friday often is a service of Tenebrae, or darkness. As the events of Jesus’ last week are remembered, candles are extinguished, and the worship place becomes darker and darker. It is a somber service, where all present reflect on the ways that we betray Jesus and are broken in our relationship to God and others.
Easter
Finally, we come to the joyful celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. Proclamations of “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” ring out on Easter morning. Worship often begins at Sunrise as a way of remembering the women who went to Jesus’ tomb at dawn.
The date for celebrating Easter was agreed on in the west only after centuries of discussion and debate. Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or next after March 21, the spring equinox. Easter can be any time from March 22 through April 25.
May we all draw closer to God this Lent as we worship together and alone so that we may truly celebrate a joyous Easter.