John the Baptist
Read: Mark 1:1-8
John the Baptist came as the forerunner of Jesus Christ, wearing clothes made of camel hair and eating a diet restricted to locusts and honey.
Clothes made of camel’s hair, when they come in contact with the skin, are itchy. That is the point: it reminded him of his mortality and the need for repentance. John the Baptist’s discipline of wearing itchy clothing (often a hair shirt
) and eating a very boring diet continues today as a monastic discipline in the Orthodox Churches, undertaken by monks who feel that they need to repent in earnest. I always wonder why someone who lives in a monastery thinks he needs to repent, but they know themselves better than I do.
John’s diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. Some types of locusts are kosher, but the word locust
can also refer to the nutritious pods of the honey locust tree. Wild honey
means that he did not buy the honey from a dealer, but foraged for it himself. In short, he had a boring diet that meets his nutritional needs, that he could continue indefinitely.
Develop a Plan for Your Lenten Prayer
You should develop a plan for Lenten prayer, but if you don’t normally have a routine for praying regularly, don’t set yourself up for failure by being too ambitious about it.
- How to Pray Short Prayers
If this is all new to you, start out on the beginner’s slope. As always, pray whenever you feel the need for prayer, but for Lent, set aside a regular time each day for your special Lenten prayer. Pick a time of the day when you will be alone and can go to a quiet place and pray without interruptions and distractions. God isn’t going to give you a grade for endurance, so don’t try to pray an encyclopedia. A short prayer is okay.
Sometimes we forget Jesus‘ admonition that God‘s attention to our prayers is not proportional to the number of words we pray. We fall into the trap of praying such very long prayers that we cannot complete them without losing track or even forgetting that we were praying. It is best to keep your prayers short and to the point. I recommend praying collects, short prayers with four parts, sometimes even in a single sentence. The parts are:
- Give God glory
- Remind Him of something He did in Scripture
- Ask Him to do it again in your life
- Remind Him that He gave you the authority to pray
God does not need to receive your reminders, but you need to give them.
- How Often to Pray
In ancient times, Christians prayed four times a day; in the morning on arising, at noon, in the evening, and before bedtime. If you adopt this ancient regimen, be careful that you make room in your morning routine. If you have lunch with other people, don’t satisfy yourself with bowing your head in silence for a split-second before eating; instead, go somewhere before or after lunch where you won’t be interrupted or distracted. Pray shortly before going to bed, becuase prayer is a communication with God, not a sleeping pill.
Develop a Plan for Your Lenten Fast
The purpose of fasting for religious purposes is to develop self-discipline, not to lose weight. Don’t adopt a weight-loss diet and count it as a Lenten diet. In short, if you have a minimum daily requirement for something, don’t eliminate it for Lent. Instead, eliminate something that you like to eat that you don’t actually need to eat.
From ancient times up to the nineteeneth century, it was common for Christians to fast Wednesdays and Fridays, and every day except the Sundays during Lent. The Wednesday fast remembers Judas’ betrayal, and the Friday fast remembers the crucifixion.
Don’t get all snooty and think that just because you are not a Catholic, fasting does not apply to you. John Wesley would not ordain anyone who did not fast on those days, because he reasoned that if they could not rule their bellies, they could not rule the church. Lent is a time to practice self-discipline. Who is the boss of your body, you or your appetite?
Develop a Plan for Your Lenten Devotionals
The Buddhist technique of meditation
consists of emptying the mind of all thought. I’ve tried that, but I have never been able to do it, because I end up thinking about how I’m thinking of nothing, and that in itself is thinking about something! The historic Christian objection to emptying the mind
is summed up in Matthew 12:43-45. I once illustrated this to a friend by telling him not to think of a hippopotamus for the next ten seconds. He immediately asked, Why would I think of a hippopotamus?
and I said, You just did, and that’s my point!
The more common technique of meditation,
at least in the west, consists of filling the mind with one thought. For example, you might kneel in a chapel, or in a room in your house that you have set aside for prayer. Then concentrate on the cross (whether or not one is physically there), and think of Jesus’ suffering on the cross and what it all means. The historic Christian term for this sort of meditation is contemplation.
While I am on the topic, if your mind is filled with only one thought, and you can’t get it out of your head, the term for that is obsession.
Obsession is a problem, not a spiritual discipline.
Prayer
Lord God, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, bless me this Lenten season as I heed the call of John the Baptist who calls me to repentance. Remind me of all my sins, so that I can confess them to you. Don’t let me forget them, because I want to learn from them and avoid them in the future, but as a sign of your forgiveness, take away the sting of the memory. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, because He lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Amen