2020 Lent

40 days means that God is up to something. There are eight of such great periods on the surface of the Bible: 

·      Forty days Moses was in the mount, Exodus 24:18; and to receive the Law, Exodus 24:18. 

·      Forty days Moses was in the mount after the sin of the Golden Calf, Deuteronomy 9:18,25. 

·      Forty days of the spies, issuing in the penal sentence of the 40 years, Numbers 13:26, 14:34. 

·      Forty days of Elijah in Horeb, 1 Kings 19:8. 

·      Forty days of Jonah and Nineveh, Jonah 3:4. 

·      Forty days Ezekiel lay on his right side to symbolize the 40 years of Judah's transgression.

·      Forty days Jesus was tempted of the Devil, Matthew 4:2. 

·      Forty days Jesus was seen of His disciples, speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, Acts 1:2.

The 40 days of Lent marks the beginning of the church's journey toward Easter. The significance of this time in the church's life is stated clearly and well in the "Invitation to the Observance of Lenten Discipline" in the Ash Wednesday liturgy (United Methodist Book of Worship, 322).

 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

the early Christians observed with great devotion

  the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection,

and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration

  there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.

During this season converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.

It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins

  and had separated themselves from the community of faith

  were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness,

  and restored to participation in the life of the Church.

In this way the whole congregation was reminded

  of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ

  and the need we all have to renew our faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church,

  to observe a holy Lent:

  by self-examination and repentance;

  by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;

  and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word.

Come Holy One, let me be guided by you, these 40 days.  Let me see to what wonderful my eyes shall open, to what virtue my heart shall be strengthened and to what purpose you shall accomplish in me.