As we have come to the first Sunday of Lent, I’d like to review our approach to the church calendar here at King’s Cross and why we do not have Ash Wednesday services or encourage corporate fasting during this season. We’ll begin with a story from the Reformation which illustrates pretty well how our forefathers in the faith approached Lent.
It’s the year 1522, and a group of prominent Christian men have gathered in Zurich, Switzerland, for a special brunch featuring home-cooked sausage prepared by the host’s wife. Now, it may sound odd to remember a meal 500 years later, except this really was a big deal, for this took place during the season of Lent, and the eating of meat was strictly prohibited by the church.
Over time these obligatory fasts took on an almost sacramental and salvific role in the church—meaning many sought to merit or earn salvation by their faithful and required observance.
And so this was not a mere brunch, but a bold act of reform, which led to the host’s arrest. In response, the reformer Ulrich Zwingli preached a famous sermon on the doctrine of Christian liberty, declaring that the church had no authority to require that which Scripture did not mandate and that Christians were no longer bound to the observance of seasons or food laws (Col. 2:16–17, Gal. 4:9–11).
He summarized his main point as this: “If you want to fast, do so, if you do not want to eat meat, do not eat it; but allow Christians a free choice in the matter.”
And so due in part to this recovered doctrine, the Reformed churches stripped away the obligatory penitential seasons like Lent and maintained a simplified church calendar consisting of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost—edifying feast days all centered on celebrating the life of Christ. This then is the general Reformed practice that we follow here at King’s Cross Church.
And so my exhortation this morning is this: Regardless of your Lenten practice, remember and rejoice in your liberty and freedom in Christ. Rejoicing in liberty means both eating all the sausage you want (or not)—but also sincerely blessing and honoring brothers and sisters who differ.
As the Apostle Paul wrote regarding holy days and food, “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14). But let everything be done with a thankful heart unto the Lord.
Shawn Paterson – February 18, 2024
