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On February 25, 2020 By In Worship

Some Thoughts on Pancakes (and Lent)

Our church always has a big pancake feast on Shrove Tuesday before the season of Lent. It’s one of the highlights of the church year for the kids. Several children, my own included, mentioned that they had skipped lunch in order to have more room for pancakes at the celebration. They didn’t just want to enjoy some pancakes. They wanted to enjoy as much pancakes as humanly possible.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is a picture of what the season of Lent is all about. It is not merely an opportunity to declutter our lives, or to learn contentment with less, or to practice self-discipline. Lent is not a giving up or an emptying out. Lent is about making room for more. And it is the culmination of Lent that teaches us what we are making room for–the resurrection power of the risen Christ in our everyday lives.

The Apostle Paul said, “…that I may know [Christ], and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:10-11)

Jesus left left the tomb empty that He might fill the earth with His glory. He left His disciples that He might fill them more fully with the Holy Spirit. Whenever God pours us out in sacrifice and service, it is always for the purpose of filling us up with better things, namely Himself. Each Lord’s Day we come with empty hands to His table and He fills us with strength and joy that overflows into the rest of the week.

So this Lenten season, do not merely ask what it is that you need to give up, but more importantly, ask yourself what it is that you want to be filled up with in its place. Certainly we must throw off the sin which clings to us. a We should lose our appetite for sinful pleasures. But we must also hunger and thirst after righteousness. b We must long for Christ as the desperate deer pants for water. c

Therefore, we fast from those good things that we might feast on the greater things. And there is no greater thing than to be filled with the life and love and peace of Christ.

  1. Hebrews 12:1  (back)
  2. Matthew 5:6  (back)
  3. Psalm 42:1  (back)

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On March 4, 2014 By In Worship

What is Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday)?

Shrove Tuesday is a day of feasting. It marks the conclusion of the Epiphany Season. On this day, the Church feasts before she enters into a more solemn and penitential season called Lent, which is referred to as a Season of Confession.

Shrove Tuesday is celebrated with a pancake dinner, which is accompanied by eggs and syrup (bacon can be added–and it should).

This day provides the Church an opportunity to celebrate once again the abundance of the Gospel in our lives and in the world. The glory of the Epiphany season is that Jesus has given us life and life more abundantly (Jn.10:10). Following the rich feasting tradition of our Hebrew forefathers, the English speaking Church has broadly practiced Shrove Tuesday for over 800 years.

What’s the Importance of this day?

As a tradition of the Church, and not an explicit teaching in the Bible, the individual or churches are not bound by such traditions. However, if churches do practice this, it is important for members to join in this festive occasion. It provides the Church another healthy excuse to fellowship and form greater bonds through a delightful and bountiful meal.

On the day before we enter into the Lenten Story where Jesus commences his journey to the cross, Christians everywhere in the English speaking world will prepare rightly by celebrating God’s gifts to us, so that we can rightly meditate, fast, pray, confess and repent by remembering the sufferings of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).

What if my Church does not do Shrove Tuesday?

Assuming the congregation is silent on the issue and has not taken any strong constitutional or theological position on the matter, then as a family you are also free to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. You may also want to invite friends over to enjoy a pancake dinner.

To Shrive

Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40 days of Lent (Sundays excluded from this number). Whether your Church has an Ash Wednesday service or not, Shrove Tuesday is still valid as a way of celebrating the Christ who has given us all things, including His own body for our sakes (I Pet. 2:24).

Shrove comes from the word shrive meaning to confess. As we celebrate, let us not forget that the Christian life is, as Luther stated, a “life of daily repentance.” Confession is not just reserved for Lent, but it is for all seasons. But on this Lenten Season, we receive a particular reminder (through our liturgical readings and singing) that a repentant heart is a clean heart before God (Ps. 51:2).<>поисковое продвижение москва

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