Summary: Lent rolls around every year, but for most Christians, it is less like a birthday and more like a flu vaccination. We know Lent is necessary, that it's good for us in much the same way cauliflower might be. We've heard all the preachers' clichés as to how it makes the joy of Easter possible, but the truth of the matter is that Lent never comes naturally. It is hard to explain to our non-Christian friends, because, to tell the truth, we don't fully understand it ourselves. We are prone to engage in its practice without ever asking why we are doing what we are doing. We do it because, well, we've always done it. We cut out chocolate, lay off the red meat, maybe we stop drinking carbonated beverages for forty days, all to declare ourselves better prepared for the resurrection. To an outsider, it looks more like a diet. But if we don't have a good explanation for our Lenten behavior, if we don't seem to fully understand the focus of the season, it's not completely our fault. It is Jesus' own sojourn in the wilderness that inspires this odd season, and Jesus doesn't seem keen on offering any explanation for what he's doing. Year after year when the first Sunday of Lent arrives, we watch as Jesus wanders off into the wilderness again. And while the Bible is full of spiritual retreats, this one doesn't follow the typical pattern. As a refresher, let's set the scene a bit. The people--Jesus' people--have waited impatiently for a Savior; and while there were some rumors awhile back about a birth in Bethlehem, they've seen no evidence that anything has changed in the world.
