Alan was my roommate for a couple of years. And one year when Lent was about to start, Alan decided he was going to give up smoking for those 40 days. Now, this is a serious smoker we’re talking about. Alan kept cartons of Marlboro Reds in the freezer, at all times. Our friends used to joke, “Alan action figure comes with half-smoked cigarette and carton of Marlboro Reds!” Well, Alan decided to give up that habit for Lent. He put his cigarettes in the trash and that was that.

Well, on the day after Ash Wednesday, I came into the kitchen to find the garbage can out from underneath the sink and Alan pacing around the patio outside puffing away. So, I said, “Hey, man. How long did you last?”

“About 10 hours, and I was asleep for 8 of those.”

It’s no mystery why on Ash Wednesday, no pun intended, nicotine patches fly off the shelves. Everyone is anxious to give up something. Is that the point of Lent? Is the purpose of Lent for us to keep the holy temples of our body smoke-free, or caffeine-free or chocolate-free for 40 days? Sounds a little trite if you put it that way, I know.

But what if we peel that layer away and look at the meaning a little deeper. For 40 days, we give up something so that we can be reminded of Christ’s sacrifice for us in the crucifixion. Makes sense, right? It’s probably the most common way of looking at why we give up stuff for Lent. But what if we take it a step further? What if we say that we’re giving up something for Lent because it is a diversion?

I love coffee. And I’m not a big fan of chain stores, but, boy, to I love Starbucks. Friends, I hadn’t had a Starbucks triple grande non-fat latte this year…until this morning. Stacy and I agreed as a New Year resolution we wouldn’t spend money on unnecessary things. Well, this morning Starbucks was a necessity.

I barely had any sleep in me. It had been a stressful two weeks, and I was thinking, “OK, I’m going to lead a sunrise Ash Wednesday service. It might be a good idea to get some caffeine in me so I don’t get angry and offer up some hellfire and damnation sermon at 7:30 in the morning!” Plus, I had a Starbucks gift card burning a hole in my pocket, so I redeemed it this morning at 6 am and drove to the church with my coffee in hand.

It was good coffee. But it wasn’t everything I’d hoped it would be. The coffee tasted good, but it didn’t taste good enough to completely draw my attention away from the factors that had made me crave Starbucks. Yeah, it had been a tough couple of weeks, but as I sipped my coffee I thought about some questions:

• What’s really bothering me?
• What are the real reasons why I think these past couple of weeks have been so stressful?
• And is that pain that I’m feeling? Sadness maybe? Huh. Why’s that there?
• If I’m hurting, what’s making me hurt?

I got to the church this morning, I threw the empty Starbucks cup away, and I thought, “That was good, but it was just a diversion.” We’re not just giving up things to make our lives more holy or pure. We give up things during Lent because they are diversions that keep us from our true selves. And when we give up those diversions, we begin to see that they were more than just things that kept us blissfully ignorant, they were shackles that kept us in the bondage of indifference, the bondage of sin and the bondage of death.

Lent isn’t about giving up something for 40 days so that you gain a greater appreciation for it. You don’t give up beer for 40 days so that you come to Easter and say, “Wow, I really appreciate beer a lot more now. I’m going to drink it slower and marvel at its ingredients. Yeah, that’s it! That will teach me moderation, too!” You give up something for Lent so that you can be set free from the bondage it imposes on you. We sacrifice things for Lent so that we can join Christ in God’s gift of liberation.

Lent is about being in the wilderness for 40 days, just like Jesus was. So, take a look at Moses and the Israelites. Remember how they grumbled? “Moses, why did you drag us out here to the middle of nowhere? We’re hungry, we’re thirsty, we’re tired, and there’s no end in sight. We’d be better off if we would just turn back and accept our slavery!” Well, what if Moses had granted the grumblers that wish? What if the Israelites had snuck back to Egypt and become slaves again. Would they slap the shackles back on and go, “Yeah, this is more like it. See what we were missing?” I think they would be more likely to remember their freedom, as difficult as it may have been, and they would have crept back out into the wilderness to enjoy their freedom along with all its hardships, all its challenges and all its great joy.

You can’t face the demons that hurt you until you know what they are. You can’t embrace freedom until you acknowledge that you’re in chains. And you can’t sing ‘Alleluia’ on Easter morning until you know what you’re singing about. Lent reminds us that maybe we need to get rid of something so that we can reach a goal that we don’t even realize exists. And we’ll never realize it exists until we shed our diversions—until we break free of our chains.

And here’s the Good News, sisters and brothers: Christ has reached that goal that we can’t see once and for all, and Christ offers us a free invitation to join him at the finish line. All we have to do is break free and start running the race together.

So, what is Christ calling to you get rid of for Lent? Is it that box of letters from an old flame? Is it that routine you set your watch by that keeps the pea under your mattress and the rock in your shoes out of sight and out of mind? Is it that manipulative relationship that sits in your life like a beat up recliner that you can’t let go of? Or is Christ calling you to let go of the competition you harbor in a relationship with a colleague or a family member? Maybe you need to let go of a church tradition that’s been done for years and years, but it’s just plain tired and has become more exclusive than joyful?

Imagine what might happen if you let it go. Imagine the freedom you’d experience; how that might feel and what that might look like. And as you imagine your freedom, listen to the words of our crucified Savior whispering to you, “Friend, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

If you want to give up something for Lent so that you can clear your mind or calm your soul, go for it. That’s good. Give up the alcohol or the chocolate or facebook or myspace or meat or cigarettes. But in the space and time that sacrifice lends us, let’s seek out those things that Christ is asking us to give up not just for Lent but for life. Children of God, people of faith, believers in the Good News, what can you give up for life?