This year the entire month of March will be lived in the season of Lent. The word Lent comes from an old English word, meaning "to lengthen," and it names the time of the year when the days begin to get longer, and we know that spring is just around the corner. We begin see new growth sprouting forth from creation after the cold dark, sometimes dismal days of winter. And just as God's creation shows signs of renewal so too should we.
Two concerns drive the Lenten season. Lent is driven by our need for renewal in mind. Lent is driven by our need for renewal in Spirit. Mind and Spirit. This being the case, the early Church used this six-week season as a catechetical, or teaching period. The Church also used this season as a time of repentance and fasting. The first day of Lent falls on Ash Wednesday, this year March 5, because Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter, and Easter is determined as the first Sunday following the first full moon that happens on or after the March equinox, which is always March 21. We call these 46 days the 40 days of Lent because we do not count the 6 Sundays, because every Sunday is a celebration of Easter, plus 40 marks the same number of days Jesus, Moses, and Elijah all went without food in their respective fasts. It’s a good number—40.
The purpose of Lent in the early Church was to prepare the believer for Easter over the next six weeks, by remembering Jesus’ Passover from death to life and by acknowledging our need for repentance and God’s mercy. The season also invites each of us to the disciplines of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—all strengthened by gifts of word and sacraments.
As early as 339AD, Athanasius of Alexandria wrote that “Lent was a 40-day fast that the entire world observed.” Saint Augustine, about the same time wrote, “Our fast at any other time is voluntary; but during Lent, we sin if we do not fast.” I’m not so certain that is the case, but I want you see how long and how important the season of Lent has been throughout our church history. This is what we call Tradition.
This year starting on March 5, 2025, we begin our Lenten journey with two Ash Wednesday services, one at 12:00PM and the other at 7:00PM. Here the ashes, burned from the palm branches used from last year’s Palm Sunday, are placed upon our forehead in the sign of a Cross as an admission of our sinful condition, and the sobering words are said, “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19
Since the earliest Church uses this six-weeks of stretching the mind as a teaching moment, I will do the same. One of the most essential elements found in our Lutheran Tradition is the value we place upon Scripture—God’s Holy Word! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God, and the Word became Flesh and lived among us.” Folks, the foundation of the Lutheran Tradition is that “God comes Us through Word and Sacrament,” and the sacraments are simply visible signs of that same Word. Therefore, one could say, “God Comes to Us through Word.”
And that my friends is what we are going to stretch our minds with this Lenten Season—The Holy Bible—all sixty-six set apart books. We are going to examine the main theme or themes of those 66 set apart books, in order. Each week, either at 12:00PM or 7:00PM you will be given a bulletin with a synopsis of each biblical book. Then you will see that information on the big screen and then you will hear those words spoken. Afterall, we teach and believe that the Holy Scriptures are the Living Word of God, capable of changing lives and situations for the better. Would it not be nice to have a little knowledge of what each book says? Always remembering the interpretation of the Bible must point us in the direction of God’s Love for all people through Christ Jesus.
Every Wednesday, starting March 5th at 6:00PM soup and sandwiches will be served in the fellowship hall until 6:30PM, followed by Worship and Bible Study in the sanctuary at 7:00PM. Even though there is no soup and sandwiches, Worship and Bible Study will also be held every Wednesday at 12:00PM.
Folks we are called as Christians to be disciples of Jesus. We are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and love of neighbor. Hopefully, this Lenten season, just as God's creation shows signs of renewal, so too should we. I hope to see all of you on Wednesday for the next six weeks, either at Noon or 7:00PM. Plus, remember, “You gotta eat!”
In Christian Love,
Pastor Trexler
コメント