Is this still Lent?
Author: Pastor Michael Droege
March 20, 2020
It occurred to me…it is still LENT!
I don’t know about you, but the events of the last couple
weeks (has it really only been a couple of weeks?!) has pushed the ideas of our
Lenten journey a bit to the side. However, a couple of days ago I was sitting
in my “social distance” thinking about all the places I could not go and had
this thought that all of us are experiencing a bit of a Lenten journey
together. I also couldn’t help but notice that even in this moment in our
history, there are many people who still refuse to be on this journey. They do
not wish to sacrifice the trappings of American life and as a result will not
take this journey with us. But for most of us, we are all dealing with this
thing TOGETHER.
Every year when we get to Lent, I have conversations about
what Lent really means. Does God want us to sacrifice to gain approval somehow?
Is it some kind of penance for our wrongdoing? My guidance is always somewhere
in the “learning what really matters” zone. We let go of all of the
“non-essentials” to remember what is really essential. If it is helpful at all,
maybe we can, as a congregation, think about this “inconvenience” as the Lenten
journey we are on as a family of faith. This journey has already caused us to
remember a few things:
As much as we miss gathering in the building, that is not the church. The church is our people. We are working hard to connect people in as many creative ways as we can. So much more to come.
Our provision doesn’t come by hoarding, but by walking in mercy, faith, and love…and sharing generously.
Regarding families, we have an opportunity to not just “occupy” our children. In these weeks we can find new ways of being a family. That means we slow down or look for ways we can move as a family unit and deepen relationships.
We are learning different ways to love people who we can’t just see for a few moments on a Sunday morning, but we have to be intentional will connection.
We are learning that we can live on much less. That includes food, activities, sports, etc.
We can see inequity and injustices in our culture more clearly. People are in jeopardy, lives are in the balance, how can we live in life-saving ways?
The point of any Lenten journey is to learn more “Godly”
ways of living and keep living them out when Lent is over. I am so curious about
the ways we will learn to live more human, more kind, more generous, or more
aware in this season. I am praying that we do not lose what we learn.
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