The season of Lent is a time of paradox. On the one hand, it is a season of penitence. Often, congregations will put aside the use of the word “alleluia” (praise the Lord) during Lent, and will replace the Gospel acclamation with a call to “return to the Lord.” Many individuals observe the ritual of taking on a fast, whether from meat or chocolate or some other vice, be it great or small. These kinds of practices remind us that Lent can be a time for reflection and repentance and reparation.
On the other hand, the season of Lent is also one of preparation. In the early Church, Lent was a time of instruction for new converts who would be baptized during the Vigil of Easter. Like Advent, Lent is a season that looks forward to the coming of our Savior, looking through the lens of the cross and the empty tomb. While penitence may be part of these preparations, this is not a dismal or onerous season; even in Lent, we come together in joy to worship the One who fully knows and fully loves us.
This year, we’re going to approach Lent through the lens of Broken and Blessed. On Wednesdays we’ll gather in the Fellowship Hall to worship around the table together, and we’ll have the opportunity to reflect on some of the things that cause brokenness in our world; not just sin, but grief, despair, fear, resentment, and failure. On Sundays, we’ll be reminded that the God who sees our brokenness also calls us blessed, and restores us to life through gifts of mercy, compassion, joy, hospitality, generosity, and praise. We’ll journey together through this season of penitence and preparation, in all our blessed brokenness, until we reach the foot of the cross, where we are invited to lay our burdens down and be held by the wounded hands of Christ.
So come, you wrestling with brokenness and you reveling in blessedness; you beloved by God in both your wrestling and reveling. Let us walk the road together as we follow the footsteps of Christ. And in our penitence and our preparation, may we find another walking the road beside us, and our hearts burning within us.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Will Starkweather
Last modified: February 24, 2025