LENT IT LINGER​
At first reading, you may be tempted to conclude that the title above contains a typo. Don’t rush to conclusions. Point of fact, this is the message meant to be conveyed by the deliberate misspelling: “Don’t rush Lent; let it linger.” Here, we have Lent's real temptation. Beginning with Ash Wednesday’s imposition of ashes, this penitential season sometimes feels like it is imposing itself on us, too, cramping our style - a real buzz kill! Some folks purposely accentuate this imposing season by giving something up. This intentionally creates an inconvenience or void that you can then fill with thoughts of Jesus' suffering. This focused slowing is punctuated with such thematic hymns as, “Jesus, I Will Ponder Now.” Anybody who has sat through Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” can readily attest to the visceral discomfort of watching such a graphic portrayal of Jesus’ suffering (definitely NOT a popcorn movie). But, then, you find yourself in the awkward position afterwards of not being able to justify grumbling over the “discomfort” you just experienced. You had merely sat on a sofa for the last 2 hours, while in real life Jesus was chained to a whipping post and then hammered to a cross over the course of a whole night and day. Similarly, we might be quick to complain at the office about a poor night's sleep, but that Passion account imposes an entirely different scale of “inconvenience” on our pampered lifestyles. To dwell on such true pain and suffering for a protracted 40 days can for us wimpy souls get old quickly. Our temptation is to rush through Lent to the Feast of Easter. But resist! It is also good to be fully present on Good Friday. It is on Good Friday that our victory was won. The cross, not the tomb, in Jesus’ own words was the glorification of the Son of Man (John 13:31). The empty tomb is “proof in the pudding,” so to speak, that victory was won (when the dead start coming back to life, you KNOW something’s different)! Can you endure these 40 days of Lent in the proper frame of mind? With God all things are possible! Lent is only a metaphor for our real life. Our life lingers, marked by years of pain and suffering this side of heaven - until one day, in our own resurrection of the body, we finally see King Jesus Who is alive, though He was dead. Yes, we still have death’s threshold to go through, ourselves. But be of good cheer, Jesus your reigning Savior, has overcome death and will walk you through it! For 40 days or 40 more years, Jesus promises to never leave you or forsake you. He is there by your side, and even within you - always. Amen.

Coming Up In the Next 30 Days...

Click HERE to see our entire yearly calendar
Click for the latest Lutheran Witness
DAILY VERSE

​Announcements

click above for this week's announcements