Are There Changes In Your “Lent-Life”?

Or, maybe better phrased, how are you allowing Lent to affect your life?

People of faith often make life adjustments during Lent in observance of the season. The illustration shows Christ with some of his disciples whose lives were certainly changed because of him.

At church yesterday I took note of some of the things we are doing as a Lutheran congregation to acknowledge the season. But first a few thoughts on the significance of Lent.

In my post about Ash Wednesday, the importance of the Lenten season in the Church calendar was noted. The period begins, of course, on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday when we celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Lutherans, as well as most mainline denominations, observe the Lenten season in a mood of penitence. However, the word “Lent” actually means “springtime” which is a time of preparation, planting and growth.

Our focus during this penitent season, therefore, is on the preparation and growth of our faith and on our complete dependence on God for life itself. It is a time of the year to take our inward reflection seriously, but it is not thought of as a time to wallow in our guilt or sins.

During Lent, the Christian church emphasizes returning to the promise of our baptism. We are encouraged to spend time in prayer, reflection and contemplation of the gifts that God has given us through his Son our Lord Jesus.

Since Lent is a contemplative season, the liturgical churches therefore refrain from using the word “Alleluia” during the period. Then, when Easter dawns, our songs of exclamation ring forth with the blessed tones of, “Alleluia, praise the Lord, he is risen!”.

We have also made several other adjustments in our Sunday worship during Lent. The purposes of altering the liturgy according to the season of the church are that God has an additional means of speaking to us in a fresh way; that we can see our worship with new eyes; and also, that we can emphasize certain aspects of our Christian walk with God at the various times of the year.

So for this season in our worship, we omit the Hymn of Praise, we remove the Alleluia verse, we sing a less melodic Kyrie, and we use a Lenten Hymn in place of the post-communion canticle.

In this way, when Easter arrives, we will again notice a significant change in our liturgy which will serve to remind us in another tangible way, how important God’s saving act in Jesus is for each of us.

For me, this process of learning and practicing the liturgical aspects of our faith has been and continues to be nothing short of exhilarating. Oh yes, am I “giving up” anything for Lent?

Not particularly. But I am trying to follow the suggestion of Pastor Alison in her Ash Wednesday sermon and “not not focus on the discipleship habits” of this Holy Season.

Thanks be to God.