Is there any season of the church year more loved by pastors than Lent? (Possibly Advent!)
Lent is the season of laying bare the human condition and our need for a Savior. G.K. Chesterton famously said that original sin is the only part of Christian doctrine that can be proven.
But our soul’s need for the season of Lent is not to be intellectually convinced of the truth of original sin. It is to be shown the way through. This is better accomplished through worship, liturgy, and ritual. Our lectionary texts invite stories of being lost and found, of standing out in the rain, only to discover a mother hen’s outstretched arms, of all the times we live into self-righteousness rather than righteousness.
I encourage you to craft worship for Lent that allows your people not simply to hear the good news but to participate in it. To be reminded in ritual and worship of the way through. In other words, to resist the urge to wax poetic about the general human condition and instead create opportunities for people to become clear in their hearts about the need for God in their lives. I certainly don’t mean public individual confession. I mean the moments in prayer and liturgy that allow people to be honest with themselves, one another, and God.
It is a long and winding road – that leads us home. (Perhaps it is true that God’s favorite sport is baseball – no one is trying to hurt anyone else; in baseball, everybody is just trying to get home.)
Peace,
Claire