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As I write this, I’m looking out a bay window at the snow, bright in the sunlight but cold.  But melting!—at least it will be later today…  “Lent” starts next week on Ash Wednesday.  “Lent” comes from an old English word that means “lengthening,” the lengthening of daylight as Spring approaches.  If you’re wondering what “Lent” is all about, it’s that 40-day time in the church year when we prepare for Easter, for Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Like a lot of things of deep importance, we need to prepare.  That takes time and effort, discipline.  I think of gardeners who are already thinking about the preparation for planting while the ground is still snow covered.  That’s discipline!  Me?  I don’t know what I’m doing next Monday! 

            In order to internalize the work to prepare and plant, I imagine the gardener would have had to have thought about it and develop habits of mind and behavior over time.  Same with any athlete (for example:  Winter Olympians preparing every 4 years).  The spiritual life isn’t any different; Lent is like the boot camp class at your gym but for the spirit.  Unfortunately, “discipline” isn’t a very appealing word.  Neither is “work.”  We Lutherans have historically been very skeptical of works without faith or discipline without grace.  Jesus’ death and resurrection is not dependent on me or anything I do.  He embodies God’s mercy.  Mercy by definition is something that is undeserved, that comes freely from the heart of the One showing mercy.  We Lutherans call that “grace,” grace as favor.  The next question—that has nothing to do with God—is:  how does that affect us?  What are we going to do with it?

            Lent begins with the proclamation that Jesus is God’s Son; and the “disciplines” are meant to help us “do something” with the promise in that proclamation.  Look around the church this Sunday, read through the ATC announcements—what do you see that could help you “exercise” your faith?  What would you like to see?  Is there something the Spirit is putting on your heart toward these ends? 

Peace,

Pr. Christian