Is it time to think about Lent?

I know exactly what you are going to say to me. Didn't we just make it through the Christmas season? Isn't Christmas actually not even over yet until the season officially ends on the sixth of January with the start of Epiphany?

That is all very true. But it doesn't change the fact that the season of Lent will begin just a little bit more than a month from now. I have considered mounting an appeal on the grounds that Easter is clearly coming far too early this year, but I understand that the scheduling is all tied up with other matters (something to do with full moons and solstices) and so I expect it will be denied.

So really, Lent will be upon us before we know it and so I am turning my thoughts to my preaching during that very important season. Today I had a bit of inspiration. I was thinking of the traditional practice associated with the season of Lent (mostly practiced by Roman Catholics) of "giving up" something for Lent. The idea is that you are supposed to give up something that you like (like chocolate or meat or coffee) for the season as a kind of special personal sacrifice. It is a fine practice, but I have never really taken it up because it is not really part of my traditions.

But I have been thinking of using the practice to spur my preaching in the upcoming season. I want to ask the question, "What do I want to give up for Lent." But I don't want to talk about giving  up things. It is maybe too easy to give up things and I'm not sure it always gives the right message -- the idea of giving up something but not because it is a bad thing, merely because it is a certain time of the year. What I want to talk about giving up is certain attitudes -- particularly those attitudes that we sometimes cling to because they make us feel good but that are generally not all that helpful. Perhaps we could use this season to try and see what living without those attitudes could be like. We may find that we could all do a lot better without them.

What kind of attitudes am I talking about? How about, for example, the attitude where we want everything to be always organized to our liking and we don't ever allow for spontaneity. I think that attitude can sometimes be deadly in a church. Sometimes, I think, God is more present in the spontaneous moment or reaction that in anything we can ever plan. But that is just one example that comes to my mind.

What do you think? What attitudes do you think that we could take a break from during Lent? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Also need some pithy titles!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Hymn for Canada Day

Image
At St. Andrew's Hespeler this Sunday (which is Canada Day) we are planning to sing the following as a hymn (not an act of patriotism but an act of prayer within worship). This was not conceived of as an addition to Canada's National Anthem but as a way of lifting up our nation in prayer and being open to acknowledge the contribution of those who went before. 1. O Canada, our home and native land, true patriot love in all of us command. With glowing hearts, we see thee rise, the true north, strong and free; from far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free; O Canada, we stand on guard for thee; O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. 2. We, as we stand, acknowledge those who knew This place before and from its waters drew. They honour the Creator and, with drum and sacred song, They find the Divine Presence in the herbs and winds so strong. Let us, with them, make hope increase. Keep Kanata*
Read more

Honoured to have been in the room where it happened

Image
As I left the meeting of the General Assembly today there were many of the beautiful hymns and songs that we sang during Assembly still ringing in my ears and in my heart. But I also found myself singing another song to myself – one from the musical Hamilton: Now, in the musical, Aaron Burr is not singing about the exact experience that I feel that I had over the last few days. In his song he is actually lamenting the fact that he is shut out of the room where a significant decision was made and also the obscurity of what happened and the mystery of the give-and-take negotiations. That is not what I experienced at assembly. But I think I did experience the power of being part of a significant event where significant decisions are being made. I have blogged on each of the meeting days when we have discussed matters of human sexuality and would suggest that, if you haven't read those posts first, you could read my previous posts before this one before reading this one.
Read more

Why we really need to stop harmonizing the two stories of the birth of Jesus.

Image
Copyright © 2013 by W. Scott McAndless       The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew have a great deal in common. They share much of the same material on the life and sayings of Jesus though they organize it somewhat differently. As far as we can understand from a study of the two texts, both Gospels were written independently (with neither making any reference to, nor apparently even having any knowledge of, the other) towards the end of the first century ce or perhaps even later.       Both gospels were written anonymously—with no names attached. It didn’t take the church very long to decide that they must have been written respectively by Matthew, one of Jesus’s twelve apostles, and Luke, an associate of Paul. But that is just tradition. The truth of the matter is that we really have no idea who might have written these books. All we have to help us to understand the interests, concerns and theological agendas of these two authors is what we find in the words they wr
Read more