Rev. Jill Duffield
Senior Pastor
We are about to embark on the liturgical season of Lent. Lent marks the 40 days (not counting Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter. It is a time for reflection and, historically, for the preparation of new disciples for baptism. Often it is associated with penitence and fasting, prayer and repentance. Sometimes instead of giving something up for Lent, we take something on, a spiritual practice or acts of service.
All of these themes are important but given that we are entering Lent of 2022 with so much swirling around us — lingering COVID, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, lots and lots of change in our church and community — I want to point to yet one more aspect of this liturgical season that resonates deeply with me right now. I want to call us to a renewed focus on and trust of God.
Marianne Meye Thompson, writing about the lectionary texts appointed for this year says that those texts, “…do not so much call one to look within in self-examination, but to look to God with deepened trust. Read in the context of the forty days of Lent, these biblical texts call for a renewal of trust in the God who redeemed Israel, who rescues the righteous, whose love and faithfulness are manifest in the coming of Jesus of Nazareth…”
Right now, remembering the entire arc of salvation history and the particular ministry of our Savior is important. I need to be reminded that no matter how difficult the circumstances or how confusing the times, Jesus is Lord of all, and God is always faithful.
As we enter Lent with ashes on our foreheads and the words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,” may our finitude and limits cause us to seek our omnipotent and loving Creator. In these forty days may our close following of Jesus all the way to Jerusalem reveal the endless love of Christ that even the grave cannot thwart.
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.
Remember, too, that we are the people who go to the grave singing alleluia because we know that Easter is coming.
Our Imposition of Ashes service will begin this Wednesday at 6 pm in the sanctuary.
