A Light in the Window

A Light in the Window

Susan Hoyle, pastor

Trinity United Methodist Church

The weather has been warmer the last couple of weeks and we’ve been thinking about spring, haven’t we?  The warmer weather gives us an opportunity to be outside taking a walk or riding a bike or inviting friends to a BBQ.  There are so many activities for us to enjoy in the springtime including spring training.  We usually think about baseball when we think about spring training.  But have ever you thought that as Christians we are part of spring training, too?  It’s called the season of Lent.  The Lenten season helps us prepare our minds, hearts and souls to walk with Jesus to the cross and to the celebration of His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.  There are 40 days in Lent.  The number 40 is important in our Bible.  Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years and Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days.  But should you decided to count the days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday, there will be 46 days.  Why?  The 40 days of Lent do not include Sundays because each one is considered a little Easter.

There are many ways that we can prepare ourselves for the walk to the cross with Jesus.  Perhaps you could read through one of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.  Take your time, read it slowly and imagine being there.  Picture Jesus having conversations with people, maybe even with you.  Hear the sounds in the villages and cities.  Imagine the temple and the people praying there.  This adds such a depth to our Biblical experience.

Maybe you can ask some folks to begin a Lenten prayer group.  The group could meet once a week in person and once a week through facebook or a conference call.  Be creative in praying together.  Or you might ask someone to be your prayer partner.  A call or email a couple of times a week can be a powerful way to connect with your partner and with God.  Another way of praying together is asking folks to pray at a certain time each day, say 9:00 p.m.  You can email each other with your prayer needs, knowing your group or partner will be lifting you up in prayer at the same time you are lifting them up, too.

We often think of “giving up” something for Lent.  But I have found that folks can be a bit resistant to give up something, even to God.  I like to ask folks another way, what can you offer God during this Lenten season?  Perhaps you can read a devotional or a chapter in the Bible before you turn on the TV or your computer.  Maybe you can turn off the TV a bit earlier once or twice a week and just talk to God.  Perhaps there is a ministry in the community that you can offer an hour or two a month.  Get creative on what you can offer God, it really will make all the difference to you and to God.

Join us this Wednesday, March 9, at 6:00 p.m. for Trinity’s Ash Wednesday service.  It’s a time when we think about our own mortality, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  We don’t like to think about our mortality very often.  Yet during this season of Lent, it reminds us that we are not the center of the universe, God is the center of the universe.  And we are here to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

May your “spring training” be a powerful journey that reminds you of who you are and Who you belong to…amen.