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Why I love Lent, a List of Favorites :
I have always enjoyed the church season of Lent and here are a few reasons why:
• Midweek Worship - At my home church growing up, we did not have Midweek worship
during Advent, only during the Lenten Season did we gather together on Wednesday nights for
a time of worship. I especially remember a time during my grade school years when I had
basketball practice at the school across from my church and at 6:15pm my friend Alyssa and
I would leave practice early to join our families for Midweek worship. Even as a fourth
grader, I could tell that something was different about this time our congregation shared
together. The sanctuary looked different at night, the congregation was smaller than at
Sunday services, and as a 10-year old in a basketball uniform, I realized the importance of
a community gathering at a time out of the ordinary, to give thanks to God and receive
Christ’s blessing.
• 40 Special Days - Being able to set aside these 40 days of Lent is truly a blessing.
While we may revere our vacations or time off from work as a special or distinctive time,
Lent offers us this idea of special time, even in the midst of our busy lives. The Season
of Lent says that you don’t need to go away or have a mountaintop experience to create a
vibrant place for the Holy Spirit to work. Instead, use these 40 days, with all of the
regular hustle and bustle of life and seek to create space for God in your daily comings
and goings.
• Moving towards Holy Week - While Lent is often a contemplative time with a somber
introspective feel, there is also a sense of anticipation. All of this time, the midweek
services, the fasting and praying, the intentionality of lent is slowly moving us towards
Holy Week. Holy Week, beginning with Jesus triumphant entrance as a revered king, to his
simple task of sharing a meal with his disciples, to his death on a cross and his eventual
resurrection from the dead, Lent is moving and preparing us for these events to unfold in
our lives. Though we go through them every year, the magnitude of Christ’s final week on
earth is so miraculous that it is important to take 40 days of contemplation, prayer and
preparation for the astonishing promise made to us in Christ’s death and resurrection.
In His Grip,
Pastor Cate Luehr
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