Lent Begins

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the forty day-long season of Lent. At Jacob's Well, we will begin our observation of Lent with an Ash Wednesday gathering this evening at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome. This is just the first of a number of practices that will help us to participate with Christ in his journey to the cross and beyond...

Let me take this chance to highlight a few of the other opportunities that are coming - that you might join us as we seek to engage God, ourselves, one another, the biblical narrative, and how the Spirit might be using all of those things to provoke us into greater awareness and engagement.

• Having just finished the "Encounters with Jesus" series in worship, on Sunday we will begin a new, Lenten series titled, "Deadly." Over the seven Sundays of Lent we will explore the seven deadly sins: gluttony, lust, greed, anger, sloth, envy, and pride. It might seem strange to say it, but I am really looking forward to this exploration. I guess that tells you something about me...

• One of the opportunities Lent provides is an opportunity to examine our lives and see where our appetites or our practices have gotten "out of whack." The practice of giving something up for Lent is meant to re-create a space in ourselves for God that has been eclipsed by something else - not necessarily bad, just out of proportion. This is the impulse that is at the heart of fasting. Not just fasting from, but fasting to. Beyond the giving up of something, we are inviting our community to experiment with fasting together: to observe a once per week corporate fast from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon. That means you would miss three meals: dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Which then leads to...

• Tuesday Night Lenten Table and Sacred Space. After observing our fast, we are creating a space at Jacob's Well for people to gather together to break their fasts. We will meet every Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. for a simple meal of soup and bread. We are providing the soup, we are asking people to bring bread. The meal will last around half-an-hour, then people will be released to engage four different "sacred spaces" throughout our building. I don't want to say much more about these spaces except that I am really excited about the chance they will give us to process and integrate all that we are encountering in Lent. Childcare is not being provided, but children are welcome to participate. Also, if families feel like their children are too young to participate, then of course feel free to come for the meal and conversation.

Like I said, I am excited and anticipating a good and full experience of God and his grace and mercy this Lenten season. I hope you will find a way of walking this sacred road, whether with us or in some other way. A quote from Henri Nouwen helps us to frame the opportunity Lent provides. We join him in his conversation with God, from Show Me the Way: Daily Lenten Readings:

"The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death. I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, human respect, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life."

Comments

[Matt F.]

Hey Tim,

Thanks for the Nouwen quote. This is my second year going through his Lent book. It's fantastic. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants short, reflective, but very deep readings and prayers to take them through each day of Lent.

Matt