What's Going On? Lent Is Coming - February 10, 2025
As you have likely heard, we plan to have as many people as possible engaged in our Lent series this spring. Lent is the season of preparation for Easter and we are going to do our preparation individually, in small groups, and communally. The method we will use is the material from Guided Prayer Retreats. Individuals have done this here at Mountainview for a number of years. This year we have added the small group and communal parts.
However, let me first tell you about our exciting start to Lent. You may have heard of Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. We have long done Good Friday and Easter Sunday and know them well, but these other two days are at the starting line of Lent. Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Tuesday is when you use up all the rich ingredients like milk eggs and sugar as you prepare for the fast of Lent. Since these ingredients are all in pancakes, that is the meal of choice (which allows you to get rid of syrup and other rich toppings as well). Then you are ready for Ash Wednesday which is when we take ashes made from burning the palm branches from last year’s Palm Sunday (we did actually save them) and mix it with oil and make the sign of the cross of each person’s forehead. This outward sign shows our inner awareness of our need for confession and repentance.
This year we are going to combine these two events by having a pancake supper on Tuesday March 4 that will end with a time of preparation in worship and then the imposition of ashes. Come for pancakes, be reminded of our upcoming Lent journey, and start that experience by having an ash smudge put on your forehead.
And then this is how Lent will proceed:
Each week everyone will have access to a reflection based on a couple Bible passages. You are encouraged to spend time reading the passage and reflecting on it. Instead of analyzing what the passage means (our usual method), you are invited to pay attention to what stands out for you or to wonder what it would feel like to be in the story you read. What would you see or smell or hear if you were present in the Bible story, or present when a letter of Paul was read, or were seeing what is being described in a Psalm? Writing out these reflections will help you connect with what God is working on in you at this time.
The second part will be sharing your experience with a small group. Many of our small groups have decided to shift gears for Lent. They will try to meet all six weeks, and they have a designated person being trained to facilitate the conversation. If you have not yet joined a group that is going to walk through Lent together and you would like to do so, just let me know. What people will experience in their group conversation is that other people see, hear, and feel passages differently than they do. We will likely also learn that it can be difficult to connect with the Bible in a way other than studying it for meanings and beliefs. That is part of this journey.
Finally, on Sundays, the sermons will be based on the same passages that people have been reflecting on alone and in the small groups. I suspect that what you will experience will include both thinking, “Yes, I felt/thought/wondered/saw that as well”, and “Well that never occurred to me”.
You are encouraged to have your individual and your small group experience with a passage before the Sunday service on that passage. The simple reason for this is that it will allow you to hear the passage without the prior influence of my reflections.
It is our prayer that this Lenten experience will be meaningful for you as this kind of thing has been for so many people in the past.
Pastor Erick Schuringa
