Lent starts March 5 with Ash Wednesday. I hope you can join us for either the 12:00 Noon or 7:30 pm service to mark the start of this holy season with a reminder of God’s pardon and renewal available to us in the midst of the brokenness in ourselves, our communities, and the world. We do not receive ashes just for our own sins. We receive them on behalf of all that is warped and wounded and in need of a restoring hand.
Our collect for Ash Wednesday prays that God will “create and make in us new and contrite hearts.” (Psalm 51:10) I heard a priest once say that there really are only two seasons in the church year: Easter, and Easter’s Coming! If Lent is “Easter’s Coming!”, then our Lenten experience - from the sacrifices we take on to engaging new patterns of health and growth - is all about living into the joy of the Resurrection. Anything we take on or give up for Lent is about restoration and renewal.
The Lenten journey nears its end when we hear Jesus say to his disciples in the Maundy Thursday gospel, “I do not call you servants any longer, I call you friends.” (John 15:15) Cultivating friendship is a powerful way to think about our relationship with God and how to pursue our spiritual growth. In Exodus, Moses is held up as an example of friendship with the divine. The writer of Exodus notes that Moses would commune with God in the Tent of Meeting as one would with a friend. Gregory of Nyssa, a Fourth Century bishop and writer saw Moses’s story as an allegory for our own journey with God. He ended his Life of Moses with the words, “To be known by God and to become God’s friends, this is true perfection.”
Perfection, in the spiritual sense, does not mean perfect as in never making a mistake. It means reaching our full purpose. We each are called into friendship with God, a relationship we all have in some way. Lent is a time for us to take stock of where we are in that relationship, let go of those things that impede that relationship, and lean more fully into those things that grow that friendship.
In keeping a Holy Lent, we might even ask ourselves, “How does this help me grow my friendship with God?” The opposite question is also helpful, “How does this hinder my relationship with God?” How we answer those questions helps us determine how to walk our Lenten path.
Our Lenten Adult Forum this year explores what friendship with God looks like, as seen through the life of Moses. It was not an easy or perfect relationship! It took Moses many years to even realize that God was there. When God called him, Moses said “I’m not your guy. Think again.” When God displeased Moses, Moses argued and advocated for Israel. When Moses displeased God, God struggled to get him back on track. Yet, Moses was the first to be known as a friend of God, and one of the very few to be able to see God face to face. (Exodus 33:11) I hope you can join us on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm in the All Saints Conference Room as we explore this dynamic story. A Zoom option is available for those who cannot join in person. Check out the information below to register.
Beloved, it is always an honor to walk with you, and never more so than during Lent. I look forward to taking this time once again so that we can grow more fully into the friends God has called us to be.
Lent: Cultivating Friendship with God