A Lusterless Lent

Clay has reached the point that Lent has lost its luster and suggest that for Lent we give up Lent or least what it has become. It isn’t that the wilderness and temptation aren’t rich themes to explore but in their frequent reoccurrence within a given year and annually, saying something that hasn’t been said countless times before is nearly impossible. The temptation is to just get the sermon done. Say the predictable things the church has always said about how being miserable, sinful beings we need to be purified. We do it by paying the price for our fallen state with fasting and confession. The implied message being: Easter won’t be any fun unless we suffer first. Sure the congregation will tune out as soon as they realize they have heard this sermon before, but I will have done my priestly duty and extolled the importance of Lent to being good Christians.   I’m sorry I just can’t do it any more. Lent has lost its luster. I only need to point to an interview of Vice President Biden on Ash Wednesday this week. The interviewer, who later confessed to being Catholic, asked if the black smudge on his forehead was a bruise. Text and video links available at www.stmatthews.org.nz.