Lent - that depressing, distressiong time of year, when the weather outside is miserable and the mood insides is long-suffering. We are sick of winter. No matter how much we liked the snow when it first fell, all fluffy and white, we despise what is left of it, all dirty and gray and slushy. It messes up our streets and forces us to wear clunky boots and bulky coats that are a nuisance to deal when indoors. And what does the church do at this time of year? Instead of some pleasant, uplifting season or Easter, we get Lent; depressing, distressing Lent, with its emphasis on suffereing, giving up stuff, and (ugh) repending. Who wants to repent? Who wants to suffer? I want to go to a bed and breakfast someplace warm where someone else will make breakfast and the bed.
Shouldn't the church provide a refuge from the cold, harsh outside and give us a nice, warm feeling inside? Why should church be a reminder of all that is wrong with the world, and of the burdens and responsibilities that is upon our shoulders - our cross to bear, as it were? The world is a mess, but do we have to be reminded of it? And what are we supposed to do about it?
The world is a mess. It is cold and dreary outside. We are tired and depressed inside. Lent acknowledges the "dark night of the soul." Even Jesus, son of the living God, suffered doubts and conflicts. People he loved misunderstood him and friends let him down. The religious leaders of his time gave him no encouragement. In fact, the actively opposed him, eventually hounding him to his death on a cross. In cahoots with political leaders, the got rid of this trouble-maker who refused to conform, who persisted in bringing hope to outcast, unworthy people.
So, wait! Is that what Lent is about? Not slogging through the dismal swamps of cruel fate with unlucky Jesus, but living with him the the changes that God wants us to make! "Behold, I make all things new," says the Lord.
The winter will end, and spring will come. Jesus will suffer, but he will rise again. New life from tragedy, light from darkness, beautiful flowers from mud and slush. Once again, God calls us to awake from the short, dark days of hibernation to a new dawn. God is at work in the world, bringing life out of death, calling us to join in this grand design.
Rev. Jean Marsh