In Keeping Time: The Church’s Years, Gail Ramshaw and Mons Tieg clarify the evolving meaning of this upcoming liturgical season.

“In the twentieth century came a re-evaluation of Lent.  An emotional focus on the passion, proclaimed through a blending of the four gospels, did not correspond well with contemporary Biblical exegesis, and for many people fasting had become so minimal that it had little meaning.  Thus Lent according to the three-year lectionary resembles more the fourth century (preparation for baptism) than the fourteenth (penitential season). Easter is again seen as the optimal time for congregational baptisms. Lent is thus preparation for these baptisms as well as for the annual renewal of baptism for all Christians.  Still, the medieval focus on the amendment of life remains essential as the assembly renews its baptismal covenant.”

That Lenten focus on the amendment of life as preparation for reaffirmation of our baptism is the root of the classic disciplines of Lent.  They are almsgiving for the poor, prayer and fasting.  We intend to accept these classic disciplines as forms of continual spiritual growth. The confessional documents of the Lutheran church even consider two of these disciplines as potential sacraments. (The Book of Concord:  The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ed. Kolb and Wengert).

We hope during the Lenten season to accent these disciplines in the Wednesday evening services of Lent. In successive weeks we plan to accent different forms of almsgiving, prayer and fasting.  These foci will flesh out the understandings of these traditional disciplines and give us an opportunity to experience how these practices and work and feel in daily life.  We will reflect on various forms of giving to the poor, practicing and experiencing prayer and meditation, and the discipline of fasting in a culture of consumption.

Specifically, so you can plan ahead, we will invite the collection of gifts for our sisters and brothers who are in poverty during Lent.  We will also experiment with new forms of prayer and contemplation (including the use of silence and the arts) and invite your sharing of your favorite prayers. We will also learn from one another how to diet from consumerism so that we can focus our lives on the issues that matter.

The structure for these meditations will be the weekly use of Compline, the simple but lovely bedtime prayer of the church. We look forward to sharing with you all these Lenten experiences.  Please come and join us!