Lent is over. It ended tonight at the Easter Vigil. Somewhere during the readings (creation, the flood and the ark, crossing the sea, Ezekiel and the dry bones), Lent just slipped away. Actually, if I had to guess, Lent made its final exit during the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 4). It was all I could do to keep from laughing during the excellent reading. Try reading it out loud sometime and hear the repetitions and feel the rhythms and be surprised by the exaggerated details.
The topic, faithfulness to God and God’s faithfulness to us, is quite serious. But King Nebuchadnezzar wins a prize for the comic figure. He, as many of you know, orders that everyone in his kingdom worship the golden statue; punishment for not doing so is to be thrown into a fiery furnace. But when the three Jewish men refuse to bow to the statue and survive the furnace through God’s protection, the amazed Nebuchadnezzar makes a new decree: anyone who does not worship the God of the Jewish people will be torn limb from limb. He doesn’t get it.
And so as Lent was leaving with chuckles, Easter came in quietly, too, and slowly filled the candlelit room. Before I knew it, Jesus was saying Mary’s name in John 20, and she turned in surprise–and so did I, realizing the church year has turned as well and now we proclaim Christ risen every chance we get.
So, goodbye Lent. You have given me and the congregation time and space to consider loving God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. You helped us take seriously loving our neighbor as ourselves. We’ll take what you’ve taught us into this season of celebration. Christ is risen. He calls our name. Alleluia!
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