View From The Pulpit: Every year I hear this same question repeated many times over, “Pastor, what are you giving up for Lent?” My response, as all of you should know after my nine years at LCI, is: “I try to take something on during Lent instead of giving a token something up.”

The Christian church has long celebrated three distinct disciplines for the Lenten season: almsgiving for the poor, prayer and fasting. The Book of Con-cord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, offers that alms-giving and prayer are so important that they are considered potential sacra-ments—nearly as important as Baptism and Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper.

Almsgiving to the poor is so much more than the often-remembered images in Oliver Twist. Almsgiving is not just handing out money to beggars (our modern-day equivalent to the homeless and displaced). Almsgiving is providing the necessities of food, clothing and shelter to those who cannot provide for themselves. We have two powerful ministries that we serve with our almsgiving: M.U.S.T. and Lutheran Services of Georgia. Although almsgiving is much wider and deeper than simply collecting food, we focus on our ability to give food to others by collecting food in our M.U.S.T. barrel located in the lobby. We are also collecting rice and household items for Lutheran Services of Georgia by becoming more involved in their immigrant relief program.
There is also a powerful and radical relationship between providing food to the needy and Holy Communion. We give to God's people the food they need to survive in life. Our Lord Jesus gives us his body and blood that we may enjoy eternal life. As God's children Christ feeds us and we feed others, as we are able. Please consider donating foodstuff items (listed in the Bulletin Insert) to M.U.S.T. and Lutheran Services of Georgia. To those whom much is given, much is expected.

Prayer, according to our Lutheran Confessions, has “the command of God, and it has many promises.” Consider making more intentional the use of prayer in your daily life. Luther tells us to begin each day by making the sign of the cross, and praying thanks that we are a baptized child of God. You may want to practice that behavior during the upcoming Lenten season, and hopefully maintain it each day as a part of your prayerful discipline. Praying the thoughts of your heart each day when you awake, will impact the rest of your day in all that you do.

Anyone who has gone through Confirmation should recall Luther's words in the Small Catechism on Holy Communion: “Fasting and bodily preparation are in fact a fine external discipline…But a person who has faith in these words...'given for you' and 'shed for you for the forgiveness of sin,' is really worthy and well prepared.” Luther would not have written that fasting was a fine external discipline unless he meant it. Lutherans are called to fast. We know as I mentioned earlier above, that we could give up something for Lent. Many give up chocolate, coffee, or some other treat. But I would encourage you to give up something worthy, a lunch meal or evening out (if you are physically able) and then give that as a contribution to those who don't have the privilege to give up some trivial treat and call it a fast. Yes you may give up, but the calling is also to give to others.

So, what are you giving up for Lent? My prayer is that you give up some of your worldly busyness and excess to take on some of these worthy Lenten disciplines.

My love to you in Christ,
Pastor Jerry

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