Lent will be upon us soon. It’s later than usual this year. Ash Wednesday is March 5, and The Resurrection of Our Lord (Easter) is April 20. In keeping with our tradition, we will have special services every Wednesday evening. Of course, this isn’t just tradition for tradition’s sake. But this is a good and pious tradition that draws us deeper into God’s Word as we increase our worship during this season. I hope you are able to attend. The sermon series will focus on the Holy Spirit and his work. My tradition, which I started in 2018, is to teach through the Small Catechism. We’re in the middle of our second trip through the catechism. And we might be tempted to think, I learned and memorized the catechism when I was a child. I don’t need to hear it again. But I have experienced that I am continually learning new things as I study and teach the catechism. It’s really just a way of summarizing Christian doctrine, so the whole Bible is open to us as we study the catechism.
Last year we studied the first two articles of the Apostles’ Creed regarding God the Father and God the Son. This year we will study the Third Article regarding the Holy Spirit and his work of sanctification. Lutherans, undeservedly, have a reputation for not saying much about the Holy Spirit. But the truth is that we talk about the Holy Spirit a lot. We just talk about him differently than some other Christians do. Instead of talking a lot about the way he makes us feel, which is difficult or impossible to define, we talk about his specific works. He works through the Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Repentance is his work. Law and Gospel are the two doctrines he teaches to bring us to repentance. Whenever we talk about Christ, we are doing the will of the Holy Spirit, because his purpose is to testify of Christ (John 15:26). Sanctification is his work to make us holy, that is, to set us apart from the world to belong wholly to Christ. He enlightens our minds and hearts to understand the Scriptures. He gathers us as Christians into Christ’s Church. And he preserves us in the true faith.
At first glance, the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed might look like a collection of six different points:
“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
But it is really one article. Those five items after, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” are a summary of his work. He gathers us into the Christian Church. He takes the forgiveness that Jesus earned for us and delivers it to us. And he brings us through this life, through death, and into the resurrection. Our entire life, from conversion to the resurrection, is the work of the Holy Spirit. During this season we pay special attention to the way he is constantly working in our lives.
Beyond worship services, I would also encourage you take up some kind of spiritual discipline during Lent. It could be fasting, even something as simple as not eating snacks after dinner. It could be going to bed half an hour earlier, so you can get up half an hour earlier and start your day with Scripture and prayer. If Scripture reading is not part of your daily routine, perhaps you start during Lent. There is a Bible reading schedule in this newsletter. If Scripture and prayer are already part of your routine, maybe this is the time to add a hymn to it. Fasting or denying ourselves of an innocent pleasure is not just discipline for discipline’s sake. There is a point to bare discipline; it can strengthen our patience and self-control. But of greater importance is what we put in the place of the thing we sacrifice: the Word of God and prayer. I hope this will be a season when we grow in our love for God’s Word and our use of it. And I know that he will bless us through it.
The peace of Christ be with you all,
Pastor Dan Antal