WEEK 5

Lent carries us with the Hebrews in search of the promised land, with Jesus into the wilderness and, ultimately, to the cross at Calvary. It is a somber season in the church year, so somber, in fact, that by the end, Christians will have gone 40 days without hearing “Alleluia” during worship. There is no other time during the church year when language in worship is so circumscribed as this. Many congregations even practice the tradition of “burying the Alleluia” at the start of the season, a ritual with ties going back to the Middle Ages by some estimates.

Burying the "Alleluia" is one way we remember the sacrifice of Christ, who “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). In the ritual burying of the "Alleluia," we mourn the death of Jesus, and we stand in solidarity with the fellowship of believers of ages past, mourning the sin that kept us separated from God until by grace that gap was bridged. Lent is a season of this kind of tragic memory, and the entombed "Alleluia" is a visible reminder of that.

Fasting is another way we remember this sacrifice, this loss. Some early Christians believed that fasting was a form of lament, both for sin and for the death of Jesus. Christians ought, they believed, to fast on certain days or in certain seasons as a way of remembering and lamenting Christ’s death on the cross. We, too, in Lent journey in trust, clinging by faith to the promise that outside the rhythm of our liturgical season, the “Alleluia” has been released forever by the resurrection of Christ, so that no shout of joy ought to be stifled by hunger, silenced by injustice or hidden by pain. We know that God’s intention is for our “Alleluia” to resound – forcefully, loudly, boldly – now, in this world, in this time.

The disciplines of Lent that call us into lament also push us into the world, with an openness to hear the lament of those for whom lament is a daily reality, for whom the “Alleluia” remains buried well past Easter. Spiritual practices attune us to hear the lament of our neighbors facing poverty, hunger, disease, marginalization and death.

Lent prepares us for this. But the spiritual disciplines of the season don’t stop there. Lent is not a season of lingering but of journeying in trust. The Hebrews exited Egypt in trust that a better life awaited them. Jesus faced temptation in the wilderness in trust that God would sustain him, and approached the cross in trust that not even crucifixion could derail the work of God in the world.

We, too, in Lent journey in trust, clinging by faith to the promise that outside the rhythm of our liturgical season, the “Alleluia” has been released forever by the resurrection of Christ, so that no shout of joy ought to be stifled by hunger, silenced by injustice or hidden by pain. We know that God’s intention is for our “Alleluia” to resound – forcefully, loudly, boldly – now, in this world, in this time.

As we reflect on the buried “Alleluia” this Lent, we also remember that grace continues to abound in our world through God’s continued work through our church and our neighbors.

In Burure in the Gokwe region of Zimbabwe, outbreaks of malaria compounded by deep poverty threaten the lives and well-being of both children and adults. In 2016, over 280,000 new cases of malaria were identified in Zimbabwe, and malaria remains the third leading cause of death, with young children being particularly vulnerable.

These numbers, though, belie the great progress that has been made against malaria in Zimbabwe, including through the schools, health clinic and other programs supported by 22 ELCA World Hunger in Burure. Recognizing that the likelihood of good health increases as a household’s income increases, women in Burure have formed village savings and loan groups that enable them to pool resources to invest in their own work. The pooled resources help support vegetable farms, gardens and beehives for honey. The profits provide the means to purchase food and other necessities and invest in other activities. By drawing together their own resources, women in the groups are able to give and receive and look forward to a brighter future for themselves and their households.

The women in Burure exemplify the sort of journeying in trust shaped by the Lenten disciplines of sacrificial giving and works of love. For Christians, the practices of lament in Lent are accompanied by practices that turn us outward, toward what God is doing through and among our neighbors. That is where sacrificial giving and works of love join with the disciplines of repentance and fasting. Even for early Christians, there was a sense in which fasting was more than quiet lament. In fact, for many, fasting was at its most significant when joined with acts of charity and justice. Early Christians gave up their own food in fasting so they might sacrificially give the unconsumed food to their neighbors in need, trusting that God’s abundance was sufficient to sustain all of God’s creation.

In Burure, by giving of their own resources to one another, trusting in abundance and each other, and working in love for one another and the community, the women are ensuring that the “Alleluia” buried by malaria and poverty will be uncovered.

It may take place in a garden rather than a church, or next to a beehive rather than an altar, but this is the work of Lent – confronting head-on the reality of death and loss, and through giving of self and works of love, participating in the ongoing story God is weaving in human history, a story of life from death.

Even as we reflect on sin, death and our dependence on God in Lent – even as we ritually bury the “Alleluia” in our sanctuaries or sacrificially fast during the 40 days – we know that God’s work in the world continues. The work of ending hunger goes on with faith in a promised future where all will be fed. We share in God’s work with hope, joy and faith. And we do this work because we know by faith that when it comes to the seemingly insurmountable problems of hunger, poverty and human need, God will have the final word. And that word will be “Alleluia!”

PRACTICING LENT

There are four disciplines, or spiritual practices, that guide our time during Lent. Use the questions and prompts below to reflect on the Lenten disciplines: repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving, and works of love.

REPENTANCE
Where are places in your community where challenges like hunger, poverty or illness make it difficult for cries of joy to resound?

PRAYER AND FASTING
This week, remember in prayer the women of Burure. Pray for blessings for their harvests and for the harvests of all those who ensure that our communities are fed.

SACRIFICIAL GIVING
Early Christians believed that when people fasted, the food they gave up should be given to others in need. How might it change your idea of a fast to think of it as a gift to others, rather than as a sacrifice for yourself?

WORKS OF LOVE
Where do you see God at work in your community, changing the story for neighbors in need? How can, or do, you participate in God’s work in the world around you?

WEEK 4

At St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry in Hoboken, N.J., about 65 people each day come through the doors for a warm meal, extra clothing, a listening ear and a brief respite from the streets many live on each day. On Mondays, volunteers provide free haircuts. On Wednesdays, Chef Bill makes special “bill-ritos” from scratch. Every day, visitors are welcomed like honored guests, treated with the respect and hospitality that can be hard to find when you are experiencing homelessness.

Hoboken is a long way from Calvary. But for people who face the threats of homelessness, hunger and poverty, the shadow of the cross looms large. The jeers of the crowd that greeted Christ on that lonely hill are echoed in the derision and dismissal so many of us and our neighbors face when living in shelters, in cars or out on the street. The threat of a legal and political system tilted against Christ is felt still today, as laws that criminalize poverty and homelessness make the challenges our neighbors face seem almost insurmountable.

It’s hard to wrap our heads around crucifixion today, but it’s not hard to see the many ways people are crucified by public opinion, policy, economic injustice and marginalization every day in communities around the world. For some, it is the little “deaths” of derision and stigma. For others, it is the very real death from malnutrition, disease or violence.

In either case, the cross is not just an allegory or historical symbol. The cross is a present reality – as death-dealing now as WEEK 4 18 19 it was 2,000 years ago.

In Lent, we journey with Christ to the foot of the cross, deepening each step with the disciplines of Lent – repentance that confesses our own role in his death, prayer and fasting that pleads for God’s mercy, sacrificial giving that recalls Christ’s own sacrifice for us, and works of love that bear a pale reflection of the love God showed us in our need.

But the disciplines of Lent are utterly empty if, in our journey to the cross of Christ, we ignore the crosses that dot the landscape of our communities today. The journey to Calvary with Christ is the journey to the cross wherever it is found, including within our own communities and communities around the world.

Part of this journey means entering into the stories of our neighbors, a ministry the volunteers and staff at St. Matthew Trinity know well. “Whatever your story is,” says Stanley Enzweiler, the program manager, “we will welcome you.” Some of these stories are of bad luck. Others are of bad decisions. But at the Lunchtime Ministry, guests are always welcome. Here, their physical and social needs are met. A warm meal – served with dignity. A new pair of socks or warm winter clothes – and someone to listen. A haircut – and respect. In each case, service goes beyond meeting a need to encountering a neighbor, sharing their story and walking with them through the challenges they face.

The journey also means bearing witness to the forgiveness and love that point beyond the cross to the promise of grace, mercy and hope that we have in Christ. In faith, we are called not just to walk with one another toward the cross but to bear witness to the future God has in store for our world, a future in which all will be welcome and all shall be fed. Our Lenten journey carries us to the cross – and beyond it, to the empty tomb, the resurrection and the fullness of the future reign of God.

This doesn’t always happen in big ways. Sometimes, it happens in the everyday ways we act toward our neighbors. At St. Matthew Trinity’s Lunchtime Ministry, it’s shown each time a guest is welcomed – or welcomed back. “Even if you break the rules at Lunchtime Ministry and have to leave our community for a few days, we will always welcome you back,” Stanley says. “Everyone messes up a time or two, but no one is beyond forgiveness. We are one lifeline that never goes away.”

Christ’s journey to the cross reminds us of the many crosses in our own midst, threats to life, safety and well-being that we and our neighbors face each day. But it also reminds us of what is to come – life abundant, here and now as God works to reconcile and heal our communities, and in the future fullness of God’s reign.

PRACTICING LENT

There are four disciplines, or spiritual practices, that guide our time during Lent. Use the questions and prompts below to reflect on the Lenten disciplines: repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving, and works of love.

REPENTANCE

How are people who experience homelessness, poverty or hunger treated in our community? How might we ensure that their dignity and safety are protected?

PRAYER AND FASTING
This week, remember in prayer neighbors facing homelessness and hunger and the ministries that accompany them.

SACRIFICIAL GIVING
Take time this week to reflect on your commitment to support the ministry of ELCA World Hunger this Lent. In what ways might your gifts provide hope to neighbors in need?

WORKS OF LOVE
How have other people helped you during challenging times? How might you pay that forward this week by helping others in need?

Lent is a story of a journey from a weighty past to a bright future – spiritually, as we receive the gift of grace from God in Christ for our salvation, and materially, as God invites us to accompany our neighbors in meeting our daily challenges with hope, courage and transformative work toward change. In their exodus, the Hebrews were set free spiritually, to be the people of God in a new land and, materially, to be a free people liberated from the yoke of the past. The past may not be through with us. But neither is God. And that makes the difference. JOIN US NEXT WEDNESDAY AT NOON!

WEEK 3

“And the book says, ‘We might be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.’”

So says the character Jimmy Gator in the 1999 film Magnolia. At its best, the past can evoke nostalgic memories of years gone by. At its worst, the past can seem like a burden, weighing down our prospects for the future. By faith, we look forward to God's promise of “a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). The sin that separates us from trust in the promise of God, though, needles the soul with the stark reminder: “the past ain’t through with us.”

The exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt into freedom is commemorated during Lent as a journey from an oppressive past into a hopeful, promised future. In selecting their leader, God looked not to a forward-thinking champion, though, but to Moses, a man with a past that often may have felt oppressive or constraining. The people’s journey from slavery under Pharaoh to freedom in the promised land mirrored Moses’ own transformative journey, from self-imposed exile born of guilt to a new identity as a servant of God toward a hopeful future.

Born a Hebrew at a time when Pharaoh demanded the death of all Hebrew baby boys, Moses’ mother hid him in a basket, where he was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. Raised by his birth mother, Moses was taken later as a son by Pharaoh’s daughter. As an adult, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Carefully looking to make sure there were no witnesses, Moses WEEK 3 14 15 killed the Egyptian and buried the body to hide it. Within a day, Moses realized that he didn’t get away so easily with his crime. Others knew about it – including Pharaoh, who wanted him dead. Even the Hebrews, his own people, saw him as a murderer. Knowing this, Moses fled to Midian to live out his life quietly as a shepherd.

But God had other plans. In God’s hands, Moses’ future wasn’t limited by his past. Born a slave, separated from his family, and rejected as a criminal by both Hebrew and Egyptian, Moses’ past would seem to dictate his future. But God interceded, calling Moses to return to Egypt, to “take hold of the promise,” and to lead the people to freedom.

Jimmy Gator may be quoting “the book,” but it certainly isn’t the book of Moses’ story – or ours. No matter how consequential the choices of the past, faith invites us always forward, to the future that grace lays open before us.

The effects of decisions in the past can be felt within the world in the present, today. Some, like Moses’, are personal. Others are felt in the very land we inhabit. In Malawi, the consequences of the past are starkly visible in the landscape of rural villages like Chole. Deforestation, driven by a need for land for farming and wood for fires, has stripped much of the land of the very trees that are so vital for clean air and healthy soil. Without trees, factors like erosion can make it hard for farmers to cultivate the land and earn a living.

Shadrack Tsatautenda is one of those farmers. Working land that has been in his family for five generations, Shadrack knows the challenges of tending the land in Chole. But with the assistance of a business loan from a village savings and loan group established by ELCA World Hunger’s local companion, Evangelical Lutheran Development Services, the environmental degradation of the past doesn’t have to dictate his future.

With money and training, he planted the first seedlings in his nursery two years ago. The oldest are nearly ready to sell, and Shadrack’s nursery has grown to include 1,200 trees – trees that will provide him with a livelihood and re-establish the natural resources of the land.

Caring for the land, coaxing life out of the soil and guiding it to maturity – this work connects Shadrack to the past, plants him firmly in the present and informs his vision for that future. “It is meaningful to me to look after the land of my ancestors, and I want to pass this land to future generations,” he says. The training he and his neighbors received will allow them to heal the land, and with the money they earn, they will be able to send their children to school.

Despite the visible effects of past environmental decisions on the landscape of Chole, Shadrack and his neighbors know that the past does not dictate their community’s future.

Lent is a story of a journey from a weighty past to a bright future – spiritually, as we receive the gift of grace from God in Christ for our salvation, and materially, as God invites us to accompany our neighbors in meeting our daily challenges with hope, courage and transformative work toward change. In their exodus, the Hebrews were set free spiritually, to be the people of God in a new land and, materially, to be a free people liberated from the yoke of the past.

The past may not be through with us. But neither is God. And that makes the difference – for Moses, for the Hebrews, for Shadrack and for us.

PRACTICING LENT

There are four disciplines, or spiritual practices, that guide our time during Lent. Use the questions and prompts below to reflect on the Lenten disciplines: repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving, and works of love.

REPENTANCE
When have you experienced the past as a “weight,” preventing you from seeing a hopeful future?

PRAYER AND FASTING
This week, remember in prayer the good creation of God, which bears witness to the effects of past actions, for better and for worse, and the workers who tend and care for the land.

SACRIFICIAL GIVING
As you continue in your commitment to support ministries like those in Chole, Malawi, reflect on the many ways your gifts – both spiritual and material – can allow others to see a hopeful future. How might your gifts to ELCA World Hunger be an investment in the hopeful future God is building for us and our neighbors?

WORKS OF LOVE
How might you, your family or your congregation show love of God and love of neighbor to others in your community this Lent?