February 3, 2021
Dear Church of the Apostles,
The season of Lent begins on Wednesday, February 17. We will have several opportunities for you to enter into the beauty (yes, “beauty”) of Ash Wednesday through services both online and in-person as well as special times scheduled to receive the imposition of ashes (see details below).
Our theme for Lent this year is Practice Lament.
“Lament in the Bible is a liturgical response to the reality of suffering and engages God in the context of pain and trouble. The hope of lament is that God would respond to human suffering that is wholeheartedly communicated through lament.”
This is longer than usual note from me. Please click here and spend about five minutes reading about why lament is crucial for our lives together in the coming year and for an invitation to practice lament together during Lent.
The Psalms of lament reinforce the reality of suffering and hope and model the practice of lament.
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Psalm 3:1-2
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103:13-14
Why is lament crucial for our lives together at Apostles moving forward?
One, those who skip the important step of lamenting the hard and broken things in our lives, the Church, and the world are more likely to dismiss suffering both in ourselves and others. We are prone to choose stoicism over openness, lying over honesty, and earthly power over Gospel weakness.
Two, practicing lament brings deep healing, profound hope, and joyous celebration that are found in Jesus. You may remember that last year our Easter theme was Practice Resurrection. Resurrection is rightly practiced by first honestly expressing our need while we wait and listen for God’s invitation to live in his hope. We are fully human as God intended when we practice both lament AND resurrection.
Three, to practice lament is to prepare for mission. Those of us who accept God’s invitation to lament are ready to offer God’s hope to others who are suffering. As we begin to see some light at the end of the long, dark tunnel of the last year, it is crucial that Church of the Apostles engages with our own loneliness, loss, and death so we are ready meet others in their loneliness, loss, and death. Practicing lament forms us into whole-enough wounded healers ready and eager to walk with anyone through anything toward the love of Jesus. Our neighbors, co-workers, friends, family, and classmates need us to practice lament for their sakes.
I invite you to join me for a five-week Zoom gathering to practice lament through a combination of group spiritual direction, guided exercise, and sharing. During our fourth session David Taylor, author of Open and Unafraid: The Psalms as a Guide to Life will guide us in an experiential exercise in writing a personal psalm of lament. “Experiential exercise” is the key phrase. We will not be discussing, intellectualizing, or debating. We will practice lament.
You can find more details in the announcements below. I hope that you will RSVP and join us!
Peace and Hope,
Brian+