First things first, Katie and I are pleased to announce to the people of St. Paul’s and friends of this congregation that we have been blessed with the birth of our first child. Evelyn Elizabeth was born on Sunday, January 15, 2012, at 9:02pm. Eve surprised us all by coming almost a month before her due date, but she was a healthy 6 lbs, 1 oz. at birth, and she and Katie are both doing well! Thanks to all of you for the gifts of prayer, encouragement, and last-minute supplies that will help us attend to the needs of our precious little girl. The Chavanak and Burrous families are truly grateful for all of you and your support during this exciting time in our lives!

As February draws ever closer, we find ourselves approaching the season of Lent, a season that has sometimes taken on such a somber mood that it leads people to sadness and despair. I, for one, think that the historical movement toward sobriety and examination of faults, while an important part of the Christian life, has been taken to a bit of an extreme in the case of our Lenten observances.

Dr. Mark Oldenburg, a professor of liturgy and worship at Gettysburg Seminary, is a staunch advocate of regaining some balance as we observe Lent; that is, the matter of introspection and self-examination must be tempered by deep and heart-felt reflection and thanksgiving to God for faithfully keeping God’s promises to us, particularly those promises that are made in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Dr. Oldenburg proposes that, were there to be an overarching theme for our Lenten observances, it would be the following: The embrace of Christ loosens all other bonds.

Note how a theme like this can bear both the traditional, deeply felt conviction that we must repent of all those ways that we fall short of God’s leading on our lives and the joyful conviction that we are defined not by our sinfulness, but by God’s grace lavished upon us in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Note also how it works itself out as we seek to carry out some of the most loved spiritual practices of the Lenten season. Fasting for example, can be an activity that conveys both a sense of sacrifice – as we deny ourselves something that holds sway over our lives and distracts us from the things of God – and a sense of relief or release as we acknowledge that the love of God in Christ is sufficient to provide us with what we need (and powerful enough to break our dependence upon things other than God).

This Lent, brothers and sisters, I urge you to give this more balanced approach a try. If you are in the habit of fasting or engaging in some other special spiritual discipline for the season, by all means continue to use that practice. If you have not done so in the past, try simply taking some time each day to reflect on that proposed theme for the season: The embrace of Christ loosens all other bonds. Think about all the other bonds that have been laid upon you, and consider how God in Christ enables you to be free from those bonds as you seek to live more fully in relationship with the one who has called and claimed us in the waters of baptism and who feeds us with his own body and blood at the table of life. Think about the joy that comes from being released from bondage to sin and death and being joined to Christ in his life-giving death and resurrection! Above all, remember that even in this penitential season, we live on this side of the resurrection, and each Sunday as we gather we celebrate the power and glory of Christ’s rising from death to new life for the sake of the whole world. May we all be blessed with deeper knowledge of God’s love for us in Christ as we journey through Lent together!