February 23, 2024
Lent and Keeping Score
On Tuesday night, August 17, 1971, I attended my first major league baseball game. It was the Angels playing the Red Sox at Fenway. We sat in the right field bleachers behind the Red Sox bullpen. It was such a treat to see all of those players who I had collected as baseball cards playing live in front of me. It was also the night my cousin Adrian taught me how to keep score. It changed my life. Soon I would be creating score sheets on legal pads and then keep score of the games I watched on television. It made me so much more engaged in the game helping me follow the game and its strategy better. I still like keeping score. Ask our church’s softball manager, Aaron Nilson, how often I volunteer to “keep the book.”
Following the flow of Lent this year might take some scorekeeping—or at least some explanation. In Protestant churches, Epiphany ends with the Transfiguration of Christ, this is followed by Ash Wednesday which is the start of Lent. The gospel on the first Sunday in Lent is Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The texts that follow vary but in generally follow Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, which ends on Palm Sunday. This follows the structure of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). In fact, they are called “synoptics,” which means “to see together,” because if you put them side by side you can see their common pattern. They all begin with Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, followed by the Transfiguration, leading to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, ending with our Lord’s dying and rising.
Each of the three years of the lectionary are focused on one of the synoptic gospels. This year, Year B, we are following Mark. John’s Gospel which has a very different structure, is sprinkled in throughout each of the three years. Mark being the shortest of the three, gets supplemented the most by John. This means that this Sunday is the last Sunday we will have Mark as a gospel until Palm Sunday. The remainder of Lent this year, we will be journeying with John.
It is helpful to note that John and Mark have many themes in common, but they are so different in tone. For example, in both gospels Jesus is God’s unique son as declared by God. However, in Mark, Jesus is trying to keep his identity a secret. While in John, Jesus is very clear and open about who he is. In John, Jesus publicly declared “The Father and I are one.” (10:30). You would never read that—or anything like it—in Mark’s gospel.
So if I were keeping score of Lent this year, it would be like changing pitchers after the third inning, which means we are going to have a different selection of pitches that we will have thrown at us. And then it will change again, as Mark returns to close out the game.
What remains the same throughout this Lenten season and every Lent, is that the texts prepare us for the central week of the Christian faith, our Lord’s last week in Jerusalem. The texts invite us to consider what it means to pick up our cross and follow Jesus to the Cross. Might we open ourselves up to how God might help us grow through this Lenten journey, and what this means to each of us this year.
May God’s blessing be upon us all as we walk together to the Cross.
~ Pastor Todd
P.S. We still have about a dozen or so slots to fill for people to write short prayers in our Lenten devotionals. Please do not hesitate to sign up below.
To participate in this year's Lenten prayer practice, sign up via this form.
to write a prayer based on a scripture passage
to receive daily emails of the prayers during Lent