March 2020

 Vacancy Pastor :  Rev. Dean Suehring 715-851-1151

Editors: Leah Lehman – 535-2172 and Carol Fuhrman – 535-2294

St. John e-mail address: stjohntigerton@frontiernet.net

Pastor’s e-mail address: dean.suehring@gmail.com

Website: http://www.frontiernet.net/~stjohntigerton/

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK: Dear Friends in Christ,

Every spring, as the days begin to get noticeably longer, the Church begins the holy season of Lent. Between the seasons of Christmas with its brightly lit trees, red poinsettias and Easter with its lily white paraments (the cloths draped over the pulpit, lectern, and altar), there is a time of forty days (plus Sundays) when a wooden cross too large to miss takes up residence in the front of our churches.

In times gone by, the Christmas tree from last December would have been used to make this year’s Lenten cross. In the same way that the Beautiful Savior born to us in Bethlehem pure and holy becomes for us the smitten, stricken and afflicted Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world so a tree once bright and green adorned with gold and silver now stands before us cold and lifeless.

Lent is the one time of year when no flowers adorn the front of church—so there is nothing to distract us from the cross. The paraments turn violet, a mix of kingly purple and mourning black. The “alleluias” in the service fall silent. All of this is a reminder that we are not yet in heaven.

Lent is a season of remembrance; that we are strangers in a foreign land, wandering through the wilderness of sin, like our ancient fathers before us. Lent is a season of repentance, a time to look at the cross with deeper understanding, recognizing how serious our sins really are and what it cost to save us from them.

Ashes are not everyone’s cup of tea on Ash Wednesday but the curse of Adam attached to them still clings to us all, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19) This is a solemn reminder that we are mortal, just as Lent is forty days long, so our days are also numbered.

For a time and a season the church sits quietly. Kneeling in prayer crying, “Lord, have mercy.” However, there is no need to be depressed by all this or lose hope. The Lord calls us to discipline our hearts, our minds and our bodies, this is good and good for us.

Now we bury our faces in prayerful meditation, but soon we will see the Lord with our own eyes and know that peace he has long promised us. For a time we keep silent, but if you listen closely you can almost hear the unending strain of those heavenly alleluias. In the end we will see that the words of Jesus from the cross on Good Friday, “It is finished,” were not word of defeat but words of victory. (John 19:30)

In the meantime, we await the revealing of the glory and victory that is to be. Just as Lenten ashes are washed away with a little water, so sins are washed away by Baptism’s saving waters. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness of the Exodus being fed by the Lord so now we are fed and nourished by Christ in the Holy Communion. Lent is a pilgrimage, a journey, where Christ is both the goal and our guide. The road that goes to the Upper Room, the Cross and the Tomb is the same one that leads to font, the pew and the communion rail and ends in heaven.  So let us follow where the Lord leads.

A blessed Lent to you,

Pastor Suehring