As I write this, we’ve just been invited to remember our baptism. In just a few weeks, we’ll hear the words from Ash Wednesday: “From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.“
These two moments—the waters of baptism and the ashes of Lent—hold a holy tension.
On one hand, we are named and claimed as beloved children of God. On the other, we are reminded that our lives are fragile, limited, and brief. Lent invites us to sit in this tension—not with fear, but with honesty and purpose.
Lent Asks a Powerful Question
Lent is not meant to be gloomy. It is a season of clarity. A season that asks:
“Given that my time is short and my calling is great, how then shall I live?”
As United Methodists, we answer this question through what John Wesley called the Means of Grace—the holy habits that place us in the path of God’s transforming love. Wesley believed that while God’s grace is always available, we must “put ourselves in the way of it.”
Holding Both Truths: Baptism and Dust
If we focus only on baptism, we risk becoming complacent.
If we dwell only on dust, we may become discouraged.
But when we hold both truths together, we discover the motivation for what Wesley called Practical Divinity—faith that is both personal and lived out in action.
What Should I Do for Lent?
Instead of only “giving something up” out of tradition, consider this a season to practice what matters—habits that reflect both the gift of baptism and the urgency of time.
Here are two faithful paths for Lent:
1. Rend Your Hearts: Acts of Piety
Return to your spiritual center. Let the water of your baptism renew you in the following ways:
- Set aside time for prayer
- Read Scripture with openness
- Practice stillness or spiritual journaling
Not as burdens or boxes to check, but as a way to sit with the One who claimed you.
2. Work Your Hands: Acts of Mercy
Because life is a gift of dust and spirit, let us spend it well. Engage in acts that bless others:
- Feed the hungry
- Visit the lonely or homebound
- Stand up for the vulnerable
- Resist injustice in your community
Every time we act in mercy, we live out our baptismal vow:
“To resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”
Lent Is Not About Earning—It’s About Reflecting
We don’t practice these habits to earn God’s love. We practice them to reflect God’s light.
Lent is not about doing more for the sake of doing. It’s about doing what matters—making small daily choices that make the Gospel visible in a world that longs for hope.
A Lenten Blessing
As we journey from the font to the ashes, may we discover that it is in these quiet, intentional habits—both inward and outward—that we most clearly follow Christ.
Walking with you toward the Cross,
Pastor Rob