St. John's Lutheran Church

From Pastor Biar’s Pen 

I Knew I Forgot Something

            I try to remark on various “minor” holidays and saints’ days throughout the church year on our Facebook page, but amidst the hectic-ness of Lent and Holy Week, I missed one. March 25th is precisely nine months before Christmas, and so is the day that we celebrate the Annunciation when Gabriel told Mary that she was about to conceive of our Savior. Obviously, that’s a pretty big deal, and one worth celebrating all on its own, and I’m sorry I forgot to remind you all about it at the time.

            But isn’t it wonderful that such a day should fall during Lent? Granted, it’s usually closer to the middle than towards the end as Easter is on the early side this year, but that just makes it all the more better. Let’s face it: Lent is a dreary season. We’re fasting, we’re meditating on our sinfulness, we’re not allowed to sing Alleluia in our Church services. It’s penitential and depressing as we eagerly await the joy of Easter at the end of it all. But in the midst of all of that, we still have Jesus. While we are focusing on our need for our Savior, we get a day – again, usually towards the middle – to remember when our Savior came. While we are thinking of all the ways that we have fallen short of God’s perfection, we still get to celebrate that He still loved us enough to come down and dwell among us in the Incarnation. 

            Christmas and Easter are the two greatest holy days of the Church. They therefore anchor and reflect each other – observing when Christ rent the heavens asunder to break into His creation and when the temple curtain was rent asunder to break the disconnect that sin had introduced between Man and God. And the year just so happens to play out that even through the sorrow of Lent, we still get that glimmer of Christmas joy which only goes to prepare us for the Easter joy we are celebrating now. Happy Easter to you all, and I’ll try to stay more on top of the Church holidays now that things have calmed down a little bit. 

God’s Blessings,  Pastor Biar