Pre-Lent – What Does This Mean?

For churches that use the historic, one year lectionary (cycle of readings), Epiphany has passed and, last week, they celebrated our Lord’s Transfiguration. They now focus on our Lord’s Resurrection, the victory Christ won for us as he died on the cross and then triumphantly rose from the dead. They do this in stages: Pre-Lent, Lent, and the Passion. Today, they are in Pre-Lent (nicknamed the ‘gesima’ Sundays for the Latin titles of the Sundays). For churches using the three year lectionary, Epiphany lasts a few more weeks. When Lent comes, all of the churches will be on the same calendar again.

In the early church, catechumens (learners) were baptized on Easter, and Lent was a sort of final and intense preparation. And so, the Sundays before Lent aim to equip the students for Easter and to remind the baptized of what is to come. The Epistle texts will present the Christian life as a race, as a contest that requires constant self-discipline and self-control, as a demanding life filled with labor and suffering. In a few weeks, Lent will teach that the Christian life is selfless and motivated only by love. Our Gospel texts speak of God’s call for us to be laborers, of the education and training in God’s ‘school of life,’ of the enlightenment of God’s rich grace upon all who seek it. Pre-Lent seeks to prepare for Lent and Easter in this way because the new life we are raised to live is one that lasts forever.

This summer the world will turn their eyes to Tokyo. Some of the most elite athletes in their various sports will take the field or arena or ring. They were born with natural gifts in whatever their sport is. Yet despite this natural gift, they have still had to prepare for this moment since they were young children. They are always laser-focused not just on qualifying and competing, but on bringing home gold. They will have trained and competed with little to no regard for their body. All that matters is being on top of that podium in July and August.

The Olympic games were centuries old when St. Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthians. That said, they were a much different event then than they are now. What isn’t different, however, is the effort put in. And Paul knows it.We each have a race to run, and none of us knows how long it will last. This is why continual training is required. Why self-discipline and focus are paramount. Lent is a time of battle. It is a time of preparation and repentance. But it is also about grace. About hearing what Jesus has done for us in his coming, culminating in his death, burial, and resurrection that all your sins are put away and forgiven.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD