Lenten Season is Prime Time Worship

Jesus once said, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. … But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:1, 3).
Entering into the season of Lent is prime time for true Christian worship. But what is true Christian worship? Here we must learn from our Savior. As Jesus mentions, in order to receive His reward of grace, we must now follow our Savior to the cross by faith and learn from Him what real worship is. For what is true Christian worship but Christian humility, service, and obedience to God? Is not worship what the season of Lent emphasizes: the denial of oneself and putting God above everything else in this world, even our “acts of righteousness?” And what is true service and obedience but worshiping Christ in spirit and truth and obeying God’s will first, then serving others and giving to those in need from a grateful and contrite heart? Then, you see, our reward will come (Revelation 22:12), which God will graciously give to all those who faithfully believe in Jesus as their Savior.
We learn what true worship is from learning the trait of humility from our dear Savior, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6–8). True worship involves real humility on our part.
During the Lenten season, we also learn from Christ what true obedience entails. This, too, becomes an element of our worship. Jesus prayed, “Righteous Father…I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:25–26). Jesus obeyed His heavenly Father out of His great love for all of us, an obedience that led to our Lord’s death, “even death on a cross!” As we worship and follow our Redeemer to that cross during Lent, we see and know what real obedience to the will of God is all about. Jesus did.
Now is that special time to worship, to learn from our Savior what the nature of our faith in Him is all about. It is about humility, service, and obedience to God’s will. Now is the time, then, to worship and bow in deep humility and repent of our sins. Now is the time to worship and obey the will of God in our life, for His will for us is bound up in what Christ accomplished for us on the cross and reveals His incomparable love for us and all mankind.
Lenten season is really prime time for the Christian to worship, for now the journey of salvation begins. It is our Lord’s journey to Calvary, as well as all His believers along with Him by faith. Worship is the time for God to come to us with the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation through His sacred Means of Grace. At our Savior’s side, we worship. And through that worship, we learn what Christian humility service and obedience are all about. Learn from our Savior every step of the way to His cross and, in the end, receive His reward of grace—eternal life.
Daniel J. Larson is pastor of Saude Lutheran Church in Saude, Iowa, and Jerico Lutheran Church in New Hampton, Iowa.