Extraordinary Ordinariness

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which is traditionally a time of prayer, fasting, and repentance leading up to Easter, observed by Christians since the days of the early church. Several elements of the service have been adjusted to fit the character of this season. We will begin each Sunday by singing What Wondrous Love Is This (reflecting on Jesus paying the penalty for our “dreadful curse”), and go out singing Christ Be With Me (confessing our need for His continual presence in our lives). Each week we will take a moment after corporate confession to confess silently, and respond by singing from John 1:29, “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.” The closing hymns for the next five weeks will be focused on the Crucifixion. This week it is Phillip Bliss’ Man Of Sorrows!, a poetic meditation on Isaiah 53 which pictures Jesus standing in our place, bearing our shame, and sealing our pardon with His blood. The prevalence of minor key music, times of silence, and confessional passages from Scripture may seem a bit more somber than usual—particularly when combined with the new setting of Psalm 137, one of the bleakest passages in the psalter, which we’ll be singing through the season. But I pray the reflective character of these next five weeks will prepare us for the joy of Easter morning. —Henry C. Haffner