Every January, I am inundated with mail that promises to help the parishioners I serve to have a better Lent in their devotional life. If I didn't know better, I would think that we have never learned how to celebrate Lent. There is always a newer, better way. That's what these mailings seem to say. But I know it is not true. The best devotional material for Lent is found in a familiar, "old" place: in the sanctuary, both in what we see and hear.

When Christians come into Lutheran churches during Lent, they see the violet paraments (altar and pulpit hangings). Violet is the liturgical color that symbolizes repentance. This is the first sign that we have entered a time of sober reflection. Then they hear something different: The organ is played only as bare accompaniment to the singing.

In the Sunday service, where we are used to singing the Gloria in Excelsis, we do not sing it. The Gloria in Excelsis is the song of the Christmas angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Also, where we are accustomed to singing, "Hallelujah!", we do not sing it.

When “Passiontide” begins on the fifth Sunday in Lent, the crosses are veiled in black and the Gloria Patri (“Glory be to the Father …”) is omitted. This has a very jarring effect. Lutherans are used to seeing the cross. Lutherans are used to singing the Gloria Patri, as the conclusion to the Introit or Psalm, the Nunc Dimittis, the Magnificat, etc. When we do not sing this, it seems abrupt. We feel like we’re waiting for something that is missing. It seems like it isn’t finished. That is the point. For on Good Friday we will hear those very words, spoken by Jesus: “It is finished.” This change in the liturgy helps us wait to hear those words of Jesus in a more obvious and active way.

The hymns also are quite somber. The words are about my sin and Jesus’ suffering. The music typically is in a minor key; not joyful and happy, but more sober. Many of these hymns, however, are dearly loved by Lutherans because they proclaim what Jesus has done to save all believers. Important and favorite Lenten hymns are: “Jesus, I Will Ponder Now,” “O Dearest Jesus, ” “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted,” and “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.”

The things we see and hear in church during the season of Lent help prepare our hearts to celebrate the events of Holy Week. We do without certain happy elements that are normally present in the divine service. Our eyes and ears are confronted with the seriousness of our sin and the determined, self-sacrificing love of Jesus Christ our Savior. All these things remind us to prepare our hearts that we may benefit from our heartfelt celebration of our Savior’s redeeming work.

Some may think that this emphasis on Lent is going overboard. But I don’t think so. About ten years ago, I visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and I was struck by how quiet everyone was as we went through the rooms. People of all ages quietly went through the rooms. There was no need to tell people why. Who could laugh and joke about trivial things, while seeing where that Jewish family stayed in hiding in great fear from the Nazis who eventually found them, took them, and killed them in the labor camps? The season of Lent urges quiet contemplation upon us. Our worship should have this quiet reverence, full of appreciation for what our sin led our Savior to do for us. We do not hurry to the empty tomb. We walk there in quiet contemplation, mourning our sins and trusting in the Crucified One to redeem us from the slavery of our sins.

In the Lutheran Church, this is the devotional life we want to have during Lent. When we begin to sing the Hallelujah and the Gloria in Excelsis again on Easter Sunday and to sing hymns such as “Like the Golden Sun Ascending,” or ‘I Know that My Redeemer Lives,” our joyful praise will be a faint reflection of what it will be like in heaven. For then we will have come through the valley of sorrow to take up the “new song” with all the saints and angels.

Jerome Gernander is pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Princeton, Minnesota.