There is a story about a certain Roman pastor of noble birth who lived long ago in the days when Christianity was still illegal in the empire. Claudius II was arresting Christians and putting many of them to death. But as the pastor was a nobleman he was not arrested. This pastor had the custom of cutting heart-shaped notes out of parchment, writing on them words of encouragement and sending them to his members of his flock. Yet this pastor could no longer stand by and watch as fellow Christians from his church were hauled away to face death. This pastor goes to Claudius with a proposition. He offers to give his life if Claudius will agree to spare the lives of his subjects. The emperor agrees thinking that the execution of a pastor will do more to harm the Christian cause than the death of hundreds of commoners, so Pastor Valentine is put to death on February 14, 270, and his people are spared. Admittedly we don't know how much of this story is true and how much is a pious legend. But the story does serve as something of a parable for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ who laid down His life on the cross to free us from death.

So Valentine's Day can serve to draw our attention to Lent which begins this Wednesday. Lent is the season that we especially focus on the cross of our Savior and the sacrifice which He made their our of love for us. As Jesus prepares His disciples for His passion, the Evangelist Mark says that "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Valentine's Day is a day that our culture has set aside to honor love but unfortunately our culture often reduces love to a sentimental feeling or a romantic mood. Christians know better. We know what love is from the cross of Jesus Christ.

It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who reminded us that God is love but love is not God. Love does not define God. God defines love. The Apostle John puts it like this in his first epistle: "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us" (I John 3:16) and again "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (I John 4:10). God demonstrated His love for us in sending His Son into the flesh to suffer and die in our place. God does not wait until we become lovable to love us. The Apostle Paul says that while we were still God's enemies, He loved us and sent His Son to shed His blood in order to reconcile us unto Himself. And that love required a cross.

Now it is at this point that Peter objects. Mark tells us that Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke Him. Peter wanted a Christ without cross. Peter could be quite comfortable with talk about God's love but he could not stomach the teaching of our Lord about His suffering and death. Peter is not all that different from many in our own day. At Willow Creek Church in suburban Chicago, the model for the so-called seeker-sensitive churches, you will not find a cross on the premises. It represents death and it is too negative we are told. But if you take away the cross you take away the Gospel. The Gospel is not a message about a generic love of God, a love that is tolerant of everything and anything. The Gospel is the good news that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to cross for a world that hated Him. The love of God actually does something about sin. The love of God atones for sin, answers for sin, by paying the penalty for sin with blood-His own blood.

Now the Season of Lent draws us deeper into that love. We do not stand by as spectators but we are drawn into this love of God made manifest in the cross of His Son. Therefore Jesus says "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." The mind of the old Adam (and that mind is in all of us) thinks that we will save our lives if we have the right education, the right job, the right friends, the right marriage, the right amount of money, the right types of recreation, or the right health. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?" The answer to that question should be absolutely clear: Nothing.

Jesus came to save us. He came to take away the sin that separates us from God for He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Lent is the time to learn again how to let go of our sin and how to receive the forgiveness which Jesus won for us by His suffering and dying. Lent teaches us how to trust in Jesus Christ alone for life and salvation. We have called Lent the "spring training season for the Christian life" because it feeds us on the Gospel, exercising us in repentance and faith and strengthens our grip on God's Word. Make the most of this Lenten Season for your own growth in the grace and knowledge of our Savior.

There is one more dimension to our observance of Lent. It is found in the final verse of today's Holy Gospel. Jesus says, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation. Of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." To know the love of our Lord Jesus Christ is to confess Him and His words. The opposite of such confession is being ashamed of Him and His words.

Yes, we do live in an adulterous and sinful generation, that is, a generation that is looking for love and life in all the wrong places. There is only one place where love and life are to be found and that is in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. Apart from Him there is only death and condemnation, but in Him there is forgiveness of sins and where there is forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation. Don't be ashamed of Jesus Christ and His words. Don't be ashamed of being known as one who draws his or her life from the Divine Service where our Lord bends down to put His words of love into our ears and the gift of His body and blood into our mouths. Let those around you know by the way you arrange your schedule that nothing is of greater importance than being gathered around the Lord's Word and Table as He imparts His gifts. And invite them to come with you to learn of our Lord's love for them so that they too might rejoice in the salvation which Jesus purchased and won for them with His own precious blood.

Valentine's Day and the beginning of Lent- there is a connection. It is the cross of Jesus Christ for there the heart of God beats with love for you.

"On my heart imprint your image, Blessed Jesus, king of grace,
That life's riches, cares, and pleasures,
Never may your work erase;
Let the clear inscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
Is my life, my hope's foundation,
And my glory and salvation!" Amen