Then the king gathered ... all the people great and small; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book ... (2 Chronicles 34:29-30)

Oftentimes, as we move into the middle of Lent, people begin to grow weary. They begin to ask, "Why all this talk of sin and death? Why must we dwell so long on confession and repentance, "a broken and a contrite heart" (Psalm 51:17)? Who wants to be so gloomy? Let's hear something happy for a change.

Of course, there's no shortage of "happytalk" preachers, and many ministers don't think it's necessary to preach these Lenten themes; but I do, so I think the question deserves an answer.

We dwell on such things for so long because this is the rhythm of the Christian year. "For everything there is a season" (Ecciesiastes 3), so we have Advent to dwell on n…