Lent celebrates Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to strengthen his life witness. At the end of his sojourn he is tempted by the devil. Hans and Sophie Scholl are led by the Spirit into the wilderness to strengthen their life witness. They are tempted by the devil that is Nazi Germany. In the midst of increasing surveillance, cruelties, and killings Hans, Sophie, and other college-aged friends started the White Rose Movement. For eight months, primarily in their home town of Munich, they operated a leafleting and graffiti campaign. Their words denounced the Nazi regime and announced a courageous resistance. Their words did not violate a 1st Amendment that grooms disciples into believing the government has rights and grants them to its citizens. White Rose members knew human beings have rights by virtue of their humanness, which governments routinely violate. Their words were a start, as Sophie said, “Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.” The youth of the White Rose were expressing the risk of discipleship amidst the increasing horrors of the Nazi regime. Sophie offered that “Many people think of our times as being the last before the end of the world. The evidence of horror all around us makes this seem possible. But isn’t that an idea of only minor importance? Doesn’t every human being, no matter which era they live in, always have to reckon with being accountable to God at any moment?” Her desire to be accountable to her Christian faith put her at odds with the coopted evangelical church of her time. Many pastors, priests, and congregants had fallen for the temptation to be citizens when discipleship was being asked of them, “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” 21-year-old Sophie spoke those words on this day in 1943 when, along with her brother Hans, Sophie was arrested, convicted of treason, and beheaded by the Nazi regime.
Prayer: “My God, transform this ground into good soil so that your seed doesn’t fall on it in vain” (Sophie Scholl)
Question: What is the risk of my discipleship?
February 22, 2026 Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 First Sunday of Lent