Pastor Dan - March 2019
March 6th will be Ash Wednesday. It is a day in which we are reminded of the nature of being human and the mortality associated with being human. It is also a day which many will begin a “Lenten journey”. Some will give up a routine “pleasurable” item such as chocolate, or cookies, or ice cream or donuts. Some will “add” a discipline such as additional prayer time, or read a daily devotion or commit time to a worthy cause. Some will carry a heightened sense about Jesus’ own journey as God’s promised Messiah and the events which led to his death on a cross seemingly closer and more accessible in their day to day awareness. For some, all the above seem to apply, not to please an angry God, but because this is what we do as disciples of Christ.
The reason for such practices come about through the encouragement and stirring of the faith we have been given. A life lived in and through faith is to honor the Almighty who has bestowed something of the eternal realm into our hearts and souls: faith. Disciples tend to their faith. This time of year offers a variety of ways to be intentional in spending quality time with our Lord. Whatever works for you and how ever the Spirit is moving you, you are encouraged to follow and draw closer to the Lord who is journeying with you.
During the Lenten season, at our midweek Lenten services, we will look at some of the parables Jesus employs to instruct His disciples about living in the faith we are given to know Christ as Lord and Savior. Parables are unique and often are rooted in the common and day to day. It seems that by using parables, Jesus draws us in, and then there is a twist or turn or unexpected outcome and we find ourselves stunned, or confused or surprised. We learn something new about God or we learn something new about ourselves. Parables seem to have the power to speak to the now, both in the world and in our lives no matter how often we’ve heard the parable. These unique ways of teaching seem to be alive and can get into us in a way that nothing else can.
The season of Lent is not a time of inner reflection alone. Parables and our faith speak to our actions in a world and a humanity that is in need of saving and hope. We live in a world in which a woman is suing her parents for $2 million because they passed their “ugly” genes on to her. Her ugly “genes” have caused the failure of three marriages, depression and anxiety all of which require extensive costs. We live in a world in which insanity has a valid place and voice. We live in a world in which value of your own life has little to no concern and the value of life and living erodes away in our societies. We live in a world in which children are being kidnapped for their organs and those organs are sold on the black market. As humanity seems to move forward unchecked with any sense of holiness or reverence in regard to a benevolent and Gracious Creator, we, as disciples, are constantly seeking opportunities to spend quality time with the Lord and seek ways and means to be a voice and a presence to restore a sense of value, respect and reverence for the life we have been given and the lives around us. We seek ways to live faithfully and restore a sense of “righteousness” about humanity, life and living through our word and deed.
May this Lenten season bring about an awareness of God’s holy activity in, with and through you. And may the month of March be a month of faithful meditation and holy deed.
In Christ’s love and service,
Pastor Dan