Dear Friends,
What if I told you that in roughly six weeks you are going to get to take a much-needed vacation to another country (bear with me, we are just going to pretend we are not in the midst of a global pandemic)? Where are you going? Let’s pick someplace warm and sunny. How about Iceland? Okay, I know that doesn’t sound warm, but the people there have warm dispositions. You have six weeks to get ready to go. What are you going to do between now and then to get ready? Oh, I forgot to mention one little detail, you are going to be there for seven months.
After we look up on Google Maps where Iceland is, the next thing we might do is make sure our passport has not expired. Next comes the planning, buying clothes, deciding who will feed the cat while you are gone, figuring out what suitcases to take, and the list goes on and on. I am sure you would spend time looking up key phrases in whatever language it is they speak there. You might even study some Icelandic culture and history. As you ponder the next seven months your thoughts might turn toward the people you are leaving behind. Who do you need to take out to coffee before you go? After all, it is going to be a long time before you are back. Maybe there is even someone you need to mend the bridge with in case you get trampled by a caribou while you are there. You certainly want to have your house in order before you go.
Seeing as I am a preacher you have probably figured out this message is not really about traveling to Iceland and avoiding getting eaten by polar bears. On Easter Sunday we are going on a journey. Easter is a day set aside in the church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It is also a day for the sending out of the church into the world in the power of the resurrection of Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit which we remember at Pentecost fifty days after Easter.
Before the church is sent at Easter and Pentecost we get ready for the journey. The season of getting ready is the time of Lent. Lent is the forty days, starting with Ash Wednesday (February 17th), before Easter. This is a time to prepare to go. It is a season set apart for confession, repentance, preparation, and listening. It is like being one of the disciples following Jesus around for the three years as he ministered on this earth. For three years the most important thing you would do is listen to and watch Jesus. As one of the disciples, you may not fully understand what Jesus is doing and why but you would still listen, learn, and wonder.
In this season of Lent we, at Hope, are going to listen and watch Jesus. We will do so first by daily reading together from the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and the book of Acts. Attached to this message you will find a daily Bible reading plan. I invite you, as you read to listen and watch Jesus and his disciples. To ask questions and wonder. How might you have reacted if you had been in the crowd? Why do you think Jesus did what he did? What do you think God could be up to? How did Jesus express God’s love for humanity? We will also take this time to listen to our community. We know that God is already at work in the life of every person drawing them to himself and inviting them to experience his love. Take this time to listen and look with anticipation for where God is at work.
We will also listen to God, each other, and scripture by gathering together online each Wednesday morning and evening at 7:00 AM and PM for guided prayer. This will start tomorrow morning with a special Ash Wednesday service on Facebook Live that will be repeated in the evening. This service will end with communion.
Plan to join together with your Hope family in this season of getting ready to go on a journey of a lifetime following Jesus together as his people in the next season of ministry at Hope.
Blessings,
Pastor Stephen
