I love all the seasons of the Christian calendar, for they are reminders of the story and celebration of Jesus (his birth, life, ministry, passion, death and resurrection). Additionally, I love all the seasons of the Christian calendar because they help the Church focus on the rhythm of the Christian year. As I've come to learn and appreciate by studying the Christian calendar over the years, there is a rhythm to the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost/Ordinary Time—each season models the life and Jesus and his ministry through the work of the apostles and the early church. The seasons of Christian calendar are informed by the Bible and are celebrated through corresponding scripture which models the life of Jesus and his ministry. After all, we are Jesus' disciples; therefore, the seasons of the Christian year help us thoroughly outline and organize our worship and study of God's Son and the work of the Holy Spirit in ways that truly help us enjoy the fullness of God's amazing love for all and our subsequent call to share that love with neighbor.
Currently, we are on the precipice of the liturgical season of Lent ("spring"), a time when the Church focuses inwardly on the need for confession, repentance, study, prayer, fasting and reflection. It is a 40-day period (starting with Ash Wednesday and ends on Maundy Thursday) that mimics Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness (where he was tempted by the Devil). With the narrative of Mark 1:9-15 as the backdrop for the season of Lent, we, too, can trust and depend only on God during this time of prayerful introspection and humility. Many give up something that has kept them from centering their lives on Jesus while others begin new practices of Bible study and prayer. But whatever the individual choice might be, Lent gives believers the opportunity to be intentional about seeking Jesus, his cross, and to desire the sacrificial, selfless attitude of Jesus that reflects the importance of the Great Commandment—to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength and to love our neighbor as we humbly love ourselves.
During this season of Lent in 2024, I'll be preaching the Gospel texts of the Christian calendar as we make our way from the Sunday following Ash Wednesday (Feb. 14th) to Palm Sunday (Mar. 24th). Each of these six Sundays will help us prepare for Holy Week and Christ’s supreme sacrifice by humbly returning to the Lord through confession, repentance, fasting and generosity. Needless to say, I am very excited about the theme for Lent that God’s laid upon my heart.
The UBC theme for Lent this year arises out of Luke 24:13-35. Allow me to explain by first recounting these scriptures and why they help us maintain our humble focus during this holy season of Lent. In this Gospel text we read about the story of two travelers, walking the road to a town called Emmaus which was about 7 miles outside of Jerusalem. We’re told that one of the travelers’ names was Cleopas but we aren’t told the name of the other. Regardless, they were commiserating and consoling one another following the death of Jesus in Jerusalem during the Passover. The biblical text informs us that these two were companions of Jesus' disciples and perhaps even followed his teachings, too. As these two companions walk dejectedly back to Emmaus, wondering what to make of recent events, Jesus (unbeknownst to them) shows up in their midst on the Emmaus Road. Jesus (who is a stranger in their midst) begins to explain, using Moses and the Prophets, why the Messiah had to suffer before entering his glory. These two friends are so moved by this “extra” sojourner that they invite him (Jesus) to stay with them. Jesus accepts the offer and at dinner, asks as host by breaking the bread and distributing it to the two companions. At that instant, they recognized Jesus and instantly Jesus disappeared. Their reaction?: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, NRSV). These two couldn’t keep their excitement to themselves! They immediately got up and journeyed the 7-mile trip back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven disciples what they had experienced both on the roadway and at the table when Jesus broke the bread.
There are many takeaways from this Gospel story, but it’s obvious that the Emmaus Road is an appropriate metaphor for this Lenten journey we’re about to encounter. Honestly, this 7-mile road trip mimics the journey of suffering and sacrifice that we are called to embrace every day, the journey that leads to the death of self on behalf of God and others. But rarely do we walk this sacrificial journey alone; in fact, God calls us to take up our crosses together and follow him. The blessing of the journey is met in the promise of God to give us companions to share individual and collective suffering. We are not alone in the grief we experience due to missing the mark each day due to sin. Though we have sin in common, the Luke 24 narrative reminds us that we also have the hope of Jesus to walk with us, teach us, help us and heal us. While we struggle together, trying to make sense of the choices we make while sifting through the confusion and chaos often keeps us from experiencing the true freedom that Jesus offers. But the Emmaus Road story reveals that we were built to struggle with life and death in community with others, with people like us who are prone to sin, who know that their only hope is found in the Messiah, the Savior who always shows up when life is broken. Like the bread broken at the table of these two Emmaus Road companions, we, too, are called to reassess how we experience Life by offering the broken pieces of our lives to the Lord. In these moments of daily sacrifice, we offer God and others the shattered parts of our own lives and find that, every time, Jesus makes us whole again. After all, God shines through us best when the Light escapes through the cracks that show up in our attitudes, our speech and our actions.
So, precious church family, we stand on the precipice of yet another season of Lent, and I hope that you will embrace this year’s Lenten theme, “The 7-Mile Journey”, along with me. During Lent you will have more opportunities to participate in Lent by forming partnerships with a spouse, a family member, a church member, or another friend. These partners will become “Emmaus Road Companions” during Lent and you both will choose to hold one another accountable to returning to Christ and his cross by pursuing Lenten practices/activities that prepare your heart for Holy Week. Each week you and your Emmaus Road Companion will listen to the Sunday sermon and challenge one another to memorize a short section of the Sunday morning sermon scripture (it will be made available to you before Lent begins). Additionally, each week in Lent you are challenged to commit to one Lenten practice that you hold one accountable to: 1) Prayer (Lenten prayers, prayer walks, etc.);2) Fasting (abstaining from a certain junk food or vice and replacing it with something healthy); 3) Acts of Charity (donating together, serving a charity together, etc.); 4) Gratitude Journaling; or 5) Daily Lenten Devotionals. For each of these practices there will be examples and resources for you to consider before Lent begins (again, these resources will be made available to you). The goal during Lent is not perfection; instead, the goal is for you and your Emmaus Road Companion to encourage one another to draw closer to Christ as you empty yourself of “self” during Lent (James 4:7). My pastoral hope is that Lent will reinforce our love for Jesus and for one another. Collectively, our friendships will be stronger as we, like Cleopas and his traveling buddy, become Emmaus Road companions during Lent.
So begin preparing your heart, mind and body right now for Lent 2024, “The 7-Mile Journey”. Just as traveling and taking trips change us for the better, we, too, are called to journey into the heart of the Suffering Servant by walking together and asking deep questions of ourselves this Lenten season. Lord, what sin have I been ignoring that needs confessing? Jesus, who might I serve and bless during Lent? God, what must I give up so that I can give into the amazing, abundant love of your redeeming Son? Christ, what needs to die in me in order that I might experience resurrection? The good news is that this Lent will be experienced with a companion. Interestingly, companion is a word that literally means “with bread” or “bread fellow”. How beautiful is that? The person you walk with along this spiritual 7-Mile Journey is your bread fellow (or fellow woman), and as you travel and eat and share life together, inevitably you’re offering the other your “broken bread” life, and it will bring nourishment and hope and blessing to your sojourner as you walk to the cross—together.
Will you pray with me for 100% participation in our “7-Mile Journey” Lenten experience? Will you pray that God makes us humble and change our attitudes to match His Son’s? Will you pray that the Lord bring revival and renewal to our entire church through this cleansing, healing season of Lent? And will you pray that as we seek Christ’s cross that the old will die in order that God’s new life might be raised within us?
To this end, I thank you, my Emmaus Road Companions. Let us submit to Bread of Life and ask him to break us, too—so that others might recognize Christ in our lives and say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, NRSV). May our lives of meekness and humility become windows through which others see the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Let it be so, Emmaus Road Companions, along this 7-Mile Lenten Journey to which we're called,
Pastor Will
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