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The spot for the good news, the good word, the quick reports of the many, many wonderful news items I hear all the time and want to share with the rest of you. Expect to find the good news when you come to check out "what’s the good word?"

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

What if...?



 

We are now one week into our pre-Easter reflection period known as Lent.  I trust this is a season of meaning and blessing for you as you reflect on our approach to Holy Week, 2014.

As we consider Jesus’ intention to undertake the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, it is interesting to reflect on what he might have decided to let go of or leave behind.  We know he was a thoughtful planner, so it is unlikely he would have undertaken this trip without deliberate preparation.  What did he decide he would need for the journey ahead, and what could he do without?  Matthew tells us he made his home in Capernaum by the sea (Matt 4:13).  Did he cancel the lease on his residence?  Did he give away his household goods? 

In our personal spiritual journeys, we look to Christ as our model.  During the Lenten season, we consider what habits or elements we too should lay down and do without.  What if congregations were to do the same?  What if our worshiping, fellowshipping communities also undertook a Lenten season of reflection about how we will be faithful together in our calling to be about the Mission of Jesus?  What should we lay down?  What could we do without?  How would that help us be more on task?

Please note that I am not talking about cleaning out the back classroom where 30 years of old lesson books and craft supplies have accumulated, now all yellow with age. Rather, I am wondering what “programs” we might do without in order to be  more faithful. 

What if the program we needed to let go of was (deep breathe) the Sunday morning service?  What if the congregation met together on Sunday morning, not to sit in a sanctuary but to walk the neighbourhood, sit in the coffee shop, or meet the neighbours?  What if we did that prayerfully asking God to let us really see and understand what is going on in the area where the church is planted?  What if we prayed and fasted as we went so we could learn what God’s children who live on our block are going through?  What if we found there were homeless people living behind that apartment building?  What if we learned that the neighbourhood had become multiracial, multicultural, multireligious, how could we open our doors to that community?  What if we learned that our traditional programming was not what the people we are called to serve even needed, would we be willing to set it aside? 

Just a few questions for reflection on our Lenten journey in 2014.  

Posted by Carman

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Carman...if only we could look at church and its program in new ways. Not easy for many but .you have given us much to think about especially during this season of lent.

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    1. You are certainly welcome, Carole. It is probably me that needs to think about it more than anyone else, but I am always hopeful that someone else may also ponder such questions. The hard part is doing something about it!

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  2. Moving on the questions you present here, Carman, is rather scary, but reading them is not enough. The needs of our time are really no different from the needs of Jesus' time. And he set a clear example of what our response could/should be! This lenten season is an ideal time to consider what we can undertake where we are, as we reflect on the mission of Jesus.

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  3. You are correct, Dorene, reading is not enough. It is the moving on the answers that is hard.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We always appreciate our readers' comments.

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