- We are currently collecting for Fuel Assistance to help four local families with 100 gallons of oil each.
- Lenten Fridays with INC continue this Friday at our church at 6pm.
- Lenten Home Contemplative Practices with Owen and myself can be found on our website with a new one posting each week until Easter.
- Easter Sunrise Service at 6am. Regular Easter Service at 9am.
- Discussion Group & Confirmation Studies today, March 30th, and April 27th after Church.
- Watch the recording HERE
It sounds so lovely when we only read this part (Luke 4: 18-21). We often take scripture in parts and sometimes that takes it out of the story and out of context. Before this, Jesus has come home to his hometown to preach. After this, they are so angry at Jesus’s words that they run him out of town and threaten to throw him off a cliff.
This is one of those moments when we remember those warning words: if you think you’re enlightened, go visit your family. If you think you’re smart, offer advice your family.
Imagine it. Jesus has just returned from the desert—yes, those 40 days. He’s come home and he’s preaching. He gets run out of his own home town. PAUSE. Perhaps, this reminds us that the wildernesses never go away. PAUSE. It never gets easy, nor perhaps, is it supposed to. There are always going to be trials and challenges…and really, really sad moments in our lives…moments when we are let down.
I wonder what reception Jesus expected to his words. I mean, these are his people. These are the people who know him and love him. Was this what he expected to happen?
Maybe, as Jesus is always handing us the unexpected, he too has experienced the unexpected. Maybe, he knew what would happen, and he had to cut ties with what was comfortable to continue his journey.
It’s a beautiful practice to really sit with and contemplate the Stories. To really notice what’s between the lines and what these short passages really would have meant…and what it would have felt like to be in the Stories. They wanted to throw him off a cliff!! His own people!!
Sometimes, it is the unexpected people who turn against us.
Sometimes, it is the unexpected people who stand beside us.
Which brings me to our third Essential for the Spiritual Journey. Yes…we’re still in the Wilderness. It’s not yet Easter.
This third Essential is…Good Company. Good Company helps us to stay on the path. Good Company helps us to not go astray. We need one another. We need help and we need to help. We’re in constant reciprocity with one another. And with Grace.
Yes, the journey in the wilderness is done alone and is a lonely journey, but it doesn’t have to be an isolating journey. Yes, our tests are for ourselves alone, but we don’t have to cut ourselves off from those who love and support us. In fact, when we’re in the desert and alone is often the time we need our support team the most.
Perhaps this echo of the wilderness is why so many of us are drawn to self challenges. Long thru hikes. Triathlons. Obstacles races. CrossFit. Marathons. Cold water dunking. Bungee jumping. Sky diving. Returning to college. Changing jobs. Going sober. Changing homes. Travels. Adventure. Walks. Pilgrimages.
These are things that take us out of our comfort zones. These are things that test us, challenge us, and scare us. They test our drive and determination. They test our strength and make us stronger. As we mentioned, the last few weeks, these are places we learn about ourselves and there is no shame or failure in “changing direction” or “resting for a time”. There is no shame in acknowledging help and support.
The thing that is most surprising is that these self challenges are never done alone, even when it appears that we do it alone. Even when we think we’re doing alone. There is the home team that supports us to make this change or this new commitment. Those who encourage us through the training and the planning. The inevitable falls. Those pushing us when we feel like we can’t do it. There’s our team training alongside us. Cheering us on. While we cheer them on.
We can’t do this life, especially the tests and the trials, alone. We shouldn’t do it alone. It’s lonely enough without separating ourselves from one another.
One of my favorite things about hiking is the Trail Angels. Those people who leave random snacks beside the trail. Who stop to offer a lift, or a place to stay, or a shower.
One of my favorite things about racing is that complete strangers are really and truly cheering you on. Sometimes they stop in the middle of their own race to help you when you need it most. It’s you against the obstacle, the distance, the cold, the fear…
but you’re never alone. There’s so many others on the journey beside you, testing and challenging their strengths and fears. It a beautiful echo of the journey of life. When we most think we are alone…we are never alone. PAUSE.
We need Good Company on the journey. Those who stand with us at the edge of the wilderness and give us our final nudge into it. PAUSE. Those who meet us on the other side with a hug. PAUSE.
Jesus was alone in the desert, but he’d just left John the Baptist who led him the the edge of the desert. He was led out of the desert by angels and then went home to spend time with family.
And, yes, there are those with us in the wilderness. We might feel alone in our Lenten Journey, but there are millions fasting, praying, and giving collectively with us. PAUSE. This is not to have a whole lotta people to compete with, or to do better than, or to show us that we are weaker than everyone else. No, they are fellow pilgrims on the journey. They are with us. These are journeys that seem to be separating and isolating, but really bring us together. Together with one another and together with Grace.
There are those walking beside us and there are those walking with us. Those who walked before. Those who will come after. Shared tears. Shared blisters. Shared thirst. Shared loneliness. Shared misery. Shared discomfort. Shared determination. Shared prayers. Shared hopes. Shared love.
We might feel alone in the trials and struggles of life. Those times when we experience death and illness. When we navigate injury and disappointment. PAUSE. We are not alone. Everyone is going through trials and struggles, collective aches and pains of challenges, the confusion and the getting lost of the human journey.
These wildernesses, the Lenten Journey, and the challenges of life and living are here the strengthen us and connect us. PAUSE. If we are not being connected through our wildernesses, we have missed the mark.
We need Good Company, especially on the hard journeys.. Company that:
Helps us feel less alone.
Reminds us that we are not isolated.
Holds us up when we are shaky.
Brightens us when we are in our dark moments.
Cheers us on in our successes.
Dries our tears in our failures.
Extends grace when we do better.
Extends grace when we do worse.
Teaches us what we do not know.
Shines a light on what we cannot see ourselves.
And most importantly, Love us regardless…
Love us.
Through it all, even when we cannot feel it, the presence of Grace is there with us, holding us, catching us, supporting us, cheering us on…and loving us. Regardless. Because everyone is on the dance floor of God (Hafiz poem).
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 