What is it that you are about?

“There are two moments that matter. One is when you know that your one and only life is absolutely alive and valuable. The other is when you know your life, as presently lived, is entirely pointless and empty. You need both of them to keep you going in the right direction. Lent is about both.” - Richard Rohr 

What is it that we are going to be about this Lenten Season? What is it that we are going to be about on Easter morning? What is it that we are going to be about after the resurrection?

We live in the season of Lent to prepare for what is to come on Easter. We are walking the journey to the cross with Jesus and inevitably towards the resurrection of Christ. We read about those 40 days and we know that Jesus was tempted in many ways to change who and what he was about. He was offered much land and power yet he refused. He was tempted to turn stone into bread but never strayed from the mission.

You and I are living, this Lenten Season, in a time of temptation and trial. We are living in a season and in a world where each and every day we are tested. Each and every day, you and I, will rely on God to persevere through the storm.

When Jesus told Peter to step out of the boat and walk out to him, Peter did so, but as he got closer he began to sink out of fear and doubt. He was tested by the wind and waters and he took his eyes off Jesus. He took his eyes of the mission and the calling. In Peter’s time of “wilderness” he sunk, but nevertheless, Jesus remained to accept Peter in the condition he was in and rescued him from the waters of fear and doubt.

What is it you are going to be about this Lenten Season? What temptations will you be faced with on a daily basis? How will you overcome these temptations? What will be your wilderness?

Dear God,

We have been on this journey

from Bethlehem to Jerusalem many times before.

We understand the pace of it, the sounds of it,

the beat of it, the rhythm of it,

the ultimate destination of it.

But we are not all at the same place on the journey.

Easter on the calendar may not be Easter in my soul.

Some of us have no home of our own;

Our Community of Faith has scattered;

Some of us are too much separated from our families.

The storms of life have upset the order of our souls.

I am drawn, however, to be a part of the journey. 

Our Lenten Journey

Joel 2:1;16-18

"Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand—

 

Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders,
gather the children, those nursing at the breast.
 Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. 

Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar.

Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people."

 

 We are only one week removed from Ash Wednesday, the beginning of our Lenten Journey. In only a week I know that this Lenten Season will be a special season, one in which I hope that I will feel the presence of God in a real and tangible way. That has been my prayer and it has taken me a little over one week to know that God has already answered that prayer. God answered that prayer, perhaps, even before I spoke the words of that prayer. 

After our Ash Wednesday Service at Noel last week our Minister of Congregational Care, Mimi McDowell, and I took ashes out to those who couldn't make it to our service. Like the prophet Joel says, in preparation for repentance, to gather all those into the assembly – from the oldest of the old to the youngest of the young, even those at their mothers breast. 

To look into the eyes of those we met that afternoon and to have a chance to listen, pray and offer God’s forgiveness to them was a humbling moment in my ministry. In those holy moments of reflection and devotion I hear stories about how Noel Church has touched them and about how blessed and humbled they were that we would think of them. These people have left a legacy for us to follow. They have left large shoes for us to fill. They are the people of God who built the firm foundation for us, the church. 

I’m not sure what the rest of this Lenten Season has to offer to me or to us as a church and as the people of God, but I know that I cannot wait to sit back and listen, pray and offer God to those I encounter. May God continue to reveal Godself to you in real and tangible ways this Lenten Season as God has already for me. 

I offer this prayer from Rev. John Winn as a prayer for all of us as we continue on this journey. 

Dear God,

I am full of anxious questions.

I am short on reasonable answers.

I am trapped by my own inability

to make a decision.

I am reluctant to express my feelings.

I am afraid of the consequences.

I want a guarantee that everything

will work to my benefit.

There are times when I hope that

someone will take over for me.

There are times when I know

I must do it myself.

That is when I am fearful that

I am not strong enough.

I am not wise enough.

I am not caring enough.

If it is possible,

let that cup pass from me,

but if not…

Amen. 

Pastoral Prayer - October 21st (Noel UMC)

God of the marginalized,

 

Allow us to become tentative to your sprit this morning as we seek to know you more.  Transform our mundane words, songs and prayers into a glorious sound called worship. Be in our midst now as we seek to find you.

 

God, we pray this morning that you would continue to shape us and form us into the people you call us to be. We pray that You would convict us in our communion with others so that we might know what it truly means to be a servant for others. I pray that you would continue to place in our lives the people and the opportunities that shape our Christian lives of service, justice and mercy, and to reconcile us with You when we fall short.

 

We pray for all those this morning worshipping down the hall. We pray that they, along with us, might come into this place thirsty for an encounter with the Holy.

 

 

We pray for those this morning who might be hurting, sick or in need. We pray that your spirit would comfort them and heal them wherever they are in life, and that your abundant grace would wash over them like water.

 

We give thanks God for each servant here at Noel Memorial United Methodist Church. We give thanks for their servant hearts, hands and voices. We give thanks to those who give of themselves for your service. Allow us to be transformed and renewed again and again by your Scriptures.

 

God we know that we are a busy people … allow us to slow down just for a moment to rest in you……

Pastoral Prayer - February 3rd (Noel UMC)

Dear Friends, let us now go to God bringing whatever it is that is on our hearts, knowing that God is present among us and that God is listening to God's people.

 

Would you pray with me?

 

God of grace, patience and love,

 

We come to you today seeking forgiveness for all the times we have failed you. For all the times we have failed to live up to the people you have called us to be. For all the times we have failed ourselves. We ask that you look past our sinfulness and our doubts. We ask that you mend the broken places of our hearts and fill the empty spaces of our souls for we are a broken people.

 

Continue to mold us and shape into the people you call us to be. We are desperate for healing, we are desperate for forgiveness and we are desperate, indeed, for the promise of redemption to be renewed in us and through us.

 

For all the times that we fall short. For all the times that we shut you out of our lives. For all the times we rebuild the walls you continue to tear down. Oh Lord, have mercy on us.

 

Again and again, we pray with everything we have, Lord. We pray for this church and its leaders. We pray for our community and the people who walk through our doors each and every day. We pray that this place would be a place where your Spirit is felt and where you and your disciples may call home. 

 

We thank you for your faithfulness to us and to this community. For the renovation of this sacred building, for the faithful leaders you have blessed us with and for the responsibility of the task ahead. For the new church officers and congregational care ministers. In their times of struggle and decision making, we ask that your peace be with them and that your spirit guide them. May we ever look to You for guidance and for discernment, oh gracious Lord. 

 

God we are your people and again today we come into this place seeking to find you in the songs, the prayers, the sermon and the sacraments. We are again listening …. Waiting for your voice to be heard. Wash over us in these sacred moments and allow us to be still and know that You are God.

 

(Silence)

 

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit I pray, Amen.