“Cuando venga el
Consolador, que yo les enviare de parte del Padre, el Espirtiu de verdad
que procede del Padre, el testificara acerca de mi. Y tambien uste des
daran testimonio porque han estado conmigo desde el principio.”
“When the Counselor
comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who
goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must
testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
John
15:26-27, Santa Biblia/Holy Bible,
Nueva Version Internacional/New International Version
It is
not about fish on Fridays, nor is it about what you give up for a
season, nor is it about attending an extra worship service a week for a
few weeks, as though the effort or the discipline itself would be all
that it takes to please God. Such a God would be a shallow God, indeed.
Lent is about
kneeling before Jesus and seeing in his eyes our brokenness. Lent is
about walking with Jesus and hearing his voice name our healing. Lent is
about moving with Jesus from the quiet, powerful starlight of Bethlehem
to the frenzied, darkened regions of Jerusalem. Lent is about naming
where your heart is (what you really believe and trust) and realizing
that the truth of that naming reverberates in the silence of the cross
and tomb. Lent is about coming to Jesus and having the heart of what we
believe revealed for what it is . . . and praying for His salvation to
save us in spite of ourselves.
In whatever language
it is spoken the 15th chapter of John, the 27th
verse, reads, ‘You are my witnesses . . .’ and as I walk with Jesus on
this Lenten journey, I am not sure I can bear the weight of those words.
I am embarrassed by the boldness of how I can speak my opinion on nearly
everything, yet struggle with the difficultly of speaking anything in
faith. I am ashamed of how easy it is to value the things of this world
as ‘necessity’, and how hard it is to understand the necessity of the
Kingdom in this world as having value. I am humbled by how readily I am
caught up in the gush over titles, awards, and degrees, while serving
the One whose only claim while walking the earth was to the name, Jesus.
Yet, it is in the name of Jesus that I have my hope, for in the One with
whom I walk to Jerusalem God is doing a new thing and we are recipients
of that grace.
For the St. Paul
United Church of Christ faith family, this Lenten journey is a time of
truth-telling. It is a time of listening to God’s Word, pondering on its
meaning, and speaking the truth about who we are, who we are becoming,
and who we are called to be. It is a time of coming to terms with our
witness . . . and doing it face to face with the One by whom we are
named.
It is not about fish
on Fridays, nor is it about soup and sandwiches on Wednesdays. It is
about coming to Jesus in truth and going into the world in faith,
bearing witness to what we have seen. The journey isn’t nearly as
important as the One with whom we walk on the way.
Who are you walking with this Lenten season? Dare you speak the truth
before God or will you live in the eternal damnation of your uneasy
silence? Whether we choose to live in the wonder of God’s redemptive
love . . . or not, we are His witnesses. What is your life telling the
world about Jesus? What does our life together profess of God’s presence
and care? Come, share the journey with Jesus and let us talk of our
witness together. Come, God calls us to embody the new Jerusalem today
and your witness is important to that vision. Come.
