HELLO!

I hope you will join Bethe and I for an intimate gathering of worship as we begin the season of Lent, hear the call for repentance (change of heart and practice), and consider receiving the mark of the ashes, on your forehead or hands. While these services are long-standing and well-attended in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, they have only been a regular part of United Church worship for the last three decades, in large part from a hunger by many to experience an intentional way to begin their Lenten journey. As such, in all the churches I have served, Ash Wednesday is a small gathering of very focused and discerning disciples.

I chose as my theme for this service a book by Erik Kolbell, a psychotherapist and former Minister. In When Your Life is on Fire: What Would You Save Kolbell asked 13 people what they would retrieve from their house if it was on fire and they only had a few minutes to make some important decisions. What would you save? Would it be family pictures? Your computer hard drive? What you choose to rescue probably says something about you. Regina Carter, one of the 13, chose her violin, not because of its value (a K-Mart special), but because of the sound it makes. Then there is Rabbi Arthur Waskow, he chose tikkun, items connected to his devotional practices. They help him live out a commitment to social justice. Then there is Brenda Berkman, the first woman to serve on the New York Fire Department – serving with distinction on 9-11. She chose the Beatitudes. “I’d rather see the world as it could be than as it is, and if I’m reading them right, so did Jesus”.

For the scripture lesson I have chosen Luke 9:1-6, the mission which the twelve disciples received from Jesus. Jesus called the twelve together to proclaim the kin-dom of God and to heal. Jesus sends them out with the following recommendations: “Take nothing for the journey, neither staff, nor bread, nor money and do not have a spare tunic”. One can only imagine what they left behind. What is needed to carry out their mission? Not much, only a purpose, a sense of being connected to Jesus’ vision, and a call to engage. Scholars say the four ingredients to this mission were: hospitality, sharing, communion and acceptance of the excluded.

The fire of Lent burns away the unnecessary, the burdens of what we imagine we need (the idols of the world), and leaves behind what we need for our journey, purpose, connection and call to engage.

What will you leave behind, burned away by the fire of the Spirit? What will you take with you, for this Lenten journey? Join us. Peace, Kevin

PS Our Shrove Tuesday gathering was huge success, all 18 tables of 6 seats were filled, and many others waited patiently for those seats to be vacated so they too could enjoy the meal. We estimate around 140-150 people. AND…we all got to see our newest and youngest member, Carlyle.