"Tempted" - Luke 4:1-13

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.” - Luke 4:1-2

 Lent has begun; we are invited to join Jesus on his journey that ultimately leads to the cross and Easter.  The journey is familiar, we do it each year and with it carries a sense of heaviness as we face our temptations and failings, but like everything else, it’s different now.  We have to “do” Lent when we are exhausted and weary from years of pandemic and constant political upheaval.  A lot of us are running on empty tanks and feel like we have enough to give to make it: how can we be asked to give anything up?  We have already been in the desert and faced some of our biggest challenges: this hardly seems like a time to go deeper on our own.

 I want to propose that we consider Lent differently this year because we are different.  Rather than a season for private reflection and journeying alone, Lent can be a time for communal lament, reflection, and action in response to the new knowledge we have gained since March 2020.  When we gather on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings and any time between, let us go deeper into our own hearts and faith and in our relationship of care for one another.

 We are all over stretched and exhausted.  Things like church can seem like too much.  It’s safer to stay home and disengage from things that aren’t necessary for the daily activities of life, but I fear that will only create more of the same.  We can’t pull back from each other or our faith right now.  The way through to a new creation, is together. I pray that this season is one of reconnection for us all. Reconnection to the God who is with us in the desert, reconnection to our hope and sense of purpose, and reconnection with one another based on our love for our neighbors.

 God Bless, Pastor Shannon Smith