The season of Lent is Jesus’ time of getting ready and prepared for ministry.  Although this season lasts 40 days I began to feel like life is always about “getting ready.”  Each week I prepare for Sunday service, bible study, administrative activities of the church, and now preparing to implement more exciting details of our revitalization plan.  At home it’s the activities of getting ready for the day, getting dinner ready, and getting ready for bed on nights with meetings.  Lots of readying going on.

We had a great reflection in this morning’s prayer/meditation time on how we ready ourselves for God by making choices that go along with God’s will for loving one another.  We had a brief reading from Hebrews about how Moses chose to turn back on his upbringing in the Egyptian palace as the princess’ adopted son to live with his people.  Not many of us would make a choice of poverty over royalty, but this did make him so ready to be the leader of the Israelites.  The author of the meditation, and I would concur that God gives us choices, and when we choose to follow the will of God’s love for others, self & God, we are making Ready for the “kingdom of God.”

How do you make choices that reflect the love of God in the big and small things?  How are you ready for the love of God?

This is a week where much action is happening around the castle.  Although this seems odd for Lent, it seems very appropriate for Green Lake UMC to be making changes at this time.  It has been a couple of years of contemplation about new ministries, and with tenants moving out, and congregation members contemplating how best we can all serve the community, just as the 40 days in the wilderness had jesus ready for active ministry, so are we!

This week’s sermon (sorry not online, and sorrier still that some of our beloved were out sick) was on repentance and how God is constantly inviting us to return to wholeness and love (repent) from our wayward ways.  As a great metaphor we had a table that had been stored for years in the dungeon of the church, covered with red contact paper and years of dust and debris.  This week it was beautiful thanks to some time and effort, all good things take effort.  Just as the table, this congregation is renewing itself, pealing away and searching for the beautiful essential grain to show forth.  And a wonderful part of this process, which is central to Lent’s exploration, is that each change is being shared, discussed and discerned.  Just as facing “Diabalos” was not easy for Jesus and was work that left him tired, so is the work happening here.  Just as the wilderness left Jesus set in motion for ministry of healing, hope and redemption, so we are getting set for all that at GLUMC.

It is an exciting time for all of us, as we ask ourselves the question, “How is God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit calling you to ministry?”

There are times when I feel like a prophet, in word and action, but sometimes I feel there is nothing to do in a given situation than simply rolling with it.  There are times when an issue comes up, and I simply don’t know what the answer is, don’t know where the best stance for social justice is, and know internally that this is not a place where I am called to move.  Ya know, sometimes this place is very good, a place where others must step in, where God calls me to be nothing more than an observer, or wait, more than an observer, a person who can pray and observe and trust that God is there.

It is places of the uncertain that I personally feel most in the wilderness, the desert of my soul.  When I see places of hurt or pain that I can’t change, I can’t understand and darn it, I wish I could fix.  I once heard someone say, “how would you react if you truly understood a person’s motive, what would change?”

It seems that one of the wonders of God is recognizing that we are all going to fall short of fully comprehending everything, that to let go of absolute reason, unending knowing, and full depth of understanding, is to fall into the graceful pillow of “KNOWING” there is something greater than ourselves.  The greatest knowing is to acknowledge that we can never really know… it gives us freedom to just roll with life at times when the going gets tough, when to understand cruelty and craziness is not for us to know.  It allows God to be in a supreme place and for us to have a place to rest our brains and emotions.

Where do you need to let go, and let God?

I read a critique today of funeral services as being too much about celebration of a person and not enough ritual or speaking of the saving grace of God through Christ.  Hmmmm, not necessarily my experience, particularly yesterday at a most wonderful worship of praise to God for the life of Pat Willburn, her eternal life, and the gift of faith and spirit that she passed along to her family.

Listening to her grandchildren witnessing to her faith and guidance in their lives was beautiful.  In the planning of the service the time with her children was a great joy as we shared stories of how Pat witnessed God’s love in their lives.  As for ritual, our service of Celebration and Remembrance is full of great ritual; prayer and songs that reflect the faith of the beloved, the witness of church family members who so love Pat’s children and grandchildren, but the greatest ritual of all was the feast.  You see the fullness of service was present, just as the fullness of God’s gift of eternal life, from mourning to feasting.

Just as Jesus feasted before the crucifixion and resurrection, so we feasted in celebration of Pat’s eternal life.  The food of her life, the Italian luncheon lovingly prepared by the family, symbolized her life and love for others and God.

There is no such holier time than bringing together of loved ones to celebrate the eternal life of a beloved.  In the day were tears of sadness, laughter, hugs, remembrances, and forgiveness as all came together.  A great ritual of the complete presence of God.

What rituals take you to a holy time, a holy place that embodies the wholeness of our loving God?

Last Sunday’s Gospel lesson had Jesus BEING the prophet, with his stating he MUST spend 3 days casting out demons and healing the sick…then going on to describe how prophets were not welcome in Jerusalem.  It was a true witness of being a prophet rather than just talking.   It had me thinking about the demons in our world that need to be cast out, we all know of folks that need healing, but demons?!?!

But it didn’t take me long to find demons in the middle of my life, my mother suffered with bi-polar, ending her life herself, peacefully.  The words of Luke speaking of Jesus’ days in the wilderness facing the Devil, diabolos, translates to accuser or tempter, certainly fit the anguish of manic/depressive or bi-polar.  My mother dealt with “the devil” on a daily basis, she longed for healing.  When she was manic there was no temptation she could deny, when she was depressed her heart and soul were weighed down with the guilt of self-accusation that was crushing, Diabolos in extreme.

So when I think of Jesus being so adamant in his need to heal the sick and cast out demons, I can see that this is a strong need for humanity of every generation, every time, every place.  For people in different cultures and different times have names for the physical and mental health issues that seem to plague us, but they are horrendous, and call for healing.  For friends facing cancer, for friends dealing with mental illness, there is great comfort in know that Jesus saw healing as a big part of his prophetic witness, his “speaking for God”.  In the midst of our struggles, God is there.

How do you share the “prophetic” word of God?  How can you follow in Jesus’ way in Lent as a prophet in our world in action or word?