Passion Sunday

This past Sunday is referred to on older church Calendars as "Passion Sunday," the fifth Sunday of Lent kicking off the final two weeks of the season known as Passiontide. This is the part of Lent when Christians typically begin focusing on Jesus' journey into Jerusalem where he would ultimately be crucified as a sacrifice for our sins.

It's a sobering thought to consider how Jesus, the perfect Son of God, the man Christians look to as our ultimate example, actually suffered and died on behalf of all of us. As Jesus' ministry moved closer to Jerusalem, Christ knew that He was heading toward the most difficult step of His journey, and yet He pressed on in order to (as we've been learning from the servant songs of Isaiah) provide justice to all oppressed people, bring all people back to God, and be obedient to the Father.

The power of this event, however, is not simply that Christ died and rose again but also that through this we are given our mission. In becoming the servant of the Father, Christ challenges us to become servants as well. The culmination of his journey to Jerusalem is that we go out from there to serve others.

So the question for us is, who do we need to serve and what steps do we need to take in order to do so?

Laetare Sunday

This past Sunday marked the halfway point of Lent and another one of Lent's Holy Days: Laetare Sunday.

The word "Laetare" comes from a Latin word meaning "Oh be joyful." Joyful? During Lent? But isn't Lent supposed to be a time of reflection, fasting, and even mourning? Isn't Lent when we think of Christ's suffering and our own sins?

Well, yes, that is part of Lent. But at the same time we must also live in the tension that while we are sinful and Christ suffered for our sins, He also modeled life as it ought to be lived, and He defeated death, rising again so we all can look forward to the resurrection someday.

Interestingly Laetare Sunday used to be known as "The Sunday of the Five Loaves," honoring the miracle Jesus preformed where he used five loaves of bread and two small fish to feed 5,000 people (Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15). While I'm not sure as to why this miracle was honored on the halfway point of Lent, I can make a few guesses:

The account in John says that the loaves and fishes came from a boy. I'm sure we could learn about his selflessness in sharing his food and his faith that such a small amount could be used by Christ.

We could also learn about compassion from this passage. The disciples wanted to turn the people away to get food for themselves, but it was Jesus' idea to feed them all.

Or maybe we are to remember the reason Jesus was with the 5,000 in the first place, to teach them and to heal their sick.

Perhaps this miracle was honored here to remind us that in the midst of suffering we serve a God who is capable of sustaining us in any circumstance (sort of like in the 3rd Servant Song we just studied - look at Isaiah 50:4)

Whatever the reason this story was used, I think it draws parallels to the fact one of the Church's traditions is to look at the midway point of Lent as a time of celebration. Just as I'm sure the 5,000 celebrated the fact the Christ provided them with food, we can celebrate because Christ, through his suffering, has provided us with much, much more.

As always, please feel free to leave your comments about this post and please share your stories of how this Lenten season has affected you.

The Importance of Community

We're just over a week into the season of Lent. So how have things been going? What does this season really mean? Why do we or should we celebrate it? In what ways has this season affected you? How are you being challenged?

These questions are great for personal reflection, but they're even better if we ask them in community.

Many of you have already stepped up to the challenge of joining a small group to go through the weekly Lent discussion guide. If that's the case, please leave a comment and let us know about it.

For those that have not yet gotten into a discussion group, I would like to challenge you to consider doing so. The Christian faith is one designed to be practiced in community. Meeting with others not only to discuss scripture but also to discuss life will have a huge impact on your spiritual growth.

Again, please leave your comments on how Lent and/or your small group has been affecting you so far.

To join a discussion group email Andrew at akeuer@cc.mi.org