“Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I do choose. Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. ‘Go’, he said, ‘and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.’ But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.” Luke 5:12-16
Jesus was no ordinary person and there was nothing ordinary about his life. Once he started preaching, teaching, and healing in Galilee, life was a series of new towns, new people, and new opportunities. Even still, it seems that some patterns repeated themselves often enough as to become “regular.” He would arrive in a new place, speak to a gathering crowd, provide relief with words and deeds, and repeat this each day until the crowds were overwhelming. To maintain his balance he would rise early each day to go off by himself to pray. I think of this as a time of literal “regrouping” with (as) the fullness of God’s being.
There has been nothing ordinary about the last 11 months. We have had to learn how to live our lives in very intentional ways. We have had to be creative in how we do our work and maintain our relationships. And then, when we think we have a handle on things, researchers and leaders share new information and discoveries which require some adjustments. We have wonderful news in the information about vaccines and the acquiring of more doses, but this just makes our anxiety go from just “how do I avoid getting the virus?” to “and how do my loved ones get the vaccine when it is time?”
Yet even in all of this, there have been moments when it feels, well, routine if not ordinary. We refuse to accept this as the “new normal” but we have fallen into some regular patterns. We have needed grace to address these extraordinary times, perhaps we need even more when the outrageous becomes mundane. Like Jesus, we need to withdraw for prayer. We need balance. We need to remember who we are.
And so Lent comes at the perfect time. In the early church, the Springtime preparation for recalling the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus provided an opportunity for those who had withdrawn or become isolated from the community of faith to ready themselves for a return. We who have, through no fault of our own, been cut off from one another and from the regularity of our existence now prepare to return.
So we will take some time with God. We will, these 40 days of Lent, spend time with Jesus in the last days of his earthly ministry, as he accomplished his work and prepared to return to the fullness of God. I invite you to mark the beginning of this journey at our Drive-Through Ash Wednesday service, and then withdraw a little further (even as we join together) to reflect on Adam Hamilton’s book, 24 Hours that Changed the World.
You are extraordinary people living in unusual times! God will get us through this together!
Loving God, move in us as we prepare for this Lenten journey. Help us to see all of the ways you guide and bless us in these strange days, so that we may be a channel of your mercy, peace, and love. As we prepare to slowly return to life in each others’ presence, help us to know that you remain present with us all our days. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Sunday’s Questions:
1. What apparent contradictions disturb you?
2. How has God revealed God’s nature to you over the course of your life?
3. How might you gain more understanding of God?