From Epiphany to Lent
LENT BEGINS
Ash Wednesday Service
TONIGHT at 7 pm – Wednesday, February 17
There is so much richness in our celebration of the Seasons of the Church Year in our Episcopal tradition.
View and/or download a Chart of the Church Year that puts it all in perspective.
This past Sunday, February 15, was the last Sunday in Epiphany. It turns out, this leads us right into Lent. There could be a very wise reason for this…
Don’s sermon for the last Sunday in Epiphany focused on 3 things he said we should remember about Epiphany:
1- God wants us to know him
2- God invites us to seek him
3-God wants us to be open to seeing him
Read these again.
1- God wants us to know him.
2- God invites us to seek him
3-God wants us to be open to seeing him
How does God reveal himself and show that he wants to be known?
Let us count the ways!
- Creation
- The Scriptures
- Jesus!
- The Holy Spirit
- In Church
- In the Breaking of the Bread, or Communion
- Through Prayer
- In Daily Life and Work
- Friends and Family
- Spiritual Leaders, Advisors, Counselors
- Books
- Through Strangers
- Random Things
- Angels Unaware
He also reveals himself in countless other ways where God just “shows up.” He comforts, heals, and blesses us, and then there are the “coincidences!” It is all about His attentive, personalized LOVE.
Think about the ways that you see God in the world and in your own life. Do you ever wonder if you have been missing something?
What other ways has or does God reveal himself in your life? What can you add to the list?
Do you wonder if you have been paying close enough attention?
Following our Epiphany celebration about God revealing himself to us, enter Lent. It is the perfect set-up. God wants us to know him and now we have SIX WEEKS to focus on keeping our eyes open! – starting with Ash Wednesday. When we open ourselves to let him show us where we fall short – again we are making ourselves vulnerable – this time to know who WE are. As always, we view our own sin in the context of His great love shown in all the ways we just identified.
Who is this God who would go to these lengths to be known?
What lenghts would we go to in order to know Him?
Consider the Story of Zacchaeus
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short and he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10
If we want to know God, Lent gives us the opportunity to focus our attention and make the extra effort. Zacchaeus was short and he couldn’t see Jesus over the crowd, so he risked standing out because he was open to seeing what God was doing. We too, can feel vulnerable when we open up to our desire to know Christ. But He couldn’t be happier when we do.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” ~ Isaiah 55:6