As Jesus was walking along, he saw someone named [insert your name here]; and Jesus said to you, “Follow me.” And you got up and followed him. ~ paraphrase of Matthew 9:9
Just imagine that the above scripture verse had your name in it…
What would you do if Jesus showed up in the midst of your daily life and called you to come along, to
walk with him? The funny thing is that this is exactly what Jesus does every day – shows up in our lives and calls us to follow him, to walk with him on the path of discipleship.
How we respond to his invitation probably has a lot to do with who we understand Jesus to be. Who is Jesus to you? If someone who had never heard of Jesus before asked you to tell them about Jesus, what would you say? How would you describe your relationship with him?
In response to Christianity’s declining role in American society today, Brian McLaren asks in his book The Great Spiritual Migration, “What would it mean for Christians to let Jesus and his message lead them to a new vision of God” and faith and church?
This question led to our overarching theme for this year together as a church – Jesus. Starting back in Advent, we focused on the Incarnation and what it means that God become one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. Throughout the season of Epiphany, we have been Looking for Jesus and discovering the many ways that God shows up in our lives on a daily basis. We have also been challenged to respond to Jesus’ call, “Follow me.”
Now, as we enter the season of Lent, we are moving from Looking for Jesus to Walking with
Jesus. As we walk the path of discipleship, what do we learn about Jesus and how do we grow in
our relationship with him?
Our guidebook for this Lenten journey is Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way and Presence by Diana Butler Bass. Too often, we have allowed Jesus to be defined by the church or the culture, often in ways that confine or constrict Jesus’ actual message and our ability to have an authentic relationship with him. Too often, we see Jesus as we want to see him, rather than as he really was and still is today.
Join us on a Lenten journey of discipleship, intentionally walking with Jesus for the next six weeks
and letting Jesus be Jesus as we learn more deeply what it means to travel the road of sacrificial love
to the cross and beyond.
~Tami