Years ago I made a very intentional and difficult to leave my home, the people I had known, the familiar sights, sounds and smells, and head out to a different part of the country. Since then, I have moved frequently and every time it is difficult for me to leave and to say goodbye. I feel like I get settled in, begin to understand the people and the routines, get to know the best restaurants (who has the best pie!), and where the best parks are, and then I am uprooted to a new location to find new people and new situations and yes even new PIE.
As much as we may say we are, we are not open to change...at least very easily. We groove patterns in our hearts that continue long after we forget why they are there. These patterns set a course for our life and before we know it we are living a life that seems to be an echo of what we thought it should be. But even though we know we are not where, or what, we should be, the idea of change creates a momentary panic and we find our resistance growing inside our gut as we contemplate the very idea of change.
And this brings us to Lent.
Lent is the season in which we celebrate and commit ourselves to change. Some of us do it by trying to change some of the things we do (eat fish) or don't do (don't eat chocolate). Some of us try to spend more time in contemplation or attempting to pray more often. Some of us try to change our habits and hearts by helping others.
Why do we do this? Because during this season we set aside some time to reflect the reality of Jesus' call on our lives.
Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus began to call his first disciples. They weren't rich or powerful. They were blue collar workers, people who knew more about how to gut a fish then how to parse a verb, people who the world would have overlooked. But not Jesus. Jesus looked at them and saw what they could be if they would just follow him. Jesus didn't care about their academic pedigree or their current employment. Jesus cared about their ability to follow...their ability to change and their ability to say goodbye to their old life.
[16] Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [17] And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” [18] And immediately they left their nets and followed him. [19] And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. [20] And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
In the process, God opened their eyes and they saw powerful and magnificent views: Jesus' transfiguration, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus walking on water. Imagine if they had stayed home and missed out on these experiences and these lessons in life.
Following Jesus has a cost. It is and has never been about comfort. When people would ask to follow Jesus, he would respond, "foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matt 8:20). Or has Dietrich Bonhoeffer so eloquently put it, "When Jesus calls, he calls us to die."
As I look back on my life, there are a lot of things that I miss....and I am sure the disciples miss as well.
I miss my friends...those people I hung around growing up: Chris and Juli Rosser, Kris Petrillo, Bryan Bantle, Sam Pizzo, and a whole host of other people I haven't seen in decades. I miss Geet's Diner. I miss Jackson road and crazy nights
I miss Jamestown, PA and Lake Pymantunig (or however you spelled it). I miss the Jamestown Presbyterian Church, the Jamestown Fair, and small town life.
I miss Downers Grove, IL and Horizon Church and Chicago traffic, along with Gioardano's pizza and Chicago Bears football.
And I am sure I will miss Groton CT and the people I have known around here.
But every time I move...or every time God commands me to move...I am reminded of God's call on my life as his disciple.
This call goes beyond our physical location. It goes to our very soul and our very life. God's call on us is complete and our response to Him is one of discipleship.
And that is where the Road to the Cross leads us...it leads us to discipleship. It leads us to say good bye to the things of our past life and to walk on and to continue on with Jesus. It means finding home in Him...a home that you never have to leave and you never have to say goodbye.
As we walk the Road to the Cross, we are reminded that we do not walk this path alone, for our Lord is with us every step of the way.
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