Dear friends in Christ,
This month, the church season of Epiphany ends on Sunday, February 15th, with the church celebration of Jesus’s Transfiguration. This is when Jesus goes up on the mountain with Peter, James and John and is suddenly transfigured, turned dazzling white and Moses and Elijah appear with him. We get a glimpse of his complete and whole nature. This event is hard for us to understand and the disciples are justifiably terrified. It is a foreshadow of his glory to come.
BUT!
In Jesus’s real life, when he comes down from the mountaintop, before any glory can happen, he must go through abandonment, torture, being hung on a cross, and die. This is to remind us that real life and all of its complex and painful realities is as real for Jesus as it is for us. We can never say that he does not know what it is like to be us.
So then on Ash Wednesday we enter into the church season of Lent. We are invited to stop and take the time we each need to know and experience this Jesus who truly knows what it is like to live our life, who knows what it is like to know both grief and joy, both fear and love, both abandonment and family. And to know that God is in all of life, and despite what we may think or feel, he will never leave, never abandon, and will always say yes to us.
So this Lent season I invite you to look, listen, read the gospel, pray and center yourself in God’s Grace and know that God is here with you.
In Christ,
Craig Storlie, Interim Pastor
If you have any questions please e-mail me at craig.storlie@tisgrace.org or call me at 678-595-1933.
Posted February 2, 2015 by Amazing Grace Lutheran Church | Uncategorized | Permalink |
