Weekly Update // Pastor Durwood

Dear Asbury Family,

Lent is just around the corner. It is a most sacred time of the Christian Year! The Rev. Magrey deVega, pastor of Hyde Park UMC in Tampa, wrote the following note to his congregation a few years back. I am sharing it with you as it frames our journey of lent so well, beginning with Ash Wednesday, March 5.

 Just two months ago today, we were basking in Bethlehem starlight, celebrating his birth.  And now, just two months later, thirty years in gospel time, we are preparing for the journey to Jerusalem.

 Ready or not, it’s time for Lent. 

 It is worth noting some significant differences between Christmas Day and Ash Wednesday.  Christmas is predictable: without fail, it is always on December 25.  We order our lives and our calendars around it.  It never backs into November, never slides into January.  School semesters always break for it, retailers bet on it, and families plan travel around it.  There is something constant, and comforting, about this holiday fixture.

But Easter moves around.  Independent of our secular schedules, it is – are you ready for this – on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox on the 21st of March.  This means that Ash Wednesday can occur as early as the first week in February or as late as the second week in March. That’s a variation of nearly 35 days!

What this means is that Lent often sneaks up on us.  It catches us off guard.  It can disrupt our planning.  Sometimes the schools have spring break during Holy Week, and sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes the stores have lots of time between their Valentine’s chocolates and their Cadbury Easter eggs, and sometimes they don’t.  Whereas Christmas is comforting in its constancy, Lent can be devious in its elusiveness.

 And when you think about it, maybe that is an accurate reflection of how we live our lives:

We can know with precision the exact date, and even the time of our own births.  But we cannot know with the same certainty the moment of our deaths.

We can know with certainty God’s constant love and faithfulness.  But we can be quite blind to the sin that germinates and blooms within the subsoil of our existence.

We can know with absolute conviction what God has done for us through Christ.  But we can be quite ambivalent in committing ourselves to that same Christ.

We are quick to bask in the life, light, and joy of knowing Jesus.  But we are caught off guard when that relationship calls us to humility, sobriety, and self-sacrifice. 

 For the secularized Christian, what Wesley would call an “Almost Christian,” celebration is a given, but discipline is elusive.  A life of mere good deeds and a life of sincere, committed faith can be eons apart.

Regardless of how subtly this Lenten season has snuck up on you, we are all here together, to begin a 40-day journey marked by an invitation to look deeply within our lives and find what resides within the shadowy parts of our souls.  Ready or not, we enter into a time of acknowledgement, confession, surrender, and ultimately, transformation.

            Asbury offers many opportunities for deep exploration during Lent.

 A daily devotional booklet is available to pick up at out worship services and in the church office.  You can also access it at asburylent.com. 

 Lenten Lunches at noon each Wednesday, noon to 1pm, March 5 through April 16.

 March 5th Congregational Ash Wednesday Worship service in the sanctuary  at 7pm with special music by our choir and a special message from Pastor Durwood.

 The Disposition of Ashes on March 5th at the Lenten Lunch and evening service.

 Weekly Worship on Sunday at 9:30am and 11am

 Daily prayer time on FaceBook live Monday through Friday at 8:30am.

 I invite you to join the friends and family of Asbury on our journey through Lent.  All of our worship services and the Lenten Lunches are available to stream on YouTube and FaceBook.  Come along for the journey, and invite a family member or friend to come along.  This will be a powerful, deeply meaningful time together.

 Ready or not, let’s observe a holy Lent.

 I love being one of your pastors,

 Durwood

 Don’t Forget :

 Come to our campus and have a fun time Friday, February 28 for the Asbury Early Learning Center Art Show and Silent Auction from 5-7:30pm

 Methodist Men’s Breakfast, Saturday March 1 at 7:30am.  Pastor Durwood is the speaker.  Come ask him anything you want!