Pastor’s Column
March 6th, 2025
My dear church family,
The season of Lent is a time we set aside to reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These two events are at the heart of the Christian gospel. Therefore, we take time to prepare ourselves for remembering them. Lent is a 40-day period which we began last night at our Ash Wednesday service.
We read Joel 2:1-2 and 12-17, which includes:
12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from punishment.
Throughout our sacred text we are called to open our hearts to God, confessing our sinfulness and depending on God for forgiveness through Jesus. God is gracious and merciful. God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God requires punishment for evil AND GOD has provided that punishment through Jesus’ crucifixion. That is, God took that punishment on our behalf because God relents from punishing his beloved people.
God calls us to believe, transforming us by putting a new “heart” within us. Ezekiel 36:26 ESV says,
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Last night we imposed ashes on our foreheads in the sign of a cross, reciting Genesis 3:19,
Remember that from dust you have come and to dust you shall return.
These words remind us of the fleeting nature of our earthly lives. Thinking about our culture’s insistence that we constantly strive to improve and reach higher goals, we reflected that, “Perfectionism is impossible. Transformation isn’t.” During this Lenten season we can enjoy the knowledge that God is not calling us to perfection. God is calling us to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit who is transforming our hearts. As our hearts our transformed, we will see our attitudes and lives respond in loving ways.
As Christians, Jesus calls us to love our neighbors. Jesus calls us to feed the hungry and house those in need. If we have friends in the community who are in need, we must help them.
You may be wondering about the authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. At this time, places of worship are considered “public spaces.” Therefore, ICE agents have the authority to enter a place of worship (e.g. our sanctuary) during a worship service to make inquiries of anyone in our sanctuary. That is legal and must be allowed.
However, ICE agents are not allowed in “private spaces” without a judicial warrant. A judicial warrant is issued by a court and signed by a judge and describes the location that can be entered with the warrant. Anyone inside a “private space” may ask to see the warrant and does not need to open the door without seeing one (slid under the door). My church office is a private space. A person’s apartment or home is a private space.
During this Lenten season, as we remember the sacrifice and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, let’s keep in mind the sacrifices and suffering which so many of our friends and neighbors have made to protect their families.
With a heart “in process” of being transformed,
Pastor Cindy
