“… if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash and become clean.’” - 2 Kings 5:13
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Have you ever made things harder on yourself than they needed to be?
I remember sitting through a meeting once where people debated for an hour over whether someonewas intending to retire that year. An hour! After a few minutes, I was already wondering why no onedidn’t just pick up a cell phone and call them to ask, but no one ever did, and I felt naïve asking why noone did…
In the passage from 2 Kings 5 above, Naaman the commander of the Syrian armies has gone to see theprophet Elisha to be healed of his skin disease. Elisha told him to wash in the Jordan River seven times,but Naaman balked. He expected that the prophet would come out and at least wave his hands overthe spot! He seems to have felt ignored. Thankfully, his unnamed servants reminded him that if Elishahad said to do something hard, he would have done it. Why not something easy to do?
It can be the same with our spiritual journey, and particularly with our pilgrimage through the season of Lent. Fasting. Praying. Studying the Scriptures. Introspecting. Spending time with God. It’s not really that complicated.
And yet, we may find in ourselves the worry that we won’t have time, that it’ll be too hard, that we’llfail—or worse, that we’ll be disappointed. What if I don’t stick with it? What if I do, and I discern thatsomething in my life needs to change completely? What if…?
Lent isn’t about adding another layer of complexity to our already-busy lives. It’s about simplifying,slowing down, and recalibrating the soul. It begs of us to have the courage to ask of ourselves what people would inquire of us during the early Methodist class meetings: “How is it with your soul?”
In Methodist class meetings, the others would help support you in this journey. As part of our currentworship series—”The Way”—we want to invite you back into your own life’s path. What might you have been failing to notice? Are there parts of yourself that you’ve been ignoring, or have you become so focused on the destination that it’s difficult to experience the path itself?
Early Christians called their faith “the way” (Acts 9:2). Maybe it’s just “the way” you’ve been longing for, too.
Pastor David Czeisel