PASTOR'S MESSAGE

"Immediately, the Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels served him." -- Mark 1:12-13

A large national insurance company is running a commercial that talks about how that company was founded in the early years of the Great Depression of the 1930s and how they have been in business through a number of economic crises since then. Even as it pitches this particular company, the commercial tries to share a bit of wisdom. That message goes something like this: Once the initial shock passes and the fears subside, Americans concentrate on the things that really matter. "It's time to get back to basics," the man says, "and the basics are good."

That message, though, only echoes the wisdom of our older brothers and sisters in Christ, a wisdom gained by experience and shared with the rest of us through powerful stories of a God who is alive, active and still at work in people's lives, their families and their communities.

This month, Christians around the world are marking the beginning of the season of Lent. For the baptized people of God, then, "It's time to get back to basics. And the basics are good." The call to turn around, to return to the Lord our God and to once again concentrate on the basics of the Christian walk -- prayer, scripture, worship, witness, fellowship, service and generosity -- takes on new urgency and unusual clarity in this climate.

We are all familiar with the practice of giving something up for Lent. I wonder what you have had to give up already as a result of this recession? More than that, I wonder what is taking its place in your life? As we journey together this Lent, I want to challenge each of us to concentrate not on the things we have had to give up, but to focus our attention again on Jesus, whose by his life, death and resurrection became the rock of our salvation. In changing our focus, away from the American economy and back on to Jesus, we can work together on cultivating new habits, new disciplines, new ways of living as individuals and as a community of disciples of Jesus Christ that can replace the old things that are passing away. But let's not do this alone. Invite your friends and everyone you know to join us on the way. Are you up for the challenge?