Early Tuesday morning, a powerful tornado ripped through Nashville and other parts of Tennessee, leaving destruction in its wake. The tornado was part of a series of severe storms. At least 24 people have been killed, homes and other buildings have been destroyed, and thousands of people are without electricity. The worship space for St. John’s Lutheran Church of Nashville, an ELCA congregation, was crushed by the tornado. (quoted from an email update from Lutheran Disaster Response)

At times like this, we remember the words of the apostle Paul to the early Christian church in Corinth, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (1 Corinthians 12:16). As we gather for worship this weekend, we will hold the congregation of St. John’s and their surrounding community in our prayers. As we sing, pray, gather around the Lord’s Table and proclaim the good news of God’s love, we will do so mindfully of our brothers and sisters without a place to worship. The church is not gone. The church is, of course, the people. That said, we know that those people are grieving the loss of their sanctuary.

It seems fitting, therefore, to spend a moment this weekend giving thanks for the witness of the Lutheran church that extends far beyond just our own congregation here at Abiding Presence. Lutheran Disaster Response, our domestic disaster response agency, is already on the ground in Tennessee assessing needs, working with local partners and responding with immediate relief. In the information sent out to congregations this past week, Lutheran Disaster Response suggested that “given the extent of the destruction, recovery is expected to take years.” They are committed to being present “to address survivors’ needs over the long haul.”

At the same time, we are collecting supplies during Lent for Lutheran World Relief, our international disaster response agency.

These two organizations—Lutheran Disaster Relief and Lutheran World Relief—enable Abiding Presence to be part of a response much larger than ourselves, bringing hope and good news into the world.

During this season of Lent, there are lots of opportunities in addition to our usual weekend services, including:

· Monday Noon Worship
· Wednesday Evening Worship at 7:00 p.m.
· Small Groups throughout the Week

“Wait...What...More Church?” you might be thinking to yourself. Yes, more church!

Lent is about turning back to God by refocusing our lives on our relationship with God. There’s no better way to do this than by intentionally engaging in worship, prayer, scripture reading and study with other people of faith. So, here at Abiding Presence we offer a lot more opportunities for church during Lent.

In the midst of our busy lives, I often think that adding something for Lent is harder than giving something up. Giving up chocolate or social media for six weeks—while good—doesn’t impact our schedules much. While it can be hard to fast from these things, I’m not sure it always does much to draw us back to God.

Adding a weekly small group meeting or midweek worship service, however, is really inconvenient. As a mom, I know that Lent falls during the busy spring season of children’s sports and activities. Yet, something inconvenient is often exactly what we need during Lent. We need to be interrupted from our usual lives in order to refocus on God. It takes an interruption for us to reexamine our priorities.

So, I want to invite you this Lenten season to dig a little deeper in your disciplines to add something that will intentionally draw you back to the God whose arms are reaching out to you. Sign up for a small group even though you have never done one before, or don’t really like this kind of thing, or don’t know anyone else who is doing it, or don’t have time, or…(add your favorite reason not to do it here). Pick one of our midweek services and come to it every week. Come even when you are tired after work, the kids are grumpy or you prefer more contemporary rather than traditional worship. If none of these things really are possible in your schedule, then find something else to add—maybe daily Bible reading—that has to be worked into your schedule. Add an interruption that makes these six weeks different from all the other weeks of the year.

Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” is one of his best known sermons. Found in the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, this sermon outlines for Jesus’ new followers what it means to be disciples. Spoiler alert—it’s going to be harder than they think! 

Journey is headed—to crucifixion, death and resurrection. Here at the beginning, everything is still new and exciting. But, it won’t always be that way. So, Jesus sits everyone down and preaches about who he is, who God is and who God is calling us to be in the world.

Following Jesus is hard. If it’s not, then you might want to ask yourself who you are actually following. Following Jesus means getting outside of our comfort zone to love those we cannot stand, serve those from whom we would rather look away and shape our priorities in ways that are counter to the culture around us. It means being different, which is both a blessing and a challenge at times.

If you have a few minutes this week, I encourage you to sit down and read the whole Sermon on the Mount. You can find it in Matthew 5-7. Spend some time listening to what God is saying to you through these words. One of the wonderful and challenging things about Jesus’ words is that they are just as applicable to us today as they were to his first followers. Anger, love for enemies, the discipline of prayer, struggling with worry, judging others—these are all themes you will find in Jesus’ sermon and, if you are anything like me, will find are things you struggle with today.

Following Jesus is hard, but it is also the most transformational thing we can do—not only for ourselves, but also for our world.