Hummingbird or Lion?
Dear Church Family,
Scot McKnight once compared hummingbirds and lions. He said lions eat massive amounts of food all at once and then sleep for days. Then he contrasted lions with hummingbirds, who eat 40-50 times a day. Hummingbirds eat just enough to get them through to their next meal. McKnight said too many Christians reflect the lion in their spiritual lives. We feast at one sitting, like Sunday morning worship, then we wait until the next Sunday morning to feast again.
This week we begin the season of Lent. We begin our Lenten journey with an Ash Wednesday observance this Wednesday night at 6:30.
At its heart, Lent is all about preparing for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter. The early church set aside the 40 days preceding Easter as a time of spiritual preparation. (A little known fact is that Lent is actually 46 days. Sundays aren’t counted, because they are thought of as “little Easters.”) I like to think of Lent as a kind of Spiritual Bootcamp. It’s 40 days to prepare to experience the empty tomb on Easter morning.
If a special guest who was about to come visit you, or maybe you have a very important event to attend in the future, what do you do? Most likely you would spend some time and energy preparing for the experience. Maybe buy new clothes for a job interview or lose some weight for a High School reunion.
I want to challenge you to join our preparing for Easter as a hummingbird. A little preparation every day has so much more long lasting affect than feasting once a week.
During Lent we are going to study the story of the disciples in the Gospel of Mark. Of course Mark is the story of Jesus, he is the main character. Because Jesus is the center of Mark’s Gospel, when we read it we forget that Mark is also telling the story of the first disciples. There is so much we can learn about our discipleship if we read Mark with an eye on the disciples as we read Jesus’ story.
Would you consider committing to read your Bible ten minutes every day through Lent? We provide a daily study guide that coincides with our messages. Rather than getting all your Bible in worship on Sunday mornings, join us and spend 10 minutes a day reading the Gospel of Mark through Lent. This will not only help prepare you for Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, but it will also make the Little Easter celebrations on Sunday mornings more meaningful and relevant.
It is my hope and prayer that the Holy Spirit uses this Lenten experience to bring a new passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ within our church. Please join us as we prepare for the resurrection together this year.
In Christ, your pastor,
Bryan White