Grace and peace to you my brothers and sisters in Christ. Grace and peace to you.
A sign that winter has over stayed its welcome might be when my five year old starts looking at pictures that show sunny skies and green grass and says “mommy I want it to be that day again” I long for those days as well. I dream about packing my bag and jumping on the next plane to somewhere warm and sunny. How about you?
When is the last time you had your bags packed and were off for a weekend gateway? A trip with the family? A trip for your self? For some of us it wasn’t too long ago and for others of us, we are still waiting.
We all know there are many kinds of trips and journeys we can embark on. We also have baggage or luggage of many kinds that we can pack for those trips. Does your luggage have a bright pink baggage tag or a flashy red ribbon tied to it to easier identify it? I have a red baggage tag on mine that has Luther’s Rose on it and it says Because all Lutherans have baggage.
Yes we all have baggage. And you know I am not just talking about your favorite suitcase or luggage, but the stuff that keeps up down.
When I return from a trip away, I hate unpacking my bags. I have had my luggage bag sit in the corner of my room for days, because I just can’t bare the thought of unpacking, sorting, tossing, sifting through it. Usually half the things I pack, I never even wear and then there is that one bag that is only for carrying about 6 pairs of shows. Maybe you don’t mind unpacking your bags, but I bet there is something that needs tending (the dishes, the floor, the laundry, the bills..)something needs tending and at the moment it seems like putting it off til later is a good choice. Well your probably right not doing the dishes tonight makes room for 30 minutes of extra tv, another chapter in the great book I am reading. However, in the morning – the dishes are still there and now breakfast has just added to them. You get the picture. We all in one way or another put things off for a later time only to discover more work in the end.
This brings me to my favorite little yellow Old Lutheran tote bag that I have: it says ~ If you think this is cool, you should see my emotional baggage. Or spiritual baggage. We all have baggage. So many times along the journey in life we decide that it would be better to “deal with it” later. The hurtful words we used, or were used on us. We know how to heal the situation, but choose instead to stuff it away. To come back to it later. We are broken, we are hurt, we are grieving, we are in pain, we long for love, we feel alone. Over the years, our bag gets full, we feel heavy hearted. We can not even think about beginning to sort through the baggage. Unfortunately we can’t really tie that hot pink ribbon around it so that it can be easily identified among all the other bags. Instead our stuff just gets stuffed down deeper and deeper. Sometimes to the point that we don’t always even remember it is there.
We may not be packing our suitcases and heading for the airport tonight, but we are here this evening as we begin the journey of Lent. We are reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return. We come before God and confess our sins known and unknown and then spend the next six weeks reflecting inward on our selves, our actions, our faith .
There is no better time than now to hear the trumpet blown, to hear the sound of the alarms going off… for the time is near. Ash Wednesday we are reminded that to dust we shall return. We are mortals and tonight and the next six weeks, we have the opportunity to sort through our baggage with God by our side so that everything old can be passed away and reconciled in Christ and on Easter morning see that a new creation has come to be.
What kind of bag did you arrive with tonight? Is it just a small purse? Or a little bigger maybe a back pack or how about a carry on. Sometimes, until we actually start unpacking we don’t know what size we carry around. We may think that we don’t actually have baggage until we give ourselves permission to look for it. I have a feelinga mine is the largest suitcase they make and I may have even had to have one of my kids sit on it in order to get it to close all the way.
So here we are Ash Wednesday dragging our oversized bags filled to the brim with unfinished business, sadness, loss, grief, brokenness, hurt, questions, frustration, wonder, loneliness. How do we start? Where do we start? I don’t actually know where or how to start. But I know someone who does. God.
God waits for us each day and wonders if today is the day we will turn to Him so he can carry our heavy bags. God waits each and every day for us to turn to Him so he can reach out his loving hand and help us along the way.
We all come to the Lenten journey with different sized baggage. We all come to Lenten journey with different ways in which we will arrive at the same destination. I am not sure what kind of baggage you are carrying with you tonight. I don’t know what mode of transportation that you are going to take over the next six weeks as we travel towards the cross and ultimately the empty tomb.
There is no better time then Lent to start unpacking your bags. A time to be still, to reflect, to seek forgiveness, to find God in your brokenness. For God is right there in our bags. God is in the middle of our grief, in the middle of our sadness, God is there so we don’t have to feel alone and God is waiting for us to come seeking forgiveness, looking for His love and then leaving with Him our baggage. God will wash our sins away. God will create in us a clean heart. God will for God is
This Lent, let yourself be freed in Christ. Free from sin, free from guilt, free from slavery that is most often slavery to ourselves. Let Christ carry your baggage for you. Over the next 40 days imagine how light our bags could be if we worked at letting go and giving to God just one burden. One situation that has your heart heavy. Give it to God Imagine how free and light you would be. Imagine the room in your heart that could then be filled up as we rejoice and celebrate the ultimate gift God gives each of us. His Son resurrected.
God invites us to Be still and know that He is God.
God invites us to Be still and Know him.
God invites us to be still and know
God invites us to be still
God invites us to be.
God's invitation to be is never ceasing and always open. May you find peace in the stillness Lent offers. May you find freedom in letting go what keeps you bound. May you find God in the midst of your brokenness and be prepared to be made new the day we come to the tomb and discover it is empty.
Amen.
