A Message from Pastor Kaji

This week, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose lifelong witness reminds us what it means to prepare the way. Long before justice becomes policy, it has to be said aloud.

Rev. Jackson said it, loud and clear. I yelled with him, every time he asked: I am. I AM. Somebody. SOMEBODY. This affirmation for little children like me and others was revolutionary. I met Rev. Jackson several times. My mom even brought me to Atlanta for the 1988 Convention. We last spoke when we ran into each other at LaGuardia a few years ago. He wanted to come worship with us, though that day never came.

Rev. Jackson was and will be remembered as somebody whose words and life had impact. He did his part to prepare the way for justice. Well done, good and faithful one.

Turning to our worship life, at this week’s Ash Wednesday service, I offered the invitation that I have given every year here for the past 10 years, adapted from the Book of Common Prayer:

I invite you, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.

The prayer concludes: And to make a right beginning, let us pray for grace, that we may faithfully keep this Lent.

The poetry of this invitation is beautiful, and it fits so perfectly into the rhythm of the ancient ritual we remember as we impose ashes. Our Elders and Deacons gathered to offer ashes to the neighborhood. Within the hour or so after 4 pm, 110 people approached for ashes. They come with the prayer: remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The blessing of Almighty God be upon you now and forever.

If you were unable to join for worship, you can find it online. My reflection was entitled: Ashes to Ashes. Dust Is Enough. This title foreshadows where we are headed, together, this Lenten season.

Many of us have been observing The Anna Fast. For Lent, I encourage you to continue the elements of this fast that spoke most deeply to you. As a congregation we’ll be taking on another *spiritual* fast that I’ll share in more detail on Sunday. The Anna Fast will only strengthen you for the Lenten fast.

Lent’s theme is: Enough. For the next five weeks, we will say: enough to certain strongholds that turn us from God. We’ll say: You’re enough. To the God who loves us through it all. We’ll be offering all kinds of ways to support you through this. We encourage you to attend the Sunday morning Bible Study, that prepares you for worship with prayerful consideration of the appointed text, in community. We will have an after-church workshop soon, inspired by the powerful workshop we held for the Anna Fast in January. Beginning February 25, you’re invited to a weekly, mid-week prayer call I’ve named: Enough for Today. We’re building towards our next food distribution, when we’ll pack meal kits on Palm/Abundance Sunday, March 29. And…save the date for Resurrection Sunday, which pinnacles all of our Lenten observances as we rise with Christ, surrounded by God’s glory.

Lent is quiet. Quiet enough to continue in your faith’s becoming. 

Let’s deepen our faith, together.

To close this note, I want to share that our beloved Hillary Buckland’s sister, Olga Mae, went to glory on Tuesday evening. She transitioned surrounded by love and care. I know you will join me in sending Hillary and her family our condolences and prayers for strength in their grief. May light perpetual shine. And may Olga Mae rest in peace, rising in glory.

God bless you, church.

Pax Christi,

Before Jesus says a single word in Matthew’s Gospel, someone else is already telling the truth about God.

Matthew introduces John the Baptizer with remarkable urgency: “In those days John the Baptizer appeared.” There is no birth story. No genealogy. No soft introduction. John arrives already preaching. Already calling people to attention.

His message is simple:

“Repent, for the realm of the heavens has come near.”

The Greek word translated “repent” is metanoia (μετάνοια). Don’t read it as a call to guilt. Rather, it means changing your mind. More precisely, it means allowing your entire way of seeing to be reoriented.

Notice that John says the realm of the heavens has come near. The verb is in the perfect tense. Something’s already begun. The distance people assumed existed between themselves and God was never as wide as they imagined.

Matthew connects John explicitly to Isaiah 40:3:

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Holy One, make straight the paths of God.”

In Isaiah’s original context, these words were spoken to people in exile. They had lost their homes, their stability, and their sense of who they were. The prophet declares that God is already on the way back to them. The preparation is not about becoming able to recognize it. This is precisely the work we’ve been doing throughout the Epiphany season. As you can see, it’s for a reason.

John appears in the wilderness for the same reason. The wilderness, in Scripture, is not simply a geographic location. It is a place of clarity. Illusions fall away and people encounter God without the usual distractions and structures that organize ordinary life.

Even John’s clothing and diet matter. His camel’s hair garment and leather belt echo the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), signaling that John stands in the prophetic tradition. He’s continuing the ancient work of helping people return to God. And the people respond.

Matthew says that Jerusalem, Judea, and the whole region along the Jordan were going out to him. They come confessing their sins and entering the Jordan River. The Greek word translated “confession” exomologeō (ἐξομολογέω) means to acknowledge what is true. To say aloud what has already been real, whether named or not.

John’s work is preparatory. He prepares the way for the One who is coming.

Lent is a season that honors that preparation. It creates space for honesty and reorientation. Space to notice where God has already drawn near.

Questions for Reflection and Journaling