Exile to Pilgrimage: the Generous Path on the Way to Resurrection
Friends,
Yesterday, March 27, marked Lent’s halfway point. On Ash Wednesday we started a six week journey – some focusing on renewed devotion, some in acts of self-denial through fasting. Now, as we turn the corner into the second half of the season, Holy Week comes into view, and what may have initially felt distant or intangible comes sharply into focus. We are setting our faces towards Jerusalem, towards the cross, and towards resurrection and celebration.
If you recall this past Advent, we explored what it means to be exiles in a strange land—like Israel in the wilderness, longing for home, dwelling in darkness, and waiting for a Savior. Now, in light of Jesus’ incarnation, resurrection, and promised return, we can shift our posture from exiles to pilgrims, following Christ and imitating him as he journeyed toward the cross. One way we can follow Christ is to imitate him in his generosity. As he spread the news of his coming kingdom, his promise of resurrection and restoration wasn’t reserved for a distant future—it was already breaking in as he healed the sick and fed the hungry. Generosity wasn’t just a sermon point, it was how Jesus began to bring heaven and earth together.
Likewise our small acts of generosity, empowered by the Spirit, reflect the coming kingdom of God. Not just in our Lenten journey, but in the pilgrimage of our lives, acts of kindness and service done in faith and reliance on God’s provision show the world the truth that Jesus has revealed to us: that this is a world that God loves and God has not abandoned. When we share our bread, our money, our homes, our time – when we allow ourselves to be inconvenienced by others’ suffering – we make visible to our neighbors the beauty of God’s kingdom of abundance. Generosity is generative. As we come to the end of Lent and prepare to celebrate the feast of Easter, let us embrace Christ’s selflessness and openhandedness as a way of life, trusting that he will provide far more abundantly than all that we ask or imagine.
Blessings,
Wilson