“Find your passion,” people often say. But what do we mean by passion? An intense, burning feeling of desire or love? A powerful, overwhelming emotion? A deep fascination or enthusiasm that orients the direction of your life?  All of those definitions are correct, but none of them quite get at the root meaning of the word. The word “passion” comes from the old Latin word, passio, which actually means “suffering.” It originally had nothing to do with emotions or the purpose of our lives, but with a sense of agony and anguish. So how did this word come to be so completely transformed, to change from an incredibly negative word to such a positive one? The answer, surprisingly, is Jesus.

Since the earliest centuries of the church, Christians called the suffering, the agony, and the death of Christ his passio, or his “Passion.” That word captured well Jesus’s sacrificial journey to the cross. It was a painful road, from the cup of agony in Gethsemane, to the strips of the whip he endures in Pilate’s court, to the crown of thorns pressed firmly enough on his head to draw blood, all the way to the nails that pierced his hands and feet, the lots cast over the last of his possession, and the sponge of sour wine before Christ bowed his head cried out “it is finished!” But over time, the word “passion” began to take on a new meaning, as people realized that the very instruments of Christ’s suffering and passion became, in his hands, the tools he used to bring about our salvation. Christ transformed these symbols of agony, defeat, and death into icons of his deep and abiding love for us, and the new life he earned for us on the cross. So, the meaning of the word passion expanded to mean “love” and “devotion” and “conviction”, because that is what Jesus showed for us through his great Passion.

This Lent, our Wednesday sermon series will be called “Instruments of the Passion.” Each week, we will focus on a different object, looking at how Christ transforms the instruments of his suffering into the instruments of our salvation. Each week, every family will receive a small keepsake to help remind them of the story of the Passion. These items will be gathered in an Easter egg shaped like a rocky tomb, which opens reveal the empty grave that transforms all of Christ’s suffering into victory. By Easter morning, each family will hold a tangible story of the Passion and Resurrection that they can use to help retell Christ’s journey to the Cross and the empty tomb to their friends, family, and neighbors. This Lent, instead of trying “find your passion,” come and discover the incredible, transformative Passion of Christ!