The Stations of the Cross is an ancient way of following the footsteps of Jesus to Calvary, remembering the events of Good Friday. From ancient times, pilgrims have not only walked the streets of old Jerusalem, but have also remembered his walk in local churches. It gives Christians a chance to identify with the events of Good Friday, and experience, on a deeper level, what it means to be the Corpus Christi, "the body of Christ."

Locally, I was asked to lead one of these Stations. As I prepared for it, I thought about how Jesus' walk was not within the confines of the church, but in a community and, how, in that community there would have been many differing kinds of people - some who would know him, as well as strangers, parents and children, places of business as well as of worship - even some empty houses. Jesus walk was not just a spiritual walk. He walked for his community - for our community, for it was the world's sake that he came and died.

In both the meditations and in the walk itself, I have tried to keep this in mind. For the walk, I actually went around the community, taking pictures - in case we ended up inside on a cold, rainy day. In the meditations, I had to chose seven biblical passages (there are several in Catholic practice that stem more from tradition than scripture, which I omitted in the sermon series) that would carry us along the way from his trial to Golgotha.

In any community, both would need to be adjusted to meet the needs of both the community of faith and to reflect the community of which they find themselves a part. Each community has its own uniqueness, as does each community of faith. These are meant to speak to the community called "St. Andrew Lutheran Church," which finds itself in the midst of another community, near the heart of New Bern, North Carolina, as we seek to walk with our Lord, in the midst of that community, bearing his cross for the sake of that community.