It’s Easter morning and we’ve made it! (Or else you skipped ahead because you’re a big ole cheater.)
But before we jump to the joy and
wonder, the lilies and chocolates, I like to spend a little time with our
sister Mary at the tomb. Imagining the despair, the frustration, the grief she
must have felt, walking that morning, while it was still night, but he was
already risen. Still lost in all that had happened, still remaining faithful,
serving him past the end, even in her loss, even with it all seeming to be
over. And he is already risen.
That morning Mary, that still serving Mary, that still walking in the night Mary- she gives me hope for all the times when I am lost, or grieving, or frustrated, or really, really unsure. That somewhere, somehow, even in my own despair, Christ has already risen, Christ is already making things right, Christ is already conquering evil, Christ is already changing the story… I just don’t know it yet.
God, I pray for us who are still journeying toward Jesus, especially
when we’re trudging along in the night, especially when we’re praying for some
wonderful, unimaginable, but desperately needed resurrection morning. Amen.
The scripture talks about God’s
law and Man’s law. God’s law is superior to Man’s law. God’s law deals with
sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin. Man’s law
deals with the flesh and sin. Following God’s law is life and peace. Man’s law
set on flesh is hostile to God. If you are under God’s law, though the body is
dead because of sin, the spirit is life. You will have eternal life.
Man’s law can lead to people
being materialistic, selfish, judgmental, untruthful, hateful, prejudiced,
power hungry, etc. God’s law leads to people doing the right thing. This
includes; helping, sharing, being positive and honest, calling out injustices,
being courteous and respectful, etc. Following God’s law will reward you with
peace and everlasting life.
PRAY
Thank you, God, for offering your word to us. Continue to remind us
that following your word will lead us to happiness, peace, and everlasting
life. AMEN
“They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with spices in linen clothes, according to the customs of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
This poem was shared by
Erin and Korla a year or two ago. It spoke to me so I saved it. Sometimes we just have to feel the feels even
the bad ones.
“Blessing When the World is
Ending”
Look, the world
is always ending
somewhere.
Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.
Somewhere
it has gone
completely dark.
Somewhere
it has ended
with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.
Somewhere
it has ended
with the slammed door,
the shattered hope.
Somewhere
it has ended
with the utter quiet
that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.
Somewhere
it has ended
with a tenderness
that will break
your heart.
But, listen,
this blessing means
to be anything
but morose.
It has not come
to cause despair.
It is simply here
because there is nothing
a blessing
is better suited for
than an ending,
nothing that cries out more
for a blessing
than when a world
is falling apart.
This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.
It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.
—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace
Dear God, you are there and listen when we are going through
stuff. There is comfort know we are not alone when we are felling all the
feels in life. Amen
Loving You (Maundy Thursday) by Rev. Rachel Hackenberg, via her blog at www.rachelhackenberg.org on Maundy Thursday 2018.
We could make it work, you know. This drive of yours to persist all the way to death wouldn’t have to have the final word. Remember how often you talked about love? Remember how hard you laughed — with friends, with lepers, with children? Couldn’t that be the work that drives you? Couldn’t we carry that work together, or are you so determined to be alone? What if the poured-out sacrifice was healing oil instead of ebbing blood? What if the last touch we knew in this world was a loving caress instead of piercing spear? I’m trying to show you another way. Could we not break open a jar of blessing? Must it be our hearts that break?
As I read this passage, the parts that stood out to me were
“walk with the light”, “darkness overtakes you and you don’t know where you’re
going”. This reminded me of camping trips in the middle of the night, in the
middle of the woods, and needing to go from a tent in the woods to another
location. (If you’ve ever camped, especially if you’re a woman, you know that
feeling of needing to find the outhouse in the middle of the night.) I would
always forget to grab a flashlight. After a few steps, I would realize that
this was a mistake, but then think “I’m fine. I’m a grown-up. I can do this by
myself.” Why can’t I just admit that I can’t see without some help from a
flashlight?”
There have been a number of times in my life when I felt
discouraged, in the dark, when I couldn’t decide what I needed to do to make
things right. Every time I have found myself in a situation like this, I fixate
on the problem and stew over how I should respond. I play out all the scenarios
in my mind and think through all the reasons why this or that won’t work. I
wallow in feelings of “poor me” for much longer than I care to admit. The only
thing that ever makes me feel better when I finally get to this point is
“giving it to God”–realizing that I don’t have to have the solution. In
fact, the solutions that I am capable of imagining are extremely limited. I am
not the director of this movie. I didn’t create this jigsaw puzzle. It may not
even be in my power to figure it out. It’s like admitting that I need a
flashlight in the woods. I need to listen for God’s voice and look for God’s
light in the midst of darkness. I can relate to the people in the verse who
heard God’s voice and thought it was just thunder, or the people who had Jesus
with them, but argued about whether he really was the Messiah because of their
predefined ideas about what a Messiah should do. In his blog, The
Listening Hermit, Peter Woods reflects…”But when I close
my eyes and still my mind from all its reasoning and overthinking, I notice
that I can see dimly in the dark. Just enough light to take another step closer
to his divine heart. He who hides from all my argumentation, is the very one
who shines a torch in the dark labyrinth of my prayer.”
Lord,
help me discern your light and your message in my life.
My seminary travel group arrived to the city on ‘Jerusalem Day.’
For one side, the day celebrates the reunification of Jerusalem by the Israeli
state in 1967 at the end of the Six-Day war. For other sides, it’s a mournful
and fearful day as large crowds amass and congregate in a powder-keg city
already cramped, crowded, and still carefully divided. For my part, I had never
seen such a concentration of nationalistic flags or young soldiers openly
carrying weapons.
In Jerusalem, in the days after Jesus’ entrance to palms and
crowd’s chanting, I imagine the streets of the city held similar tension and
excitement. Roman soldiers congregating to ‘keep the peace.’ Jewish pilgrims
gathering in the city for the holiest of festivals – Passover. And for the
disciples of Christ, their fears, expectations, anxieties, and hopes simmering
together within the walled city. In today’s passage in John, Jesus begins to
conclude his public ministry. Jesus speaks of death and life, of service and
honor, of now and eternity. It’s the big speech before game day; he’s trying to
get out the message one last time. Do you feel the nerves and anticipation?
Tuesday of Holy Week might feel like
the ultimate twiddle-your-thumbs day. In the grand scheme of Holy Week, three
days go ‘unnamed’ – Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – and Tuesday falls smack
dab in the middle of ‘em. We’ve come down from the high of Palm Sunday and
aren’t yet building up to Maundy Thursday. But don’t be lulled by the calendar.
Do you hear the voices in the streets!? Do you see the anticipation in the
crowds?! Even the Greeks are showing up to catch sight of Jesus! Aren’t you
just a little curious about what’s going to happen?? Jesus speaks, “If a grain
of wheat dies, it bears much fruit.” Will there be peace in Jerusalem even
today?
Prayer: God, who was in the beginning and is now
and ever shall be, we give you thanks for the middling days, for times when we
feel somewhere in-between and not-yet, for days of waiting and anticipating
your kindom. We seek the fruits of your kindom. Come, Lord Jesus, bring
heavenly peace to this anxious world. Amen.
So John 12:9 begins with the words ”meanwhile
…” which basically means there’s been a lot of stuff going on in the
story up to get to this point, and you need to check it out. The basic
characters are…Lazarus (walking miracle…Jesus of course (Savior and
King)….chief priest (Reigning Authority), the disciples and adoring
crowds. Well the chief priests are plotting to kill Lazarus, while
the adoring crowds are rolling out the red carpet for their new
king, the disciples (having not yet received the Holy Spirit nor having attended
seminary) contemplate on the recent batch of confusing words from Jesus. Jesus
humbles himself before the world. This section ends with the
Pharisees saying “This is getting us nowhere”. Behind the scenes, the Pharisees
work to devise a better plan (to manipulate the Romans into killing Jesus for
them) so they won’t be blamed.
Prayer,
Dear Father, Give us strength and courage to not waver in our adoration of you,
while in the face of the “reigning authorities”.
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they
were created. The Lord established them forever and ever; The Lord fixed their
bounds, which cannot be passed.” (v. 5-6)
Monarch Butterflies became a complex “back to school“ sign for me
in the 1980s. I was teaching in High Ridge and living in Lafayette Square.
During a walk in the park I noticed what looked like orange flags or ribbons
all over the shrubs that were around the small pond near the park entrance.
They looked like those little flags that the utility companies use to mark
their lines. Why were they all over the shrubbery? It wasn’t flags, it was
butterflies, at least 100 butterflies! Monarch Butterflies all over the
shrubbery! (Yes, I’m saying shrubbery, repeatedly.) I had never seen anything
like it. I saw a similar vision outside of my school one day. The school
neighbor hadn’t mown his lawn and the clover flowers were blooming beautiful
purple. They too, were covered with orange butterflies galore. Around the world
people view the butterfly as representing endurance, change, hope and new life.
I learned that the monarchs migrate through our area during “back
to school time”. ( I often think of them as little orange and black school
buses, heading off to school with a crew of kids starting a new year.) I now
relish every monarch I see fly by during those months and try to lure them to
my yard. (I have a friend in Baltimore who hatched out over 100 monarchs in her
back yard last summer. I am so jealous.) I keep looking for those visions and I
know they are rare to see in my own community.
As I learn more about butterflies I now know they migrate to special areas in Mexico and along our southwestern border. One of those areas is clearly in danger. The most diverse butterfly sanctuary in the county, the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas and other protected ares in the lower Rio Grande Valley are under threat from the current administration’s plan to build a extensive border wall. In December 2018 the US Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing the current administration to waive 28 federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act and to begin construction on 33 new miles of border wall in the heart of the river valley – and right through the butterfly center. This project will include a 30 ft tall concrete and steel wall, roads and a 150 ft “reinforcement zone” where all vegetation will be cleared.
At this writing heavy equipment has arrived on the site and
bulldozing may begin soon. Local inhabitants fear for the destroyed habitat,
the ecotourism and the undocumented immigrants that are pushed further into
marginal and dangerous areas.
The Psalmist (and God) surely would condemn any action that would
drive a species to extinction or endanger human lives. We can’t claim to have
dominion over God’s gift of the earth and all that is in it (Gen. 1:26) if we
allow government policy and our own actions and inactions to “diminish the
praises of earth and heaven.” We need to protect creation’s capacity to praise
it’s Creator.
