When is the last time that you experienced these two reactions to something in your life: terror and amazement"? Maybe even today! But if we think of it, probably we can all come up with a close call with tragedy or death, or expecting to hear bad news, and instead hearing good news, or something bad happens, but then also something occurs to help us handle it in a positive way. I know I can certainly come up with a few examples of any or all of the above!
In this Sunday's Gospel reading, we hear about the three followers of Jesus who first saw the empty tomb and saw and heard the words of the angel, "....Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised". Yes! That qualifies as bringing the response of "terror and amazement"!! If I had been with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, I'm very sure that I could have used those words, and a few others, to describe my reactions! So now we have heard these words and the Easter Gospel accounts many times (for me, 67 years of reading, hearing, studying them). So it may be a stretch for any of us to experience the same thoughts and actions as we read about in this Sunday's Gospel, UNLESS....we apply them to other circumstances in our lives. Like ...almost being in a car crash....having cancer, and then hearing the words "remission"....the death of a loved one, but trusting in the hope of the resurrection for all. The message of Easter is all of this! As we follow our Savior and Lord through His suffering and death and resurrection, and beyond! Because Jesus not only was raised on that first Easter morning. But He is now the Risen One!! And He now comes to us in the words spoken from this week's Scriptures, and in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, and to all of those baptized as He dwells in and with us always. So let us receive the message of this Holy Week, including the Good News of the Resurrection. For it has a powerful and glorious impact on each and every one of us. For in the crucified and risen Savior there is Good News, Peace, Hope and Eternal Joy!! And that will apply to all of our lives. For the Risen Lord is with us now and forever!! Blessings, Pastor Steve
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These words point to the message of Lent, as we remember the service and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and how we follow Him in lives of service.
There are all kinds of ways to serve and sacrifice and give to our Lord. But right now I'm thinking of all that service that is especially happening right here at Resurrection Lutheran Church. And I have observed some really wonderful servants of our Lord. I'm not going to even attempt to list all the people and things done. In fact, ALL of you are offering your time, talents, and resources, from prayers, to participation and all kinds of known and unknown ways that you give to God and all of those whom He loves. But I would like to hold up three groups of people that are wonderful servants of our Lord and His Church. 1) Your Congregation's Council. Over the past several months, I have observed their faithful service, working with the leadership of Tom. You can be confident that these people have led us through this time of transition, and will continue to do so alongside the new pastor that God will send to us. Please pray for all of these, and for the continued wisdom and commitment that they are bringing to this congregation. 2) The Ministry Exploration Team (MET) has completed their work. And we can now thank God for giving them all they needed to study our congregation's past and future direction. And now they have passed on the Ministry Site Profile to the Council. When approved, it will then be sent to the Synod and offered to pastors looking at a call to Resurrection. Thank you Lord for the completed work of this team of willing and faithful servants of Your Church! 3) The Call Team has now been chosen. A Big thank you to Tom for gathering this team together! We are planning an installation of this team next month. And after the Town Hall Meeting (Sunday 4/21), you will be hearing of the interviews and eventually a pastoral candidate that will be brought to the congregation for a call. Pray! Pray that the Holy Spirit works in these people and their important work. 4) May I pick out one more person, who is serving our congregation?! I'm thinking of our office administrator, Larry. Who does all of the office work and preparations of services, and emails, and... I better stop here, because I'm sure I'll forget something that he does for us! Let's just say, "Thank you Lord for giving us Larry! And Thank you Larry for ALL you do for each and every one of us." OK, one more: YOU. Whoever is reading this and connected to RLC. Thank you for being with us in this wonderful congregation of people who know they are loved by God, and who love one another! God Bless, Pastor Steve Friends. That's what I see in this Scripture reading, and in Matthew 9, where one of these tax collectors is called to follow Jesus, and immediately he hosted a dinner with other tax collectors and sinners. And no doubt most of these people are friends!
Now please take notice who is in the midst of them? Jesus. In Luke 15, Jesus is the host ("welcoming...") So He is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 25:6, "The Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food..." And so as we look at our Lenten theme, "Gathering Around Jesus", here we see notorious sinners and people hated by others, all gathering around Jesus! And I am one of them gathered around Jesus. And so are all other people, for "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) It looks like a party! With great food and drink, and lots of conversation and laughter. And I'm thinking Jesus was in the midst of all of that also. I'd love to hear one of His jokes, and His laughter :). Wait a minute: this sounds like the gatherings around Jesus at worship services that occurs every Sunday and the Wednesdays of Lent, and the soup suppers, and the fellowship gatherings after so many of our services, and the dinners we share with others, all here at Resurrection Lutheran Church!! Blessings to you, Pastor Steve There is this tension between each of these. And I find myself caught in them quite often.
What if all of it is included? Certainly God is our Creator. And He has saved us through His Son, Jesus. And He is now with us, and working in and through us. So both God and each of us are all included in our lives. We may be told that something is completely beyond our control (such as what the weather will be today, or how a chronic illness will impact our bodies). Or we may be told that it is all up to us (such as whether we have a savings account, or whether or not we overcome an addiction). And even in those examples, we can debate how much each of us has to do with it, or not. But in the end, many factors come into play in how something happens. So it is with God and each of us. God is omnipotent, and full of grace and love. And he most often works in and through each one of us. It seems best to not be so focused on getting everything figured out. God is a mystery, and far beyond each of our understanding. But He has given us enough to know that we can trust Him, and love and serve Him. The Scriptures teach us as children of our Heavenly Father. And just as a young child doesn't have it all figured out yet (and do we ever?), so with God and us. We learn about Him. And all He has done. And we come to faith and follow our Savior. May this lead us to a life of learning, service and worship of God our Savior and Lord! Peace, Pastor Steve |
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November 2024
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