Alleluia, Christ is Risen !
Last week we gathered for a triumphal celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. This week we hear more about the hours following Mary’s discovery of the empty tomb. Jesus comes to the disciples who are still hiding offering Christ’s peace as he breathed upon them. I wonder what that tomb breath may have smelled like but the scriptures do tell us what it felt like – the ultimate sense of peace.
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed, Alleluia!
We are Easter people who with each day die and rise again in the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. On this day of Christ’s resurrection, we rejoice with all who have gone before us and all who are yet to come in the great communion of saints. We give thanks and praise knowing that we are forgiven and called beloved just as we are. The resurrection proves that no matter the circumstances, we can start over and rise again, and again, and again in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord who on this day has risen from the grave.
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday and we enter into Holy Week and the Passion of Jesus Christ. I want to share with you a devotion I wrote on Palm Sunday for Lenten devotional published jointly by Lutheran and Methodist Campus Ministry in 1991. The background for the devotion is that with a Roman Catholic priest and Jewish Rabbi I led an interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In the Holy Land we met Marian, a journalist who covered and wrote about the pilgrimage. The devotion begins with a reflection by Marian.
For fifteen years I have participated in Abrahamic Conferences between interfaith delegations from the United States and religious, political, academic and business leaders from Iran, convened under the auspices of the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). The conferences have brought together religious leaders, scholars and public servants from the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity) from the two countries. A shared monotheism, with common roots in the patriarch Abraham, is the spiritual foundation of these proceedings.
Lent is a journey, not a destination. And our Lenten discipline, especially around care for God’s creation is also a journey. We can’t solve the massive issues and threats facing our environment. But each thing we can do to preserve and protect God’s good creation is a step in the journey, a link in a global continuum of care and adoration of the Creator. I think this prayer nicely expresses the journey:
This week while I was preparing for the sermon and spending time in the gospel of Luke, a friend pointed me to this poem and reflection titled, “God of Yes.” In order to create healthy boundaries in our world that constantly asks us to do more and be more, we are encouraged to not be afraid of the word, “No.” No creates space to learn and grow. No creates opportunities to nourish ourselves and prioritize our time. No allows for a chance to rest and renew. But what about Yes?
This week we journey with Jesus to Mount Olive as he approaches Jerusalem. At the sight of Jerusalem Jesus has an emotional moment: “Oh, Jerusalem!” he says. Matthew tells us that at the sight of the city and its history and present experience of suffering that “Jesus wept.” Luke tells us that Jesus looked upon the city with a mother’s heart: “How I would gather you like a mother hen gathers her chicks.” Our sermon will center on the compassion of Jesus, who today looks on the city of Kyiv and Park Ridge (where each of us bear our burdens as well as joys) and sees the suffering and enters it.
In this first Sunday in Lent, we watch as the Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness without food, water, shelter or relationships. Join us this week as the season of Lent invites us to draw closer to God, even through temptation. We celebrate with Lincoln, and his loved ones, as we welcome Lincoln to God’s family and St. Luke’s through his baptism on Sunday.
The fresh snowfall this week brought the drab ground and sky back to a bright and shiny wonderland that glistens in the sun and forces you to put on sunglasses while driving. This shininess is just in time for our celebration of the Transfiguration of Jesus this weekend where we hear about the dazzling white and rays of shininess of Jesus on the mountaintop where the disciples experience the Glory of God. Come and join us in-person or online for worship.
To many cultures shaped by Christian tradition, this pre-Lenten season is a time of celebration, a time to “eat and drink.” It is no wonder we think of partying, especially if we remember this year the season began with the story of Jesus making gallons and gallons of wine for a wedding celebration. Jesus ate and drink, and his disciples with him.