The basic question(s) for all of us is (are): "Where is God? How can I find God? Is there a God?"
For those of us who dare to call ourselves Christian, we find the answer in Jesus. In Jesus we find the who most clearly embodies what it means to live a holy life. In Jesus we find one who points us to God and helps us to see God more clearly. In Jesus we get a hint of what it might be like to be so sure that God is with us, that we would dare to live so fully in our faith that we could even move mountains.
But our glimpses of God are fleeting and we are hungry for more. In our lives together as a little local church, we share our glimpses with each other and so we have a clearer view of God amongst us. It is all of us, sharing our questions, our doubts, our faith, our glimpses that make us more than any one of us could be alone. We give each other the strength and faith to work at living lives that we believe give glory to God and make both us and the world a better place.
The ultimate claim of Christianity is that we see God more clearly in Jesus because he is indeed God! For me, the ultimate question comes down to "What does all this stuff about Easter mean to me?". If Easter is only about chocolate and Easter bunnies and new spring clothes (or the Boston Marathon or opening day at Fenway Park) then Easter has not helped me figure out the deeper questions of meaning in my life. But if Easter becomes a time when I can once again remember that forgiveness isn't easy and yet, still, I have been forgiven by a God who knows my name and knows my every weakness, well, then I might once again find myself singing "Alleluia" on Easter Day to that God who knows my name! The very idea that God might forgive me before I can figure out how to forgive myself! The very idea that God created me to love God and to love others -- that God created all of us to learn how to love as fully and as forgivingly as God loves and forgives us -- the very idea blows me away!
And so, Easter becomes a touchstone for me each year. A time to remember how hard I can be to love or to forgive and I give thanks for a God who not only loves me but expects me to learn how to love just as deeply and strongly as I am loved.
npc
our church
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Where is the Passion in Holy Week?
I've been thinking about Holy Week -- both what WE do during Holy Week (or not) and what happened to those who followed Jesus during that original Holy Week almost 2000 years ago. We move from palms to lilies with sometimes a short stop for prayer & sorrow. Jesus and the disciples moved from moments of great joy and celebration (as they entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday) to moments of anger (cleansing the temple on Tuesday) to sharing table fellowship and singing together (on Thursday) before the devastating events of Thursday night and Friday as Jesus was arrested and quickly killed on the cross.
It helps me sometimes, to stop and think about how our journey through Holy Week gives us a chance to stop and think about the incredible range of events and emotions that filled that week for Jesus and the disciples.
Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday -- they took the step to enter Jerusalem even thougth they knew that there were those who planned Jesus' death. While they entered with mixed feelings the crowds saw only joy and hope as they greeted Jesus by shouting "Save Us" ('hosanna").
Tuesday -- Jesus could not take the hypocrisy he saw in the temple and tore things apart in his anger.
Thursday -- Jesus and the disciples wanted to have a family meal -- probably the Passover, a special religious feast. During the meal Jesus took the usual prayers of thanksgiving and added a personal meaning to them -- telling the disciples to remember. After dinner they sang together for a bit and then went out into the warm night to pray in a garden. While there the soldiers swept in -- arresting Jesus -- and swept him away to be judged, leaving his disciples frightened and bewildered.
Friday -- the Romans put Jesus on a cross and he hung there until dead. After he died his friends gathered up his body and placed it in a tomb but could not lay it out properly because the religious holy day had started.
Saturday -- his disciples hid in a room in Jerusalem while Jesus' body lay, still unprepared for burial in a tomb nearby.
I hope that this year during Holy Week I will remember -- and remember to give thanks.
It helps me sometimes, to stop and think about how our journey through Holy Week gives us a chance to stop and think about the incredible range of events and emotions that filled that week for Jesus and the disciples.
Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday -- they took the step to enter Jerusalem even thougth they knew that there were those who planned Jesus' death. While they entered with mixed feelings the crowds saw only joy and hope as they greeted Jesus by shouting "Save Us" ('hosanna").
Tuesday -- Jesus could not take the hypocrisy he saw in the temple and tore things apart in his anger.
Thursday -- Jesus and the disciples wanted to have a family meal -- probably the Passover, a special religious feast. During the meal Jesus took the usual prayers of thanksgiving and added a personal meaning to them -- telling the disciples to remember. After dinner they sang together for a bit and then went out into the warm night to pray in a garden. While there the soldiers swept in -- arresting Jesus -- and swept him away to be judged, leaving his disciples frightened and bewildered.
Friday -- the Romans put Jesus on a cross and he hung there until dead. After he died his friends gathered up his body and placed it in a tomb but could not lay it out properly because the religious holy day had started.
Saturday -- his disciples hid in a room in Jerusalem while Jesus' body lay, still unprepared for burial in a tomb nearby.
I hope that this year during Holy Week I will remember -- and remember to give thanks.
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