Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

 

It is about one week post Easter.  I loved the worship space when we entered on Sunday--the flowers up front, the butterflies that signal new life, the people!  Mostly I loved saying and singing Alleluia.  

As we come into the second week of Easter, I am just as excited.  New life is here and now.

When I was growing up, I think I believed Jesus died so I would go to heaven.  What I did and said probably was my way of ensuring I would go to heaven.  I was taught, whether intentionally or not that faith is something we have here to go to heaven in the future.  We focused on "Jesus died for our sins."   I don't really remember when that changed.  Yes, Jesus died for our sins, but the dramatic, hopefilled, eternal truth is Jesus is risen!

I am rarely concerned about heaven.  I trust the words of Jesus and believe that Jesus will come and take me to the place where he has led the way when my time comes.  I have all the faith in the world that my parents, my brother, grandparents, friends, colleague and parishioners are with Jesus in heaven.  It isn't up to me--for we are made right with God by grace, a free gift--and I can not earn it, not even if I believe hard enough.

Resurrection faith is important here and now. It is the promise of forgiveness and the strength to forgive.  It is the promise that in the midst of everything in the world that is tragic, there is still hope because of Jesus.  It is the promise that failure does not have the last word, death does not have the last word.  

May we not forget as we live day by day, Alleluia!  Christ is Risen.

I am Ready for Easter--I think!

 I was planning on reviewing my sermon, and going to bed.  I think I'm ready for tomorrow--for the celebration of Easter.  It was a good Holy Week but I am ready for the celebration of resurrection. 

Or am I?  Because resurrection means new life, it means things don't aways appear as I expect, and my old and comfortable ways may not be the way to new life. Resurrection means that I stop returning to the tomb where my guilt was laid to rest, once and for all by Jesus Christ.  

This week has been a tough week.  As those of you who know me, it isn't because it was Holy Week and as a pastor one of my "busiest."  You see, I have known for a long time about this week coming, so it has been in the making for quite some time.  Worship planning has been done for weeks, and all I needed to do was listen to the Holy Spirit as they revealed to me what to proclaim.  

This is a tough week because so much has been out of my control. Doctors appointments are leading to more doctor appointments, messing with plans I had already made, and leading me into some of those unknowns that we all fear.  Because of who I am and my need to plan, I immediately got coverage for when I know I will need to be off. Things I had hoped to do and people I had planned to visit didn't happen, and I have guilt about all that.  I leave for vacation in a week, and there is so much that needs to be done before I go.

I worshiped Thursday night with joy as we celebrated the love that Jesus has for us, in the breaking of bread and the washing of feet.  I worshiped Friday recalling how Jesus suffered, died and was buried; offering himself in love for us. 

And I prepared today for the sermon tomorrow, when we will shout Alleluia, Christ is Risen. I am ready to sing the Easter songs, because it is the resurrection of Christ where we find the hope and strength to deal with whatever comes our way.  Here is an excerpt from the sermon for tomorrow:

This is not an assurance that nothing can go wrong, because things will go wrong.  It isn’t assured that everything will turn out for the best, because if we were honest, we know that isn’t true.  It is assurance that whatever happens to us, whatever our day may hold, God has the power to strengthen us and uphold us, that whatever we must face, we do not face it alone.  Nothing, absolutely nothing we encounter is stronger than God’s love, and ultimately God has the final word.  The final word over sin, and the final word over death.  Christ is alive, death could not hold him.

As I go to bed, I will rest in the assurance of God's love and grace made known to us in the resurrection of Jesus.  

May we all sleep this Easter Eve in the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ, encountering Jesus along our journey.