We have all had our hearts broken. A relationship ends. We lose a loved one. A trust is betrayed, a promise goes unfulfilled, or a hope is crushed against the rocks of reality. Unfortunately, we seem to wrongly equate a broken heart with feelings of sadness or disappointment. A heart can only truly be broken when it has been selflessly shared. On the Cross, our Lord’s heart was broken; but not by the horror of suffering or even impending death. His heart was broken because it had been sacrificially offered, and then rejected. It was rejected by the very people He came to serve and to save. Can we truly see the world through the eyes of Christ? Will our hearts be broken by the exigencies of life that deny God’s good creation? This can only happen when we share our hearts through sacrificial love. This can only happen when we open our own hearts to the Risen Lord. Now, this is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. This past Sunday, our sisters and brothers in the Orthodox Church celebrated Christ’s glorious Resurrection. In beautiful and highly nuanced liturgies, the Church proclaimed the triumph of light over darkness, creation over death, and hope over despair. For the people of Ukraine this was a very different Easter. The traditional vigil liturgies were canceled due to curfews in the wake of Russian bombardments. Yet, on Easter morning, people gathered at 1,000 year old Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv to rejoice that Christ is Alive. So, how do the Resurrection and the tragic human consequences of war seem to coexist? That is not a new question. The Epistles of the Apostle Paul exhorted the early Christian communities to stand strong against the reality of social and individual evil. That same counsel is valid in today’s world. That is the profound truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are now Easter people. Emboldened by Christ’s victory over death we are empowered to reject evil in all of its insidious manifestations. It is true that there are many Golgothas in each of our lives and in our world. However, because of Easter, we can and we must carry the light that overcomes the darkness of hate, injustice, and death. Now, that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom John 21:15-19 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.” I heard an old, old story of how a Savior came from glory. The opening line of that storied hymn , Victory in Jesus, reminds us that the passion and glorious resurrection of our Lord is an old, old story. Unlike other ancient tales, the story that we retell this Holy Week and on Easter morning is not simply an historical account. That story is as real and as relevant today as it was when the Disciples gathered in the upper room. It is as challenging today as when the followers of Jesus stood at the foot of the Cross. And it is as necessary today as when the women came upon an empty tomb. Unfortunately, we often treat Holy Week and Easter Sunday as remembrances of what happened centuries ago. In truth these sacred days are calls to enter fully and without reservation into God’s infinite grace. A grace that can be felt as we join in the sacred meal, we call the Last Supper. A grace that calls us to cry as we look at that Cross of Good Friday. And a grace we celebrate as we proclaim Jesus Christ is Risen today. Now, that is genuinely Good News. With Every Blessings for a Sacred Holy Week and Joyful Easter, Pastor Tom and Roxanne John 13:2-5 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. Palm Sunday denotes the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Week is , in truth, a fabric woven of conflicting imagery. What does Holy Week speak into our lives this year? Are the evocative images of Good Friday merely ancient history? Or are those images inescapable reminders of the reality that evil resides within the depths of the human heart? What of the Last Supper? It is far more than a gathering of Jesus and His Disciples. The Last Super is a powerful and haunting prefiguring of the self-sacrificial love that defines and illumines the passion of our Lord. In truth, Holy Week in preparation for Easter morning, is a profound message of God’s grace and God’s mercy. Each Holy Week pastors talk about God’s mercy. Sadly, we forget that grace precedes and informs divine mercy. This Holy Week, our prayers, both individually and communal, should be in gratitude for God’s abundant grace. The fact we serve a God of grace is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom Mark 11:1-11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. There are few characters in Scripture as infamous as Judas Iscariot. His very name has become synonymous with betrayal, greed, and the personification of evil. The Gospel accounts vary as to the motivation that led to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. One thing is abundantly clear; Jesus was well aware of the coming betrayal long before it took place on that storied night in the garden of Gethsemane. As Jesus gathered His disciples for that sacred meal we now call the Last Supper, Judas was invited to the table. Jesus made no distinction as to who was welcome to receive His Body and Blood. In truth, all of those gathered around that table would abandon Jesus in just a few hours. There is a powerful message of grace contained within that final meal. God’s grace calls every person to that sacred table. As people rise from that table some will betray the Lord, some will run away, but some will become powerful witnesses of the Good News. That is the beauty of grace. That is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom John 13:1-5 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table,[a] took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. Whatever happened to sin? We rarely preach about sin these days. For many, it is an archaic concept. In that sense, sin becomes merely an easily forgotten vestige of an earlier time. It was the grand moral censure that colored human life, and called people to ethical purity. Sin was, in the eyes and attitudes of many, an individual deviation from the right path. Bad habits and questionable conduct that pave the way to eternal damnation. Perhaps, we have so domesticated sin as to make the concept little more than a platitude. This Lent, it is time to revisit sin. Sin is simply and undeniably turning from God. And, it is communal not simply individual missteps along the human journey. I prefer to understand sin as not seeing the world through God’s eyes. Of course, that will be reflected in individual behavior. But, it will also be reflected in the actions of the Body of Christ in the world. After all, are we not to be conformed to the image of Christ? That is only possible through God’s grace. This week pray to see the world through God’s eyes. That is why having a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith by God’s grace is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom Luke 15:1-7 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. We all know the treasured story; of Jesus erasing the boundaries of gender, religion, and ethnicity as his life intersects with that of a Samaritan woman. Over the years the story has become increasingly nuanced. In truth, the Gospel of John offers few descriptors of the woman, who remains nameless. She is simply an anonymous person whose encounter with Jesus reveals God’s grace. Lent is an appropriate time for all believers to revisit that well in Samaria. As we search for the living water in our life we will no doubt visit many different wells. During Lent, we are called to the one well that is life-giving. We are called to encounter Jesus in a much deeper, and much more transformative way than we have ever had before. That is the essence of salvation: being freed from our past, being reconciled to God in the present, and being called to an eternal, grace-inspired fellowship with God. Now, that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom John 4:4-15 He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water. Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine stands as a solemn and tragic reminder of the depths of human evil, and the brokenness of our human community. Yet even amid the devastation of this current conflict, God’s healing presence is being experienced and revealed in ever-enlarging acts of compassion, kindness, and self-sacrificial love. The war in Ukraine and the subsequent draconian tactics of the Russian government against their own people, constitute little more than the total abandonment of reason and the denial of even the most basic human rights. There is no moral or religious authority that can justify the actions being undertaken by the Russian government. As Christians we are called to respond by sharing the burdens of our Ukrainian and Russian brothers and sisters. May our prayer be for God’s wisdom to guide our responses. The Church must be the venue through which, and in which the presence of Christ is carried into the human suffering of the war in Ukraine. Each community of faith and each believer must unite in prayer, in acts of compassion, generosity, and love for all affected by the inhumanity of war. Today, Wednesday, March 9th at 6:30 p.m. Crown First United Methodist Church will hold a prayer service in support of the people impacted by this war. The service will be held on the lawn in front of the Church. I encourage all to attend. Anyone interested in car pooling should meet at Salem United Methodist Church at 5:45 p.m. Blessings, Pastor Tom Matthew 5:9 Today is Ash Wednesday. That ancient rite that marks the beginning of Lent. We will gather in Churches, announce our willingness to repent, and receive a cross of ashes on our foreheads. For some, Ash Wednesday is that day when we pledge to forego a favorite food, limit our social media time, or try to eliminate a bad habit. In truth, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a sacred journey. A journey that we have been called to walk. The cross of ashes on our foreheads symbolizes a call on our hearts. We all seek to journey to that Cross. To be conformed to the likeness of Christ. To deepen our love of God. Ash Wednesday begins a journey of preparation to receive the Cross of Christ. A time of prayer, reflection, self-examination, and forgiveness. Each person walks a different journey to the Cross. And each person seeks a different healing from that Cross. Ash Wednesday is not simply a day in the Church year. It is a sign and a symbol of God’s grace offered freely to a broken humanity. Moreover, it is a solemn reminder that our dependence is always on God. It is a dependence that allows us to journey to the Cross of our Lord. Now that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom Joel 2:12-14 Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Does God have a specific vocabulary? A lexicon of words and phrases that God uses to communicate with all of humanity. Sometimes we forget that God does not communicate in words. God speaks into the human heart. That is precisely the problem. We want clear answers. Answers that can be quantified, analyzed, and endlessly interpreted. God’s wisdom leads us in the direction that God desires. God’s wisdom can neither be contained nor limited by human vocabulary. And that is a good thing. Human words have limits and inherent expectations. Unfortunately, we listen to God expecting a lengthy treatise, or an eloquent oration. In truth, God speaks in feelings, questions, and even doubt. That is God speaking. God does speak to humanity. Now, that is genuinely God News. Blessings, Pastor Tom Matthew 17:1-8 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. |
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