Until Sunday

Jesus riding a donkey on Palm Sunday.

If ever there was a moment of divine intervention in the world before the shouts of, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia,” it may very well be the somewhat insignificant moment when two of the disciples, following the orders of Jesus, enter the holy city and find a colt, untie it, in order to bring it to Jesus, only to have the owner of the colt ask, “why are you untying the colt?” The disciples respond with, “the Lord needs it.” And without a moment’s hesitation, the owner allows the colt to be taken. 

The colt was worth much: a possible stream of income; a mode of transportation; a means of support. Yet, the owner, upon hearing “the Lord needs it” honors the request of the disciples. It is a strange interaction, and the owner receives no moment of honor in scripture. We do not know if the animal’s owner was a follower of Jesus. We only hear the disciple’s statement of need. This, for me, is a moment of divine intervention, however insignificant. In the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah, spoke of a day when the Messiah would come:

“Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

We are quickly approaching the gates of Jerusalem. Or perhaps by the time you read this, we will already be well on our way to the upper room for the Last Supper. Much has happened. Miracles and mischief, planning and plotting. 

In these last days of the life of Jesus, it is not simply a colt the Lord has need of – it is us. The Lord has need of our commitment to follow, even in our questions and our doubts. The Lord has need of our willingness to be faithful even when we do not understand. The Lord has need of each of us – even as we might stumble – we are the hands and feet of the One who calls us by name. It is, for me, all divine intervention and, dear friends, there is nothing insignificant about the invitation to follow. The shouts of “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday will give way to the whispers of stories and laughter at the Last Supper. The conversation at dinner in the upper room will descend into an olive grove for prayer where we will meet struggle and betrayal. The betrayal will lead to arrest and acceptance of what is to come. And what will come, will be at the hands of Roman soldiers. A cross will rise and a Savior will be nailed to that cross. Yet the Savior will not be held by nails, he will be held by love. A moment of divine intervention for each of us.

From Good Friday, we will know only darkness and defeat. 

Until Sunday comes. When brave women, breaking rules, will find their way to the grave of their friend – their teacher – their Savior; only to find the stone rolled away and the grave empty. The sun will rise that morning to tell a new story of divine intervention. A new story of life when all was thought lost. A new story of hope when all was thought defeated. A new story of joy where all was thought grief. It will be Mary Magdalene who will first set eyes on the risen Savior, her friend, Jesus. Soon enough, we too, will hear the shouts of “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” Our hearts will beat faster. Our ears will ring. Our eyes will seek the face of our Savior. And the good news will once again be reminded to us. “He is risen just as he said.” One more moment of divine intervention to change the whole world – to change our own little world – forever. What a week it will be!

Maybe this is the year, you find yourself in worship for each of these holy days – these divine interventions in the world as we know it to be. “Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” My friends, the King is coming. And you are invited to join your Savior, and the rest of us, on the journey. “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!”

Welcome to Holy Week at Ascension.

See you on the road.

Pastor Chris

Season of Resurrection

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Welcome to the season of resurrection joy. Unimaginable!

Around the middle of the season of Lent, someone asked what day it was and Vicki Taylor, our Director of Music Ministries said, “It is the 294th day of Lent.” There are days it feels like Lent, with its less than joyful nature and lack of energy, lasts far longer than the 40 days that collect between Ash Wednesday and Easter Day (not counting Sundays).

The words of Mark 16:6 share with us the great joy of Easter. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. Thanks be to God!

“The good news of Easter,” writes Trevor Hudson, “reminds us that God’s action in raising Jesus is the bottom line of our faith. On the third day, after his crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of Jesus and Salome find Jesus’ tomb empty. The love that Jesus proclaims – the love he lives and the love he is – is not defeated by the powers of evil and death. This is breathtakingly good news. No faith could be more tragic, no belief more futile than Christianity without its risen Lord. It would be sad and foolish to base our lives on a dead hero. The strongest evidence for the resurrection is the transformed lives of Jesus’ disciples. How else do we explain the sudden transformation that took place in their lives? Within days those frightened and grieving disciples are transformed into bold and courageous witnesses willing to die for their faith. Something most extraordinary must have taken place for this to have happened. The One whom they follow is raised from the grave, and they encounter him in a way that convinces them he is now living beyond crucifixion.”

The resurrection means much for our lives today. Jesus is present with us as a friend who walks by our side. He can support us in our struggle with the forces of evil, sin and death. We too can experience “little Easters” in the midst of those things that makes us “die” each day – the betrayal of a friend, the failure of a dream, the death of someone we love. What is the prayer we pray every-so-often in church? Holy God, reveal your resurrection joy to us. Amen. Easter reminds us that the risen Jesus always can bring life where we see only death. We are always and ever an Easter people living in a Good Friday world. This is good news. The risen Jesus is with us. He continues to make available another kind of life to anyone and everyone. He has promised that all those who seek will find. This is the good news of our risen Lord Jesus.

Dear friends, it is Easter. Finally! Again we can shout words of praise, words of light into the blinding shadows of this world in these days. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

It is enough. It is all we need. Easter has come. The grave is empty. The victory is ours! Thanks be to God!

See you in church!

Pastor Chris

The Gift of Resurrection

In March, I preached in Spanish on the Gospel of Luke (13:6-9). These verses tell the story of the fig tree that bears no fruit. The landowner had planted a fig tree in his vineyard, and when the supposed harvest time arrived, he arrived at the land and realized the plants hadn’t produced any fruit. The landowner had confidence and hope that the plants would produce good fruit, but when he arrived at the land, he realized the plants on their branches didn’t have the fruit he expected.

This story made me think about these questions: What kind of fruit did the landowner expect? What caused the plants not to produce fruit? Could a pest have arrived and contaminated the plants? Were the roots weak? Could an intruder have arrived and stolen the fruit? What happened?

The wonderful thing about this story is the appearance of a gardener who pleaded for the plants and promised to take care of them. The gardener will not leave the plant’s salvation to chance. The gardener will do everything possible to remove the bad soil. The gardener will ensure that the plant receives the necessary water and fertilizer to strengthen its roots. The gardener’s intervention is what made the plants’ salvation possible.

During Holy Week, we hear, experience, and reflect on the work, agony, death, and gift of resurrection we received from this merciful, compassionate gardener who intervened, intervenes, and will continue to intervene for all of us. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” This gardener not only came to save us but has also provided us with the tools we need to bear fruit in our lives. In John 6:35, our gardener tells us, “Whoever drinks of the water I give him will never thirst. The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The gardener completed his mission and has given us the gift of eternal life. In Matthew 17:23, Jesus says, “The Son of Man will be handed over to the powers of this world, and they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.” On Sunday morning, a group of women went to the tomb and found it empty. The fulfillment of the promise of the resurrection had arrived. “He is not there, He has risen, hallelujah!

Sisters and brothers, the gardener has brought us and given us a new way of seeing life. Even if some powers of this world harm us, intimidate us, persecute us, humiliate us, make us sick, increase our anxiety, that is not the end. Now we live in the sure hope of the resurrection. Death no longer has power over us, not because of what I do, but because of what the gardener has done for us!

Happy season of resurrection!

Pastor Edwin 

Changed by the Resurrection

Our journey through Lent will soon be coming to an end. On Maundy Thursday we will gather in the upper room with Jesus and his disciples and be reminded of the incredible gift we celebrate in worship every Sunday morning as we hear, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” On Good Friday we will travel to the foot of the cross and hear Jesus utter a lonely cry of abandonment, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” We will hear the words of finality that Jesus spoke with his last breath as he paid the ultimate price for our sin, “It is finished!” And we will travel again to the empty tomb to hear about the group of women that traveled there early on the first day of the week only to find it empty. We will hear once more the words of the angels at the empty tomb, “He is not here, but has risen.”

But once that final, culminating event of the Resurrection is complete. Then what? What are we supposed to do then? Well, I think it’s important for us to remember that Easter is more than just a day. Easter is an every day celebration of the cross and resurrection of Jesus – the forgiveness of sins and the certainty of eternal life with God. Easter is also an every day celebration in which we live each day trusting in God through Christ, knowing that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” for us.

So what do we do as we go forth from the empty tomb? Perhaps it would be best for us to start by following the example of the first witnesses of the empty tomb. After the two angels reminded the women that Jesus had risen, St. Luke tells us that “then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.” They went forth from the tomb changed by the resurrection of Jesus. They went forth from the tomb to bring an “every day” witness of God’s power over sin, death, and Satan himself.

And where then are we to go once we leave the empty tomb? Well, perhaps it would be best for us to follow the example of Jesus’ first disciples. After Jesus walked through locked doors to appear to the eleven disciples and to show himself to Thomas, seven of the eleven disciples went back to their fishing business. They went back to their everyday stations in life and took the witness of the resurrection with them. They lived in the joy of the resurrection of Jesus while carrying out the ordinary, daily responsibilities given to them.

Like the women at the empty tomb and the eleven disciples, we too are every day witnesses and participants in the resurrection of Jesus. We believe. We have the hope of eternal life. We have the joy of the resurrection living inside of us. Also, like the women at the empty tomb and the disciples, we have stations in life that God has given to us as gifts. Most of us aren’t fishermen, but all of us have one or more of these callings: mother, father, partner, wife, husband, daughter, son, sister, brother, grandparent, employee, retiree, caregiver, friend, and neighbor. Each of these callings comes with a set of duties and responsibilities.

And as followers of Jesus, redeemed by God’s grace we are called to wrap the daily duties and responsibilities of our lives in the joy, love, peace, and forgiveness of Christ. And when we do this, more than likely, others will take notice, and God will bless our faithful work by giving us more opportunities to “tell all these things to all the rest.”

So, what are we to do then?  My friends, we are to respond to God’s grace, love and mercy by going forth from Easter Sunday and the celebration of the empty tomb as every day witnesses, freed to live and love and serve as God’s forgiven children in Christ Jesus. And as we go forth empowered by God’s Spirit, living and active within us, may we live in the joy of the resurrection so that everyone, everywhere will see just how great God is! Happy Easter! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

The Gift of Resurrection

It seems like a week ago that we gathered together for Ash Wednesday to begin Lent. We begin the journey of Lent with this phrase “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” A phrase that reminds us that this journey of earthly life is temporary, but the promise of eternal life is firm for all.

Throughout the season of Lent, we listen and reflect on the clues Jesus gave before his death. He said “the kingdom of God has come near, but that same kingdom would also be destroyed and rebuilt on the third day.” Messages that anticipated his persecution, the contempt he would face, and his suffering on the cross with these words “If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself, carry his cross and follow me” Mark 8:34. “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified… unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” John 12:24. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man also be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” John 3:14-15.

This year, the forty days passed quickly and we soon found ourselves in Holy Week. A time in which we remember and reflect how our Lord in the midst of his agony on the night he was betrayed, washed the feet of the disciples, instituted Holy Communion and told us “a new commandment I give you: that you love one another.” “Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.” On Good Friday, Jesus is abandoned, scourged, crowned with a crown of thorns and sentenced to death on the cross. His death put an end to the beauty of his messages and his presence among the people.

But is this how it all ends? In no way, three days later the gift of the Resurrection occurs. The purpose for which our lord had been sent had been accomplished. Death was defeated and no longer has power over us. We have been freed from slavery. The temple that had been destroyed was rebuilt on the third day just as the Lord had mentioned to his disciples. With the Resurrection, the persecutions, contempt and agonies have been left behind, it takes us to a space where there is only joy and peace.

Last summer, a month after my installation and ordination, as you already know, my father went to enjoy the gift of the resurrection. Although his absence left a void in our lives, my family and I hold on to the hope of the promise of eternal life. His death brought an end to his earthly suffering, as I have peace knowing that my father was at peace at the moment of his death. The pain of my father’s death was tempered with the hope that gives us strength, comfort, joy, love and peace. In some of you there are probably gaps in loved ones who came before us, that just as Jesus died and rose again, so we will also rise to eternal life.

Brothers and sisters, my wishes are that the empty tomb fills us with Hope, comfort and peace as we walk on this new journey of resurrection. Happy Easter!

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (Peter 5:10)

Pastor Edwin 

Christ Is Risen!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I never get tired of hearing those words. They offer praise. Bring peace. Extend comfort. Reassure troubled hearts. And even raise the dead. Okay, maybe not in the literal sense, but for many of us who know someone who is in a season of their life that is painful, difficult, hopeless – these words of resurrection joy can lift someone from their suffering, if only for a momentary glimpse of the Kingdom of God and the joy to be found there.

I have often wondered why our funeral liturgy does not include this resurrection announcement. I imagine the mood would change for those who gather to remember a loved one, if the first words they heard and said included: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

I am all for: 

  • John 14 – Let not your hearts be troubled;
  • Psalm 23 – The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want;
  • Matthew 11 – Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens;
  • John 11 – I am the resurrection and the life.
  • Romans 8 – What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?
  • Job 19 – I know that my redeemer lives.
  • Psalm 118 – Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them; 

And yet, none of those words fill me with the power of belief like, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Who among us has not known the sting of death or felt the bitter wind at graveside? Even in the warmth of the summer sun, to stand at the edge of the grave of someone we love, there is a known sense of loneliness, regardless of the gathered crowd around you. So again, I ask, why do we not include the resurrection announcement at the beginning and end of every funeral we attend? For that matter, why is the story of resurrected Savior and empty tomb not reminded to us again and again at the entrance to the sanctuary and the gate of the cemetery? It is as if the celebration of Easter is not enough for us. AND YET THIS EASTER NEWS IS ENOUGH! It is all we need. If we had no other words of Scripture but this story of resurrection of the Son of God, it is enough. 

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I invite you to carry the story and these words of resurrection joy and promise with you into each new day – long past these 50 days of Easter celebration. Carry this resurrection joy deep within you, write it on your heart, and speak it in greeting to remind yourself and others of the good news of our God. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

May the joy of Easter carry you into each new day.

Pastor Chris

God of the Resurrection

Over the past few months in our Monday Adult Education classes we’ve been exploring our faith by way of the Chosen video series, the Bible, and many wonderful and engaging discussions. Throughout our time together I’ve noticed an openness, energy, and excitement welling up in many of those participating. And this has led me to see that the Holy Spirit is up to something else beautiful and amazing here at Ascension. Coincidently, just last week a friend of mine shared the following poem, “Watered Gardens” by Joyce Rupp. And I feel like it does a great job highlighting the same openness that Easter and the gift of resurrection joy call us toward.

God of openness, of life and resurrection,
Come into this Easter season and bless me.
Look around the tight dead spaces of my heart
That still refuse to give you entrance.
Bring your gentle but firm love.
Begin to lift the layers of resistance
That hang on tightly deep inside of me.
Open, one by one, those places in my life
Where I refuse to be overcome by surprise.
Open, one by one, those parts of my heart
Where I fight the entrance of real growth.
Open, one by one, those aspects of my spirit
Where my security struggles with the truth.
God of the Resurrection , God of the living,
Untomb and uncover all that needs to live in me.
Take me to people, events and situations
And stretch me into much greater openness.
Open me. Open me. Open me.
For it is only then that I will grow and change.
For it is only then that I will be transformed.
For it is only then that I will know how it is
To be in the moment of rising from the dead.

My friends, I pray that the God of the Resurrection would continue to inspire us and open us to discover the gift of a new life in Christ. And as we do, may all our days be filled with hope! 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

Easter Reflections

We are sitting in Starbucks. Come on! We know that is not a surprise! (Have you met Pastor Chris?)

Picking up the palms for Palm Sunday

We are still reflecting on the beauty of worship that carried us through Holy Week and brought us into the joy of Easter Day. If you get a chance, please take the time to thank the church staff. They are incredibly gifted individuals.

  • Our musicians – Vicki, Ben, and Sarah. They are gifts of God to shape the highs and lows in our worship life.
  • Our administrators – Amy and Tamie. They are the ones who attend to all the details of the order of worship, double-checking and triple checking what we have planned.
  • Our gifted ensembles – handbells, praise team, choir, and numerous instrumentalists and soloists. They provide the backdrop to so many moments of emotion in the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Ascension continues to be a community of faith that draws all of us, and others we have yet to meet, to the very foot of God’s throne. It is humbling to watch so many talents collaborate to bring glory to our God. And then when we add the voices of all of you who gather to worship – how wonderful the sounds of praise to our God.

We are also humbled for the 14 month journey that completed the remodel of the kitchen – the last piece of phase 2 of our remodel. It is glorious. We are moved in thanks to some very dedicated women who rearranged drawers and shelves more than once to figure out what will work best in the kitchen. We are indebted to Michael Jahner, Cynthia Carlson, Dennis Nowak, Dick Boward, Ron Marien, and Arlene Davis for bringing all the pieces together and navigating the city permitting process. In the days ahead, we will focus on replacing the sanctuary roof and the sliding glass door in the hearth room. However, both are in okay shape and for the next few months we will concentrate more on ministry than remodeling – though, we are convinced they go hand-in-hand in the house of God.

We are not surprised at all that we would celebrate Easter at the same time we are celebrating the resurrection of our kitchen. The mission and ministry of the community of Ascension centers on the death and resurrection of Jesus and so often the kitchen is the hub of activity in the ministry that reflects the moments of sorrow and joy in our lives. We are preparing to celebrate the gift of our new kitchen with the Mission Fundraising Auction and Dinner on Saturday, May 20th beginning at 5:00pm. Come and share in fellowship, beer and wine, good food, and hear about the upcoming delegation visit from El Salvador and the upcoming delegation from Ascension who are preparing to travel to Usa River, Tanzania to reconnect with our sisters and brothers at our sister parishes of Samaria, Neema, and Galilaya along with our two elementary schools, new special needs school, and our new secondary school. So much for which we can give thanks to God.

It is a glorious thing – to share in the ministry of Ascension. We are counting down the days until Edwin graduates from seminary. The story of God’s love continues to unfold among us, in us, and through us. Thank you for joining us on the journey at Ascension. We are humbled to share the road with you.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

See you in church.

Pastor Chris & Pastor Tony

Now What?

Our Lenten journey will soon be coming to an end. On Palm Sunday, we will rejoice in Jesus’ triumphant and bittersweet entry into Jerusalem. We will gather in the upper room on Maundy Thursday to celebrate the last supper with Jesus and his disciples. We will travel to the foot of the cross on Good Friday to hear Jesus utter a lonely cry of abandonment. And on Easter Sunday, we will walk alongside a group of women to the place where they laid the lifeless body of Jesus only find the tomb empty just as he promised.

That’s all well and good, but a provocative question still remains for many – so what? I still have to go back to work and school on Monday. Bills are still due. The surgery is still scheduled. I still need my therapy appointment. Life doesn’t seem to have magically gotten any easier as a result of my participation in the events of Holy Week. So, then why does the resurrection matter and what does it mean for me now?

The resurrection of Jesus matters because it shows us what we might have trouble seeing in the chaotic and divisive world around us – that God loves us beyond measure. That through the gracious gift of Jesus, God defeated sin and death, opening the gate to eternal life, for us.

Some of you will be spending a lot of time in church over the next week – Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. You will hear the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus and what it means for you today, tomorrow, and forever. And now that the culminating event of the Resurrection is complete – What are you supposed to do now?

It’s a question that comes upon each of us throughout our lives because there’s no shortage of things that come at us on a daily basis – What do we do now that we got the test results? What do we do now that I’ve lost my job? What do I do now that I’ve graduated? What do I do now that the relationship is over? What do I do now that the divorce is final? What do I do now that my loved one has died? What do you do next in the midst of the ups and downs of life that are sure to come?

My friends, Jesus has been set loose in the world to bring light out of darkness, forgiveness out of sin, and life out of death. He is the One who can bring joy out of sorrow, faith out of doubt, hope out of despair, and love out of fear. And he invites us to join him and proclaim God’s power to all who are lost and without hope.

So, what do we do now? We respond to God’s grace, love and mercy by going forth from Easter Sunday and the celebration of the empty tomb as witnesses, freed to live and love and serve as God’s forgiven children in Christ Jesus. And as we go forth empowered by God’s Spirit, living and active within us, may we live in the joy of the resurrection so that everyone, everywhere will see just how great God is! Happy Easter! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

Instead of the End – the Beginning

The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Elizabeth Eaton offers these words:

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. So begins the Easter story in the Gospel according to Matthew. The women had lived through the pain of Friday and the emptiness of Saturday and were expecting death. All of their hope had come to a dead end. And just then, as the first day of the week was dawning, hope was restored. The angel said, “Do not be afraid; I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here: for he has been raised, as he said.”
 
Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.
 
On Easter, we will have glorious celebrations in our congregations and worshiping communities. There will be rejoicing and music and flowers and alleluias. And that’s a good thing. But when the flowers fade and the pressures of life seem so heavy, when the brokenness of this world breaks our spirits, when we have come to a dead end … rejoice. Because it is exactly there where the risen Christ meets us. It is precisely there where we are given resurrection life. It is at that point that we say, “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.”

The cries of resurrection can still be heard on the mountaintops. Thanks be to God! From the mountaintops we travel to the upper room where the disciples have hidden themselves out of fear. There, Jesus appears. A week later, disciples are still in the upper room. There, Jesus appears. It will be on the beach, where a campfire is tended, that Jesus will appear to his disciples and feed them breakfast. There around the warmth and light of the fire, the light of the world, will ignite a flame in the disciples that will inspire the world.

Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.

I read this reflection before the great celebration of Easter. It has carried me forward since we began the celebration of these great 50 days of resurrection. It is entitled Setting Out Once Again by Kelly Hall and Phuc Luu:

Out of the stale darkness, he rises into the light, bright rays of sun split the tops of trees, and clouds depart and blue fills the sky – the smell of angels lingers in the air – his hair feels the cool breeze again. This was not the garden, but a new world made from the eruption of hope and a life that could not be held down. We were witnesses to the life that rose from the dead. God’s relentless love, who comes close to us moving stones from tombs opening the heart to another possibility, death no longer stands. My heart races in my chest as I step forward to face the future, my future, that I grasp with open hands with new naiveté, a child toward a mother to be held and lifted up, and cradled with care. At times, I hesitate and I grasp onto memories of what once was but I know that I am not alone in my apprehension. I feel the hands of others holding me. These are my sisters, my brothers, who are not strangers to my fears and frailties, who have also confronted a hope that frightens them – who can feel their own scars, both fresh and old, they step in pace with me – the weeping women at the gravesite, the scared disciples waiting in the upper room.
 
This is our future, where we walk together toward our new home built by the hands of a wounded king – the new Zion, forsaking the kingdoms marked by borders and divides where all our settlements are only temporary shelters, sanctuaries of rest for the wounded and weary. Then the Christ returns to visit us, as Galilee’s boats pull to shore, these places seem familiar – the lapping water and the sand, but we are not to return to these lands, not those dreams – but become pilgrims, to set our belongings in another home, to wash our sandy feet in some other place, to lay down our tired souls on a distant promise, quilted from both the today and the tomorrow.
 
And we dine as a day sees another setting sun sitting across from each other once again – seeing each sweet face laughing deeply feeling whole once more. And we see the Savior’s smile, he knows our journey’s end and pours us another cup full of his own love and this time, our eyes tell him that we understand.

Thanks be to God!  See you in church,
Rev. Christian Marien

(This article is taken from Ascension’s May 2017 newsletter).