Eastertide

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “Woman, why are you weeping? Who is it you are looking for?” (John 20)
What were the first words we have from Christ after His resurrection? Just like the church focuses on the precious  seven “last words” (they are actually seven statements) of Christ from the cross during Lent and Holy Week, so too, the church listens to the words of Jesus after He is Risen during the season of “Eastertide.” As Mary was crying outside the garden tomb, she turned and saw the Risen Christ standing there. She thought he was the Gardener. So Jesus, I believe with a smile asked, “Why are you sad? The one you are seeking is standing right here in front of you!” It is so easy to miss the very One we are longer for and desperately seeking. The very real tears and sorrows of life blur our vision to see the Lord’s Presence in our life. The more I look back at my life, and remember the bitter tears of tough times, the more I can now see the Lord’s gentle hand and Presence taking me through the tough chapter. I really want to not go seeking after the fame, pleasure, and false security of the world’s wealth. I want like the first astonished Easter people to seek and find Christ in this crazy city we call home.

Thoughts on Easter

by Rev.Kim Dorr :: In these days of economic crisis, uncertain futures, wavering relief – in the days before Easter, I found myself meditating on Luke 9:51:

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (NIV)

I try to imagine what this must have been like for Jesus. Having just seen THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST again, the images are fresh in my mind – the beatings, the bloodshed, the torture, the anguish—How does one set out to resolutely move toward that??

My experience of human nature is that we seek to resolutely AVOID stuff like that. We want to know how to move in the opposite direction of anything like that rolling toward us. And if it’s just coming –the train wreck we know we can’t avoid – don’t we shut our eyes, duck our heads, hold our breath and kind of wait for it to hit? How does one move toward something awful?

Perhaps the answer is in the word “resolutely” – the way in which Jesus moved toward Jerusalem. To be resolute means to have a decided purpose, to be determined and from that determination to be bold, firm and steady. Jesus knew there was a magnificent purpose to what awaited him in Jerusalem. The purpose is what provided the courage and the peace. The purpose is what provided the ability to steadfastly move toward the unthinkable, to reach beyond the pain and embrace the hidden mystery of resurrection.

In these days, no matter what your circumstances are, know that God has a purpose for everything under heaven. As you look to our Lord, and reflect on His steps toward Jerusalem, may you see Him look toward you. In His eyes may you find God’s purpose more clearly revealed.

Remembering and Missing my Dad – claiming the promise this week holds

by Rev. Care Crawford :: Holy Week . . . here already, here again. I have come to Holy Week and all the promise it holds with a different or fresh perspective in the past ten or so years. My dad died over ten years ago. Now Holy Week and the promise of the cross and empty tomb remind me of the gift and invitation of heaven, of eternal life. It is in the forgiveness of our sins and that promise of “life everlasting”, as the Scripture says, that we bank on . . . Christ amazing sacrifice and love for us. As I enter Holy Week in the past many years since my dad died, and more recently since my brother David and Uncle Graham too went to be with the Lord,  I think about heaven a lot!

I miss my dad. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t think of him, wonder about heaven and have that “ache” of the empty place that God does not fill, but leaves empty in the relationship that was and will be one day, reunited in heaven’s embrace. I am not sure how it works in heaven; none of us can be quite sure. Scripture tells us that the Spirit prays for us, and in that Trinity, I sometimes smile thinking that my dad is praying with Jesus for me. I count on it and feel the strength that Christ’s prayers, the Spirit’s, “sighs”—deeper than words bring to me.

My dad was a minister, and a great preacher, a great “pray-er”. . .  a man of words. He had command of the language and could weave a phrase and pray a prayer which was eloquent and pierced to the places of the heart which ministered to you and brought blessing- smiles and tears at once.

I had the opportunity to experience the blessings of that eloquence and the deep place of my heart in smiles and tears the other day. I opened my mail and in a card from my mom was a typed prayer. It was one of the prayers my father had prayed at a Maundy Thursday service long ago. To my remembrance I had never heard or seen the prayer. It was a gift that brought a smile of assurance from heaven to me and a tear of missing as well as acknowledgement to the truth and hope it spoke. I share it here as it came to me through my mom’s note. May it be for you an encouragement and blessing as you listen to the Lord’s command this Maundy Thursday—coming to the table, “do this in remembrance of Me.” And in all your remembrances, might you recognize yourself in the story of His passion and follow!

A DAVID LIVINGSTONE CRAWFORD PRAYER
Help us, gracious God, with open minds and contrite hearts
to feel our way into the meaning and mystery of this table.
Quicken our imagination to the end that what went on in
that upper room may come alive for us, for we would sit at
the table with the 12 and open ourselves to the close-up
presence of Christ.
So brittle is our faith in Your providence that we
can only stand and stare when One who’s ways are perfect
shuns all complaining in His final hours and asks Thy
blessing on the meal.
O God, we do not sit in judgment on the disciples for
having hassled with one another over who was the greatest…
for pride has often marred our lives as well.
We are not surprised that one by one that night they asked
when betrayal was announced, “Is it I?” for like us,
they knew full well that under similar circumstances anyone
of them could cash their Master in.
We bow before Thee awed by the mystery of Thy suffering and love.
Forgive us that our preference runs to Bethlehem and the
Garden Tomb, to poinsettias’ and lilies and away from
Golgotha with its twisted thorns and iron nails.
Forgive us that we are far more willing to be instructed
than we are to be redeemed. Give us reachable and pliable
responses to Your grace, willing captives of the wonder that
Thy dear Son became a captive that we might become free
by letting Him be judged guilty…that we might be innocent by
letting Him suffer….that we might have joy by giving Him up
to death.
We have not deserved such mercy, not one of us. How else
should we thank Thee except by comprehending this great deed
and how can that happen unless the living Savior comes to
speak to our hearts and open us to Your love?
We offer our prayer in faith with Thanksgiving, through
Jesus Christ our dear Savior. Amen.

Miracles

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: During Holy Week Jesus performed the only miracle of destruction we have recorded . . . the cursing of the fig tree. Most of mythology and human fantasy would have a “god man” using his or her powers for their own gratification. It’s remarkable that Jesus never uses his power for his own needs; only for others. Yet here Jesus walks up to a fig tree, finds no fruit, and says “may no fruit come from you again.” The next day the tree is withered and the disciples are blown away at His power. Jesus does a quick teaching on faith, but the real lesson is that a fruitless life is one that is already dying. Christ did not do anything but put the film on fast forward. Jesus wasn’t just “venting” because he missed an afternoon snack. He was lovingly warning the nation, and us. I wonder as I look at all the “leaves and limbs” in my life where the real fruit is being born? Amidst the crazy speed of life and accomplishments and “to do” lists, am I really “abiding in the vine” and bearing fruit for the kingdom?

Ultimate Saving Hope

by Rev. Roger Dermody :: I was struck once again this week by the profundity of the 22nd Psalm. Hopefully, most of you have, or will have, the chance to hear Mark’s excellent sermon on this Psalm, and explore it deeper in your small group this week. It is clear that this Psalm is the one that was on the lips of our Savior as he hung on the cross. Written almost a thousand years before crucifixion was the norm for capital punishment, medical experts argue that this Psalm accurately describes the excruciating physiological symptoms one would experience if crucified (vs. 14-17a). Further, this Psalm accurately forecasts the mocking of the crowd (vs. 6-6, 12, 17b) and the gambling over Jesus’ clothing centuries before it actually happened (vs. 18). But what I’m most struck by is the end of this Psalm. True, this is a Psalm of deep lament and physical and emotional anguish. But it is also a Psalm of victory. It foretells the effects of Jesus’ sacrifice. Namely, because of the cross, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. (vs. 24)” I believe that our Lord, near death, suffering on the cross, had the entire Psalm on his heart. While we have record that his lips could only utter the first line, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, in his anguish Jesus knew the final paragraph. He knew that the effects of his misery, of enduring the mockery of the crowd and the physical pain and suffering, was to be the ultimate salvation of the world. Look too at the last two verses: “Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it. (vs. 30-31)” Pay attention to that last phrase. Sound familiar? Almost like, “It is finished!”? We don’t have many words recorded of what Jesus said while hanging on the cross. Many argue, that we only have seven last words. But if you look closely, I believe you will find evidence that we have the bookends of an entire Psalm. It’s none other than the 22nd Psalm. Jesus cried out the opening line of this Psalm… reminded people for all time of the prophetic truth of this Psalm… was comforted by the ultimate saving hope expressed by this Psalm… and cried out it’s final phrase with His final breath, “It is finished” = “He has done it!” May we all be struck this week, in a fresh way, by the profundity of God’s Word, and Christ’s death and resurrection for each one of us.