From the interim pastor
Writing for this particular newsletter is harder than most months. I’m writing this on Monday. Yesterday was Palm Sunday and in a few hours we will gather for a Healing Service. On Thursday we will celebrate Maundy Thursday at St. Paul’s and our sanctuary will be open on Friday from 12 pm – 3 pm for reflection.
Then on Sunday we will gather together to celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus.
If the newsletter was coming out on next Monday, I’d have no trouble at all. Easter would have already been here and we would have already sung “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”
HOWEVER, we are caught in the middle on this month’s newsletter. In order for you to have it before the first of the month, we are BEFORE Easter, not AFTER. We are caught in the middle.
I think the disciples understood being caught in the middle. They lived as good Jewish men and women. They followed the laws of Moses and the Torah, and then Jesus showed up and took them on an unexpected journey which eventually led to Christianity. Confusing, isn’t it?
This must be a strange time of the year for those who don’t have a history with the church. The word “lent” isn’t easily understood, and it starts with people wearing dirt on the foreheads and ends with children hunting colored eggs. We give up chocolate, eat hot cross buns, wave palm branches and eventually talk about Jesus, a man, dying and coming back to life. Yes, this is a confusing time of the year.
It is also a confusing time of the year for those who are deeply involved in the church. We aren’t in totally agreement about the events – how they occurred or even if they occurred. Yet, it is a glorious time to talk about who Jesus was and how he comes to life in us today.
I believe that Easter is about celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and celebrating how the faith of the disciples deepened from the experience. My invitation to you is to walk this week as if you were there with the disciples. Read the scriptures. Ponder what was happening and then continue to read after Easter when life got even more confusing for them. Join us for Maundy Thursday service at St. Paul’s. Spend some time in the sanctuary on Good Friday or set aside some time elsewhere. Then let’s come back together on Easter morning and celebrate.
Prayers for the journey,
Pastor Peg