Laying in the street the smashed bike wasn’t anything like it was supposed to be. It had turned from one thing into another. That is something like what happened within the community of Christ followers that Jude was writing the letter to.
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Bible Passage: Jude 1:1-7
Each of us are on a journey to Emmaus. The Risen Lord meets us when we are in community, even in our grief and in the celebration of the sacraments. Be not afraid. Amen.
Bible Passage: Luke 14:13-35
Why was Thomas not with the others on that first night, was he not with the 12 because he was lost in the void of grief. I remember people who couldn’t stand to be in the sanctuary because it was too painful. They couldn’t shake the image of the casket of their loved one. Some who couldn’t stand to hear the pipe organ or a certain hymn because it was played or sung at a funeral. Grief if hard. It is hard to pick up your life and put one foot in front of another. In spite of his grief, Thomas returned to that upper room, to the fellowship. This is what it means to have life in Christ. It begins with a sense of Peace and ends with the charge that Jesus gave; “Just as the Father sent Me, so I send you into the world.” We are the body of Christ, doing the work of Christ, for the glory of God.
Bible Passage: John 20:19-31
The Easter story is not finished, though. Easter does not end with Easter. We who call ourselves followers of Jesus are an Easter people. WE write the next “And Then” through the lives that we lead, the decisions that we make. We are Jesus’ And Then, you and I. We, those of us who take Jesus seriously and walk in His footsteps, we complete His story as we care for His flock; the sheep and the lambs, even the old goats and the cantankerous rams.
We, the Church of Jesus Christ, are the best hope of the world.
The grace of Jesus knows no bounds. It is not limited to those whose life is in good order. It is not limited to those whose actions are perfectly pure. It is given to everyone.
Bible Passage: Matthew 27:11-54
Jesus journeys with us and shines the light that leads to life. That does not mean that God will not lead us to places that are uncomfortable or even dangerous, but we know that Christ climbs with us. Christ with us, Christ before us, Christ behind us, Christ in us. Our God is with us every step of the way.
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Bible Passage: John 11:1-45
In this season of Lent, on this fourth Sunday of Lent, I believe that we would do well to reflect upon our own spiritual eyesight. I believe that each one of us has own area or areas of blindness. It is time for us to ask God to make the scales of blindness fall from our eyes so that we can do the work for which God created us in the first place.
Bible Passage: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Bible Passage: Ephesians 5:8-14
Bible Passage: John 9:1-41
