Have you seen sea glass? It is simply that…glass that somehow got into the ocean and it floats around in there for years and washes up on the beaches. When it finally washes up much of the glass no longer has sharp edges but is smooth and clear. People are collecting it, cataloging it, making books about it and some of it is made into jewelry. One of my friends gave me a sea glass necklace. It is round and smooth and pale green. Probably when it started out it was angular and sharp and a darker shade of green. With time and the relentless exposure to the sea it has changed into a thing of beauty.
Here we are once again approaching Pentecost…the birthday of the church. Once again we read the Acts 2 account of the power of the Holy Spirit blowing into the disciples’ prayer room and changing the world forever. The Holy Spirit gives us power to witness, gifts for service, guidance for the work, and comfort in times of distress. Let’s not forget the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work that takes the likes of you and I, with all our sharp edges and unrepentant habits, and slowly shapes them into the likeness of Christ. This does not happen overnight but it is the reality of the Christian life. As we continue to walk with Jesus he works on us to perfect us in love and make us in his image.
As we ordain our class of Elders and Deacons this year at Annual Conference we ask them if they are going on to perfection. They say “yes.” May we all say “yes” to the Holy Spirit as it chips away at our faults and failures and makes us, like sea glass, into beautiful Christians.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Wet Wood
Have you ever tried to start a camp fire with wet wood? It doesn’t work very well. Once as a camp counselor in college I had to make a fire for a group of campers who were having a picnic outing in the woods. It had rained the night before and everything in the woods was wet, except for a roll of paper towels that we brought along with the food we were to cook over an open fire. We decided to set the paper towels on fire and that combustion lasted for about a minute so we ate cold hot dogs that night. Wet wood does not a good fire make.
How I wonder at the prophet Elijah who was having a contest with the priests of Baal one day on Mt. Carmel. Elijah and the prophets of Baal each made an altar and put wood on the altar and placed a sacrificial animal on that wood and they called upon their god to light the fire. The contest was to see which god was the real god: the God of Israel or the god of Baal. Whichever God had true sovereignty and power would be able to light the fire on their altar. The account of this can be found in I Kings 18:20-40. It is an all-day event with the priests of Baal going to great lengths to call upon their god to light the fire but to no avail.
Then Elijah prepares his altar by repairing an altar that had been previously destroyed, arranging the wood and the sacrificed bull on the altar and then he does this additional step of pouring water on the altar. He drenches the wood with not 1 but 12 jars of water. He even builds a trench around the altar to catch the water so this altar is as wet as it can be. The point of this no doubt was to make it abundantly clear to the wishy-washy Israelites that only a supernatural, all powerful God would be able to light fire on this altar. The story ends with God sending down so much fire that the altar is consumed, the wood, the stones, the burnt offering, the dust and even the water in the trenches were “licked up.” The people were more than convinced and fell on their faces and cried “The Lord indeed is God.” Our God can do the impossible. The power of God is able to overcome any obstacle.
In our daily lives we face difficulties, challenges, disappointments, tragedies, want and suffering. Sometimes it seems like the old phrase “when it rains it pours” and just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. I am thinking of the people of the Gulf shore region who are suffering now from a tragedy of the oil slick. These people who lived through Hurricane Katrina and other storms have another difficult crisis. I am reminded of the people in Haiti who are going to be getting the rainy season, which will cause flooding in an island that is hardly recovered at all from the earthquake.
Sometimes in life it seems like jars of trouble are poured into our lives. That is when we realize, like the people in Elijah’s day, that it is only God that can make a way out of no way. In our own human strength we cannot overcome the many troubles on our earth. Humanity more or less has made a mess out of things and it is only the power of God that can heal and help and bring solutions to our problems. When things begin to look impossible, remember the wet wood and God’s power to light the fire. Trust in God to bring about the answers. Ask God to direct you in what you need to be doing next. Don’t be overwhelmed by hard times. See it as a workshop in faith and pray for the eyes of faith to see God’s victorious hand in the midst of it. Wet wood is no match for God’s fire.
How I wonder at the prophet Elijah who was having a contest with the priests of Baal one day on Mt. Carmel. Elijah and the prophets of Baal each made an altar and put wood on the altar and placed a sacrificial animal on that wood and they called upon their god to light the fire. The contest was to see which god was the real god: the God of Israel or the god of Baal. Whichever God had true sovereignty and power would be able to light the fire on their altar. The account of this can be found in I Kings 18:20-40. It is an all-day event with the priests of Baal going to great lengths to call upon their god to light the fire but to no avail.
Then Elijah prepares his altar by repairing an altar that had been previously destroyed, arranging the wood and the sacrificed bull on the altar and then he does this additional step of pouring water on the altar. He drenches the wood with not 1 but 12 jars of water. He even builds a trench around the altar to catch the water so this altar is as wet as it can be. The point of this no doubt was to make it abundantly clear to the wishy-washy Israelites that only a supernatural, all powerful God would be able to light fire on this altar. The story ends with God sending down so much fire that the altar is consumed, the wood, the stones, the burnt offering, the dust and even the water in the trenches were “licked up.” The people were more than convinced and fell on their faces and cried “The Lord indeed is God.” Our God can do the impossible. The power of God is able to overcome any obstacle.
In our daily lives we face difficulties, challenges, disappointments, tragedies, want and suffering. Sometimes it seems like the old phrase “when it rains it pours” and just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. I am thinking of the people of the Gulf shore region who are suffering now from a tragedy of the oil slick. These people who lived through Hurricane Katrina and other storms have another difficult crisis. I am reminded of the people in Haiti who are going to be getting the rainy season, which will cause flooding in an island that is hardly recovered at all from the earthquake.
Sometimes in life it seems like jars of trouble are poured into our lives. That is when we realize, like the people in Elijah’s day, that it is only God that can make a way out of no way. In our own human strength we cannot overcome the many troubles on our earth. Humanity more or less has made a mess out of things and it is only the power of God that can heal and help and bring solutions to our problems. When things begin to look impossible, remember the wet wood and God’s power to light the fire. Trust in God to bring about the answers. Ask God to direct you in what you need to be doing next. Don’t be overwhelmed by hard times. See it as a workshop in faith and pray for the eyes of faith to see God’s victorious hand in the midst of it. Wet wood is no match for God’s fire.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Deacon Sunday is Coming Up
The first Sunday of June is Deacon Awareness Sunday. The Order of Deacons in the UM Church has only been around since 1996 but it is mighty indeed. Deacons are ordained ministers of Word and Service who connect the church to the world in some amazing ways. This spring I had the privilege of meeting with Deacons from both the Eastern PA and the Peninsula Delaware Conferences. They are involved in a plethora of ministries: youth, chaplaincy, teaching, counseling, hospice, music, nursing, advocacy, HIV/AIDS ministry, retirement community ministry, disability ministry, church planting, international missions, Christian Education, ministry with grieving children, etc. The possibilities are endless. Invite a Deacon to your church to share about the ministry. Encourage people who are feeling God’s call to full time ministry to explore the Order of Deacons.
Deacon Sunday Litany
Leader:
Within the people of God, some persons are called to the ministry of deacon. Very early in its history the church . . . instituted an order of ordained ministers to personify or focus the servanthood to which all Christians are called. These people were named deacons. This ministry exemplifies and leads the Church in the servanthood every Christian is called to live both in the church and the world.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons are persons called by God, authorized by the Church, and ordained by a bishop to a
lifetime ministry of Word and Service to both the community and the congregation in a
ministry that connects the two.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons fulfill servant ministry in the world and lead the Church in relating the gathered life
of Christians to their ministries in the world, interrelating worship in the gathered community with service to God in the world.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons lead the congregation in its servant ministry and equip and support all baptized
Christians in their ministry.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons give leadership in the Church’s life:
in teaching and proclaiming the Word
in contributing to worship
in assisting the elders in administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons give leadership in the Church’s life:
in forming and nurturing disciples
in conducting marriages and burying the dead
in embodying the church’s mission to the world
and in leading congregations in interpreting the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons exemplify Christian discipleship and create opportunities for others to enter into discipleship:
In the world, the deacon seeks to express a ministry of compassion and justice,
assisting laypersons as they claim their own ministry.
In the congregation, the ministry of the deacon is to teach and to form
disciples, and to lead worship together with other ordained and laypersons.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons are accountable to the annual conference and the bishop for the fulfillment of their call to servant leadership.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
The deacon in full connection shall have the rights of voice and vote in the annual conference where membership is held.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons shall be eligible to serve as clergy on boards, commissions, or committees of the annual conference and hold office on the same.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons shall be eligible for election as a clergy delegate to the General, Central, or jurisdictional conference.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
The deacon in full connection shall attend all the sessions of the annual conference and share with elders in full connection responsibility for all matters of ordination, character, and conference relations of clergy.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
As members of the Order of Deacons, all deacons in full connection are in covenant with all other such deacons in the annual conference and shall participate in the life of their Order.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Adapted from BOD ¶328 &¶329
Deacon Sunday Litany
Leader:
Within the people of God, some persons are called to the ministry of deacon. Very early in its history the church . . . instituted an order of ordained ministers to personify or focus the servanthood to which all Christians are called. These people were named deacons. This ministry exemplifies and leads the Church in the servanthood every Christian is called to live both in the church and the world.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons are persons called by God, authorized by the Church, and ordained by a bishop to a
lifetime ministry of Word and Service to both the community and the congregation in a
ministry that connects the two.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons fulfill servant ministry in the world and lead the Church in relating the gathered life
of Christians to their ministries in the world, interrelating worship in the gathered community with service to God in the world.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons lead the congregation in its servant ministry and equip and support all baptized
Christians in their ministry.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons give leadership in the Church’s life:
in teaching and proclaiming the Word
in contributing to worship
in assisting the elders in administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons give leadership in the Church’s life:
in forming and nurturing disciples
in conducting marriages and burying the dead
in embodying the church’s mission to the world
and in leading congregations in interpreting the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons exemplify Christian discipleship and create opportunities for others to enter into discipleship:
In the world, the deacon seeks to express a ministry of compassion and justice,
assisting laypersons as they claim their own ministry.
In the congregation, the ministry of the deacon is to teach and to form
disciples, and to lead worship together with other ordained and laypersons.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons are accountable to the annual conference and the bishop for the fulfillment of their call to servant leadership.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
The deacon in full connection shall have the rights of voice and vote in the annual conference where membership is held.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons shall be eligible to serve as clergy on boards, commissions, or committees of the annual conference and hold office on the same.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
Deacons shall be eligible for election as a clergy delegate to the General, Central, or jurisdictional conference.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
The deacon in full connection shall attend all the sessions of the annual conference and share with elders in full connection responsibility for all matters of ordination, character, and conference relations of clergy.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Leader:
As members of the Order of Deacons, all deacons in full connection are in covenant with all other such deacons in the annual conference and shall participate in the life of their Order.
All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.
Adapted from BOD ¶328 &¶329
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
What are you Afraid of?
Fear is everywhere. We see it on the national scene with the way politics have become meaner and even violent as protestors clash on the streets. We see it in the faces of earthquake victims and people stranded in airports in Europe due to the recent volcanoes in Iceland. We see it in our churches where there are dwindling numbers and rising costs. At a Town Hall meeting recently some people told me they came because they feared that their church was going to be closed. We experience fear personally with health issues, family relationship strife and financial shortages.
It’s been said that fear is “false evidence appearing real” (an acronym for F. E. A. R.) and indeed, much of what we fear, is exaggerated in our mind by the emotions of the anticipated calamity. It’s been said that 75% of all the things we fear never happen and 10% of it is not nearly as bad as we expected it would be. However, some things we fear are real and serious. Getting a diagnosis of cancer and seeing the spot on the X-ray film is hardly an imaginary monster under the bed.
Our faith teaches us that we can experience a difficult ordeal without fear. I John says that “perfect love casts out fear.” (I John 4:18). We have the resources of God at hand that we are not fully taking to heart when we live in fear. As the hymn writer says “Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer.” (“What a Friend we Have in Jesus”) That is good advice. The thing that the gospels record that Christ said more than anything else is: “Fear not!” It can be found 52 times, one time for every week of the year. The presence of Jesus can relieve our fear and show us the way forward. The more perfected we are in love, the more we trust and the less we fear. It is a journey of Christian perfection as we travel with Christ.
Steve Bradbury in a recent edition of “Encounter with God” (Scripture Union) describes the world of the Apostle John, who was exiled on the Island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel. “The power of the earthly emperor who demanded their worship must have seemed far more real than the power of Jesus, who had not met their expectation of returning in triumph. Wherever we are, no matter how crushing our circumstances, there are wonderfully liberating truths that we can grasp in faith. There is only one God who loves us and has freed us from our sins, whose Kingdom is already under way among the ordinary and even fearful people who serve him, who holds the keys to eternity, and who holds us securely. It is this all-powerful, all-loving God who says to us ‘do not be afraid.’” (Revelation 1:17)
The powerful Roman government has been gone for centuries. The seemingly weak church of the first century still lives on today. That is because of this powerful, curiously amazing God we serve, who works through our weakness and makes a way in the midst of our fearful circumstances to bring about God’s ultimate kingdom.
Look at your fears in light of the whole picture of God’s final kingdom and the sure promise of eternal life and the fear of our times are mere brush fires by comparison. I Peter 1: 4-7 reminds us that our “ultimate inheritance is imperishable, undefiled and kept in heaven for us as we are being protected by the power of God through faith. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
So fear not! Christ is with you! Hold on to the God’s eternal truths as you experience troubles and fears in this life. Trust God to see you through. And to our churches, who are experiencing fear due to low membership and resources, I say “Look up!” Pray for a vision for new ways to reach out to the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Turn your fears into positive energy around new mission and ministry through the power of God!
It’s been said that fear is “false evidence appearing real” (an acronym for F. E. A. R.) and indeed, much of what we fear, is exaggerated in our mind by the emotions of the anticipated calamity. It’s been said that 75% of all the things we fear never happen and 10% of it is not nearly as bad as we expected it would be. However, some things we fear are real and serious. Getting a diagnosis of cancer and seeing the spot on the X-ray film is hardly an imaginary monster under the bed.
Our faith teaches us that we can experience a difficult ordeal without fear. I John says that “perfect love casts out fear.” (I John 4:18). We have the resources of God at hand that we are not fully taking to heart when we live in fear. As the hymn writer says “Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer.” (“What a Friend we Have in Jesus”) That is good advice. The thing that the gospels record that Christ said more than anything else is: “Fear not!” It can be found 52 times, one time for every week of the year. The presence of Jesus can relieve our fear and show us the way forward. The more perfected we are in love, the more we trust and the less we fear. It is a journey of Christian perfection as we travel with Christ.
Steve Bradbury in a recent edition of “Encounter with God” (Scripture Union) describes the world of the Apostle John, who was exiled on the Island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel. “The power of the earthly emperor who demanded their worship must have seemed far more real than the power of Jesus, who had not met their expectation of returning in triumph. Wherever we are, no matter how crushing our circumstances, there are wonderfully liberating truths that we can grasp in faith. There is only one God who loves us and has freed us from our sins, whose Kingdom is already under way among the ordinary and even fearful people who serve him, who holds the keys to eternity, and who holds us securely. It is this all-powerful, all-loving God who says to us ‘do not be afraid.’” (Revelation 1:17)
The powerful Roman government has been gone for centuries. The seemingly weak church of the first century still lives on today. That is because of this powerful, curiously amazing God we serve, who works through our weakness and makes a way in the midst of our fearful circumstances to bring about God’s ultimate kingdom.
Look at your fears in light of the whole picture of God’s final kingdom and the sure promise of eternal life and the fear of our times are mere brush fires by comparison. I Peter 1: 4-7 reminds us that our “ultimate inheritance is imperishable, undefiled and kept in heaven for us as we are being protected by the power of God through faith. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
So fear not! Christ is with you! Hold on to the God’s eternal truths as you experience troubles and fears in this life. Trust God to see you through. And to our churches, who are experiencing fear due to low membership and resources, I say “Look up!” Pray for a vision for new ways to reach out to the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Turn your fears into positive energy around new mission and ministry through the power of God!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Native American Awareness Sunday
Sun. April 18th we will observe Native American Awareness Sunday and also receive a special United Methodist offering for our ministries around the country. This year at the PD Annual Conference Mr. Ray Buckely, a member of the Lakota/Tlingit tribe, will be one of the guest speakers. He reminds the church that what matters in life is “not what someone has but what the person is able to give away to others.” In our world of people clamoring to have more things, better things, longer lasting things and the value of people is often judged by their car, their house, their clothes. The voice of the Native American is the voice of God who promises to bless those who give and always take care of what we really need in life. We should measure our Christian devotion by how much of our income we have given away this year. If we are growing in grace and going on to Christian perfection we should strive to give away more than we did the last year. John Wesley, our founder lived on 20 pounds a year during his whole ministry. When his income increased he continued to live on that same 20 pounds and gave away more and more.
Giving from the heart is the main goal here, not so much the amount. Ray Buckley says “it is not the value of the gift but the giving itself that is culturally relevant. Giving a gift that may not have significant monetary worth still has significant spiritual value as it is a sign of a giving heart.”
For more information and resources to promote our six Special Sundays in your church: http://www.umcgiving.org/.
Giving from the heart is the main goal here, not so much the amount. Ray Buckley says “it is not the value of the gift but the giving itself that is culturally relevant. Giving a gift that may not have significant monetary worth still has significant spiritual value as it is a sign of a giving heart.”
For more information and resources to promote our six Special Sundays in your church: http://www.umcgiving.org/.
Monday, April 5, 2010
It Wasn't Our Fault
On Good Friday I attended a worship service in downtown Philadelphia that was held out on the street near a gun shop. A large and very diverse group of about 200 people were there to remember the death of Christ and to speak out against gun violence in the city and in this country. We were there to worship, pray, give testimony and also to call the gun shop next door to adopt a code of conduct to deter illegal purchasing and trafficking of handguns. This was not an attempt to stop people from owning guns or change the Second Amendment of our Constitution. It was an attempt to call for a crack down on “straw purchasing” of handguns by people who have clean records who then in turn sell them or give them to people who are unable to purchase guns because they cannot pass a background check. “Heeding God’s Call” is a new multi-faith movement whose aim is to prevent gun violence by calling people of faith “to protect our brothers and sisters and children.”
The United Methodist Book of Resolutions (paragraph 3426) calls us to be involved in advocacy that seeks to eliminate gun violence in our society. Included in that is a call to “visible public witness to the sin of gun violence and to the hope of community healing.” I was heartened to see a large number of United Methodists involved at the service on Good Friday.
Along with the group giving the public witness on Friday was another group of people who were opposed to this witness and they stood in front of the gun shop. During the service they voiced their opposition by shouting things while the Good Friday speakers were presenting. They waved many large American flags and sang “God Bless America” at the same time the service was being conducted at one point. Although there were clearly people with strong differences of opinion standing on the same street corner, I was pleased that there was no violence or verbal arguing between the groups. I was grateful for the presence of a large number of law enforcement officers monitoring the activity.
When I got up to speak there was relative quiet coming from the opposing group except for one comment. I held up a small paper cross that was given to me before the service. It had the name of a young person (age 28) who had been killed in gun violence in May of 2009 on the streets of Philadelphia. I held it up and said “he was alive last Good Friday when the first rally was held, but less than a year later he was killed by a gun on our streets.” Someone from the opposing group shouted “It wasn’t our fault.” It is true that no one in the crowd that day, I am reasonably sure, pulled the trigger on that young man last year.
But what is equally true is that when good people see harm happening and do nothing it is the same as condoning the evil. The sin of omission is seen when committed Christian people do not work toward the elimination of evil in our society. We can’t be saying it is not our problem, especially those who live in the safer, comfortable suburbs. It is our problem as long as someone, anywhere, is getting hurt. Apathy, greed, racism, ignorance and fear are huge issues we need to overcome. Many of our pastors bury young people on a regular basis who have died from gun violence. It is just too easy to do nothing and in doing so…it is our fault. What can you and your church do to speak out against gun violence? The more people who get involved the harder it is for this to be ignored.
For more info about Heeding God’s Call contact info@HeedingGodsCall.orgor call 267-519-5302.
www.heedinggodscall.org
The United Methodist Book of Resolutions (paragraph 3426) calls us to be involved in advocacy that seeks to eliminate gun violence in our society. Included in that is a call to “visible public witness to the sin of gun violence and to the hope of community healing.” I was heartened to see a large number of United Methodists involved at the service on Good Friday.
Along with the group giving the public witness on Friday was another group of people who were opposed to this witness and they stood in front of the gun shop. During the service they voiced their opposition by shouting things while the Good Friday speakers were presenting. They waved many large American flags and sang “God Bless America” at the same time the service was being conducted at one point. Although there were clearly people with strong differences of opinion standing on the same street corner, I was pleased that there was no violence or verbal arguing between the groups. I was grateful for the presence of a large number of law enforcement officers monitoring the activity.
When I got up to speak there was relative quiet coming from the opposing group except for one comment. I held up a small paper cross that was given to me before the service. It had the name of a young person (age 28) who had been killed in gun violence in May of 2009 on the streets of Philadelphia. I held it up and said “he was alive last Good Friday when the first rally was held, but less than a year later he was killed by a gun on our streets.” Someone from the opposing group shouted “It wasn’t our fault.” It is true that no one in the crowd that day, I am reasonably sure, pulled the trigger on that young man last year.
But what is equally true is that when good people see harm happening and do nothing it is the same as condoning the evil. The sin of omission is seen when committed Christian people do not work toward the elimination of evil in our society. We can’t be saying it is not our problem, especially those who live in the safer, comfortable suburbs. It is our problem as long as someone, anywhere, is getting hurt. Apathy, greed, racism, ignorance and fear are huge issues we need to overcome. Many of our pastors bury young people on a regular basis who have died from gun violence. It is just too easy to do nothing and in doing so…it is our fault. What can you and your church do to speak out against gun violence? The more people who get involved the harder it is for this to be ignored.
For more info about Heeding God’s Call contact info@HeedingGodsCall.orgor call 267-519-5302.
www.heedinggodscall.org
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
"And Peter"
I am always struck by the Gospel of Mark’s account of the Easter story. It is short and to the point but it adds two words that speak volumes. Those two words are: “and Peter.” In Mark 16:6-7 the angel in the tomb tells the women “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. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him, just as he told you.”
Peter was one of the disciples. Why didn’t the angel say “Go tell his disciples that he is going ahead of you to Galilee”? He included Peter’s name. This can be nothing other than a word of grace to the distraught disciple who denied Jesus in a moment of fear and panic. How Peter must have suffered from guilt and shame during that terrible weekend. But to get this message on Easter Sunday that was especially for him must have sent his heart soaring. Jesus knew he needed to be drawn back in. Jesus knew he had to call Peter by name in order to make it clear that all was forgiven and there was new work for him to do.
You and I have denied the Lord many times and have fallen short of God’s call for our life. Remember the grace and mercy of Jesus to forgive you. Take that verse from Mark 16:7 and replace Peter’s name with your name and know that Jesus calls you by name to receive forgiveness and then go forward into renewed service. Jesus goes ahead of us to lead the way. We don’t go alone and we don’t have to chart the path. Easter Sunday is an eternal day of forgiveness, new life and a call to mission.
Peter was one of the disciples. Why didn’t the angel say “Go tell his disciples that he is going ahead of you to Galilee”? He included Peter’s name. This can be nothing other than a word of grace to the distraught disciple who denied Jesus in a moment of fear and panic. How Peter must have suffered from guilt and shame during that terrible weekend. But to get this message on Easter Sunday that was especially for him must have sent his heart soaring. Jesus knew he needed to be drawn back in. Jesus knew he had to call Peter by name in order to make it clear that all was forgiven and there was new work for him to do.
You and I have denied the Lord many times and have fallen short of God’s call for our life. Remember the grace and mercy of Jesus to forgive you. Take that verse from Mark 16:7 and replace Peter’s name with your name and know that Jesus calls you by name to receive forgiveness and then go forward into renewed service. Jesus goes ahead of us to lead the way. We don’t go alone and we don’t have to chart the path. Easter Sunday is an eternal day of forgiveness, new life and a call to mission.
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