Risky Relationships

Below is a FaceBook post by a girl who spoke no Romanian to another girl who did not speak at all. The two could not exchange words. Yet, they communicated in ways few people can. When Christ is present, sometimes no words are needed.

Maria Cleopatra was a precious girl I met while I was in Romania volunteering at a clinic. She lived to be almost five despite the fact that she had hydrocephaly. It was not expected for her to live this long, and some doubted her ability to understand or relate; however I knew different. She laughed at the sound of another person's laugh, and she cooed and stretched as you rubbed her back or head, places that were hardly ever touched due to her fragile condition. Maria, you will be so very missed, and I am glad you are no longer suffering. ♥

Today is Easter. It is a day we are reminded of the awesome work Christ did for us, the risk, if you will, God took to secure a relationship with Him. Most of us risk so little. We are afraid of the hurt we know accompanies so many relationships. Rejected affections. Broken promises. Betrayed confidences. Yet there are those who seem to risk so much, who are committed to love even when they know that hurt is on the way.

In one sense there is no risk here. The volunteer knew she would return home in a couple months. She knew the child was given “No chance” by medical staff there in Romania. It is a situation made for heartbreak. You know it will happen. You just don’t know how soon.

Have you ever thought how Jesus felt about laying down His life for you and me? He knew we were unfaithful. He knew we would quickly run after some other affection, something else that would attract our eye oh so quickly. Yet, He jumped in boldly. He held nothing back. He let us stomp on Him, beat Him, spit on Him, curse Him, and nail Him to a tree and crucify Him. It was a most serious path, leading to this wonderful day of resurrection, a day that moves us beyond language, a day that cements relationships with the bond of Christian kindness, compassion, grace, and forgiveness.

We follow the example of our Savior when we jump in boldly, giving little or no thought for ourselves, simply committing our hearts to one another, as Christ gave His life for us. When we sing They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love this is the kind of love we are singing about. Christ is Risen! We are loved. We can love in return.

 Pastor Craig

What does Palm Sunday mean?

This is the time of year we think about Easter. We may think of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, or we may think of eggs and rabbits. Either way, we think about Easter.  However, to jump to Easter so early this week minimizes the rest of what Jesus did during the last few days of his life.

Today we think about Palm Sunday. For many Christians this means processionals into the sanctuary waving palm branches in our attempt to connect with those early disciples. We may talk about the fickleness of the crowd that greeted Jesus and wonder how many of those who shouted “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday shouted “Crucify him!” on Good Friday.

We may think of the symbolism of the donkey. There are those who proclaim it as a lowly beast of burden, maybe even a possible rejection of a mightier steed at the same inn from which the donkey was taken. Taking the “war horse” would have been a rallying cry for a warrior Messiah for which so many of the people had hoped.

Zechariah 9:9 refers to the king of Israel coming in victory and riding on a donkey. Certainly this verse was forgotten by the priests and Levites watching the procession. Kings road war horses when they prepared for battle. However, they also rode donkeys when they came in peace or when the victory had already been won. Jesus’ riding the donkey could have been a proclamation of the peace of God over the wrath of God, or it could have been a proclamation of a victory already won.

In the Roman world, the palm branch was the symbol for victory and triumph and became the attribute of the Roman deity Nike or Victory, a symbol that, along with the people proclaiming Christ as King, would cause many of the Romans present that day a great deal of anxiety.

In other parts of the Roman Empire, the palm was carried in funeral processions to symbolize eternal life and hope in a resurrection.

Any way you look at it, the donkey was far more than transportation and the palm was much more important than an ordinary parade banner. The people, and probably Jesus, were both making bold statements.

What bold statement are you prepared to make as a follower of Jesus Christ on this Palm Sunday?

Pastor Craig

What Should We Do With 2013?

In the last few weeks I put before the session a document entitled A Narrative on the Health of Mission and Ministry of the Church. It is, in part a return to our roots. It was, prior to 1925, the annual report of a Presbyterian congregation shared with a small number of other local churches who shared the goal of “doing better” at the job the Lord had given each to do. There are ten areas in this document. To do all ten of them would be overwhelming. So, the question was put to the session, “If we could only focus on one of these items for the rest of this calendar year, which one should it be?”

The clear winner was: How are you encouraging people to allow God’s Word to shape their priorities and actions, and to nurture constant learning and the life of the mind?

The description that went along with that question was: Reformed people are people of the Bible. How is the Scripture impacting the life or our congregation; nurturing a lifetime hunger and deepening our theological and Biblical understanding? We are committed to making sure faith is understood, expressed, and passed on. We will continue to nurture study and growth, but our study is not designed only to increase our knowledge. Everything we study from the great Confessions of history or our Essential Tenets of Faith is designed to focus back on the Word of God for personal growth and increase in ministry effectiveness.

This is the commitment of your session for the rest of this year. We will indeed do other things as well, but we recognize that our growth in faith is often tied to our growth in study of the Word of God. To that end we will take the Word of God seriously, turning to it for guidance and encouragement. It will be our standard by which we make our decisions.

This is not as though we have never intended to do this prior to this year. No, this is a re-emphasis on learning what our Lord has to say to us through the Scripture, our sister churches who covenanted with us in this process, and what our forefathers in the faith have written and passed down to us across the ages.

It is our hope that this recommitment to these standards will lead each one in our faith community to a renewed sense of presence of the Spirit working daily in us and through us that we might show forth the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to one another and the world around us.

Pastor Craig