For over half of my life as a pastor, I was an assistant or associate, which meant that I never preached on Easter, the highest holy day of our faith. Finally with my call to FPC as co-pastor, came the opportunity to preach Easter sermons.  What I have come to realize is that for many of the people to whom I speak, the celebration was Easter lite.  By that I mean, they have come to hear the trumpets and see the lilies, and be swept up on a wave of good feeling.  Unlike me, many of them had not been immersed in the story of Jesus' passion. They had not sat in the gradually darkening sanctuary on Maundy Thursday or heard the slamming shut of the great stone against the tomb or counted out the tolling of the bell 33 times.  They had not joined our children in walking the Stations of Cross or entered the Narthex basement to stand in complete blackness, remembering Jesus in the tomb.  In other words, I suspect that for most of them, Jesus' crucifixion was not a reality they much interest in. Eager to get on to the chocolate bunnies of Easter, most folks had skipped the meat and vegetables of Good Friday.

I don't know why that is so.  Perhaps they just don't have time to come to church during the week.  Maybe they don't want to have to struggle with the pain of God's costly grace.  While they surely want to have some good news about eternal life, maybe they resent the idea and don't want to be reminded that Jesus died for them.  Maybe their lives are already filled with enough sorrow and pain that they can't bear to face that of Jesus.  I don't know, but for many folks, the crucifixion is not a reality or at least a reality which they wish to confront.

They are not alone.  On the Sunday after Easter, every year, we hear the story Doubting Thomas.  If you read the story with care, you will notice that Thomas' doubt was not about the resurrection.  It was about the reality of the crucifixion. He didn't say that he needed to see Jesus' face or hear his voice. Rather he demanded to see Jesus' hands and feet and side, the visual testimony of his suffering and horrible death.

We love the story of the resurrection because it is all about victory and glory.  It is about the power and might of God's love to conquer sin and death.  And we are right to do so. But we give ourselves the wrong impression of God and God's mission in Jesus, if that is the only part of the story we want to hear, for it is an easy jump from there to a prosperity gospel that says the wealthy deserve their wealth and the poor deserve their poverty.  It is a small step from the conquering God to the God of wrath who avenges God's enemies, whom we equate with our enemies.  If we doubt God's suffering on the cross, we can easily assume that human suffering is divinely ordained. I f we close our eyes to God's vulnerability, it can be easy to close our eyes to the suffering around us and easy to believe God cannot understand or care about our suffering.

When Jesus appeared to Thomas, he knew that Thomas had to see and touch the horrific wounds so that he could believe the whole story.  Thomas reminds us that we must believe the reality of the crucifixion if we are to believe that God has the power to save us.

Won't you join me this week in immersing ourselves in the whole story so that come Easter, we may truly see the glory of God?

Introduction to the Book of Mark

The gospel focus of this year's lectionary readings will be Mark. This four-part study will introduce you to the Gospel of Mark, so you can hear the readings with new depth. You are encouraged to read the Gospel in preparation. We will consider the following questions and reflect on what the Gospel means to us.  

Sheryl Battles and Mary Thies will lead the class

Join us at 11:30 in the Chapel

April 15          Session 1      

What is known about the author? When,where, to whom, and why was the Gospel of Mark written?

April 22          Session 2        

What does Mark mean when he says Jesus is the Son of God?

April 29          Session 3     

What is Mark's understanding of discipleship?

May 6            Session 4        

How does Mark's telling of the Jesus' passion and resurrection compare to that of the other Gospels? 

Many years ago the author, Clare Booth Luce, wrote the perfect quote for the transition of the Deacon Board from old to new!  She wrote, "Take off your hats to the past-but take your coats off to the future!" Thus we salute the retiring deacons and welcome the newcomers.

HATS OFF-WITH THANKS!!

The first folk we salute are the two deacons who will remain on the roll and thank them for their extended service!

Tish Tibbetts: Remaining on The Visitation Committee

Tiana Randretsanilo: Remaining as Zone Deacon (7)

The stalwarts who are rotating off are:

Janess Coffina: Zone Deacon - Secretary-- The keeper of the minutes who made sure that they went out on the computer in a most timely manner and were accurate! And she was most successful at it!

Margaret Freitag: Co-chair of the Visitation Committee and frequent visitor to shut-ins, folks with special needs and those in care facilities.

Ellen Greene: Fellowship Committee "energy-bunny" stalwart who chaired the Christmas Brunches, Shrove Tuesdays and was instrumental in helping to get the monies to refurbish the Lounge Kitchen!

Robin Mattice: Fellowship Committee: Coffee Hour Chair and super cake decorator who enhanced the Coffee Hour celebrations with her artistically decorated cakes!  

Felicia Carroll (Zone 5), Myrtle Nunn (Zone 2) and Chris Miller (Zone 11): These were the host and hostesses of several delightful Zone Brunches which were gratefully received. They also kept in communication with their individual zone members as needed.

Those being welcomed (and ready to "take off their coats") are:

Fellowship: Megan Backes, Jane Flounders, Anne Nyquist

Zone Deacons: Lorraine Labate (10), Pat Langley (12), Mike Nosenzo (11), Nancy Morgan (8) and Ingrid and Andrew Persaud (9).