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Join us for a centering prayer session. Sessions are held every Monday at noon and every Thursday evening at 7:00 at the Hope Center, 85 Grand Street, Newburgh. Click here for more information on Centering Prayer. Or, call prayer leader Larry Malick at 845-391-8890.

 

 

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easter sunrise 1
Easter sunrise over the Hudson River
 Greetings!  
  A joy-filled Easter to you. May the wonder of the resurrection fill you with gladness and great hope!
   Several dozen of us gathered on the waterfront this morning for a sunrise service sponsored by the Greater Newburgh Ministerial Association. As the sun rose over the shoulder of Mount Beacon, we responded anew to our call to be Easter People living the resurrection.
   Easter people embrace God's promise of love and deliverance and live life defying the pain that comes with being human. They know that no matter how bad things get, God is right their with them, calling them to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and on into the light of a bright day.
The Challenge of Thomas
   We're reminded of how difficult it is to live the resurrection as we move from Easter morning to the evening of that same day next week when we read John 20:19-31 and the story about Thomas, the man labeled "the doubter." When I read the story this time around, I found myself asking, "Where was Thomas when Jesus made his appearance?" I wondered if he might have gone out to see if he could gather more news about Jesus and his whereabouts and to see what the Jewish leaders and the Romans were up to. I wondered if he had gone somewhere to pray. I wondered if he had gone out in search of Jesus.  And, I wondered if he had simply gone out for food. Of course, who knows? There's no hint in the gospel about where he went and what he was doing.
   What we do know is where Thomas was not. He was not with the others. He was not hiding behind locked doors fearful that the authorities were after them. So we might conclude from that that Thomas was not afraid of what might happen or that, at the very least, he did not let fear take hold of him and run his life. Like Jesus, Thomas was a realist. He know there were risks associated with following Jesus. Thomas, you see, was an Easter Person.
   As an Easter person, Thomas challenges us to come out of hiding, to overcome our fears just enough to step out into this Good Friday world. He challenges us not to simply take someone else's word for the things of Jesus and of God but to experience them ourselves. He challenges us to flaunt convention, to ditch the status quo and to embrace the gospel with our whole selves.
Another Challenge
   Thomas isn't the only one to challenge us in that reading from John. An immense challenge comes from Jesus himself when, in verse 23, he tells the disciples "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
   As some of you may know, I've been meditating on forgiveness for the past few weeks. This verse, one of more than three dozen times in the gospels where Jesus has something to say about forgiveness or being forgiven, is key to our understanding of what Jesus had in mind. To restate or paraphrase what Jesus says here in verse 23, If you do not forgive another, you will hang onto your resentments and they will fester within you and corrupt and destroy your heart and your soul.

   We do not have to look very far to see evidence of that reality. Many of us know someone whose hurts and frustrations and resentments have fermented into a bitter paste that has stuck them to the past, that has snuffed out their light of hope and joy, and has made it so that no one really wants to be around them.

Victims wallowing in the sty of woe is me, they are deaf to Jesus' call of Jesus to forgive others as God has forgiven them. They say Lord's Prayer asking God to forgive us as we have forgiven others but they cannot hear what they are saying, the ears of their hearts are closed off.

   We do that sometimes too, don't we? Sometimes . . . maybe oftentimes . . . we also stumble over those words about forgiveness. We hear the call, we want to forgive but, like Paul, we do the things we know we're not supposed to do; we hang on. In the face of affronts, injustices and crimes against us, we cry out, "Oh Dear God, how can I forgive that?"

   The only answer that makes any sense to me is love, the unconditional, selfless, sacrificial, and absolutely free love that comes from God and is sent by God through us to others. I mean the love that welcomes back the prodigal child who squandered an undeserved inheritance in a far off land. I mean the love with which God looks upon each and every one of us and says "you are good enough," that tells us that we are loved and accepted in spite of any deep dark secrets we think we might have. I mean the love of our God who desperately wants us to know that you and I are God's beloved, called to feast at a table where all are welcome.

   Forgiveness is not a concept or a thing that we can give because God says we should give it. Forgiveness is a way of life that we are called to live. By grace and through the boundless love of God, we can understand the unhappiness and pain and suffering of others that causes them to harm themselves and others and we can have compassion for them. When we do that, forgiveness is not a challenge; it is a natural act. When you understand the suffering of others, you do not have to force yourself to feel compassion . . . the door to your heart will naturally open and God's love will flow from you like the river of living water that Jesus offered the woman at the well.

   Jesus was - and is - all of that. He understood the suffering of the people who betrayed him, the people who denied him, the people who judged him, the people who abused him, and the people who nailed him to that tree. The door to his heart was wide open; God's love - living water - flowed freely through him.

   It is that sort of love that changes lives. It is that sort of love that changes families. It is that sort of love that changes communities. And, it is that sort of love that can change the world.

   It is what Easter People do.

   I hope you'll share your thoughts on this passage or one of the other passages for the week - Acts 5:27-32, Psalm 118:14-29, and

Revelation 1:4-8.
Just drop me a line at the address below. If you'd like to join us for GodTalk on Wednesday evening, please do. We'd love to have you. We meet at 6:30 p.m. in Hope's main building at 85 Grand Street. Just drop us a note to say you'll be coming.

 

 Abundant joy!

 

The Rev. Steve Ruelke

Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh

P: 845-527-0405

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