Lenten Links
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This Week at St. James
Thursday, April 3
- ECW Meeting @ 11 AM
Grief Recovery Program @ 2 PM
Saturday, April 5 Westwood Works' - Pop-up Beer Garden and Community Gathering @ 4-7 PM
Sunday, April 6 Bible Study @ 8:45 Chancel Choir Rehearsal @ 8:45 Holy Eucharist @ 10:00 AM Children's Sunday School at 10:00 AM |
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| St. James Episcopal Church Westwood
Weekly Epistle - April 3, 2014
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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.- John 11: 20-27
Read Sunday's Lessons here. Jesus' resurrection of Lazarus confounds me. Why does why Jesus wait and let Lazarus die? Why then does, Lazarus become special later on? Surely Jesus knew other people who died? What about them? What does this story say to the Gospel of John's community that it doesn't say to me or potentially to other readers. In what ways do the relationships between Lazarus, the Disciples, Mary, Martha, and Jesus matter? It seems clear that shared love provides the rationale and impetus for this miracle. How does such love shape our own experiences with Jesus Christ and people he loves?
There are elements of core Christian theology that this narrative boldly declares. First, mortals die and God allows such dying to occur just as God enables life to happen. We as humans inherently deny death whenever we can. An unspoken and forgotten fact about Lazarus is that he did in fact later mortally die, just as did his sisters and the Disciples, some of them heroically yet tragically. Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition holds that Lazarus fled from Bethany because Jewish religious leaders sought to kill him after his and Jesus' resurrection. Seemingly he never smiled during the 30-year period of his "second life" because he was so troubled by the memory of his encounters with unredeemed souls during his four-day stay in Hades? Thus, did Jesus do Lazarus any favors by offering him a longer stay on Earth? How are our own lives shaped by the unresolved sin and violence as we join Lazarus on this side of Christ's Easter Tomb?
This Christian truth leads to another specific core Christian theological value; one that is especially dominant in the Gospel of John. Jesus is the One, incarnate Messiah (Christ) who has come into the world to vanquish death. He, and only he as The Living Word provides the Way, Truth, and Resurrected Life to those who believe in him. Our beliefs may not intersect with each other's on this tenet's meaning but it is constitutive (essential) to who we are as Christians and how we live our lives.
That simple. .... and yet that complex.
Remarkably time and again Jesus poses a profound question to the people around him, in one form or another. What do you believe? In the midst of your mortality, what is the essence of your faith? In the uncertainty of what may happen later today, tomorrow, or forever; what values reside at the core of your existence? What unsettles you as well as affirms you about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as Holy Week approaches.
I believe it's deeply rich and profoundly important to probe, pray, and respond to the scriptural stories that create the most unrest for us. I don't like the fact that Jesus let Lazarus die. I'm uncomfortable with Jesus explaining away Lazarus' mortal death as a basis for proclaiming his own Divine Glory. I constantly wrestle with the relationships between Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. What I do with that discomfort is important because it beckons me to consider and react to what I truly believe about God, Jesus Christ, and The Holy Spirit's movement in my life and faith.
Perhaps you as a believer as well as people I don't know hold the answers. Perhaps the artists whose paintings I appreciate will provide some deeper insights into this and other biblical stories. 19th Century African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner wrote about his scripture-based paintings that an open mind "made humans more receptive to an encounter with the divine." His intention was to create paintings that provide a place where such human/Divine interactions would occur. It is truly my hope and belief that St. James is and will be a place where such inquiries about faith occur as we walk with Jesus on all of the steps between Lazarus' and Jesus' tombs, today until Easter Sunday.
Blessings Along The Way, Jim+ |
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Lenten Programs at St James
 | | Let your Lent be uplifting at St. James |
 | | Our Holy Week and Easter Worship Service Schedule is on the Web. Join us in the mystery and wonder of Christianity's most important stories. |
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Springtime Music Series is in Swing
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St. James 2nd Annual Springtime Music Series continues on Friday April 12th at 7:00 PM. Dixieland Music returns to St. James! Learn more about the Series here.
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Review Dwight Zscheile's Presentation on
Re-Imagining The Episcopal Church
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Six St. James folks attended the diocese's Commission on Congregational Life's Best Practices Conference. The presenter, Dwight Zscheile, offered a "mind-busting" perspective on the ways in which God's Spirit is moving in and around Episcopal Churches. He offered some wonderful - Lazarus-raising ideas - on the steps congregations can live into in order for Christ to resurrect their communities and their faith. Check out Dwight's slide presentation and make sure to talk with Kelsee, Garyne, Nancy Jacob, John Eby, Joyce, or Jim about their experiences at the conference. This information will definitely shape St. James' Purpose and Vision team's work and communications with you in the coming weeks!
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