The One Who Missed It

First the women and then the others
boldly proclaim “I have seen the Lord!”
except for the one who missed it

You stepped into their locked-up grief
and spoke Peace to those gathered in pain,
hidden in fear
until You gifted them with Your breath
making them agents of forgiveness,
disciples in the way of peace

Until Thomas returned to cover them in doubt
keeping them under lock and key for another week
he only spoke out loud the need of every follower
who came later,
missing the point
and the resurrection

Thomas, not so much a doubter as a prophet
who provided You with an opportunity
to speak to the hearts of all
would-be followers to come

Your presence and Your Word were enough
Thomas believed without touching
breathing more deeply than ever before
as he walked into the blessing You
breathed out for all whose belief
speaks louder than doubt

Thomas opened the door for us to enter
into relationship with You and
community with one another
proving that being locked away in fear
is not a place to remain in faith
after Peace is spoken
and forgiveness is commissioned
wounds might identify You
revealing Your presence among us
indicating a need for response
calling us out of denial into healing

The time has come to step out of rooms
locked with fear and judgment
breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit
walk in the way of peace
as agents of forgiveness
bringing healing to a wounded world

Thank you, Thomas, for being the missing one
and making your honest prophecy
giving centuries of doubters
entrance into the fullness of life in Christ

RCL – Year A – Second Sunday of Easter – April 27, 2014
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

There’s More to the Story

I used to think that Easter was the easiest Sunday to preach. The story tells itself and there’s so much else going on in the service that a brief sermon highlighting resurrection couldn’t go wrong. However, as the years have gone on and my ministry has changed, I find Easter a particular challenge.

This year in the Easter worship service there will be no musician, just me and my IPOD. Moreover, I feel the need to communicate the Gospel in a way that people wrestling with various mental health crises and symptoms might actually hear. I can’t spend too much time with the specifics of the Easter story because someone will ask out loud why Jesus doesn’t appear to us the way he did to Mary. Some others might volunteer that they, too, have seen angels. Someone else will ask where the tomb is and if it’s still empty. I’ve come to understand that these tangents are likely on the minds of anyone paying attention to the story. Yet, none of this is helpful, really. The issue at hand is not what happened on that first Easter morning, but on what is happening now.

I want people who come to chapel service to hear a word of hope, to know that the resurrection is for them, and to experience forgiveness and acceptance at a really deep level. Yes, I know this is a lot to put into one sermon. This message of Jesus’ radical love is essential. Too many people tell me that they do not feel “good enough” for God to love them. They tend to believe the basics of the Gospel message except that they somehow exclude themselves. They conclude that Jesus couldn’t possibly love them even though he seems to love everyone else.

Somehow in the midst of the unbelievable story of the empty tomb, I have to make it believable on a personal level. Beyond believable, I have to make it real and livable today. A group of people will gather in a chapel without all the fanfare of a traditional church Easter celebration and they will look to me to say something that eases the suffering in their own lives.

The question that keeps echoing through my thoughts is this:  Who are you that you alone would be excluded from the love God has for the whole of creation?

With the scent of anointing oil and spices lingering in the air, women weeping, and angels in white, I think we forget that the tomb was empty. It wasn’t empty for no reason. It wasn’t empty for Jesus’ sake. It was empty for us, all of us. You know—God so loved the world. It really doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done or not done, what diagnosis you carry, what job you do, how much money is in your bank account, the size of your house, the car you drive, your gender identity, your sexual orientation, your relationship status… none of this matters because God loves us whether we believe it or not.

The appropriate response to “Christ the Lord is risen today!” perhaps ought to be “Thanks be to God!” Now let us go and live our lives in gratitude and as a testimony to the power and grace that conquers death with the promise of new life.

RCL- Year A – Easter – April 20, 2014
Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43
John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10

A Pastor’s Palm Sunday Prayer

How long, O Lord, will your steadfast love endure for a people still in in turmoil. Amidst the shouts of “Hosanna!” there are many who are still asking, “Who is this?” We wave our palm branches and fail to understand just what all this really means—no different than that first crowd. You returned to Jerusalem long ago, and some hailed you as a king, thinking that you would set them free. You would not rule in such a worldly way. Many still long for the simple clarity of one who rules with a sword.

Even with a palm branch in hand, I can barely whisper Hosanna, let alone shout it out. I hesitate, not because of what you have done so much as what happens in this world. My heart breaks for a world that has yet to live in your love. Just down the street refugees from war-torn countries try to scrape out a new life for themselves. Instead of unabashed welcome, they are often greeted with hatred, fear, and rejection and I seldom speak a word to make a difference. A walk downtown will have me plotting a route to avoid those who are homeless and desperate and asking for what I don’t know how to give. The news spits out stories of stabbings and shootings and senseless death, and the need to blame someone to make the world seem safe again. This is the world you came to save, O Lord; how long before we know that your steadfast love endures forever?

In this holiest of weeks, I want to walk with you. I want to understand more deeply what happened. You did not endure the fickle crowd shouting “hosanna!” one day and “crucify!” the next, betrayal and denial by your closest friends, and the pain and abandonment of the cross for yourself. No, you did these things for all of us who would follow after you. That, we, too might discover the magnitude of grace given with an empty tomb. Grant me the courage to walk with you, watch with you, wait with you… Your great love for the world endured all this and more for me, for my neighbors, for those refugees, for those who are homeless, for the victims and perpetrators of violence, for those who have mental illness, for the hopeless, for the whole world…

Open my heart to the triumph of this day that it may remain open in the days to come. Remind us all that you need us to bear witness to your presence as we experience anew all that is to happen in this next week. Mudslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, and droughts may make us question you when we ought to question ourselves. Even in those moments of misplaced blame, your love endures. Let those of us who follow you now, shout our “Hosannas!” with joy, a statement of gratitude for the way in which you offered yourself for us.

Grant me the grace to follow you this week, even when I am reluctant. Accept no excuses from me this week. Let me see only your great love for the world that endures to this day. Let the wonders of your love flow through me into the world full of people seeking to be set free.

Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Amen.

RCL – Palm Sunday – April 13, 2014
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Matthew 21:1-11

Contemporary Stations of the Cross

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Bidding Prayer for New Life

Image from pdphoto.org

Come, let us unite in prayer for the church throughout the world.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
God of all, you would have us all be called into new life. Remove from us the temptation to mistake our words for yours and grant us the courage to step away from death and darkness into the joys of life in your light.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope.

Let us pray for the United Church of Christ, here and elsewhere.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
Enduring and persisting God, remind us of the power of your breath. You have led your people through deserts and wilderness lands filled with despair and confusion; you lead us still. In these years of transition and change, make us mindful that you are a God of life, a God who reanimates dry dusty bones and calls the dead to live again. You are doing this for the church even now. Let us not be afraid of the power of your breath and the wonders that come to us on the winds of change. We thank you for all those called to lead the United Church of Christ, especially for Geoffrey Black our minister and president, Gary Schulte our conference minister, and all those gathered here. Breathe again on the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ so that all that is dry and dusty may come to life anew.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope.

Let us pray for all the peoples of the world.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
God whose image every person bears, show us how to share the burdens of all your people that we may also particpate in their joys. Too many people and nations know only war and the devastation left in its wake. Show us how to achieve the impossible – a world of peace and justice for all your children. Only with our hands will there be enough food, water, medicine, and safety for those whose lives are at risk. In you we know that the only power we ought to share with one another is the love and compassion that will save innocent lives. Call us out of complacency into a world of light and possibility.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope.

Let us pray for our nation and those who lead it.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
Patient and loving God, we know that your love is for the whole of creation and that our nation is just one of many. We are blessed with an abundance that we take for granted and don’t always understand. Because we have been gifted with much, much is asked of us in the world. Lead us to a place of balance where needs are met and strangers are welcomed without fear or resentment. Be with all those who lead this country, especially Barak Obama. Guide them and each of us in all decisions that one day all our dry valleys will rise up with new life.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope.

Let us pray for all those who are in need of healing.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
God who calls into life, we lift up to you all who are struggling for health of body, mind, or spirit. How often we turn away from those in need, forgetting that when we do, we turn away from you. Just as you led Ezekiel to prophesy to a valley of dry bones, so lead us to be agents of grace, healing, and new life to all who are in need.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope.

Let us pray for all those who grieve.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
Living, amazing God, as much as we may long for you to call our loved ones back from death as you did for Lazarus, we trust that they rest in you even while our own hearts are heavy with grief. We lift up to you all those who mourn, especially those whose loved ones were murdered or died by suicide or other sudden, unexpected deaths. Heal the brokenhearted and remind us that not even death can separate us from your love.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope.

Let us give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received.
(silence or a time for people to quietly give voice to their concerns)
God who calls each of us to new life, we worship you and sing your praises. Remove from us all that prevents us from experiencing the fullness of life in you that we may overflow with joy and gratitude. We are the body of Christ in this place and we offer ourselves to you that your breath might fill us, and we will have the courage to leave all darkness behind. We pray in Christ’s name.
We wait for God, our souls wait,
and in God’s word we hope. Amen.

RCL – Year A – Fifth Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-45