When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.” The house of Israel called it manna…
Toward Sunday
We move into the final week of our Lenten series, Hope in Dying, by turning from reflection on the significance of Jesus’ death to holding questions about how we watch over others in love as they die. Please note the dates and times below for our Holy Week worship on Maundy Thursday & Good Friday. We would love help preparing and cleaning up our simple meal of soup, bread and salad for Thursday evening, April 2. If you are available…
Searching scripture
“The Bible is a multi-voiced document, it is flawed in its grasp of ultimate things, but within it – as in our own flawed lives – we glimpse a mystery that holds us, always.” ~Rita Nakashima Brock & Rebecca Ann Parker (Proverbs of Ashes p 11) As we continue our series on Hope in Dying and turn to scripture each week may we be mindful of the many ways the mystery of God continues to unfold in and around us –…
Toward Sunday
We continue this week in our Lenten worship series, Hope in Dying, by turning from reflection on the significance of Jesus’ death to wondering about the way Jesus imagined his own death in John 12.20-36 and the ways in which we imagine our own. Fred Craddock, in Speaking of Dying: Recovering the Church’s Voice in the Face of Death, writes, If we as the church are to carry out our ministry to the dying and if we ourselves are to die well, we need solid support…
The Cross
I have been grateful this week for our empty cross in the sanctuary. My life would be different if our cross had a sculpture of Jesus hanging in front of it every day and I’m not at all certain that I would continue to face it. Theories of Atonement are grounded in our human effort to understand the death of Jesus and in some way to face him as he hangs upon the cross. The theory of Substitutionary Atonement in which we say…
Substitutionary?
There are multiple schools of thought on Atonement. Substitutionary atonement, in which Christ takes the penalty instead of us is thought to secure our innocence before God. John Calvin, in his “Institutes ” (2.16.5) summarizes this classical understanding of Atonement: This is our acquittal: the guilt that held us liable for punishment has been transferred to the head of the Son of God. We must, above all, remember this substitution, lest we tremble and remain anxious throughout life — as if…
Toward Sunday
We continue this week in our Lenten worship series, Hope in Dying, by turning from reflection on our own experiences of grief to John 3.14-21 and considering the significance of Jesus’ death. Fred Craddock, in Speaking of Dying: Recovering the Church’s Voice in the Face of Death, writes, If we as the church are to carry out our ministry to the dying and if we ourselves are to die well, we need solid support and rich resources because this ministry…
Art Crash
Death is often unrecognizable. Dying occurs all around us. We might be shopping at the market and standing next to someone who is a hospice patient. Those of us in grief are expected to move forward from it sooner than we are able. There is also “disenfranchised loss” which happens when children go to kindergarten, friends move away, parents downsize family homes for retirement, infertility and miscarriage. All of these losses cause grief but are mostly hidden or not recognized as…
Toward Sunday
We continue this week in our Lenten worship series, Hope in Dying, by turning to John 11.28-36. In this story we witness the grief of Mary, Martha and Jesus as they mourn the death of Lazarus. We hope to reflect upon both Jesus’ experience with grief and our own as we gather this Sunday in worship. Fred Craddock, in Speaking of Dying: Recovering the Church’s Voice in the Face of Death, writes, If we as the church are to carry out our ministry to the…
Fear and love
Those who would save their life will lose it. Those who will lose their life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. —Mark 8.35 If you fear your life is your flesh you will die. If you trust your life is love you will be given life. Life small enough to cling to is vanishingly small. Life given away in love is infinite. To be truly alive is to love. All else is death. Why even…
What would you die for?
Archbishop Oscar Romero died in 1980 but was officially declared a martyr by Pope Francis just a few weeks ago. His death was public – in the middle of a worship celebration. He died preaching freedom and liberation for the people of San Salvador. This song is created from his own words “let my blood be the seed of freedom”. What would you die for? If you were to die for something or someone, what freedom would your death unleash? What…
Toward Sunday
We continue this week in our Lenten worship series, Hope in Dying, by turning to Mark 8.31-38. This reading is at the center of Mark’s Gospel. It marks a transition from Jesus’ ministry on behalf of the oppressed to the beginning of Jesus’ journey to the cross. We will consider Jesus’ call to “lose” our lives in worship this week. Fred Craddock, in Speaking of Dying: Recovering the Church’s Voice in the Face of Death, writes, If we as the church are to carry out…
Who speaks of death?
“The Christian church has always been cognizant of the need to prepare believers to face dying in a manner fitting to their essential nature as creatures of God – as being already dead, buried, and raised to new life in Christ through baptism, and sustained in that new physical existence by the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) until called by their creator to the life of the resurrection. That commitment to provide for a good dying has taken different forms throughout history,…