Tag: faith

On Being Lazarus

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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.”

lazarus

Raising of Lazarus, Jacapo Tintoretto, 1558

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: 21-26)

I suspect that from time to time we each wish God would free us from the necessity of facing death and wonder why God does not do so. Martha’s pained awords of loss after the death of her brother, Lazarus, echo in our hearts even if they do not escape our lips. The fantasy of God whisking persons off to heaven in whirlwind and chariot of fire like Elijah or the prospect of Christ descending in glory, heralded by archangels’ trumpets, and being lifted to meet Him are equally appealing. Yet our experience has more in common with that of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus than that of Elijah or those living at Christ’s Second Coming. Followers of Jesus may not be “of” this world (i.e. shaped by its values) but we continue to live in this world and so must deal with its adversity.

While faith in Christ does not remove us from this world or free us from its tribulations, it can sustain us and point to a reality beyond present circumstances. That’s what happened in Martha’s case. She knew Lazarus had been dead in his tomb for four days. Through grieving and hurt by Jesus’ delay she still made a powerful profession of faith the equal of St. Peter’s: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God …” Elsewhere in the Gospel of John, Jesus defines eternal life as a quality of existence characterized by relationship with God rather as a limitless number of years. By that measure Martha is already living eternal life. She is connected to God through Jesus Christ. Though Martha’s body may die – like that of her brother – she (her truest self) will not. Martha “gets it;” many of those watching when Jesus raises Lazarus do not. They are so fixated on the miraculous physical restoring of life that they miss the deeper truth Jesus is trying to convey. There is more to life than material existence and more to us than a physical body. Jesus said: “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?

Lent as an expression of counter-culture

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Given our hedonistic culture it’s no surprise Mardi Gras, that pre-eminent celebration of personal indulgence, has found broad acceptance while the season of Lent has not. Themes of penitence, preparation, and reconciliation do not resonate with our society’s consumerist or narcissistic proclivities.

lent_ash_wednesday

Pop culture and marketers urge us to gratify our desire for pleasure and convenience whatever the cost and tell us that we each deserve such things. Lent suggests we forgo certain pleasures for the sake of spiritual discipline in order to grow in our faith. Culture celebrates the ego-self and places each person at the center of his or her own virtual world with every perceived need and whim being catered to. Christ calls us to self-sacrifice, saying: “Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39)

The conflict between the values of secular society and those commanded by Christ make Lent the most profoundly counter-cultural season of the church year. Followers of Christ can expect no support from the culture around them as they try to deepen their relationship with God or grow spiritually. For this reason, it is important that the church help its members keep a holy Lent. One way your church supports your growth as a disciple of Christ is by scheduling dinners and programs each Wednesday in Lent.

Ash Wednesday Worship (imposition of ashes if desired) Sanctuary, March 5 at 7:00 PM

Wednesday Lenten Dinners & Programming March 12, 19, 26 and April 2, 9
(To be held in Fellowship Hall)

Dinner at 6:00 PM followed by prayers and song at 6:50 PM

Half hour programs for adults and children on Christian discipleship 7:00 to 7:30 PM

Children will be learning the good news about Jesus as they add one reminder bead each week to a bracelet in a program entitled, “The Good News Beads.”

The adult program is entitled “Jesus Still Lead On” and is a study of Christian discipleship based on the Moravian Covenant for Christian Living and The Foundation of Our Faith by The Rev. Kevin Frack of the Moravian Church in America, Southern Province.

Holy Week Reading Services April 14-16, at 7:00 PM

Maundy Thursday Holy Communion April 17th at 7:00 PM

Good Friday Tenebrae Service April 18th at 7:00 PM

– Pastor Derek

Pastor Derek French’s Lent message appears in The Star, March 2014

Everyone Can Find True Love

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Whether you go to the grocery for milk or to the pharmacy for a prescription, you won’t be able to avoid Valentine’s Day merchandise in the form of balloons, candy hearts, and cards. Ah, yes, a holiday devoted to idealized romantic love. What could be more heartwarming?

church churches lehigh valley

Yet, as wonderful as romantic love may be it is only one form of love – and an often fragile and volatile one at that. To be fully realized, romantic love depends on the one we love loving us in return. If that doesn’t happen, you may find yourself tolerating or enduring Valentine’s Day rather than celebrating it.

The unconditional love of God spoken of in the Bible is something quite different. God’s love is the most stable of loves. We cannot earn it, buy it, or lose it. God loves everyone. Those who are humble and honest enough with themselves to accept their need for God’s love can experience it in the core of their being as they come to know the presence of God/Christ/Holy Spirit within them. Before he died Jesus prayed:

… The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

(John 17: 20-23)

Once we have encountered God and accepted (really accept in our hearts, as well as our heads) the truth that God loves us unconditionally, we are free to accept and love ourselves in the same way. Such love also propels us beyond ourselves and compels us to love others without conditions.

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4: 8-10)

The experience of God’s unconditional love and sharing of that love is the essence of Moravian Bishop Zinzendorf’s “Religion of the Heart.” This vibrant, powerful, life-giving faith fueled the explosive growth of the 18th century Moravian Church and is reflected in the lyrics of the church’s traditional hymns.

Long before the time of the Renewed Moravian Church, such love motivated a priest to give his life for the sake of his sisters and brothers in Christ. His “crime” was officiating at Christian marriages, celebrating Holy Communion and otherwise serving his congregation.

According to tradition, St. Valentine was killed by Roman authorities on February 14th. Certainly, as he went to his death he would have recalled Christ’s words “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Wishing You a Peaceful Christmas and a Joyous New Year

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nativity

Jacob Jordaens, The Nativity, 1653

A bit over two thousand years ago Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was born in a stable because no one would make room for him anywhere else. His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, were of extremely modest means. Their son’s first resting place was a re-purposed feeding trough. Outside of heaven, Jesus’ birth was a decidedly low key event. Except for a few shepherds and astrologers, no one took much notice – either then or at any point during the next two hundred years. We don’t even know the exact day upon which Christ entered the world.

The first Christmas was of necessity simple, peaceful, and intimate. Given the fanfare and
preparation which precede a child’s birth today we might feel sorry for Jesus. Yet, from the moment of his birth, Jesus had all that truly matters in life. For that matter, so did Mary and Joseph. Mary had time to nurture her newborn and contemplate the love and support of her husband, Joseph, who stayed by her side even though the child who now looked up at her was not his own. With Joseph she could reflect on God’s blessings, on the miracle of birth, the messages of angels, the power of love, and the wonder of the Incarnation. As the angels sang their Gloria, there was peace on earth among those whom God favored.

It is ironic that peace, simplicity, intimacy, and time for prayerful contemplation are so hard to
come by as we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. Having perfected celebration of “the
Holiday season” in all its festive glittering allure, have we lost Christmas? The true treasures
of Christmas–those which Jesus and his parents enjoyed–are free. They cannot be bought with gold or silver.

The Prince of Peace was born in a stable for there was no room for him anywhere else. Have you made room in your heart and time in your life for the Christ or does he need to seek shelter elsewhere?

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us
today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord
Immanuel.
Have a Blessed Christmas,

Pastor Derek French

Lord of the harvest

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harvestIn an age before supermarkets and seed catalogs the harvest season could be an anxious time of year. The quantity and quality of the harvest often determined the fate not only of individuals, but also of entire communities. A succession of failed harvests brought famine and death while good harvests provided adequate food to sustain the community over the winter and quality seed for planting the following Spring’s crop. Jesus’ hearers would have been acutely aware of all this as they listened to his parable.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, “An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13: 26-30)

The weeds in question are most probably darnel – a toxic plant which resembles wheat. Mixing darnel in with the wheat crop was an act of indiscriminate agricultural terrorism. Having toxins mixed in one’s flour was bad enough. Having toxic seed mixed with good seed for next season’s sowing was a disaster in the making for the whole community. Sensible farmers purified both land and crop with fire whenever they detected darnel.

Jesus’ parable suggests that God cares for the Kingdom of Heaven in much the same way that a farmer cares for his crops and fields. That which is unholy and evil cannot be permitted to destroy that which is righteous, holy, and good. For imperfect sinners such as ourselves the good news is that God will not render judgment until the harvest is gathered in. There is still time for each person living to choose whether to cultivate weeds or wheat in his or her life. We cannot earn salvation, yet our life choices do matter. In part, we each self-select a destiny as chaff for the fire or wheat for the barn.

“and all were judged according to what they had done. … and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:13-15)

Happy Thanksgiving,

Pastor Derek

Easter Sunday and the significance of The Day Of Resurrection

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bethlehem easter service moravianOn Easter morning we gather to hear and respond to familiar affirmations of faith:

“The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!”

Moravian Easter liturgies speak of a God who so loves humanity so much that he chose to enter a suffering world in the person of Jesus Christ in order to mend our relationship with God, free us from the power of sin, and open the way to eternal life. At the Easter dawn service the congregation responds to such statements of faith with the words: “This we truly believe.”

On Resurrection Sunday, when the band is playing, the choirs are singing, and the church is decked out with daffodils and Easter lilies, it is not hard to affirm Christian faith and attach ourselves to its message of hope. Yet how many of those who gather on Easter Sunday are also willing to walk with Christ through the Garden of Gethsemane, stand with him on the Pavement of Judgment before Pilate, accompany him as he carries the cross on the Via Dolorosa, or stand at the foot of the cross on Good Friday?

In terms of worship, every member of the congregation has the opportunity to experience the last week of Christ’s life prior to his execution by crucifixion during our Holy Week Reading Services. Each night we will take turns reading from the Gospels’ accounts of what Jesus was doing on a particular day or evening. The week comes to a liturgical climax with Maundy Thursday Holy Communion and our Good Friday Tenebrae services.

All evening worship services will be held at 7:00 pm.

In terms of life, every day presents us with many choices to serve God or to serve the world which crucified our Lord. What you decide to do with each day of your life will reveal whether Easter’s affirmation of faith “This we truly believe,” is an accurate expression of personal faith or empty words. Fortunately for all of us, God allows U-turns. No matter how insincere we have been in the past; no matter how unfaithful we may have been in attending worship, in loving our neighbor as ourselves, in keeping God first in our lives, we always have the option of turning towards God.

Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
and all the world go free?
(There’s a cross for everyone
And I know that there’s a cross for me).

No Cross. No Crown.

See you in church,

Pastor Derek

The Paradox of Lent

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“… you are dust and to the dust you shall return.”

(Genesis 3:19b)

Meditating on the reality of human mortality is something most of us prefer to avoid. While we know our days are numbered, we usually manage to distract ourselves from this ever present fact with work, family responsibilities and recreation. Yet the Church has a whole liturgical season dedicated to contemplation of death and to the transience of all human endeavors? Why?

monkey trapThere’s an old story about an ingenious monkey trap. Reportedly, the monkey hunters tie a coconut to a tree, drill a hole in the coconut just large enough for a monkey’s hand to reach in, and place a piece of fruit or a nut inside. The monkey comes and is easily able to reach his hand into the hole to grasp the food. Yet when the monkey closes his fist around his prize he can no longer withdraw his hand from the coconut. The delay provided allows a hunter to aim, shoot, and bag a monkey for dinner.

Nothing in the material world lasts forever, but that doesn’t keep us from clinging to families, achievements, possessions, and institutions like a monkey grasping fruit in a coconut. Familiar surroundings provide the illusion of security and permanence while the hunter creeps closer each passing day. Some live to a happy old age. Others fall to illness, accidents, natural disasters, or senseless acts of violence. In the end, we all die. Can we escape this “monkey trap”? Christian faith answers, “Yes!”

The spiritual disciplines of Lent – prayer, worship, fasting, and the imposition of ashes – exist to help us let go of our old selves, our old securities and old identities. It is only with open, empty hands that we can hold the hand of God. When we take God’s hand and follow Christ we discover that acceptance of our mortality has paradoxically led us to a new life on earth, followed by eternal life with God in heaven.

“When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: Death has been swallowed up in
victory.”

(I Corinthians 15:54)

Lent and death gives way to Easter and life.

See you in church,
Pastor Derek

Patience: An Advent Virtue

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“… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…”

Though St. Paul lists patience as the fourth of God’s spiritual gifts, it is a virtue seldom sought or  cultivated by most 21st century Americans. Rather, under the influence of a consumer culture, we have come to expect instant gratification in all aspects of life.

While shopping, we look to see if our line is shortest or whether the line one aisle over is moving a bit more quickly than the one we are in. A day or two now seems too long to wait
for a DVD. Perhaps that’s why Netflix and other movie services are switching to streaming
video over the internet rather than mailing out DVD’s or Blu-ray Discs. A person can choose
his or her movie and watch it instantly.

Quick service is nice, but the most important and fulfilling aspects of life still require varying degrees of patience on our part. Neither best friends nor babies come “guaranteed overnight delivery.” A relationship with either requires patience and the investment of time on our part. Most resistant to haste is the cultivation of the spiritual life and one’s relationship with God.

God’s time frame is not ours. The Psalmist says that for God a thousand years pass as quickly as an evening. Instant gratification exists neither in nature nor in God’s dealings with humanity as they are recorded in the Bible. Grain takes a season to grow from seed to harvest. Many generations were born and died between God’s promise of a Messiah in Isaiah’s day until the time of Christ’s birth. The Jewish kingdom itself, as well as its Babylonian and Persian conquerors, was history long before then. Patience was then, and still is required to maintain faith and hope, let alone joy and peace.

Patience does not mean resignation or inaction. Both of the latter crush hope, and that is certainly not what God desires when blessing us with the gift of patience. The spiritual gift of
patience empowers persons to work actively towards fulfilling the vision of God’s Kingdom
come to earth, even when realization of that vision is delayed. Patience allows us to see
personal trials and loss as temporary afflictions through which we must pass on the way to full
realization of God’s vision for us when we join God in eternal life.

During Advent, our worship services are crafted to help members cultivate the spiritual gift
of patience. Those attending will hear traditional prophecies regarding the birth of a Savior,
light candles marking the passing of time, and sing hymns of longing such as “O Come, O
Come, Immanuel.” 

Come Christmas, worship will remind us once again that good things come to those who wait.

Have A Blessed Christmas,
Pastor Derek