Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

 Scripture: Acts 5:27-32  •  Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150  •  Revelation 1:4-8  •  John 20:19-31

I look forward to exchanging the Peace each Sunday after the homily, and before the choir's anthem and the Holy Eucharist. What happens when we exchange the peace? In John's gospel, we read that Jesus appeared to the disciples who huddled behind closed doors, undoubtedly bewildered and fearful Jesus first words to them are "Peace be with you." And he says it again after showing them his nail pierced hands and spear pierced side. But this time he adds "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them and said "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

What happens when you are given, and you receive a gift? In "Exchanging the peace," The Very Reverend Anthony F.M. Clavier tells us: "Accepting a gift is a moment of self-emptying, of acceptance and gratitude. For a moment we are beholden, vulnerable, dependent as we receive that which we lack. Receiving a gift can strike our pride, can be uncomfortable. Living in the gift demands an active gratitude. It also means that we value that which we have been given. We feel it necessary to show it off. And that leads to sharing the gift. The gift of “the peace of God which passeth all understanding” is to be received as a trust to share with others. Thus when we exchange “the Peace” today, we say to those we greet, “Here is the most wonderful gift, the gift of accepting Jesus into our lives and sharing that communion with each other and out into the world.”And then there is the presence. The presence of Christ, which we experience in the Eucharist. Let us share that peace, and presence, together. In His presence, we are forgiven, and we can forgive.

In "Among his disciples," The Rev. Joshua Woods describes the fear and uncertainty of the disciples both prior to and after Jesus appears among the. As Jesus bids them peace, he also bids them leave their comfort zones as he sends them out, as his Father has sent him. What are we to do, and what do we do, with God's peace when we leave the comfort, solace, and beauty of our sanctuary, service, and liturgy?

Deliverance

 Scripture:

Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 65:17-25  • 

 

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24  • 

 

1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43  • 

 

John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12  

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies."

I have striven to learn the answers to the great questions all my life.  I have had a need to know "why" to many things, not the least of which is why the good and children have to die, why so many contract deadly diseases, why man's cruelty seems to prevail. I have tried to see things more clearly, and not dimly now, as Paul said.  To come out of the shadows of opinion into the sunlight of knowledge as Plato said.  I challenged my self by majoring in both Philosophy and Religious Studies in rigorous studies at a world class University where I adopted the mantra of its founder,  to never be afraid to go where truth and honor should take me. 

There are so many reasons to not believe in what, as the Empiricists say, we cannot experience by our senses, or as precise, as far as possible, as mathematical,  apodictic certainty. In "Do You Believe This?" Dan Clendenin gives us a plethora of reasons why we , as others, doubt, or do not believe in the Resurrection, such folly to the Greeks, as Paul said. But, in all of our humanity, with all its shortcomings, doubt, and dirt, comes the Lord of life itself, who does not chastise or belittle us for our doubt and unbelief, but who invites us to come to him as children, to cast our burdens  - whatever they may be - on him, and receive the peace and rest only he can offer. in life, in death, in life eternal, the true knowledge man has sought from the beginning of our ability to ask the great questions.In short, deliverance comes in the Easter of our lives. For this, I say "He is risen! He is risen, indeed."

Save us, we pray

Scripture:  

Isaiah 50:4-9a  • 

 

Psalm 31:9-16  • 

 

Philippians 2:5-11  • 

 

Luke 22:14-23:56 or Luke 23:1-49

"In many ways, Holy Week holds within it our entire human story — all of the hope, tragedy, love, and joy that shapes our days.  It reveals to us the horrors of injustice, but it also shows us the deepest love the world has ever seen.  As we move from the intimacy of the Last Supper, to the agony of Gethsemane, to the desolation of Golgotha, we can find traces of our own stories — stories of friendship and betrayal, fervor and futility, hope and humiliation... think about Jesus willingly taking up one of those crosses and saying, “I will not stop for you.  I will not choose safety at the expense of injustice and evil.  I will not save my own skin while you keep killing the people I  love." 

What will we do?

Read this and more in Debie Thomas' "Cruciform."

You are holy 

Infinite and holy

A billion suns rise for you

Clouds paint the skies for you

Mountains stand tall for you

Valleys bow down to you

Everything rising to 

Sing all our songs for you 

- The Liturgists, "Vapor"

Beauty in the Breaking

 Scripture: Isaiah 43:16-21 •  Psalm 126  • Philippians 3:4b-14  •  John 12:1-8

This week, Jesus is visiting the home of dear friends before setting his face toward Jerusalem to face the Passion, suffering, and death. This week's authors give us powerful insight into Mary's extravagant gift of expensive perfume, abandoning self consciousness and traditional mores in anointing Jesus' feet and wiping them with her hair. What about the poor who could use the proceeds of sale of the perfume, as Judas said? Extravagant waste, or more? What did Jesus say to Judas and onlookers? Why? What can we learn about comfort, grief, sacrifice, and ministering to others from John's gospel account of this event?

This is one of the most sensual and beautiful portraits of God's love and appreciation of humanity, through Jesus. Instead of rebuking Mary,  Jesus accepts the humanity, flesh on flesh, tears, and beauty of the ones he loved enough to sacrifice himself for. Read the beautiful account in Debie Thomas' "Beauty and Breaking. "

Consider the thoughts of Dan Clendenin in "She Did What She Could - Mary's Anoints Jesus at Bethany;" Katerina Whitley's "Comfort in the Midst of suffering"; and Debie Thomas' "While You Still Have Me."

Reconciliation

Scripture: Joshua 5:9-12  • Psalm 32  • 2 Corinthians 5:16-21  • Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

As Katerina Whitley tells us in her "A Ministry of Reconciliation, "," "In a country that is bitterly divided, at a time when hatred seems to be winning over love and where hostility works against reconciliation, let us move as true ambassadors for Christ to spread the good news of God’s embrace for all of God’s creation and created beings. “We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” St. Paul’s entreaty rings in our ears: “On behalf of Christ.” And the image of a loving father, of God’s arms ready to embrace each lost child, stays before our eyes as we proceed in this Lenten season toward resurrection." Debie Thomas '"Love and Lostness" is one of the best analysts of the characters in the Prodigal Son parable I have read.

What better way to understand reconciliation, what enables us to reconcile, and what keeps us from reconciling than Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. 

How, and what can we do, to engage in a ministry of reconciliation? What does it take for and from us? For and from others? Consider Sister Kym Harris' "Exposition."

The question is not "Why," but how are we dealing with it

 Scripture:

Isaiah 55:1-9  • 

 

Psalm 63:1-8  • 

 

1 Corinthians 10:1-13  • 

 

Luke 13:1-9

As problem solvers, we are trained to look at causes and effects. There are idioms which illustrate ways we go about solving problems such as "nip it in the bud," "head it off at the pass," "cut the head off the snake."

But what about problems which don't lend themselves to easy solutions. Why is there  suffering, pain, and evil - yes, evil in - the world? Why do people get sick and die? Why are innocent people punished and bad people rewarded, or "get away with murder," as we are wont to say?

To be sure, we are right to pursue good science and innovation, but as Jesus tells us in his parable of the fig tree, and as our authors this week suggest, maybe we are asking the wrong questions, or focusing on the wrong things. Compare The Rev. Marshall A. Jolly's "Suffering and Punishment," and The Rev. Debie Thomas' "Ask a Better Question." Consider Isaiah's question, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?"

What can we take away from this lesson, for ourselves, our relationships - for dealing with suffering and punishment, with evil, and the unknown?