On the Way to Wonder

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  (Mark 9:24)

Today we really step into Lent, the time when we walk with Jesus to the cross, perhaps spend time in a kind of fasting by denying something we like or by adding something to strengthen our faith and draw us closer to God.  A bit heavy!  This year our Sunday texts draw from the life of Christ as reported in the gospel of Mark.  So I am going to look at Lent through the gospel of Mark.

Mark 9 starts with the Transfiguration when Jesus climbs a mountain and steps into one of those thin places in reality. Peter, James and John see him glistening whiter than white and speaking with Moses and Elijah.  The Father speaks, “This is my beloved Son, listen!”  They descend the mountain and turn towards Jerusalem.  In Lent, we listen.

As Jesus and followers reach the bottom of the mountain they encounter a commotion that I think puts words to the cry of Lent, “Help!”  A father is there with his son who has been deaf and dumb from childhood.  The man believes an evil spirit seizes his son, throws him in the fire often, and throws him into fits that remind us of epilepsy.  It does not matter how we explain the whys of our life, the reality is that we know life is not being lived as it should be.  Something is wrong within and without me.

  The boy’s father responds, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. (V.21)”. The father acknowledges his need for help, his helplessness and his need for pity from the God of the universe.  Jesus responds, “Believe.”  And so we stand with the father, caught in the reality that only God can make life work, not government, education, money or fame.  We are the creature and Jesus is God.  Like the alcoholic we admit our we are alcoholics.  We believe but faith does not always get what we want.  We know not all are healed with miracles.  Not all are healed with medicine. The peace declaration at the end of a war does not mean that there does not need to be reconstruction.

In Lent we bow our head and plead, “We believe, help our unbelief.”  So as we start the Lenten season, let us do an acrostic on the type of relationship we would like God to grow in us during these next 40 days.  R is for ____, E is for _____, L is for _____, A is for _____, T is for _____, I _____, O is for _____, N is for _____, S is for _______, H is for _____, I is for _____ and P is for _____.  Whew, a lot of letters.  Blessings as you ponder.

A Collision of Holidays:  Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday

¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

Today we have two holidays landing on the same day of the week, Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday.  Neither is a national holiday so there are no days off work and there are only vague social rules about how we celebrate.  This is a good day to express love to those we value.  This is a day when many go to church and put ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross, reminding themselves that they come from dust and go to dust.  They have not loved others as themselves, not to mention all the people they value. These people acknowledge they have not lived out love as they would have wanted.

Valentine, as legend goes, was a Roman Christian nobleman who went to the arena to face beasts, giving his life for people he loved so that they could be set free.  It was an act that spoke to his Christian faith.  His crime was that he believed in a God who incarnated, came to us in human form, and died for us paving the road to eternal life and showing us that not even death can separate us from God.  He believed Jesus was God, not the emperor.

This Ash Wednesday is touching to me.  Last Fall my husband died, was cremated and indeed returned to ashes.  I held those ashes at his funeral and knew that was not him.  The kind, gentle person who loved me no longer could reach out and comfort me.  I heard others tell all their wonderful memories and I knew also that I had loved him as best I knew how but not perfectly.

Lent starts with Ash Wednesday and the realization that our love, if even like Valoentine’s, is flawed by sin, by self centeredness, exhaustion, and all those short comings we seek to overcome as we travel with another.  Some will spend the next 40 days denying themselves something they value to spend more time focusing on what they do value.  For example they might skip a meal to pray.  Others will add a spiritual discipline to enhance their focus on God.  Perhaps they will choose to memorize a new song or a passage of the Bible.  Perhaps they will decide to walk around the block each night focusing on the good of each day.

However you weave together the love of Valentine and the repentance of Ash Wednesday, I pray this Lent will be a time of drawing near to the God who walks with us through the loves of our lives and walks with us when life feels like ashes.  Blessings.

“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1, 5)

Jesus is headed from the Upper Room after he has washed the disciples feet, dismissed Judas Iscariot to betray him and he has instituted Communion.  He now heads to Gethsemane and the cross.  He is preparing them for what they will have to face and he tells his followers that he is the true vine.  That’s the context.

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

I find it interesting that Jesus adds the adjective “true” to describe himself as a vine.  The verses tells us that vines are pruned and the dead branches are cut off.  True vines give life and if the branch is not drawing that life, it dies and is cut off.  We call it pruning.  When we get ourselves entangled in situations that do not give us life, situations that are “false,”  we would be wise to remove ourselves.  I think of dating guys I knew I would never marry.  I think of decisions of leaving a job that was not taking me where I wanted to go.  I can even resonate with a feeling that the place where I was living no longer was the place I should be.

God wants us to be fruitful and full of life, not dead weight clinging to something that no longer gives life.  We remain in the vine by using our spiritual disciplines.  Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and many will eat all the fatty food tonight to prepare for fasting but for others Lent is a time of reflecting on how we “remain with the true vine” even during difficult times when we are facing crosses and during confusing times when we are just not sure how God is leading us.  

May we have eyes to distinguish the true from the false during Lent.  Help us seek that which gives life and discard that which only drains life from us.

Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me'” (John 14:6).

My husband loved maps.  As dementia stole his ability to drive, I took over driving and I assigned him the task of being “#1 Navigator.”  He grew up on paper maps so we always had an Atlas in the car as on furloughs we often traveled around the USA.  He loved to see our progress.  My husband had to adjust to the apps that are more like a micro manager of the trip.  The cell phone speaking to me about where to turn in so many feet always drew a comment about – if the cell phone knows where I am, why do I doubt God knows!

Our context for the sixth “I am” Jesus said to his disciples in the gospel of John comes in chapter 14.  Jesus is walking with his followers from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus is on the way to the cross and knows the trial he is to face.  He tells them to love one another for he is leaving.  Peter is confused and Jesus continues. 

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know  my Father as well.

The context of the “I am” is a conversation about going to heaven, not about going to prosperity or to good health or to popularity.  Belief in Jesus is the parameters for discovering Jesus as the way, the route to eternal life.  When I think of Jesus as “the truth” I realize that there are many ways to get from point A to point B and there are many side roads that are dead ends and detours that make our trip longer and more expensive.  I think that is true about life.  I can remember the time I lost chasing the wrong guy.  I think of the time spent on jobs that prepared me.  God can use all our experiences but there were lessons I learned the hard way, not following truth.  Lastly Jesus says that he is “the life.”  Some journeys are long and boring and others are fun and exciting.  Perhaps Jesus is not “the life of the party” but he definitely brings life to the party of our days.  Blessings as you ponder Jesus being “the way, the truth, and the life” that leads you forward to eternal life.

First Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-12

¹Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

 ⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

 ⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

 ⁹When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” ¹⁰He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” ¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Psalm: Psalm 50:1-6

Out of Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth in glory. (Ps. 50:2)

 ¹The mighty one, God the Lord, has spoken;

  calling the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

 ²Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,

  God shines forth in glory. 

 ³Our God will come and will not keep silence;

  with a consuming flame before, and round about a raging storm.

 ⁴God calls the heavens and the earth from above

  to witness the judgment of the people.

 ⁵“Gather before me my loyal followers,

  those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.”

 ⁶The heavens declare the rightness of God’s cause,

  for it is God who is judge. 

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

³Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Gospel: Mark 9:2-9

²Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” ⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

 ⁹As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

CHILDREN’S SERMON. “Beam me up, Scotty”. I am guessing that many of us recognize this phrase.  Who said it?  It is commonly believed that Captain Kirk said this to his chief engineer, “Scotty” when he wanted to be transported back to the Starship Enterprise after some exciting adventure on an alien planet.  Actually he never said that exact phrase but it has become part of the English slang to indicate the desire to get someplace quickly.  If Scotty could beam you up, where would you want to go?  Share with your neighbor.

Prayer:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be honoring to you, my Redeemer.

SERMON

Today we come to the end of Epiphany.  Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and we will  enter the Church season of Lent when we walk with Jesus to the cross.  Epiphany is always book ended by two major “Aha” moments — Jesus’ baptism opens the season and we hear God, the Father, speak from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  In today’s text the Father speaks again and says,  “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him.”  For a moment today we see the beam of light, the molecules shuffled and we have a glimpse of Jesus as true man and true God.  A mountain top experience marks this transition to a new phase in his ministry.  We call this moment the Transfiguration.

³and his clothes became dazzling white,

 such as no one on earth could bleach them

Transfiguration is not transformation.  We do not see Jesus as something he has not been all along because our eyes have been veiled, our minds have been blinded, as the second reading says.  Captain Kirk while on the Enterprise is The Leader, the captain of the ship.  On the alien planet, he enters as a visitor from outer space and always faces some sort of challenge to communicate with the inhabitants who may or may not eventually acknowledge his true identity. Captain Kirk does not change his essence when he transports from here to there but his identity is not always acknowledged.  In the same way, Jesus has been incarnated here in our reality and his true identity has been becoming more and more clear through the Epiphany Season. The Father calls him “Son” – aha.  He has power over demons – aha.   He can command the environment, disease and death – aha.  Today he transfigures right in front of Peter, James and John, right in front of you and me.  What was that about and what does it mean for our lives?

Today Jesus stands in one of those “thin places” we talk about, one of those places where the eternal and the temporal seem to be able to co-exist.  Jesus’ human essence is magnified.  White is whiter than white.  Elijah and Moses who live in eternity step into temporal time for a minute.  Jesus did not suddenly take on the shape of an angel nor did the two men appear in some unrecognizable form.  Jesus is transformed into a more real expression of himself.  

How is this significant for us today in 21st century reality?  One of the take aways for us is that Jesus, God, is not limited by the rules of our reality.  So often in times of dilemma as we face our crosses, we look for God to be active in ways defined by our reality.  Our text tells us that there are aspects to the character of Jesus that we have yet to experience and that are at his finger tips to deal with our situations.  That gives hope.

  I also feel that it is significant that at a transitional moment when Jesus, true man, is stepping into a huge challenge, the cross, that he draws into the community of the believers through the ages.  The Evil One would have us think that the Bible is an old, out dated document that does not speak to reality today.  I’m sure you have all heard the accusation of being not modern and not progressive.  As Jesus faces his future, he turns to community – Elijah and Moses from the past and Peter, James and John from the present. 

So when you face the next challenge remember that Jesus is more than we can imagine and remember that we need community of wisdom from past elders and fellow believers.

⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses,

 who were talking with Jesus. 

Perhaps like me, you have wondered why those two men?  Why Moses and Elijah?  One explanation is that  Moses who received the law on Mt. Sinai could confirm to Jesus that all people are sinners and are lost without his journey to the cross.  The cross is the only way and resurrection is the goal, not the defeat of Roman domination.  Elijah, always pictured standing on the other side of Jesus, was one of the greatest prophets and he could confirm the prophecy of a coming savior who would be the sacrificial lamb.  Moses and Elijah came alongside Jesus and affirm the path forward.

I don’t remember an episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk is beaming up or down by himself.  He always goes with his faithful friend “Mr. Spock” who is unencumbered with emotions and has mental-lock talents and with his friend “Bones,” the doctor who could whip out his handy-dandy gadget and scan the body of the sick person and know exactly the problem.  Captain KIrk was not alone on his adventures and Jesus is often pictured reaching out to his support community, his disciples, and now we see that the greats from eternity appear as part of his crew.

  Moses was known as “the friend of God.”  “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11).  As. Moses was leading the “stiff necked” Israelites through the wilderness, God expressed frustration and said he would guarantee safe passage but would not go with them.  The people and Moses despair and Moses pleads with God – if you don’t go with us, I don’t want to go.  God relents.  It is in this context that Moses is called “the friend of God.”  That is a wonderful title given Moses. I’m sure God also has a name for Bethany, perhaps, “My church of friends in Indianapolis.”

When I think of Elijah, a major prophet who did major miracles and is often confused with his follower Elisha who did more down to earth miracles, I think of his encounter with the  400 prophets of Baal.  He defeated them when God responded to his prayer and sent fire to burn the sacrifice soaked by water.  But the story continues with Elijah’s flight across the desert to Sinai where he hovers in a cave wanting to speak with God.  God was not in the earthquake, not in the wind, not in the fire but God spoke to Elijah in a “still, small voice,” and passed by protecting Elijah with his hand.  It is a tender moment of intimacy and respect.  Today we see Elijah again in the presence of God in an intimate moment.  

Moses and Elijah supported Jesus as he faced the cross.  Perhaps we need to ponder how we support our friends as they face trials!

Support in our Adventures

I also think that Moses and Elijah appeared because they could encourage Jesus in unique ways. Mr Spock and Bones went with Captain Kirk for a reason.  Of course they were fellow leaders on the Enterprise but Captain Kirk wanted their company.  They added perspective and support to the unfolding events and that helped the captain.  

   Both Moses and Elijah knew what it was like to stand alone on a mountain battling Evil.  They stood between their people and Evil.  Moses stood at the Red Sea and had to step forward in faith and put his rod in the water for it to part.  Elijah stood alone on Mt Carmel and prayed for the fire of God to eat the sacrificed bull with 12 barrels of water poured on it.  The followers of both men were silent.  Both men carried responsibility and could encourage Jesus as he walked to the cross.  Both men followed God’s plan and God was faithful – but it was scary.

      Jesus faced a death people would not understand.   Both men also had deaths cloaked in mystery.  Moses walked up to Mt. Nebo with God and died with God holding his hand and no one knows where Moses’ grave is.  Likewise we read about Elijah’s death, more accurately his being swept up to heaven in a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire. Both were very mysterious deaths but both men could testify again of God’s faithfulness and participation in the death of his servants.

Moses and Elijah had to leave behind a ministry with followers that were flakey at their best.  Moses would turn over to Joshua and Elijah would turn over to Elisha but the story was still unfolding and a new chapter of life would begin without their presence.  We look at our upcoming grandchildren and fall on our knees.  Jesus would turn over to disciples who would deny and betray him.  Supporters help us walk through those very discouraging or doubtful aspects of our journeys.

Perhaps the challenge of support is not telling the other how to act but being a presence who can draw lines of similarity and share encouragement of God’s presence as we walk through our trials.  As we visit with someone who loves us and has faced similar challenges, our courage is built to move forward. 

We know Jesus as true God knew truth but I believe being true man he also needed the reassurance of the companionship of Moses and Elijah.  We know Biblical truth but we need the company of believers encouraging us.  Our text encourages us today to be there for each other and to let them know we have their backs or at least stand by their side.  

 “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  

The way forward is not to build churches to this or that great hero as Peter suggests.  God speaks into the disciples confusion as they try to process the “aha” experience.  God says, “listen.”  As we come to our trials, Transfiguration reminds us our God is more than we can imagine, we need each other, and  the way forward is to listen to the living Word. 

      Epiphany is about understanding who our God is as revealed in the person of Jesus.  We started with baptism and the voice in the cloud saying, “This is my son with whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove.  At the Transfiguration, the veil is taken away for a moment and we see that the Jesus who has taken on humanity is the light of the world.  He’s the captain of our ship.  Jesus cast out the unclean spirit that would cripple the man in the synagogue.  He has power over the evil in our lives.  Jesus gently extended his hand to Peter’s mother-in-law, put his arm around her and lifted her up and the fever left so she could serve him. He gently lifts us up and enables us to do his will.  Jesus healed many who came to him for help.  This is only the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. 

Mark reveals Jesus as true God and true man.  This Jesus was not satisfied just with healing us physically but came to spread the good news of the coming of the kingdom, eternal presence with him, under his rule.  Now Jesus turns his face to Jerusalem.  Let us journey through Lent with him.  Ash Wednesday we will place ashes on our foreheads.  AHA!  Beam us up, Lord, we are ready to listen.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN.”

This week we pondered Jesus saying to Martha as they stood before the grave of her brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  I stand in the shadow of the death of my husband.  You may stand in the shadow of the death of one of your dreams.  The resurrection is something we believe and perhaps I have not done a good job of explaining.  It is not like the phoenix in Harry Potter that rises from the ashes as an “ugly chick” to grow and die again in an eternal cycle thus symbolizing eternity.  Resurrection is not like reincarnation where our life essence comes back in a higher of lower being depending on our good deeds.  We do not even believe that resurrection is a stepping into a future based on how good we were in this life.  We pondered Lazarus.2, a beggar who goes to the bosom of Abraham and stands whole, not a slave, in fellowship with the greats, unashamed.

  Ultimately resurrection is a mystery we believe.  Jesus appeared to his disciples and told Thomas to touch the nail prints, put his hand in Jesus’ side and Jesus ate fish with them.  We choose to believe.  So the song I want to focus on today is “Amazing Grace.”  Resurrection is amazing grace for a sinner like me! I don’t deserve it but in Christ, I find forgiveness and a future. 

So many artists have recreated this John Newton song.  Newton was a slave seller who found faith in Christ and his life change, in a way resurrected.  My all time favorite version is by Neil Diamond, “Pretty Amazing Grace,” the first link.  I love the way the Pentatonix sing it in a more modern presentation, the second link.  Blessings on your day.

 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’  (Luke 16:22-26)

We started this week watching Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary.  Lazarus had died four days earlier and been buried.  Jesus tells the sisters, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  Jesus goes to the tomb and cries, “Lazarus, come forth.”  Lazarus lives.  Resurrection is a transition to a new reality we face at death, not a transformation into another type of being.  Somehow similarly to the phoenix of Harry Potter, at death our ashes resurrect to eternal life – not over and over having to grow from an ugly chick to a bird but to eternal life as a child of Christ.  We don’t exactly know what that means but there is no indication that it is a repeated life cycle but a transition to a new reality.

We don’t have Biblical stories telling us much about eternity but we do have the story Jesus told about another Lazarus who was a poor man begging at the gate of a rich man.  Both died.  The rich man went to hades for whatever reason is not disclosed.  Lazarus is envisioned standing at Abraham’s side.  Jesus had not died for sin yet so the gates of heaven were not open but the righteous dead are understood to be standing with Abraham in Paradise.  The rich man is pictured suffering and asking Abraham to send Lazarus to his assistance.  Both men are alive and recognizable as themselves.  Jesus was recognizable after his resurrection.  They are resurrected or alive, not living in a higher or lower life form as a reward for their deeds.

Abraham speaks.  Lazarus is no longer a begger to be sent to help the rich man.  His eternal life, his resurrected existence is one without pain, with respect, standing with the heroes of the faith.  I find that encouraging as we think about resurrection.  Resurrection is not cyclical like a phoenix nor reincarnation in some eternal cycle of life but it is God bringing us into a rewarding life in community.  Thank you for that glimpse, Lord.  Blessings as you stand with loved ones dying, knowing that there will be a resurrection and reunion in the future.  A wonderful promise and something to look forward to as we grieve the separation.

Today was a teary day and my friend encouraged me.  We talked about Jesus saying that he IS the resurrection and the life after his friend Martha cried, “If you had been here my brother would not have died.”  She knew her brother would rise at the last day, at the resurrection, but she had not tied that to Jesus who is the resurrection.  My friend asked, “How did Martha know?”  Biblegateway.com does not reference “resurrection” being mentioned in the Old Testament.  I jokingly responded that there must have been two trains of religious thought because there were Sadducees (religious scholars who were sad-you-see because they did not believe in the resurrection, in after life) and Pharisees who did believe that God was the God of Abraham, Issac  and Jacob who were alive in “the bosom of Abraham.”  My friend referred me to Matthew West’s song, “Wonderful  Life.”

  It’s a ballad about a man who has ALS who embraces the highs and lows of life but he confesses that even though this life is hard, this life is not all there is.  There is resurrection where he’ll be listening to the ballad being sung by his friend.

  Resurrection is a reality of a life after death that we look forward to but it is also a reality that breaths hope into today.  The song encouraged me and I pray it will encourage you.  Blessings.

True confessions.  My alarm goes off at about 6:30 am and the challenge of the day begins.  After 47.5 years of marriage, after I had always shared a bedroom with my sister or college friends or work buddies, I now must recreate myself in this new phase of life called widowhood.  Life is just not the same after….   You can fill in your blank.  It may be a disfiguring accident, a new job, an empty marriage, a move or whatever challenge you are facing.  What helps us face the day and live into our future?

I think something that helps me face into today is hidden in the promise of “resurrection” that Jesus promises when he says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” in John 11:25.  When faced with the death of a dream, I find it challenging to face forward and not just wallow in sorrow.  Mornings offer a new day.  I may still need to mop up my messes from yesterday and I may still have to live into the reality of widowhood but the sunrise symbolizes resurrection and hope of new life for me.

Each morning I look out my bedroom window to see if the sunrise is breaking.  Each day it is different depending on the weather.  I confess I always hope it will be one of those spectacular orange and purple sunrises that appears and gradually lightens to the new day.  Each sunrise is different and each day is different and offers the hope of resurrection.  Sometimes it is foggy and I cannot see the road in front of my cottage not to mention that I cannot see the lake on the other side of the road.  Life is like that.

Resurrection is the promise that life does go on even when death feels so real.  Jesus conquered death.  Death does not have the final word.  The sunrise speaks to the potential of the day with all its different colors and shades.

  Perhaps the sunrise does not symbolize resurrection to you. Perhaps you would prefer to think of the bud of a flower, or the smile of a baby, or the opening of your email with the hope of a note from a loved one.  Let’s think today what might be your “sunrise” moment that reminds you that Jesus is the resurrection from the deaths of yesterday and the hope of life for today.  When you experience your prompt, whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for the promise of resurrection and life found in Jesus.   Blessings.

Christians talk about Jesus saying that he, Jesus, is the “resurrection and the life.”  

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25)

 We might notice the eyes of youth, perhaps our children or grandchildren, roll and that glazed look begin to appear.  But if you ask them about the fifth book of Harry Potter and the movie it generated, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” you might generate an animated conversation.

Dumbledor, the head magician at Hogwarts the school to train magicians, had a pet Phoenix, Fawkes, that was loyal to him.  Professor Dumbledore has an actual phoenix, Fawkes, who swallows an Avada Kedavra meant for Harry, dies, and returns as a “tiny, ugly, featherless” (37.20) chick at the end of Book 5.  The tears of the Phoenix were the only thing that could fight the bite  of the Basiliks, that giant snake.  Dumbledor’s phoenix was loyal to him because Dumbledore family had the most magic.

 The phoenix came out of Greek and Egyptian mythology and was an magical bird that would age, die going up in flames but then out of the ashes a chick would appear and grow, thus eternal life cycle.  The phoenix was a symbol of immortality, resurrection and life after death.  It may have arisen out of ponderings about the sun and how it rises daily, crosses the sky, disappears and then comes the next morning.  It was thought that the bird lives in Arabia near a cool well.

It is tempting to see Jesus as another “super hero” or the phoenix of his day.  Jesus does not die once in for one person like Harry Potter who deserves to be saved but he offers life to those who are already dead as sinners and do not deserve more life. Jesus does not repeatedly die but dies once for all who believe, who have a living relationship with him.

The phoenix is a starting point for bringing eternal truth to reality in our lives today.  So perhaps our question today is to ponder how the resurrection is a reality today in our lives and not just a promise about eternity.  Perhaps we might even pray for an opportunity to share this with someone who finds inspiration in the Harry Potter series!  Blessings.