Easter Monday- Luke 24:35

"Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread." Luke 24:35

It's Easter Monday.  Pastors, musicians, worship leaders, church administrators, altar guild members, church fellowship committees, and everyone else who made the Holy Week and Easter services possible, breathe a sigh of relief.  It's all wonderful, to be sure, but it takes a great effort on the part of so many to make it all possible. And now life continues on.  In the church, Easter is not a single day.  Rather it is a season of 50 days, leading up to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  In today's Bible verse, when the risen Jesus  appears to two disciples in Emmaus, the food imagery we have seen throughout Lent returns.  Christ is made known to them "in the breaking of the bread."  It is appropriate that we end these devotions with this resurrection appearance and the breaking of the bread.  For the past 7 weeks our thoughts have been on hunger in the world and how we might respond.  It's not an easy topic to think about, but it is important to do so. Thank you for participating.  I hope you have found these devotions, and my personal reflections, helpful. As Jesus made himself known to the disciples in "the breaking of the bread," may he do so for us.  And as we are fed, may we do all we can so that all the world may be fed as well.  God's blessings as you live in the hope of the resurrection each day throughout the upcoming year!

Easter Sunday- Luke 24:1-12

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in, they did not find the body. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ⁵ The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Luke 24:1-5

Sing out the alleluias!  Our long Lenten journey has come to an end!  Today we proclaim and celebrate the good news that death could not defeat the Son of God.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Sometimes, however, as Bishop Eaton suggests, we who are on this side of the resurrection may get so comfortable with the idea that we miss the original reactions on that first resurrection morning.  In the Luke account listed above, the women are at first perplexed.  There is mystery about what has taken place.  Then we read that they were terrified when in the presence of the two angelic beings.  If we read on, there is remembrance by the women, as they are told to remember what Jesus had said about his death and resurrection.  We see unbelief, as the disciples did not believe what the women told them, considering it an "idle tale."  But Peter does go and sees for himself the empty tomb, and then there is amazement.  As you celebrate Easter today, take time to recall that first resurrection morning, when all that we are familiar with was brand new.  As Bishop Eaton writes, "Before Easter, we stood in a place of sin and death.  After Easter, we stand in a place of forgiveness and life.  Everything has changed.  We are not the same; the world is not the same....This new reality of forgiveness, life and salvation is and should be unsettling; terror and amazement indeed."  

40th day of Lent- Holy Saturday- Psalm 3:7

"Rise up, O Lord!
    Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked." Psalm 3:7

Day 40 of Lent is called Holy Saturday, the day between the cross and resurrection where Jesus lies in the tomb.  It is during this time that Jesus "descended to the dead" as referred to in the Apostle's Creed and alluded to in a  few scriptures such as 1 Peter 3:19-20.  Interpretations vary as to just what this means, including the idea that Jesus preached to the righteous who had died, but who had not yet been taken to heaven.  Others suggest the words mean that Jesus truly died, went to the place of the dead as do all people, to show that in the resurrection he truly overcame death.  So, it is a day of mystery to some extent, but is the day we remember the body of Jesus in the tomb.

The selected Psalm anticipates the resurrection with the words "Rise up!" Today's devotion by Dave Scherer hears the verse first of all as a plea to God to "rise up" and do something about the lack of water in Haiti, forcing families to decide if they will send their children  to collect water, or send them to school.  That's not a fair choice.  "Rise up, God.  Do something!"  But then he writes, "I then realized that God was telling me to do the same thing."  God gives the Holy Spirit to all believers, and God uses us to "rise up" "to bring peace and wholeness to the planet."  Hopefully these devotions over the 40 days of Lent have given us all greater insight into hunger and poverty in the world, and provided inspiration for us to "rise up" and do what we can.  Two more devotions remain, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, as the season of Lent concludes and we celebrate that God, in Christ, does "rise up" in victory over sin and death.  

39th day of Lent- Good Friday John 19:28; Revelation 21:6

 ^"After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”John 19:28

 "Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life."

Today we remember the death of Jesus on the cross.  As we stand on this side of the resurrection, we now believe this was more than just the death of a rebel challenging the authority of the Roman occupiers and the Jewish leaders they had set in place.  On the cross, Jesus was saving all of humankind.  It was our sins that placed him there, and for our sins he died.  As he died on the cross he said, "I thirst."  There was the anguish of human thirst, as well as the anguish of spiritual thirst, as he thirsted for God in this horrible time.  Bishop Mark Hanson in today's devotion hears in the cry of Jesus "the cries of those who today are parched from their search for accessible, clean, free water so necessary for life."  In Revelation there is the resurrection promise "To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life."  How do we make this promise come true?  By practicing "living out today God's promised future."  We don't wait for God's final act.  We act today "through generous giving, sustainable living, advocacy and accompanying global companions to work for a world in which no one thirsts."  Today we contemplate the cross.  Let us pray for and remember all who thirst, and then work towards a future where all have access to water as a gift.

 

38th day of Lent- Maundy Thursday- Luke 22:19

Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

It's no secret that we live in a troubled world.  This year's Holy Week was disrupted by yet another attack of terrorism, this time in Brussels, Belgium.  The grim statistics are all too familiar.  30 dead, 250 injured, innocent people who should not have died or been injured on Tuesday.  Today's devotion speaks about another of the world's ills, discrimination and violence against women.  This can take the form of sexual assault, domestic violence, and lack of leadership opportunities for women.  The author, seminary student Jessie Obrecht, writes of attending a conference on this topic and feeling hungry- "Hungry for justice.  Hungry for a word of hope in this world that can sometime seem so very grim."  I think we all hunger in that way.  

Today is Maundy Thursday.  We remember the Last Supper and Jesus taking bread and wine saying, "This is my body given for you.  This is my blood, shed for you."  As Jessie points out while receiving communion at the conference, "This prayer and breaking of bread did not solve all the ills of the world in the blink of an eye."  If only it were so easy.  But what the meal did do was "fed the weary souls gathered that evening and reminded us that we have an incredible God who has sent Jesus Christ as constant nourishment and strength for us along this journey."  And so it is.  Today we offer prayers for those that died in Brussels, those who were injured, the medical personnel caring for the wounded, law enforcement who seek to keep us safe, and prayers for peace.  We have opportunity to receive Christ in bread and wine.  Through this gift we receive renewed strength for the day.  We do not give in to despair.  With the presence of Christ we continue to proclaim through word and deed the good news of God's love, which our world so desperately needs. 

37th day of Lent- John 13:1

"Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."
 John 13:1

The above verse introduces John's Last Supper.  It occurs shortly before Jesus is arrested and crucified.  During the supper, Jesus takes off his outer robe and washes his disciple's feet.  Today's devotion by the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla focuses on the love of Jesus for his disciples. "He loved them to the end."  The example he gives is a mother and teenage daughter, both of whom have AIDS.  When  Sister Judith asked the mother if she wanted a prayer, the mother replied, "Yes, but I want you to pray that my daughter will die first, because then, I would have cared for her to the end."  Those are powerful words.  It's a mother's love for her child, that she can be there to care for her through the end of her life.  Jesus loved the world to the end of his life.  His death on the cross is another example of self-giving love.  He is willing to die for the world's sins.  But more than that, because God raised Jesus from the dead, we believe God loves us to the end of our lives as well. And when that day comes, God takes us into His love for all eternity.   There is never a time in our lives we are not loved by God, through Jesus Christ.  Perhaps you have days when you wonder if God is present and you are loved.  Today's devotion and Bible passage are words of assurance and hope.  "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."  

36th day of Lent- John 12:8

^" You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” John 12:8

As we've seen, there are various ways to interpret Mary's act of pouring the expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus.  Judas thought it was a waste.  The perfume could have been sold, and the money given to the poor.  But Jesus does not say that or rebuke Mary.  Jesus identified with the poor and was himself dependent upon others for his means of support.  He was an advocate for justice for the poor and the outcast.  Mary's anointing the feet of Jesus was symbolic of giving generously to those in need.  When we  give from our resources to assist those in need, we follow the example of Mary in giving to Jesus.  The Rev. Dr. Patricia Cuyatti writes, "Tending to the poor, who generally go hungry and are deprived of education, health care, jobs and more is a way of spreading the oil on the feet of Jesus."  In addition to reading the World Hunger devotions and offering Wednesday study opportunities, our congregation set a goal of raising $2500 for the ELCA World Hunger program.  I just learned that we have already far surpassed that goal,  having raised $3712.24, with the appeal continuing through Easter Sunday.  Why do people give so generously to this program?  As Dr. Cuyatti writes, "It is in faith that many men and women are moved to share with generosity, surely in the hopes that those actions can help restore the dignity of people that suffer from hunger."  Thank you for spreading the oil on the feet of Jesus in our day and age!