Our Father in Heaven

Memorization can be a good thing because when we memorize something it becomes natural and engrained in who we are. We can do it without thinking because it’s so much a part of who we are. It can be like tying our shoes, or riding a bike, or even driving a car. Remember back to when you learned to drive a car. When you first started driving you focused on every detail…every little thing you do has to be thought about. But once we have enough practice, we don’t have to focus on all the details. We can just drive and it becomes more relaxed, simpler. Right?

It can be like that with our faith life too, including this prayer. At first it can be awkward we have to focus on all the details and the exact words. It can be cumbersome and difficult because we have to focus so hard. But once we memorize the prayers and train our mental muscles, we can pray the prayer without thinking. It becomes easy and natural, second nature to us.

All of those are good things. The trouble comes when it is so natural that we never think about it. Think back to the driving analogy…have you ever been driving for awhile, or on the same roads you always drive that you can’t even remember driving a certain section of road or how you got from A to B? Your driving became so natural that you have no recollection of the details? It can be scary to realize that you have no idea where you just drove or what you saw…being an auto pilot is simpler, but not always safer…we need to be aware when we drive, right?

Well, we also need to be aware when we pray. We need to be intentional about talking with God. When our prayers are automatic, we risk losing sight of what we are actually praying. We can lose intentionality, focus, and meaning.

So, this month, we are focusing on the Lord’s prayer. We are going to go one line at a time to try and refocus on the words Christ taught us pray. My hope is that we will snap back to attention when we offer this pray, even when it is easy and natural, that we would still invest ourselves in speaking and meaning the words of this prayer.

Today’s line is: “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.”

The first word of this prayer reminds us of our communal life…Our. It’s not “my”. Simply by choosing “Our” we are reminded that we are called to be a part of community. We are able to have an individual faith, but we are always called to the collective life together. Does anyone remember why?

• Accountability
• Support
• Only way we can truly grow in love (we aren’t stretched to love or be patient or forgive if it’s just us)

The second word is “Father”—sort of obvious in the sense of a parent, a giver of life. But in the cultural sense of Jesus’ day, the father was the tradesman and the sons would learn that same trade. In essence, they were to grow up and do their father’s work. So, when we call God father, we don’t just think of a giver of life, but we also should see a role model who should be mimicked. In essence, we should grow up to do God’s trade, to do God’s work.

· Forgiveness

· Inclusion

· Justice

· Mercy

· Compassion

The last part of that line is: “who art in heaven”—this underscores where God is, and that God is distinctive from us. We dwell on earth, but God dwells in heaven. But heaven in this sense is both the ethereal heaven, and it is defined in the Greek as the gospel. In other words, God dwells in the good news…Gospel meaning Good news…the good news of forgiveness and redemption. God is present wherever there is Gospel. And in that sense, God is with us. God has a place in the heavens, a dwelling place distinctive from our own, but God also has a place in the midst of us….wherever there is Gospel…life, and truth, and compassionate community, God is there.

The next line begins “Hallowed”…which means to make holy, to purify, or to consecrate. When I looked up the Greek I was a bit surprised…I guess I have always heard “hallowed be thy name” as a statement meaning “your name is holy”, but in the way Hallowed is defined in the greek, it’s more like, “may your name be made holy” “may it be sanctified”. I don’t know if you hear a difference there, but what I hear is that we have desecrated the name of God and it needs to be redeemed. It reminds me of the third commandment, “thou shalt not take the lord’s name in vain”—that isn’t just a caution not to curse, that is a reminder that God’s name is powerful, and that that power should not be taken lightly. Like we shouldn’t shout “fire” in a crowded theatre, we should not call upon God’s name in frivolous or meaningless ways. So, when we pray “may your name be made holy”, I hear a reminder to us to honor who God is and to use God’s name with meaning, significance, and impact rather than in idle chatter.

In addition to simply understanding the meaning of the words, we also need to look at the bigger picture of this prayer. To start “Our Father in Heaven” helps establish a relationship between us and God. (*I feel like a need to do a side note here. We often use father language for God. And for many, that is difficult and challenging for their relationship with God. Not all of us have a healthy or good relationship with our Fathers. Some of us have been abused by our fathers, and so to call God father only reminds us of bitterness and hurt and for some, that may mean we want no part of a relationship with that kind of God. Which is understandable. I wish none of us had that kind of obstacle in any of our relationships, particularly our relationship with our father. But I also want to say, that even bearing that in mind, we need to be aware that “father” in this sense is meant to be positive. It is meant to reflect a loving and nurturing relationship, where we learn good habits and practices of love. So, if saying father is a barrier for you, think of a relationship that does signify love and care and a good model for you…whether that is mother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, best friend…and try and understand God in that way. It’s not about the word here, it’s about the relationship.

Together as the body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

When we live by the world’s standards, we constantly kow-tow to what is fashionable and popular. Anybody where poodle skirts? Bell bottoms? A bob? A beehive? Scrunchies? High tops? Leg warmers? Saddle shoes? Fashion is flippant. It’s always changing. And it’s often unforgiving. If you aren’t “in style” everyone knows it. And when we follow the trends, we are basing our actions on those of the masses. Our everyday choices are based on the whim of a designer, an athlete, a movie-star, or a model.

But when we choose to enter the world of faith—to follow Christ and to do God’s will, we begin to live by different standards. Rather than flippant trends, we seek I AM—the God of constant grace, of the past, present and future. The God who has our best interest in mind. The God who calls us beyond trends and popularity and into passionate living that fulfills our deepest longings and satiates the needs of the world.

When we live by God’s standards, we don’t change with every passing trend. Instead, our life’s path is determined by God, and when we live by God, we live as we were intended to be.

And God does that in abundant and marvelous ways. As Paul indicates here, gifts are distributed everywhere to all types of people. They are not limited to a select few.

One of the things I appreciate about being a United Methodist is our emphasis on lay leadership. For those that aren’t familiar with church lingo—lay people, or “the laity”, are all of you. Clergy are pastors ordained to ministry and laity are the people of the church. So to say Methodism emphasizes lay leadership means we believe you all are just as gifted, if not more so, to lead and minister for and with the church. Sometimes, with the pastor always in front, it’s easy to focus all our attention on the pastor and her gifts. But the pastor, by herself, is not the church, we are all the church together and we need each person’s gifts in order to be fruitful and grow in ministry.

Christianity has some ugly scars from its past: the bloody Crusades, the endorsement of slavery, racial segregation, the degradation of women, and imperialism. Imperialism is probably the most unfamiliar concept to most of us. It is often associated with missionary activity and bringing Christianity to new areas of the world. By crass definition it’s “we know more than you do, so we’re gonna lead and you’re gonna follow.” It’s an arrogant approach that places on group as superior to the other and often subjugates the other no matter what the cost. Imperialism negates the truth of this passage. Or maybe Paul had seen the early inclination toward such behavior and was responding to it. Paul reminds us that God works everywhere distributing gifts equally, sharing with all persons. We may make distinctions based on color, gender, age, nationality, language, class, or education, but God does not. God loves equally and gifts equally. In all places to all peoples.

We can’t live in the mindset of imperialism. If we do, we lose out. If we think we are the only ones with a message to share, a gift to use, then we will miss all the riches that God has gifted people of other nations, races and traditions. There are a wealth of gifts, throughout the world and we can’t concern ourselves with unnecessary debates over whose gifts are better or more important, they are all essential. Instead, we need to seek out the gifts of each person and empower them to use those gifts.

God gives a variety of gifts. Paul names a few here, but there are even more listed other places in Scripture. There are at least 31 spiritual gifts! 31!! That’s a lot of gifts! So we shouldn’t look for just one or two gifts in particular. We have to look for a variety of gifts--gifts that strengthen the body of Christ in worship, and in study, and in mission, and in administration, and in hospitality, in caring and healing. There are gifts to build up every part of the body. Our job is to seek them out, strengthen them, and use them. In the coming weeks, we will take a deeper look at some of the gifts so that we might better understand them.

For today, I want us to focus on the fact that each of the gifts comes from the same Spirit, the same God. And no matter which ministry that gift is used for, the ministry too is of the same God, through the same Spirit. In other words, there’s not a hierarchy. It’s not a competition for gifts. There’s no standard that healing is better than administration, or wisdom better than faith. Each gift is important and necessary. And each gift comes from God.

Today is the day we celebrate communion. We celebrate a common meal shared between Jesus and his disciples. It’s a meal of unity. It is a meal of reconciliation. It is a meal shared around the world in a way that connects us with people from all over…from Russia, from China, from South Africa, from Cuba, from France, from Israel, when we share this common meal, we are reminded of our unity. One spirit, one Lord, one world, one God. We all share together. We are one in the body of Christ. We are equally sinners. Equally forgiven. Equally gifted to go out and do the ministry of the church.

Today, as we celebrate this Holy Meal, we are reminded of Christ’s sacrifice…a sacrifice of love and humility that is meant to unite the world. And as we begin this month focused on spiritual gifts, we see that though our gifts are varied, we are still united by the Spirit of God. The spirit is our foundation, the fount of our blessings. We must stay grounded in Christ, focused on God, connected by the Spirit, so we can be strengthened in ministry to all the world.

Jesus is Lord

Last week we read the great commission “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.” We talked about the false notions we have about these words and phrases and tried to instill a deeper knowledge of the real meaning. We saw how Christ’s Lordship was one of choice, one where the Lord wasn’t dominating and controlling, but humble and giving. With Christ, we have a choice. We are not subjugated to his role as we would be to a dictator or tyrant. Instead we are invited to share in his kingdom, to be a part of his community. We like that choice. We like knowing we have some power, some say so, that we aren’t just forced to comply with the whim of the Lord.

We also learned more about what it means to be a disciple. We saw that it is like being an apprentice, that we learn from the master and that in order to become like the master, we must follow the master’s instructions…even when it seems repetitious or ridiculous. For it is only by emulating the master that we will become experts ourselves in their ways and practices.
Emulating the master is a choice we make. We are not forced to do what the master does. Instead we are invited to follow and to live like he lived. It may seem basic, or overly simple, but the reality is we have to make the choice. Jesus is a gracious Lord who offers us the choice, and we have to make that decision. We have to choose Jesus as Lord, which isn’t simply an affirmation of who he is, but it is a submission of our will to his, it is to follow him even when we do not want to go, it means mimicking his actions so that we might become more like the master. Choosing Jesus as Lord is something we must do over and over and over again.

To choose Jesus as Lord is not simply to affirm him, but it is to submit ourselves to him, it is to become his apprentice and try and learn all that he has to teach. It is to imitate his practices until we have the same expertise. Becoming great doesn’t happen just by osmosis—it comes from practice—long hours of practice, day after day, year after year.

I will never be as gifted on the piano as Inah if I don’t practice—no matter how much I listen to her or sit by her side, her skills will not become mine. Her mastery will not be my own unless I take time to practice each and every day.

The same is true for following Christ. Listening to his words and knowing his message don’t make us Christ-like. Practicing Christ’s behaviors, his teachings, and emulating his example is what makes us Christ-like. It is in the doing, not simply the believing, that we grow in our discipleship and are transformed into the person God would have us be.

Being a disciple means taking the master’s guidance even when we don’t want to or don’t understand. Jesus tells us to forgive and most of us go “ok. I can forgive.” And then we get hurt again and we think, “Hey, I forgave you! You weren’t supposed to are that again! Jerk!” And then the master says, “Forgive again.” “Again?! No way. I did that once…look where it got me!” And the master insists…again. So we begrudgingly forgive again. And then we get hurt a third time and we think, “See, I knew I shouldn’t have forgiven again! He’s never going to change! I don’t know why you thought it would make him any different.” And the master kindly tells us to forgive again.

• “yeah right!”
• Yes, I am right. Forgive again.
• But it didn’t change him. Why would I do it again?
• Because forgiveness will change you. If you want to be like me, if you want to be great, you must forgive again.
• And just how many times are we going to do this?
• Until you perfect it. Until it becomes so natural that you don’t even have to think about it.

And sometimes, the practice hardly seems worth it. We don’t want to forgive. We don’t want to love our enemies. We don’t want to be stretched and transformed anymore. Which is why we can’t focus on the strain of the action itself, but must stay focused on the goal: to be like Christ.

In 1984, Karate Kid hit the theaters. In it Mr. Miyagi teaches a promising young man the art of karate. Daniel is already trained in martial arts, but it’s a violent, dangerous form and Mr. Miyagi wants to train Daniel in a better way. Daniel agrees, only to spend his first day waxing Mr. Miyagi’s car. Wax on. Wax off. Wax on. Wax off. Daniel is resistant to the chore, but still continues with the practice, hoping the next day he will be able to do karate. The next day he returns, only to be told he will have to paint the fence. Up down. Up down. Up down. Daniel is frustrated, tired, and sore, and still waiting for his chance to do karate. The third day he returns, ready for action, and Mr. Miyagi instead assigns him the task of sanding the deck. Sand the deck. Sand the deck. Sand the deck. Daniel is furious that all he is doing is Mr. Miyagi’s bidding…his chores, but he is doing no karate. Daniel almost leaves, but instead spends another long day working in the sun. Daniel is frustrated and sees himself as nowhere closer to his goal of being a karate great. Mr. Miyagi sees it differently, he knows that Daniel wasn’t learning to wax the car, or paint the fence, or sand the deck, he was training his muscles to respond and react in the motions of Karate.

Daniel learned the skills he would need to make him great, through days of repetition. He trusted the master even when the task seemed ridiculous and exhausting. Only through the repetition of the action the master instructed was Daniel able to perfect the real art of karate.

What was true for Daniel is also true for us. We will become expert disciples, true imitators of the master, not by sitting and listening to the message, or even by believing the greatness of the master. We will only become expert disciples through action. Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord is less about our words and more about our actions. Claiming Christ as Lord is not just an affirmation of who he is, but it is following him and doing his will in every area of our lives. We must repeat the simple tasks he gives us, over and over and over again, so that they become engrained in our muscles and a natural reaction to the world.

Claiming Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is a choice we make, one we are graciously offered by a humble Lord. And when we make that claim, we make it not just with our words, but with our actions. The only thing that will make us more Christ-like is repeated imitation of the master. We make Jesus our Lord not with celebration and words of affirmation. We make Jesus our Lord by submitting to his instruction and by living out his commands. My prayer this day is that our lives would be a reflection of who Christ is, that we would persevere through the tasks that seem mundane and unrelated, and come to be truly expert disciples, perfected in the ways of the Lord.

The Obligation of Power

The book of Esther is one of my favorites from the Bible.  I love Esther’s courage and Mordecai’s will and determination that do not let her back down.  I don’t know how many of you know the story well, so I will go over some of the details that were not read this morning.  King Xerxes is the king in power, and the Jews have recently returned to the land out of exile. Many are back in Jerusalem, but the city itself is in shambles….there is not much protection, and being new in town and the regular under-dog, the Jews were often persecuted.  Just before this chapter, the king’s assistant, Haman, who hates the Jews, devises a plan for them to be killed.  He has the king sign an official decree, which by law, cannot be overturned.  This is when Mordecai comes to the King’s gate to urge Esther to speak out and get involved.  As we hear in the story, Esther is reluctant.  She had not been invited to see the king in a month and could be killed for entering his court without permission.  Much like Moses, her excuses are to no avail.  Mordecai pushes back and urges her that she must go speak out.  That even though she lives in the palace, as a Jew, she will not be spared.  She has a responsibility to do something to save the Jews. 

Like the last two call stories we have heard, Esther is asked to take on the impossible.  She is asked to risk death and save thousands upon thousands of people.  Her task is not easy and will require a lot of her. 

Have I mentioned God calls us to the impossible?  That God places before us huge obstacles and challenges?  What we are called to do is not easy, but it is necessary.  While the call before us is challenging and risky, it’s not the risk that tugs on our heart strings….it’s the need.  I don’t think anyone signs up specifically for the job where they could die…not at first anyway.  At first you sign up to help people, to save lives, to feed children, and protect victims of violence.  We sign up to fight an injustice, or change circumstances, and find out later that the risk is much larger than we expected. 

This last week I was talking with some women about being prophetic—about speaking truth to power and challenging the problems in our world and we talked about how hard it is.  And then from there talked about how hard it is to continue to grow in our discipleship, to always be helping someone new, going beyond ourselves for the sake of someone else—often people we have never met or will never see again, but we keep helping and doing because it is what we are called to do.  Most of us admitted that if we had known what would be required of us as Christians—all that we would be asked to sacrifice, the challenges we would face, we probably wouldn’t have signed up.  But we didn’t face the challenges first.  First we saw and felt the overwhelming love of God.  First we were compelled by the needs of others, and then we decided we would do whatever was necessary to help. 

 The need is real and the circumstances are urgent.  People need potable water.  People need basic health care.  People need to sleep at night and not to hear gun shots or bombs.  People need education.  People need to know they are valued and precious—not just in God’s eyes but in our eyes.  Remember God uses us to reach us—and when we live that love, we share God. 

As Christian, we learn we do not just live for ourselves—we are not independent free agents.  Instead, we are connected to each other. God has created us to be inter-dependent—we are to rely on one another—ask for help and offer assistance.  Our livelihood and well-being are inherently connected to that of our neighbor.  As the scriptures say in 1 Corinthians…when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers.  If one sister in Christ suffers—so do each of us.  If one brother suffers, so do all others.  We may not always feel the physical pain, but our livelihood suffers when they cannot do or create or live as God intended them to.

Living in a privileged society, it can be easy to feel comfortable, to settle into a place of privilege.  For us, water flows freely and clean.  Food is easily accessible.  Hearing gunfire is the exception rather than the rule.  Education is public, free, and mandatory rather than a privilege maintained for the elite of society.  We enjoy so much privilege it has become everyday to us—so normal that we take it for granted and often forget that millions around the world do not and will never enjoy such “everyday” luxury.

Celebrating Pentecost reminds us that we are a global church and that God is the God of all nations.  That Christ died for everyone and loves us all equally.  We are reminded that in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free—that in Christ there is no hierarchy—that we shouldn’t find distinctions of class between Christians, that there shouldn’t be separation based on race in our churches.  As we hear other languages spoken, we are reminded of the other faithful disciples who have gathered to pray and praise and worship God this morning.

And as we see Esther, the woman with power risking even unto death for the welfare of a people we are reminded of the call to risk for those same brothers and sisters around the world so that they don’t have to worship in secret, so that they have clean water to drink, and food enough to fill their bellies. 

 

 

When we have great privilege or power, we also have an obligation—a responsibility to do something with it.  We are called to help others, to fight for their rights, to speak out against injustice.  We have an obligation to make a difference—to use our power—individually and collectively to do something to save God’s people. 

The call is not easy.  It is risky and challenging.  But we are not compelled by the risk, we are compelled by the need—the individual lives that are crying out for comfort, mercy, and safety.  We are much like Esther, we enjoy a position of power and could rest well in our palace of everyday luxuries, while others suffer, but we are called to help.  We are called to speak out, to make a difference.  And we cannot be so vain as to think that we will be unaffected by the persecution that happens to our brothers and sisters.  If they suffer, so do we, and we need to be faithful to the call and make a change in our world. 

 

 

The Road to Emmaus

For almost a month now, we have been looking at Easter texts. First, we heard Mark’s account, then John’s, then Matthew’s. In each story we were left waiting for the triumph and loud celebration of Easter. There was silence, fear, and a Jesus we couldn’t even recognize. But there wasn’t triumph and victory—not like we anticipated anyway. We’ve lived Good Friday trials and were left waiting for the true uplift of Easter.

Today we hear another Easter story—Luke’s. Here we meet Cleopas and his companion on their way to Emmaus. I don’t know about you, but I read this story and wonder how these men could be so blind. How could they be walking and talking with Jesus and enjoying his company so much that they asked him to stay through the night, and yet they didn’t even know who he was? They don’t recognize Christ for who he really is and I can’t help but shake my head at them. I mean, surely any one of us would have recognized Christ if he had walked and talked with us, right?

Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is, not only is your pastor a sinner, but she’s also thick-headed. The good news is, it’s still appointment season and you can ask the bishop and the cabinet for a new one come July.

The truth is, I haven’t just been preaching about the search for Jesus and a real Easter moment. The truth is, I’ve been searching for him. I’ve been living that quest. I’ve desperately been seeking to find a splendid and grand appearance of the risen Christ. And I couldn’t find him.

And then this last weekend, I participated in the El Shaddai walk to Emmaus and the fog was lifted and I saw Jesus. But I didn’t see Jesus in marvelous and extravagant ways. I realized that I was like Cleopas and his friend, I had been walking with Jesus the whole time and I was just too blind to see him.

As I was surrounded with extravagant agape love and ceaseless service, I saw Jesus in each of those people around me. I saw Christ in their smiles and their hugs, in the ways they cooked for each of us and cleaned so that we could focus on the Word of God—it was incredible.

I realized that God uses us to reach us. Let me repeat that: God uses us to reach us. Without our love, compassion and mercy—there is none to be found. Yes, God continues to be a compassionate and loving God, despite what we do, but without love for each other—there is no love to be experienced in the world. Without our acts of compassion, there is no compassion to be known in the world. Without our voice calling for justice, there is no advocate for true justice. If we sit back and do nothing, Christ will never be known.

In order for us to know Christ, we have to experience Christ in each other. We have to live that Christian life.

That seems like a simple idea when I say it, and yet somehow it was an incredible revelation to me. We sing the song “the spirit in me greets the spirit in you” all the time and yet somehow I’ve been blinded to truly seeing Christ in you. I can see Christ’s love and light in you. I can see the semblance of Christ…a resemblance….but I don’t know that I had actually seen Christ in you until this weekend.

Friends, there is more good news and more bad news. The bad news is that in many ways we will never be like Cleopas and his companion. Most won’t travel to the holy lands and walk that road to Emmaus, but even if you do, you won’t find Jesus in the way these men did. You won’t be able to touch him in that 33 year old body from the 1^st century.

But there is also more good news. The Good news is Christ’s story didn’t end in the first century. His story continues because Easter did in fact happen. It wasn’t a grand and glorious moment for anyone. Not one of the gospel stories has a choir of angels or another triumphant entry story. There is no pomp and circumstance. He comes simply, and humbly and quietly back into the lives of those who love him. The Good news is he comes! The good news is he comes in way we can recognize and relate to.

And if we’re honest, that’s what we should have expected. After all, time and time again in Christ’s story, God has come to us through this Emmanuel in ways that we didn’t expect. The king of kings and lord of lords was not born in a palace and held by a queen. Instead he was born to an unknown teenage mom in a stable far from home. He wasn’t greeted by the Jewish leaders of high esteem, he was met first instead by lowly shepherds, the outcasts of society. His whole life was spent upending our expectations—he didn’t overcome Rome. He didn’t conquer. He didn’t rule with power and might.

· He ate with sinners

· Touched the unclean

· Offered himself in humility

· Washed the feet of his followers

· Gave himself over for our sins

· Fought the fight against sin and death—the eternal battle, rather than the one against Rome—the temporary battle.

· He loved his neighbor, wholly and completely

· He forgave his enemies time and again

Throughout the Gospel story we are challenged to find God in ways that are difficult and unexpected. Ways that are counter to our expectations. And so why on earth I would have expected something different from the resurrection I do not know.

We are everyday people with everyday problems looking at an everyday world and everyday concerns and hoping that everyday answers will make a difference….why would we want anything other than a God of the everyday? We need a God who will meet us where we are…in the simple things…while we are doing dishes, while we are listening to a friend, while we are eating homemade jam, reading a note of encouragement from someone who cares. We need God who meets us in the simple things, because we are not people surrounded by the spectacular, we are people surrounded by the simple, and we need Emmanuel to truly be with us…in the simplicity of the everyday.

I re-met Jesus over the weekend. He was not the Jesus I was looking for. He was not the Jesus I expected. He might not have even been the Jesus I wanted. But he was definitely the Jesus I needed. I needed to meet Jesus again. I needed to see the Risen Christ in a new light. I needed to see how Christ’s promise that he would “live in [us] if [we] live in him” is actualized in our world.

Christ tells the disciples, “Lo, I am with you until the end of the age.” He promises to live in us if we live in him. So, when we accept Christ, when we invite him to live in us and we do our best to live in him, we become one with Christ. And when we are one with Christ, we are able to share the Risen Christ with others. I do not mean to say we become the Son of God, or that we become more than human, but we do become Christ, and not just Christ-like, but if Christ truly lives in us, then he becomes part of us, and then when we share joy, and love, and compassion, we share Christ because the Risen Christ lives in us.

There is good news brothers and sisters—abundantly good news. Christ is Risen! He lives in us! We can see him when we look to our neighbor on the right or our neighbor on our left. Christ is here in our midst because we have invited him in, because we have offered him our hearts and our lives and because we share the love he gives us. Maybe you’ve never had the chance to meet the Risen Christ, maybe you’ve only heard stories…if you are ready to have him live in you…if you are ready to live a resurrected life because you have invited Christ to live in your heart, this is the day of invitation! This is the day of the resurrection! This is the day of new life! Or maybe you know Christ and are looking for him like I was…in extraordinary and grand ways….maybe you’re ready to see him in the simplicity of the everyday—Christ is ready to reveal himself to you!

Let us pray: Christ I want to see you. I want to know you. Please live in my heart. Please transform my sinful ways. I submit myself to your will. Help me be a revelation of your love to all those I meet. Be with me Lord. Walk with me. Lead me to be a faithful disciple humbly serving you and my neighbor. In your precious and mighty name. Amen.