MARCH 2005
A Moment With Our Minister
"A Season for Restoration"
As I sit here to write, the sounds of construction are going on around me as the fellowship hall begins to receive a much needed face lift. It was certainly showing a great deal of wear and tear after decades of activity and use. I always find it fascinating to watch the progress of a project like this as the focus of all the attention is lovingly transformed from what it was into something new.
I get the same sense of fascination about this time every year as the Earth awakens from its winter slumber. God begins a miracle of transformation that we have the privilege to experience each spring. As the days grow longer and warmer, the grass greens, the buds on the trees swell and present to the world their tender green newness of spring and the flowers burst forth with a beauty that declares the splendor of God’s creation.
But this is also a time of contrast. As we move through the remainder of the Lenten season, we are also reminded of the hopelessness brought on by sin. We are reminded that sin has broken all of humanity. It has limited our potential and separated us from the God of our creation. We were created to be in relationship with God and our hearts cry out for what we ourselves can never restore. We come to realize who we are apart from Jesus Christ and staring into that abyss, we become acutely aware of our utter dependence on him.
As we move closer to Holy Week and Easter we come to realize the enormity of God’s love for us as we once again recall the events that transpired. How Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday only to have the people turn on him and call for his crucifixion. We recall his love for his disciples and the world and then the overwhelming sense of darkness and defeat that came in the form of his brutal Passion. And then the total sense of loss experienced by Jesus’ disciples. But then, oh what joy comes in the blazing light of his resurrection and victory over sin and death. His resurrection confirms him as the Son of God.
Easter reminds us that in Jesus Christ we share in his victory. In Christ we are freed from the burden of our sin. We are washed clean. We are transformed into something new; restored in relationship and made sons and daughters of God.
Easter drives home the truth of our confession that "Christ has died; Christ has risen". Knowing this truth, we can hold fast to his promise with utter certainty that he will come again for all who truly love him and honor him with their hearts and their lives. And in his coming we will be made like him.
God loved all of us enough to send his only begotten Son into the world to offer us the free gift of salvation. But never forget that this gift – free to us, came at a cost so great that it is beyond our comprehension; but, that’s how much God loves us. Let the truth of Easter spring forth from within us for the entire world to hear . . . HE HAS RISEN; HE HAS RISEN INDEED!
Grace and Peace, The Rev. Rob Hughes
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