Pastor’s Email Devotion
The Week of Easter 2
April 12, 2015
As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 10:7, NRSV)
As I was leaving church yesterday following the wedding over which I officiated, I was struck by this small patch of snow clinging to our parking lot. This last remnant of our winter storm season has resisted warmer weather, regular sunshine, and the gentle rains of spring in recent weeks so as to extend its frozen life. But it is losing its battle. Its days of life are numbered. By this time next weekend, it will be gone … the smudgy stain on the macadam may still remain a while, but eventually even that will fade away.
We are now a week into the season of Easter. The dark days of our Lenten pilgrimage are fading from memory like this blackened mass of sludgy snow. And with each additional week that passes, even more of that memory will fade, as the glorious news shouted to us from the empty tomb consumes us and transforms us into children of the light – into Easter people. Granted, we are far more complex beings than a lump on dirty snow on the ground. But in some ways, this blackened mess points to both the malaise of our sin, and the gloriously cleansing reality of the Easter proclamation of new Life! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! And while even this promise of all promises does not have the capacity to wash away every smudge of sin that stains our lives in this world, it does possess the power to give us eyes that are privileged to see beyond our sin – eyes that can behold the life that God intends for us in the Kingdom that awaits us. And at the same time, this promise gives us eyes in this world, that can perceive the glimpses of this long awaited Kingdom as it breaks into our human existence. Eyes that picture for us in that occasional holy moment, the feast that awaits us.
I pray this blessing of sight upon you this Easter season. And I pray that as you engage in your own devotions for the coming weeks, that you will see around you the cleansing, healing, and lightening presence of hope that God brings to our world. If your sight falters for a day or two, drive by the church and check out the southern end of the parking lot. Watch with me as God washes this stain of darkness from our holy ground here at St. Peter’s. When you are in church on Sundays, wander by the baptismal font which will remain at the altar rail for the season of Easter, and dip your fingers in this baptismal water, allowing it to transport you back to the baptism you first experienced at God’s hand, and ahead to the baptism into the Kingdom of God that awaits us. May the memory of Lent fade from your spirit … may the reality of Easter grow within you … and may God wash you with new life and new sight.
O God of Life and New Life, we rejoice to join in the eternal alleluias of the innumerable angels who gather as the firstborn of creation, and who are enrolled in heaven among the spirits of the righteous whom you have made perfect. Bless my life today with light and love and vision, to see you, dear Father, even as I trust in your mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
