From the pastor's pen...

APRIL 2021

Dear Church Family,

The first people to the empty tomb on the first Easter morning were- according to Scripture – runners. Mary Magdalene, it says, ran to find Peter and John. Peter ran back toward the tomb. John ran faster and got there first. These were people in a hurry. They ran to and from the tomb- hurrying, worrying, and finally believing. They had actually been “hurrying toward hope.” That’s what a resurrection day celebration is – a solid hope to which hurried, harried people can turn.

            I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve been hurrying toward hope this winter with my quest to find vaccine appointments for Bill and myself. By Easter Sunday, we will be two weeks beyond our second vaccine. That feels like a little bit of new life – “resurrection” if you will, to me.  I think of the early followers of Jesus, fearful after his crucifixion, locked in the Upper Room, staying behind closed doors. We know now how that must have felt. As many of us are starting to feel hope this spring for life beyond Covid's closed doors, let’s also consider the content of hope born of a risen Lord.

            Christ alive means life in partnership. We do not laugh alone, weep alone, wonder alone, struggle alone. Whatever our path, like those two men on the road to Emmaus, we discover that Jesus himself draws near and walks beside us. Living is partnership. And that is hope for all times of discouragement and defeat that belong to our human pilgrimage.

And if living is partnership, then dying is partnership as well. Now, I know, the pain and loss and grief of death are very real. This hit home for me this past winter. But if death is not destroyed by the empty tomb, it is at least defeated. Christ alive means us alive on the other side of death. And that is reason for hope. More than wishful thinking, life on the other side for the Christian is based squarely on the victory of Christ who has already passed over and beckons back for us to follow in safe passage. Jesus said, “Because I live, you shall live also.”

            Because of Easter, dying is partnership. Living is partnership. We are never alone. That’s the core of hope – our hope in Jesus Christ - that we celebrate on Easter – that singular event in history – which brings hope to every believing heart. This Easter, like Mary, Peter, and John, hurry toward hope. Happy Easter!

                                                In Christ's service,

                                                Rev. Dawn Seaman