Words of Welcome

  John 20:19-31 According to the Easter Sunday reading from the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene got up early in the morning to visit the tomb where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had laid Jesus’ body after his death on the cross. When she arrived at the tomb, to her horror, she discovered that the stone sealing the tomb had been rolled away and the body missing. Of course, Mary will end up encountering the risen Jesus who commissioned her to tell his followers the good news that he had risen from the dead. This morning, we pick up John’s story a few hours after Mary’s encounter with Jesus. While Mary had told Jesus’ disciples that he was alive, it doesn’t appear that everyone believed her story. That’s because they had hidden themselves behind locked doors out of fear of the authorities. Then suddenly Jesus appeared in the room, greeting them with a word of peace. After greeting his stunned followers, he showed them his wounds so they would know that he wasn’t a ghost.  Wh...

  John 20:1-18 “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb” (Jn. 20:1). This morning the Gospel of John invites us to join Mary Magdalene at the tomb where, a day before Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid Jesus’ body. What might Mary have expected to find when she arrived at the tomb? Do you think she expected that the stone would have been removed and the body missing? The same would have been true for Peter and the Beloved Disciple after they ran to the tomb to check out Mary’s report.  Nevertheless, that is what John reports. Each of the four gospels tells the Easter story a bit differently. According to John’s account, for some untold reason, Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ followers, decided to visit the tomb that first Easter morning. Maybe she went there to pay her respects to her beloved teacher. John doesn’t say why she went to the tomb, but when she discovere...

  Eph esians 5:8-14 You may have heard the phrase “It has come to light.” That phrase often suggests that you are about to hear bad news. Whether it is a matter of moral or criminal behavior, you never want to hear those words. That is especially true if you’ve had some dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. If you’re in his files or visited his island, you might be in trouble. Look at what happened to the guy formerly known as Prince Andrew. Not only did he lose his title and place in the line of succession, but he was arrested for making the monarchy look bad. So, when the light shines in the darkness, it usually brings to light the bad things done under the cover of darkness.  Our reading for the Fourth Sunday of Lent from Ephesians 5 talks about leaving behind darkness and walking in the light. This letter addresses a number of practical questions about what it means to live the Christian life in the context of a pagan culture, which embraced ethical and moral conduct that dif...

Romans 8:14-17 It is written that on the Day of Pentecost, the streets of Jerusalem were filled with pilgrims celebrating one of Judaism’s most important festivals. At the same time, one hundred and fifty of Jesus’ closest followers gathered for prayer in an upper room in that very same city. This gathering took place just ten days after Jesus departed from his disciples. At that time, Jesus commissioned his disciples to take the gospel message to the ends of the earth. However, they would need to wait until the Holy Spirit came upon them ( Acts 1:8 ). This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit swept through the upper room like a mighty wind and rested on each of them like a flame of fire. Then the Spirit empowered them to preach the Gospel in the diverse languages of the people gathered in Jerusalem ( Acts 2 ). With the coming of the Spirit, the church’s missional calling went into action.  This morning, I decided to set aside the reading from Acts...

  “ My Lord and My God!” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC 2018 John 20:19-31 On Easter Sunday, we proclaim that Christ the Lord has risen from the dead. In the Gospel of John, Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene and then sends her to share the good news with the rest of the community that he had risen from the dead. So ends part one of the story (John 20:1-18 ). And, as Paul Harvey used to say, now for the rest of the story. In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, it’s Easter evening, and Jesus’ followers are hiding out behind closed doors, even though Mary had shared with them the news of the resurrection. John tells us that they were afraid of the authorities. Besides, even though they knew that the tomb was empty and they had Mary’s report, it appears they needed more proof that Jesus was truly alive.  All of a sudden, Jesus appeared in their midst. Can you imagine what they were thinking at that moment? What would you have been thinking? After all, they locked the...

  John 6:56-69 Last Sunday I shared a word from John Calvin, who wrote about the connection between Jesus’ declaration that he was the Bread of Life and the Lord’s Supper. He wrote:  [T]he Lord intended, by calling himself the “bread of life” (John 6:51), to teach not only that salvation for us rests on faith in his death and resurrection, but also that, by true partaking of him, his life passes into us and is made ours—just as bread when taken as food imparts vigor to the body.   [John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV:17.5].    I invite you to keep these words in mind as we dive into the reading for today from John 6, which continues the discussion from last Sunday. To set the stage, I invite you to envision Jesus teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. He’s telling them that he is the bread from heaven. He also tells the congregation that those who partake of his flesh as true food and his blood as true drink will abide in him, and he w...

John 6:51-58 Welcome to the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. This morning we jump right into the middle of a long and complicated story that began with Jesus feeding the 5000 but has taken some interesting twists and turns. So, this morning we’re doing something similar to jumping into the middle of a TV series that’s been on for several weeks and we don’t have a clue as to what is happening. Therefore, I need to catch you up with the story. According to John, after Jesus fed the 5000 the crowd tried to make him their king, but he slipped away to a quiet place where he could pray. Then, when evening came, he took a stroll across the lake toward his home base in Capernaum. But, first, he caught up with the boat carrying his disciples across the lake. The next day the crowd gathered once more in Capernaum hoping Jesus would give them more bread. That leads to a conversation about bread from heaven. You know, like the manna Moses provided, or, rather, God provided in the wildernes...