The Pastor’s Page
May News Letter
Does all the evil and suffering in the world bother you? Do you worry about the possibility of another devastating terrorist attack here in our country? Do you worry about global warming or the possibility of nuclear annihilation? Are you living in fear and worry right now because of the pandemic sweeping our nation and the world? Do you fret over what the future holds for your children? These are all very legitimate fears. And the ultimate question for Christians is: Does God care?
The events that we just relived during Holy Week remind us emphatically that God indeed cares! From beginning to end, the Bible assures us that God is always watching over us. As Jesus once said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).
The events of Holy Week are an annual reminder that God cares deeply about us. And what the crucifixion and resurrection show us is that in Jesus, God has joined us on our journey through the pain and despair and uncertainty we all face in life. In Christ, God has embraced the fullness of our humanity even to the point of sharing the greatest suffering that anyone could ever know—the pain of crucifixion. Why God in Christ should have to undergo such great suffering is a profound mystery. Why we should have to suffer in so many ways on our journey through life is a mystery as well. But the events of Holy Week assure us of one great truth that we can cling to with all confidence throughout life’s journey: God loves us passionately.
What Holy week reminds us of is that God walks with us on our journey through all of life’s trials and tribulations. The resurrection holds out the promise that God will see us through the worst that the world can throw at us and get us through to the other side. The resurrection assures us that, whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord. As Jesus once said of his followers, “No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29). The resurrection assures us of ultimate victory over the worst that life can send our way.
A few years ago there was a moving book written by Iona McLaughlin called Triumph Over Tragedy. It is the true story of how, at the age of 42, the author’s life began to totally unravel. Her 14-year-old daughter, Jane, developed a brain tumor and died. One month later, while driving to visit some relatives, Iona, her husband Peter, and their ten-year-old son, Jack, were hit by a train. Peter and Jack were killed instantly. Iona hovered just on this side of death for months. Every rib was broken, an arm, an ankle, the right clavicle, and the pelvic area all suffered fractures. She was lacerated from head to foot. She was in the hospital 72 days before a nurse finally said to her, “I think you’re going to make it. No temperature for 24 hours. You’re going to make it.” After 127 days she was finally released from the hospital. But to what?
The death of her husband and children made Iona wonder if she really wanted to live. There were days when she asked God to take her. But over a long period of time she slowly began to believe that God had a purpose for her life. She began to live by the motto, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” She went back to college for a graduate degree. Then she got a job teaching in a college. She began to teach Sunday School and grew ever closer to the Lord.
Iona had struggled through unimaginable physical pain, long periods of emotional torture, and a stressful spiritual battle. After years of struggle, she tells how one day sitting in the college chapel meditating, in her mind’s eye she saw a “shining path” open up before her. She writes, “A singing gladness came over me and set me free. It was the quick, unexpected shout of victory at the battle’s end—it was reaching the top of the last high hill.” Iona said that she now saw that through all of her suffering, “the undergirding arms of God had been there all the time.” The tension left. The strain eased. She learned to live in relaxed harmony with God. In time, she remarried and has enjoyed many years of marital bliss again.
The faith that Iona McLaughlin found through her time of tragedy is an Easter faith. A faith that believes that God will see us through the worst that life can throw at us. The reality of the resurrection assures us that whatever comes our way, nothing . . . certainly not a virus! . . . can separate us from the love of God.
Let me close with words that St. Paul once wrote of his many great sufferings: “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life . . . nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39).
That is a faith born of belief in the resurrection. That is Easter faith. It brings to mind the words of a beloved Easter hymn: “Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!” My friends, trust in faith that because Jesus is risen we can have the sure and certain expectation that we too shall arise. We shall all soon arise from sheltering in place and social distancing and sing those words together again. And we shall together, side by side, repeat these words: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The events that we just relived during Holy Week remind us emphatically that God indeed cares! From beginning to end, the Bible assures us that God is always watching over us. As Jesus once said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).
The events of Holy Week are an annual reminder that God cares deeply about us. And what the crucifixion and resurrection show us is that in Jesus, God has joined us on our journey through the pain and despair and uncertainty we all face in life. In Christ, God has embraced the fullness of our humanity even to the point of sharing the greatest suffering that anyone could ever know—the pain of crucifixion. Why God in Christ should have to undergo such great suffering is a profound mystery. Why we should have to suffer in so many ways on our journey through life is a mystery as well. But the events of Holy Week assure us of one great truth that we can cling to with all confidence throughout life’s journey: God loves us passionately.
What Holy week reminds us of is that God walks with us on our journey through all of life’s trials and tribulations. The resurrection holds out the promise that God will see us through the worst that the world can throw at us and get us through to the other side. The resurrection assures us that, whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord. As Jesus once said of his followers, “No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29). The resurrection assures us of ultimate victory over the worst that life can send our way.
A few years ago there was a moving book written by Iona McLaughlin called Triumph Over Tragedy. It is the true story of how, at the age of 42, the author’s life began to totally unravel. Her 14-year-old daughter, Jane, developed a brain tumor and died. One month later, while driving to visit some relatives, Iona, her husband Peter, and their ten-year-old son, Jack, were hit by a train. Peter and Jack were killed instantly. Iona hovered just on this side of death for months. Every rib was broken, an arm, an ankle, the right clavicle, and the pelvic area all suffered fractures. She was lacerated from head to foot. She was in the hospital 72 days before a nurse finally said to her, “I think you’re going to make it. No temperature for 24 hours. You’re going to make it.” After 127 days she was finally released from the hospital. But to what?
The death of her husband and children made Iona wonder if she really wanted to live. There were days when she asked God to take her. But over a long period of time she slowly began to believe that God had a purpose for her life. She began to live by the motto, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” She went back to college for a graduate degree. Then she got a job teaching in a college. She began to teach Sunday School and grew ever closer to the Lord.
Iona had struggled through unimaginable physical pain, long periods of emotional torture, and a stressful spiritual battle. After years of struggle, she tells how one day sitting in the college chapel meditating, in her mind’s eye she saw a “shining path” open up before her. She writes, “A singing gladness came over me and set me free. It was the quick, unexpected shout of victory at the battle’s end—it was reaching the top of the last high hill.” Iona said that she now saw that through all of her suffering, “the undergirding arms of God had been there all the time.” The tension left. The strain eased. She learned to live in relaxed harmony with God. In time, she remarried and has enjoyed many years of marital bliss again.
The faith that Iona McLaughlin found through her time of tragedy is an Easter faith. A faith that believes that God will see us through the worst that life can throw at us. The reality of the resurrection assures us that whatever comes our way, nothing . . . certainly not a virus! . . . can separate us from the love of God.
Let me close with words that St. Paul once wrote of his many great sufferings: “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life . . . nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39).
That is a faith born of belief in the resurrection. That is Easter faith. It brings to mind the words of a beloved Easter hymn: “Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!” My friends, trust in faith that because Jesus is risen we can have the sure and certain expectation that we too shall arise. We shall all soon arise from sheltering in place and social distancing and sing those words together again. And we shall together, side by side, repeat these words: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
