Holy Week and Easter Message and Invitation 2012

Easter 2012

So often our times are influenced by news. Listening to the media, on most days we are harassed with a litany of bad news – death, destruction, debt, despair, and more. At times, if just listening to the news, things can seem pretty hopeless. We long for and yearn for some good news; and occasionally a light shines in the darkness. At the same time, whether good or bad it usually just evaporates from our memories – but still it leaves many in a numbed, confused fog.

Fortunately, one Sunday morning long ago, there was a news announcement that has never been equaled. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen (Luke 24:5-6)!” Talk about Good News!! It’s the best news. It’s the news that changes everything still. And I love how it is both cosmic and personal. Cosmic in the sense that Jesus overcomes death and sin and is alive! Personal in that he appears to individuals to restore and comfort them. And yet, the disciples thought just two days earlier that everything was lost – they had been sold on the “bad news” of the day. But we know that with God all things are possible! As Louis L’Amour wrote, “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished; that will be the beginning.” Amen!

And as if the news of the resurrection itself was enough…there is this truth: “The spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit (Romans 8:11). Think about it. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead – the power and victory that we celebrate on Easter – isn’t just a one day thing. Through our faith in Christ, this power is alive and working within us.

In a world of daily news of death, and dying and decay, we can take heart and hope that we have the source, the power that overcomes even death – within us. So that we look at circumstances and take account of all the obstacles we face – even when we think everything might be finished, because of the good news of the resurrection, because of that same power in our lives – we can be as Paul said, “more than conquerors in all these things.” As well, let us remember and rely on this power more and more as we continue to watch God lead us through this season of renewal for our church!

I invite you to share in the “Hosannas!” of Palm Sunday to the solemnity of Maundy Thursday to the sorrow of Good Friday and to the triumph of Easter. May we experience together the joy, wonder, depth, power and possibility of Holy Week:

April 1 – Palm Sunday Celebration with Luncheon, 10:30 am
April 5 – Maundy Thursday (The Lord’s Supper with Hand Washing), 7:30 pm
April 6 – Good Friday Remembrance Service, 7:30 pm
April 8 – Easter Celebration, 10:30 am

First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, 5 Ackerman Avenue, Saddle Brook, NJ 07663; http://www.firstreformedsaddlebrook.com. Whether it’s your first time or it’s been a long time – you will be welcomed!
In Christ,
Pastor Christopher

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Resurrection

My favorite holiday??

 

Easter, of course!! Not because of the chocolate or Peeps; but because of the miracle of the resurrection.

 

The resurrection is the exclamation point of the Gospel. It is the proof of Jesus’ words, “with God, all things are possible.”

 

And in real life and real-time, it says that no matter how lost, no matter how defeated, no matter awful the circumstances, God’s power is greater than anything in our lives and in this world.

 

And it says that new life comes from death. That new beginnings come from endings. That redemption comes out of being lost. That sin and death do not have the last word.

 

And we know this, but sometimes we forget. Spring doesn’t come after summer, right? It comes after…winter, ugh, often after long drawn-out winters.

 

Sometimes we forget that new life, that resurrection and redemption come at a cost and do not emerge easily – it’s the opposite actually – they only emerge and break through impossible circumstances.

 

As I am writing this, blossoms, buds, sprouts, and shoots, botanical ambassadors of new life, are fighting through wind, snow, earth, rocks, and other things to emerge from the ravages of winter, from death. And somehow the breathtaking symphony of color and fragrance always wins. Spring happens no matter how bad the winter was.

You and I will never know what it takes for them to push through all of that to make it through to the other side.

 

But we do know this. That through Jesus suffering and dying on the cross and being dead and buried, new life, resurrection emerged into this world and into our lives through faith. It wasn’t a snap of the fingers, it wasn’t a magic trick, it wasn’t a formula, and it was anything but easy. But it happened…

 

We’re told that we are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and it’s true. But just like resurrection, that new creation happening in us through the power of the Holy Spirit does not happen overnight. It happens surely, purposefully. It happens even when it’s not very visible.

 

We have to remember…

 

We have to remember that when we are trying to restore marriages, when we are trying to overcome addictions, when we are trying to revitalize churches, when we are seeking to follow God more passionately, when we are trying to heal, seeking God’s forgiveness, when we are trying to start over in anything, we have to remember it is challenging, it can be overwhelming, the odds may be against us, it may seem impossible – BUT it’s possible…

 

Thanks to that Sunday morning long ago, when life came from death, light came from darkness, and He was alive!!!

 

 

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All Things New

 

“Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5

 

 

If you have ever stood and wondered, in the quiet of a cemetery, at the grave of a loved one – you have thought about it.

 

If you have ever held the shattered pieces of your life in your hands and thought, “How do I put this back together?” – it has crossed your mind.

 

If you have ever had a significant relationship that seemed or was broken beyond repair – you have been there.

 

If you have ever felt like you were beyond redemption or forgiveness, well, then you know the feeling…

 

The desire for all things to be made new – the desire for Easter morning in real time.

 

Maybe you didn’t call it that, maybe you didn’t have words for it; but that’s what it is…

 

It’s the same way the disciples felt after they watched they beloved friend and teacher die horribly on the cross. It is what drove some of them to hide and some of them to run and some of them to return to the tomb.

 

But as you know, to their “terror and amazement” (because new things are always scary), their beloved friend and teacher had come back alive. The stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty.

 

And unfortunately, many of us, too many of us, still live like it is a Good Friday world rather than living in the reality of this Easter Sunday world. We live afraid, we live as if death and disease has the last word, we live as if there is no grace or at least not for us, we live as if we can’t be reconciled with God, we live in hiding and on the run.

 

But as my daughter Madelyn’s Jesus Storybook Bible puts it, “Was God really making everything sad come untrue? Was he making even death come untrue?” Yes, he was and is.

 

This is the God who repeatedly promises in the Bible to make all things new and to wipe away all the tears – and then on that Easter morning delivered the resounding, definitive, decisive down payment and first installment on all those promises.

 

See, of all the miracles in the Bible, this is most important one because it made life come from death and “crushed death to death”; because it had eternal consequences; and because it was incarnate – in other words it could be lived out. Just take some of Jesus’ miracles – blindness turned to sight, feeding thousands, even bringing dead people back to life – all very cool – but the people who were raised would die again, the feeding lasted one meal and the restored sight was specifically for one person. The miracle of the resurrection goes beyond one person or one meal, opened eternal life for all who believe and offers a new way of thinking and living.

 

Easter morning is not just a holy day! It is the day that everything about life on this planet as human beings changed. And each year, it is the day or time or season in which everything can still change – even when it seems impossible.  

 

So, maybe you, or someone you care about, are there today – grieving, everything falling apart, alienated, unforgivable. Maybe you have desired or dreamed of a new start. I can’t tell you how or when because I just don’t know.

 

But I do know this, we just celebrated the day that makes it possible for any or all of those to be reversed by a new start through the risen Jesus. And just the fact that it is possible makes all the difference. That it is possible to enjoy a personal and eternal relationship with God through Jesus; possible to see loved ones again in Heaven; possible to have our tears wiped away; possible to be forgiven and forgive others; possible to reconcile; possible to live – abundantly, without the fear of death.   

 

So much so that it has to change the way we live – because the resurrection shattered all the things that hold us down in this life – that trick us into believing that all is lost.

 

Writer Louis L’Amour captures what happened on Easter and what is possible for our lives because of it, in two sentences, “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That is the beginning.”

 

Are you ready for that new start?

 

Amen.

 

Discussion Questions

1. Is there a part of your life that you are hoping for a new start?
2. What keeps you from believing that a new start is possible?
3. Have you ever thought of Easter like this? Why or why not?
4. How would living a “resurrection life” be different from your life today?

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Power, Life and Grace

Please listen to/download our Easter service from this morning. On this page, go to sermon audio and click on Power, Life and Grace. The message was from Isaiah 25 and Mark 16. The Lord be with you…

http://www.firstgrandville.org/content.cfm?id=213

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The Ugliest Day

Mark 15:25-32

The Ugliest Day  

“25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him… 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross!”…“He saved others; he cannot save himself… Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.”

 

            Good Friday.

 

            One thing about Good Friday is what it reveals about us humans. You know it is the day Jesus died for our sins; He atones for our sins and takes the punishment so that we can be reconciled with God. You know that part…

 

            But there is another part of this that may often be missed.

           

            This is such an ugly scene. We have seen some very terrible things in our lifetimes – wars, murder, terrorism, September 11^th, all of these are/were awful in their own ways. And all of those were perpetrated by…other humans. 

 

            When you read the above passage we see many of the same things, directed of course at one person. And this is the crucial part of the magnitude of this. The victim or target here is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. Here is a sample of how He was treated: Put on the cross; He was innocent but was put in the same place as criminals; humiliated and put down; and taunted by officials and the criminals. This is how we treated God then; this is how we often treat God now.

 

            Good Friday is a naked revelation of how awful and ugly the human heart can be. It is a revelation of how far away the human heart can stray from God’s Word and ways. It is a revelation of the hatred and violence and disregard the human heart is capable. It shows how easy it is to be blinded by fear and hatred to “eliminate the problem.” And before you say, “That was then and this is now,” is it really? Don’t we do these things in little ways in our lives? And while we were not there physically that day, as the old hymn asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” – Yes we were. The character of humanity, in which we share, was there and at its worst.

 

            And while all of this ugliness is on display, it is called “good.” Why? How?

 

            Because even for all of what happened on that day, and all the minor ways we today mirror the hatred, violence and disregard; all of the culmination of sins in which we live and are drenched in – even with all that – and really, thanks only to Jesus going to the cross and taking all of this on, there still is an Easter morning, the resurrection and the possibility of new and eternal life.

           

            And for us, as much as we hate; as much as we kill; as much as we disregard God and others – thanks to Jesus, the door is open to acknowledge that in all that we need a savior to redeem us from all that we have done. And by acknowledging Him as our savior and repenting of our sins – we will die and be raised by, through and be with Him forever. There is this great quote by a church father named Gregory of Nyssa, “What is not assumed, is not healed.” This is a good explanation of why Good Friday had to be so bad. While on the cross, Jesus assumed the sin of the world, this fallen heart and character of humanity, so that it could be healed. So yes, was it ugly and terrible? But, it had to be to make our redemption possible.

 

            You see, we will never begin to fully understand God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ until we start to see from where it comes – from the depths and horror of sin and darkness and suffering and isolation of the cross. It wouldn’t be God’s awesome, life-giving, liberating and eternal grace, if it didn’t require a savior, a savior named Jesus…

 

            Later this week, on Good Friday, please take time to reflect on what the “good” means to you.

 

            Amen.  

 

Discussion Questions

1. Prior to reading this what were you thoughts about Good Friday?
2. What are some of your thoughts on sin after thinking about Good Friday in the above way?
3. What are some ways we can personally reflect/acknowledge Good Friday in light of this Scripture?
4. Think of some adjectives to describe the events described in the above passage.

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-B-Wolf/17378287393

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The Cross

Isaiah 53:4-6

The Cross 

4 “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6 

Why? 

In this infamous and often quoted prophetic passage that clearly points to Jesus and the cross, we hear of punishment and sacrifice and misperception.  The misperception is alluded to when it says, “yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.” Back then, on Good Friday, you had people fulfilling these words when they said things like, “some king.” They couldn’t see the “bigger picture” of what was being accomplished. They saw some guy who made outrageous claims and was being put to death.

One could ask, “Why the brutality and violence?”  Even today, there are people who don’t see it. Maybe even some believers don’t understand or misperceive the purpose of Jesus going to the cross to suffer, bleed and die. 

It starts with the reality of God’s holiness. Very simply, God is holy and we are not because of our sins and our sinful natures. But…But God still wanted us to be reconciled with Him. After all the sins, after all the failures, after all the turning away from Him, He is still standing there with His arms open. This is the grace and mercy of God.  

So there had to be a way that we as sinners could be reconciled with the Holy God. Because God is both just and merciful at the same time (another Living Water maybe) the justice part had to be fulfilled too. The penalty had to be paid… “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed (5).”

Prophecy and reality were fulfilled when Jesus, the Son of God, willingly went to the cross to accomplish these things.  As horrifying and ugly as the reality of the cross was and is, we must look at it especially this week each year.

You see, the cross in some ways is a mirror; at the cross we see the devastation and consequences of sin – yours and mine. Sin is so destructive that from God’s perspective we, all of us fall short and deserve to face the consequences of our sins. It is very much like we are guilty during a trial, but during our sentencing, someone, namely the Son of God, stands up and says, I will take the punishment for _________ (fill in our names). Talk about courtroom drama! 

And so that is how we are made whole and healed. Because as awful as the cross was and is, beyond it, the other side of the cross is Jesus’ resurrection and consequently we are made whole and healed. When we are in Christ, in God’s eyes we go from condemned to redeemed; because of Jesus’ shed blood and death on the cross – nothing that we did or could do. 

The cross is perhaps the most powerful and meaningful symbol in the world – signifying all at once, defeat and victory, pain and healing, sin and grace, hatred and love, life and death, mercy and justice, strength and weakness, the cosmic and personal, separation and reconciliation.  

This is why we talk about “going to cross” or walking with Jesus to the cross this week because we can never even approach understanding Easter and the resurrection and all that it means in life and eternally, until we truly see the cross.  

When we truly see the cross, it may “cross” our minds that it could have been us that could have suffered, could have paid the penalty for our sins, could have been separated from God. But it wasn’t us; it was Jesus on the cross… 

If you are asking “Why?” about the cross this week, for the first time or as a reminder…it still comes down to one thing – because He loved, loves, us that much. 

Amen.   

Discussion Questions

1. In what other ways have you understood God’s holiness and our sinfulness? Have they been helpful or not and why?
2. In what ways can you look at the cross differently this week?
3. If you don’t already, what is keeping you from believing that God loves you as much as is described above?
4. How might your Easter Sunday be different after hearing all of this?

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