Pastor's Corner

Resting in the Promise of Eternal life in Christ (Bright Sadness)

Many years ago I followed a fast through the forty days of Lent and found that it changed my view of Easter, and that it changed me. Fasting and meditating on my weaknesses helped me grasp the intense significance of the crucifixion, and gave me a deep and powerful longing for the resurrection, which then became joy on Easter Sunday.

I was helped on this journey by materials from churches more Eastern and more traditional than my own.

While Easter is a popular holiday and may be the most important Christian holiday (next to Christmas), many of us have a pretty weak understanding of what it is all about. For example, Easter often sneaks up on us: we may not even think of it until the annual church breakfast is announced. ...

Lent is the antidote to this oversight. In the Western churches (of the Protestant churches) we don't participate in Lent, historically speaking. We are more comfortable with the joy and celebration of Easter than with the darkness that preceded it. But Lent is a chance to remember the dark before the dawn, the sin that sent Jesus to the cross. In the Orthodox Church, Lent is called the season of Bright Sadness, because it is a time of both celebration and mourning.

But you may well ask: why dwell on the darkness at all? After all, Jesus' work is done. Death has been conquered, Christ is victorious!

The cross has answered it all; why should we be sad? If the cross is the Answer, what exactly is the Question?

Before Christ, the world called out to God, "How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? "(Psalm 79.5)

Easter is the once-for-all-time answer to this question. Jesus took our place on the cross to appease God's righteous anger. He went alone to be punished: separated from God and deserted by his friends. The drama of how this happened is the story of Lent. ... Before the Resurrection comes crucifixion; before crucifixion comes prosecution; before prosecution comes betrayal, doubt, fear, rebellion, and sin.

I read some time ago about a cemetery up in Indiana where there is an epitaph on a tombstone which says:

Pause stranger, you who pass me by,
As you are now, so one day was I.
As I am now, so will you be.
So prepare for death and follow me.

It is said that one day, a visitor walked by and scratched on the bottom of that little epitaph:

“To follow you I am not content,
Until I know which way you went.”

Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life …… No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) Jesus is the one and only one to follow ….. there is no one else! With all the ideas in the world today about this or that way to gain eternal life, isn’t it wonderful to have a Saviour who didn’t come to show the way? Rather, He came to be the way. And it is by a faith in the here and now relationship with Jesus that you and I will know for sure we will be with him.

“And there is salvation in on one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Lent helps us experience our part in the Passion (suffering) of Jesus. We face our humanity during Lent: we learn that no matter how hard we try to be good sin still dwells in us, that we still carry darkness. We learn that we, like his disciples, would likely have fallen asleep as Jesus prayed for deliverance in the garden, and, also, that we would likely have denied knowing him as he silently accepted his death sentence. “To follow you I am not content, Until I know which way you went.”

During the Lenten season let us follow the path our Lord took, the path of self denial. Have a blessed Lenten journey.

In Christ I remain his servant,
Pastor Samuel King-Kabu

Editor's Reflectons

Think about it, the unexplainable, we have our faith but at times it’s really not something we can explain to anyone else. Have you ever tried? If you have, you will know what I mean. You try and soon you see a look of bewilderment and obvious lack of comprehension in the other person’s face. Especially when you try to explain that God did something awesome in your life.

You know, the converts in the early Church changed the world they lived in because of what they saw and heard. It was the power of the gospel that changed their lives, not what they learned from mere teaching about it from others or from Jesus.

This awesome power drew people to Christ. Things happened that could not be explained as anything other than the activity of God. I wonder if this is the kind of faith we are experiencing in our lives, individually and as a church body? I would venture to say that most of us live a wholesome, moral life, but those we associate with do not see this activity as anything that cannot also be achieved by ourselves or themselves for that matter. Maybe that’s why we are not experiencing any growth and people are not drawn to us. God's power is not evident.

You know that The Lord has been challenging us to trust Him at all levels we have never trusted before. This makes us vulnerable. But consider the following events - Without Pharaoh's pursuit of Israel at the Red Sea, there is no miraculous deliverance.
-Without Lazarus's death, there is no rising to life.
-Without Goliath, there is no amazing victory by David.
-Without Peter stepping out of the boat, there is no miracle on the water.
-Without Judas' betrayal, there is no resurrection.

I believe that God wants to show Himself in ways we cannot possibly imagine. Why don’t we just let him show His power. Let us take the first few steps into the unexplainable. Then, we shall surely see "all men drawn unto Him."

Web Page prepared by:
Roger Kenner & Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2012/03/06
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal