I had a friend drop by today. His name is Victor. I met him in  1985 when I had first moved to Fresno to help with resettlement of the Hmong and Laotian families. He was struggling when I met him.

He was out of work, his family was out of control, he was having acute pain and he didn’t know where to turn. Then he saw a small church located in his neighborhood that had not been there before so he came in to pray. He knocked on my office door and said, “Hi Father I’m Victor and I’m in trouble.”

We were able to get him some help, training and to the right doctors. I admire Victor a lot! Nobody knows the troubles, the loss, the anguish this man has had to bear. But…he has never and I do mean never faltered in his walk with the Lord. When I stumble when I feel like having a pity party I think of Victor and I move forward.

Ignatius of Loyola said this, “Consider that the blessed life we so long for consists in an intimate and true love of God, our Creator and Lord, which binds and obliges us all to a sincere love.”

Dear God and Father thank you for men and women like Victor. Whether loss, grief, poverty, or pain they live an example of Christian humility and faith. Together we learn that Jesus is enough. It is enough to stand, to kneel together and wait in silence before You. It is enough to be bound together in eternal love and freedom to give up our lives so others can know…You are enough. (Of course Father if it be Your will please give Victor a few small breaks). Amen.

Some of you have written me asking about the chalice I have in my office. Some time ago I blogged about this gift I received from a past member and which I have used in our special Maundy and Good Friday communion services for the last eighteen years.

To answer your questions “yes” the room has started to smell of roses and “yes” the chalice still has a substance at the bottom which seems never to leave. Why? I don’t know. First I’m a protestant and we don’t put much stock in such things. Second the chalice is made of polished marble so there is no seepage or weeping involved. All I know is it was a gift from a very dedicated Christian before his death and this interesting residue remains with a scent.

I do know roses appear in accounts from all the world’s major religions as a symbol of miraculous love at work in the world. Muslims view roses as symbols of the human soul, Hindus and Buddhists see roses as expressions of spiritual joy. Roses have long served as symbols of the Virgin Mary, the “mystic rose.”

Pastor aren’t you interested in what it is? Nope. Pastor why don’t you have some analysis done? Nope. Why not? I take it for what it is…a symbol of my Lord Jesus Christ’s passion, love and sacrifice for me and you. “While we were still your enemies, Lord Jesus Christ, you suffered and died for us, winning the victory over death for our sakes. Give us grace to lift you up as we follow the way of your cross so that all people may be drawn unto you.” Amen.

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In the front of my house is a pseudo pear tree. In other words it will never bear fruit only bloom. As you can see it has glorious blossoms in late winter early fall and you are going to think this really odd. But this tree always reminds me of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Today our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters will be celebrating the annunciation of Mary. Today we are reminded of the role Mary played in bringing the good news of our Savior into the world. Which brings me back to the pear tree. There are many people that look and sound good. But are useless to the Kingdom of God. Why? Because they never go, they never say to our God “Here am I, the servant of the Lord: let it be to me according to your will.”

The writer and spiritual leader Thomas Merton said, “The Christian life-and especially the contemplative life-is a continual discovery of Christ in new and unexpected places.” So you see each time I see that pear tree I recognize and remember Mary who said “yes” and who blossomed for our world so you and I could walk this path together.

Thank You dear God for the witness of Mary, her obedience, her courage, and may her life be an example to me today. Amen.

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Someone asked me Sunday if I could make another meeting and after hearing my “yes” asked, “how I was doing?” Before I even thought about an answer I blurted, “I’m tired. Truth is I haven’t had a day off for several weeks. With people struggling, some in hospice care, others making decisions about Long-term care, a couple of funerals, marriage counseling, doing work for our denomination, struggling with vision, and direction of our 131 year old congregation I’m wearing a little thin. Then of course you have to throw in Easter and Holy Week events, Maundy Thursday which I lead, Good Friday which I prepare and lead, then Easter. Of course I forgot about the two Bible studies I write each week and a sermon that, in this entertainment driven world and church shopping society we seek to reach, has to have some kind of dynamics or we lose people all together.” I then of course realized I had overwhelmed the other person with too much information. They were just being nice they didn’t really want honesty.

In moments like that I always return and review the words of Oscar Romero who stated, “It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. That is what we are about. We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own.”

“Be not amazed, for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and whom you seek, has risen; he is not here…” Dear Father, allow us one more moment to bring Your words of hope that will convict, heal, raise others up. So they too can be amazed by Your love and salvation! Amen.

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Mark 15: 24 “And they crucified him.”

I wanted this inking to be stark and painful. But, when finished I was a little disturbed. I hadn’t expected the body to look so devastated, so much like a skeleton. But really? What did I expect? How should a man look that has been beaten and forced to drag his own execution up a mountain? Our Savior, our Jesus was nailed to a tree for us.

Contemporary Ugandan theologian Emmanuel Katongole wrote, “…Wherever the gospel is preached, we must remember that its good news will make you crazy. Jesus will put you at odds with the economic and political systems of our world. This gospel will force you to act, interrupting the world as it is in ways that make even pious people indignant.”

Dear God, allow your sacrifice to interrupt my daily life. Make us your people a people willing to stand up, willing to move forward in the light of the cross. “Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

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John 21:24 “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.”

As I did the cutting of this block for our churches’ Lenten service I wanted to show our Savior’s struggle, the agony the loss. I wanted you to feel “boxed” in with nowhere else to look. Look! There is your Jesus! But you can’t see his face because the shadow of the cross blocks your view. Yet, as you gaze at these lines and ink, even though 2,000 years passed, you are still a spectator. You can still see his poor hands torn, and claw like as he attempts to move forward. But his body betrays him and he stumbles. What do you do? You and I like many others merely watch as he falls on the path.

John Chrysostom wrote, “When we suffer anything for Christ’s sake, we should do so not only with courage, but even with joy. If we have to go hungry, let us be glad as if we were at a banquet. If we are insulted, let us be elated as though we had been showered with praises. If we lose all we possess, let us consider ourselves the gainers. If we provide for the poor, let us regard ourselves the recipients. Do not think of the painful effort involved, but the sweetness of the reward; and above all, remember that your struggle are for the sake of our Lord Jesus.”

Dear God, please allow this journey of Lent to transform us. Whenever we encounter suffering we will recall how you suffered first for us. Whenever we come face to face with loss, we will remember how you gave everything for us. Whenever we stumble, when we want to turn away give us the courage and faith to move one step further remembering your journey to the cross. Amen.

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“Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).” John 19:16-17

Jesus is now cut off from everyone, he must endure alone. His face is swollen from the beatings, his hands torn from the wood he struggles to carry, he stumbles, he drags the implement of his execution forward. There is no turning back he walks this way for us.

Elizabeth of the Trinity said, “Let us ask God to make us true in our love, to make us sacrificial beings, for it seems to me that sacrifice is only love put into action.”

God forgive us for talking about love without sacrifice. Make us bold to tell this story. How you walked the path for us so we might have a relationship with You. Forgive us for turning away when needed. Forgive us for thinking only of ourselves. May our love reflect, if possible, the sacrifice in flesh you bore for our sins. Amen.

“What is truth?” Pilate asked.” John 18:38

Here we see Jesus standing like a statue. He says nothing, he pleads nothing. Why? He has already preached, taught, healed but most still did not believe. His path is set the time is now he is ready to walk the path for us. Jesus stands alone and says not a word. Take this moment to focus on Jesus and only on Jesus as he stands for you. Ask yourself, “Where do I stand in regards to the truth of the Savior?”

Athanasius of Alexandria wrote, “That mystery the Jews traduce, the Greeks deride, but we adore. For it is a fact that the more unbelievers pour scorn on him, so much more does he makes his Godhead evident. Thus by what seems his utter poverty and weakness on the cross he overturns the pomp and parade of idols, and quietly and hiddenly wins over the mockers and unbelievers to recognize him as God.”

Dear God, today we acknowledge the truth. There have been times we have run away, have hid and done what we want knowing we are wrong. Forgive us! Today we will stand for You, we will not be silent, we will help another along the path. Raise us up to live by your power the life only you can give. Amen.

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In this window you will recognize the first and the last latters in the Greek alphabet. The evangelist John, in the Book of Revelation, records a vision in which Christ uses two letters as a way of defining himself. Jesus states, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last…” In other words Jesus and God are one and we are assured there is no distinction. They are the same, “the beginning and the end,” he alone is eternal.

William Booth a Methodist preacher in Britain who co-founded the Salvation Army wrote, “Consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

Dear God brother Booth was a prophet. We see much of that happening all around us here in the Western church. Help us Father to pause and become consumed with You producing a holy fear of not approaching You in true worship. To not forget You called us to walk this path with others. That even our smallest actions are a reflection of this truth: You are our God! “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”

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“I Am the Bright Morning Star” Rev. 22:16

The prophet  Isaiah predicted that a twig would sprout upon the stump of Jesses (the father of David) and a shoot would grow out of its root (Isaiah 11:1). Christians recognize this as an allusion to the birth of Christ. While in Numbers 24:17, it was predicted that “then shall come a star out of Jacob”. Here in Revelation we see the prophets, the preachers, the worshipers, the seekers all come together. Here we see the “bright morning star” our long awaited Jesus!

Fifth century monk Paulinus of Nola shouted, “We have no right to our possessions; they have been entrusted to us for the good of all. Let us then invest with the Lord what he has given us, for we have nothing that does not come from him: we are dependent upon him for our very existence. And we ourselves particularly, who have a special and a greater debt, since God not only created us but purchased us as well; what can we regard as our own when we do not possess even ourselves?”

Lord Jesus you have shown yourself to the nations, the countries, the world and many have been transformed by your beautiful light. But…there are those remaining who have yet to look toward the “bright morning star.” May today’s rising sun remind us of your healing light to all people and all nations.