Holy Wednesday

Holy Week is unlike any other week in the Church's year. It begins with the illusory triumph of Palm Sunday, when Jesus is hailed as a celebrity in his own city of Jerusalem. It leads through the betrayal of Judas (remembered on 'Spy Wednesday'), and the farewells of Thursday (called 'Maundy Thursday' after the Mandatum, the command to love one another), the humiliations, tortures and death on Good Friday, to the victory over death on Resurrection Morning. Nearly every human life will include some of those experiences. This week we can identify with the Lord each step of the way from the Mount of Olives to Calvary. When it comes to the resurrection, the imagination boggles, yet it is the centre of our faith.

Matthew 26:14-25

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, "Surely not I, Lord?" He answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" He replied, "You have said so."

What feelings arise in you as you read this passage: anger, disgust, sadness?

What would you want to say to Judas if you knew what he was doing? Jesus did know, yet he treated Judas gently. He did not try to stop Judas.

How does Jesus look at you when you betray the love of Jesus? What do you want to say to him when you ponder this story of Judas?

This week is the most difficult of all the weeks for Christians. We are guided to ask ourselves hard questions that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Open your hearts to God during this week. Seek guidance from our savior and find out what unconditional love is all about.

U2 40 (Psalm 40)

Today is Oscar Romero Day

30 years ago today Oscar Romero was assassinated while leading a communion service in his country, El Salvador. He took a strong stance for social justice and asked the dictator of the country and the army to stop killing the poor indiscriminately. In the midst of enormous disparity of wealth between rich and poor he said, ""When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises (8/6/78)." When Marxist rebels thought he was backing their war he wrote,

"There can be no true liberation until people are freed from sin. All the liberationist groups that spring up in our land should bear this in mind. The first liberation to be proposed by a political group that truly wants the people's liberation must be to free oneself from sin. While one is a slave of sin – of selfishness, violence, cruelty, and hatred – one is not fitted for the people's liberation."

MARCH 2, 1980

As we approach Holy Week, may we heed Romero's call to seek the forgiveness of sins that comes from Jesus. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will free us from sins that overpower our human weakness. May God free us all.

Glenn Beck Attacks Christian Core Value

A few weeks ago the conservative, fireball Glenn Beck urged his listeners to leave churches that use the words "social justice" or "economic justice". He said,

"I beg you, look for the words "social justice" or "economic justice" on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes! . . . Social justice and economic justice. . . believes man can be perfected. That is what the Marxists believe." (to hear excerpt go to

I know that Glenn Beck is an entertainer and not a theologian, but his rant linking social justice, churches, and Marxism has me feeling the need to be a Sunday school teacher.

The PCUSA has a strong belief in social and economic justice, but not because we are Marxists. Social and economic justice had its beginnings in the bible. God tells us to care for widows and orphans in over 60 verses, and the poor and oppressed in over 40 verses. God does not just ask us to offer personal charity, but rather, to create systemic justice on a national scale. The book of Amos is God telling the people of Israel to eliminate the gross divide between rich and poor and seek justice on a national level. God called Israel to redistribute its wealth long before Karl Marx was born. Glenn Beck calls that communism, God calls it justice.

Recent Christian leaders who fought for social justice because it was a biblical mandate include:

• Isaac Watts – writer of "Amazing Grace" fought to end the slave trade
  
• Evangelical Protestants (that's us) – created free public high schools paid for by tax dollars and churches in the 1870's
  
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Lutheran pastor and theologian opposed Nazism and was killed after writing theology that required Christians to live out social justice
  
• Martin Luther King – Forced our country to change laws that denied equality for minorities in the 1950's and 1960's
  
• Oscar Romero – Archbishop of El Salvador who was assassinated when he kept asking the dictator and army to read the bible and seek justice rather than seek power and wealth. (Romero is one of my greatest heroes. Even though he was Catholic, his theology is similar to our reformed theology).
  

Glenn Beck and other shock jocks on the right and left often speak without understanding issues. However, churches will continue to prayerfully and intellectually use scripture to bring social justice into our world today. But beware of Glenn Beck and others who allow their political ideologies to take precedence over God's word.

From Empty to Full

What do you get when you mix 200 Presbyterian ministers and elders with Robert's Rules of Order? Inspired. Well . . . last night's presbytery meeting had moments of boredom, but it also had spiritual inspiration. Jonathan Hoeldtke of Woodstown Presbyterian Church spoke about a Prayer room his church has created. It has a map with pins where missionaries that they support live. The bible and other spiritual reading material are also in the room, as well as a journal to write about your prayer experience. They have had 24 hour prayer vigils where an individual will sign up to be praying in the prayer room for an hour.

AN HOUR OF PRAYER!!

 

Rev. Hoeldke told of a woman that went into the prayer room overwhelmed and empty. She had no idea what to expect and felt a little worried about praying for an hour. She started by praying for their missions and thank God for her own blessings. Anxiety began to melt away. Then she began to listen to what God was saying to her. By the end of the hour, she wrote in the prayer journal that this was one of the most fulfilling and healing experiences she has ever had.

Try praying, not for 10 minutes, but an entire hour. Don't merely speak, but listen. How are you changed afterward?

Lost and Found

One Great Hour of Sharing

U2 Eucharist

Bono, the Edge, the band U2. A surprising number of their songs have Christian themes. So many of their songs are spiritual that some churches have done communion services using the music of U2 and the words of Bono. One of U2's songs is named "40" and is a version of Psalm 40 put to music. In another song titled, "Yahweh" the lyrics go,

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don't make a fist no
Take this mouth
So quick to critisize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn

People who never set foot in a church sing U2 songs that are overflowing with Christian meaning. This week pray about how we can reach out to people of all different stripes. People you never expect to think about God are praying for guidance into a church. Maybe ours the one on which they wait.

U2 Commion Service

Women of Faith

Sunday, March 7^th we are celebrating the gifts of women. So let me introduce you to a two women who will make their presence known in worship.

First is Fanny Crosby, who wrote over 8,000 hymns. I can barely crank out a sermon a week, and she once wrote 8 hymns in one day! Blinded as an infant she had several strong women in her life help her become one of the most prolific hymn writers of all time. Fanny's hymns include:

• Blessed Assurance
  
• Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior
  
• I Am Thine, O Lord
  

You can read a brief and inspiring biography at http://www.eaec.org/faithhallfame/fanny_crosby.htm

The second woman who has written great hymns is Twila Paris. She wrote the song "We Bow Down", which we will be singing this Sunday, and many other songs. Unlike Fanny, who wrote about 100 years ago, Twila is still singing today and helps young and old alike connect with our Savior through song. You can read her biography at http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003440/Twila-Paris.html

There are countless women in leadership positions in churches, companies, and government using their faith in the Lord to make this world a better place. The next time you pray give thanks for the women in your life that have impacted you!