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Dear friends:
I’ve been thinking a lot about scars this week, the ones on my body and in my soul. Some scars are natural consequences of dubious choices (my knees and elbows reveal a lifetime of them) and others – more serious scars – are often imposed by situation and circumstance. Either way, scars are evidence of pain endured, incomplete healing, and adaptation to a new reality.
I thought of this when reading the Passion and Easter stories this week, and especially about the time Jesus appeared to his disciples. I find it both hopeful and unnerving that his resurrection did not erase the marks of living his life and enduring his death. His scars were so evident, he even used them to help people recognize him.
It's a good reminder that being an Easter people does not mean to be cleansed from all harm, and it is not to erase all the bad things that we have done or have happened to us. Resurrection is not full reversal; it’s the power of life overcoming the power of death. It’s the power of God entering pain and loss and redeeming it with an even more powerful force of life.
The things that happened to Jesus’ body — the state-sanctioned violence, the flogging, the crucifixion — remained even after he defeated death and rose from the grave. He still bore the marks of that pain, but the pain was not what defined him.
It’s good news for all of us who live real lives, in real bodies, in the real world. And it’s why we tell the whole story this weekend, beginning tonight at 6:30 p.m. with a moving re-telling of the Last Supper and its associated betrayals. Tomorrow night (again at 6:30 p.m.) we’ll recall the pain of the crucifixion through word and song, and then on both Saturday (for families and children) and Sunday we’ll embrace the promise of resurrection.
The Children’s Service (moved to Saturday at 10:00 a.m.) will be joyful, with many young voices in the Sanctuary followed by fun animals and refreshments on the green. The Sunday services will be in the Chapel (8:45 a.m. with Nikki Zimmermann preaching) and in the Sanctuary (9:30 and 11:00 a.m. with me preaching) and the music will be stirring at all of them. If you can’t join us in person, join us online at covenantpresby.org.
With gratitude and hope,
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