easter – Blessings on the Journey

Abundant Life, Cross, Easter, God's love, Good News, Grace, Hope, Mary Magdalene

Easter Sunday

Posted on April 17, 2022 by narciejeter

These plants have been with me for years. This bamboo was given to two of my students Tyler and Austin when they did an internship at Georgia Tech Wesley. Steve Fazenbaker, the campus minister there, gave it to them as a welcome gift as they had started attending that summer and he gave one to them for me. It was the summer of my second brain surgery and it’s a great reminder for me of how good our Savior is. The other plant, I got at the Walmart in Mt. Pleasant. I used to say it had a face on it – see! It has the plastic rock that says, “Hope.” I’ve always loved the South Carolina motto – Dum Spiro Spero – While I breathe, I hope and it was that hope that we carried with us as we moved back to South Carolina. They’re both still alive – against all odds – my brown thumb, the tightness of the original containers, everything. What does Jeff Goldblum say in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” Well life certainly found a way on Easter morning.

I watched Rogue One on Good Friday morning. I believe it’s one of the best, or the best Star Wars movie. It’s a precursor to A New Hope and in it three different characters, “Rebellions are built on hope.” Oh, Jesus, sparked the greatest rebellion the world had ever seen and they crucified him for it. He took a ragtag group of tax collectors, fisherman, prostitutes, misfits and prodigals and armed them not with weapons, but with the word of truth, that they even they were children of the most high God. That they, even they, were loved by their Beloved God. Their Yahweh. That they, even they, were worthy and enough.

He had told them several, several times that this would happen like this – betrayed, beaten, crucified, buried, then resurrected. But when the Romans pair up with the Religious Elites, all bets are off in their human understanding. Some of them were denying, some were hiding, and some witnessed the crucifixion. Hoping beyond hope that this was all a bad dream. They were all grieving. As Bob Goff so adequately put it, “Darkness fell. His friends scattered. All hope seemed lost. But heaven just started counting to three.”

John 20:1-18 NRSV

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

For Mary, Easter morning begins not with Easter eggs and “He is Risen!”, but with exhaustion, weariness and grief. And yet, she went for help, she heard his voice, and she was the first to bear witness to the Gospel – “I have seen the Lord” and spread it.

First, she went for help. The text doesn’t record her thoughts and questions that I’m sure are rolling around her head. Were they grave robbers? How many people did it take to move that heavy stone? Are the Chief Priests involved? Did the Romans desecrate the tomb? It all comes out a jumbled rush, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Simon Peter and the other disciple took off running!

Two gas company servicemen, a senior training supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters in a suburban neighborhood. They parked their truck at the end of the street and worked their way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger coworker to a foot race down the street back to the truck, to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one.

As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong.

Gasping for breath, she answered, “When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figure I had better run, too.”

Mary was not huffing and puffing behind them. I imagine they all were running fast. They saw for themselves, one of them believed, but they didn’t understand the scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead. They saw, confirmed what Mary had seen and alerted them to, and returned to their homes. Leaving Mary in her grief. The text says, “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.” Grief is most commonly defined as “deep sorrow.” Grief takes your breath away. More than that you don’t know if you’ll ever breathe again and you’re not sure you want to. It’s like there’s hole of air passing through you and you won’t ever be whole again.

Looking into the tomb, she sees two angels in white and tells them she is weeping because someone has taken away her Lord. A moment later, she turns, sees a man that she assumes is the gardener, and says to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” She’s doing what she must, on autopilot. On autopilot you make the next decision and the next.

Secondly, Jesus called her name. His voice broke into her thoughts. I’ve never noticed the explanation mark included with her name, “Mary!” It’s like he’s breaking through the fog of her grief. Mary! Have you ever had your kids or spouse ignore you calling out their names? And you get louder and angrier at each shout? And I don’t think the tone was like stopping a kid from touching a hot stove or demanding that he get out of the road when a car is coming? I imagine it being firm but gentle, unwavering yet tender.

She turns and says, “Rabbouni!” which means “teacher.” His voice pierced through the layers of her grief. She had witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion. The hours of excruciating pain that she was helpless in the face of. His voice pierced through her guilt and pain and numbness.

We’ve been studying the book of John in the SALT Sunday School class and last week was this text and the last couple of texts of John. As we talked about the video and the video questions, Maggie shared an insight into the text. She was at her great aunt’s funeral, and she heard her grandfather’s voice right behind her. She never thought she would hear it again because he had passed away years before. Of course Mary Magdalene never, ever thought she would hear Jesus’ voice again. When Maggie turned around it was not her grandfather that she saw, it was her grandfather’s brother that she saw. Ironically she went to his funeral yesterday. When I texted her if I could share her story, she said about his death, “It’s a blessing and a burden to be the last so I know they are all back together now!” He didn’t just die for each of our sins. Jesus promised in John 11, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” He defeated sin and death, so if we believe in him, we have a new and abundant life here on earth and we can enjoy eternal life with Jesus. “They’re all back together now!” Indeed, they are, Maggie. They answered the Voice that called them home. And we can too. Jesus sees you as Jesus sees me. He celebrates what he sees because God made us and loves us, no matter what, we’re enough. We don’t have to keep all God’s love to ourselves like it’s a limited supply. God doesn’t play favorites – we are each a favorite child of God. We have to share God’s love with the world because we may be the Gospel – the Good News of God’s grace and love – the absolute hope of the world, we can share. Jesus’ resurrection hope keeps bubbling up – under the surface in our pain and grief and unspeakable joy when we realize that evil nor death has the last word.

Finally, Jesus sends Mary as he sends us. “Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” He is saying to her: Run, Mary, run, take my message and run! She goes and announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she tells them what Jesus has said to her.

Mary crosses the finish line as the very first apostle, a word which literally means “one who is sent off.” Women are the last people standing at the foot of the cross and God chooses a woman as the first witness to the resurrection. God chooses Mary Magdalene to preach the very first Easter sermon. I think God in God’s way was redeeming Eve. Women have always been blamed for Adam’s fall because Eve tempted him, even though he too, ate the fruit. God grants us each unique gifts and graces, but loves each equally. God has no favorites. Romans says we have all fallen short of the glory of God and we are all equally lovable in God’s eyes through Jesus the Christ. Galatians 3:26-29 says, “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Herbert McCabe, writing in God Still Matters, says: “We do not gather at Easter to celebrate a doctrine, the doctrine of the resurrection. We come here to rejoice in the presence of one we love; in Jesus who was lost to us and has been found.” And to whom we were lost and have been found.

Oh, Mary Magdalene had quite a shock that Easter morning! She went for help, heard a Voice that she thought she would never again, and she was the first to bear witness to the Gospel and spread it. Jesus is calling us to spread his message of his resurrection hope to the world. He wants us to tune into His Voice so he can show us the little things that he puts in our paths to give us encouragement we need at the time and the people he places in our path, he wants us to share his Gospel message of love and hope to! Just like these plants, they’ve survived moves and my brown thumb – in his resurrection power Jesus doesn’t want us to merely survive, but he wants us to thrive and bask in his love and grace for even sinners like us, to grow where he plants us. And to that we say, “Alleluia! He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!

Easter, Jesus

Blah -> He IS.

Posted on April 20, 2019April 20, 2019 by narciejeter

I know I’m not supposed to be admitting this. But I’m really not feeling Holy Week.

I was geared up last week for Palm Sunday, excitedly showing clips from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” to get at Jesus’ suffering a “traitors” death for each of us.

But I’m literally blahhhhhhh, it’s Easter.

The bulletins are printed. The scriptures and titles picked. The slides and videos done.

I have my cascarone eggs and olive wood crosses for Easter Sunrise and Easter. I’m not sure what I will do with them. I’ve come up with different angles throughout the week but I’m not satisfied.

I’m up late looking for inspiration scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, emails…I’ve thought about using Tiger Woods’ redemption, the Avengers Endgame supposed “resurrection,” among other things.

I know to preach, “He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!” And I know and trust the Holy Spirit will show up.

Maybe it’s the desire to spend Spring Break with the kids, falling on my face on Tuesday afternoon walking the dog with scrapes on my knees, my elbow and my face, an overall malaise with Notre Dame burning, the Mueller Report and Rachel Held Evans, or hearing on the Today Show this morning that church attendance is at an all time low.

Perhaps it’s the pressure of a new place. Or all of the Easter advertising. Or coming up with a fresh spin. Or wanting to get it right…perfect…the most epically awesome Easter sermon ever.

Perhaps you’re feeling blah too.

Perhaps we need to hear the story anew and afresh. Perhaps it can be an actual personal encounter or a real Word of Grace.

“Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live,

and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

I died, and behold I am alive for evermore,

and I hold the keys of hell and death.

Because I live, you shall live also.”

Because He Lives. Even when we’re feeling blah, He IS. Even when we’re feeling trapped, He IS. Even when we don’t feel worthy enough, He IS. Even when all hope seems lost, He IS. Even when………He IS.

Coffee, Easter, Easter People, Easter Sunrise Service, Ebenezer, Help Stone, Memorial, Resurrection, Uncategorized

Carrying our Ebenezers Into the World

Posted on April 18, 2017 by narciejeter

MATTHEW 28:1-10

28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” ⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Any time an angel appears to someone the first words out of their mouths are, “Do not be afraid.” What a sight they must be! All of the Gospel accounts put in different details to their particular accounts. Some have two angels, some have one, they have different conversations, they have different ordering of things, but they all have one critical thing in common – an empty tomb. The stone was rolled away. He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! In my thinking, the Gospels being so different is evidence they are true stories – to indicate the points of view and the particular audiences they were each writing on behalf. The one we just read has an earthquake, an angel descending from heaven, and the stone rolled away by the angel. What does the text say about the guards? The guards “shook and became like dead men.” Ha! Again, they must be a sight to behold! The message the angel relayed to the women made them run “quickly with fear and great joy” as they ran to tell the disciples and Jesus, the Risen One, confirmed the angels message on their way.

What a turn of events! You may have come to this Easter sunrise service bleary-eyed and numb. There’s not enough coffee in the world to have me wake up like this every morning – mission trip flights and Easter sunrise is my limit. Don’t you see the women at the tomb were the same way. Unlike the disciples, except for John, they had watched the crucifixion. They had lived and were eye witnesses to Good Friday. They had mourned on Holy Saturday. Their Savior, their light in the world, their Rabbi, was gone. They were grieving and numb as they walked to the tomb that day to bring the funeral spices. Bleary-eyed just like you and me this Easter sunrise service. Did you know that some states are outlawing those roadside crosses and those flowers you see along the roadways? We drive by and with a mere glance, we know that something happened here.

Joyce Keeler knows the pain of losing a loved one in a tragic automobile accident. Nearly 30 years ago, her son lost his life on a rural road in Delaware. For Joyce, driving by the site of the accident is still too painful. She avoids it, even all these years later.

Instead, Joyce goes to the Delaware Highway Memorial Garden at the Smyrna Rest Area near her home. Among the trees, shrubs and flowering plants, is a pathway lined with memorial bricks that bear the names of those who have lost their lives on the roads of Delaware. In the center of the garden is a pond with goldfish, frogs, water lilies and a gurgling waterfall. Tucked amid the busyness of nearby highways U.S. 13 and Delaware 1, it’s a peaceful place to remember and reflect. To honor the memory of her son, Joyce sits quietly near the brick that bears his name.

Patrick Bowers, whose 21-year-old son died in a crash in 2008, also frequents the Delaware Highway Memorial Garden. “It’s not morbid or gloomy, not like a feeling you can get at a cemetery,” he says. “It’s a garden like someone would do in their backyard.”

Delaware is one of several states providing alternatives to roadside memorials because traffic safety officers worry they are a dangerous distraction to drivers, and put those who maintain them in harm’s way. In most states, descansos, what they call the memorial sites, are illegal, but officials rarely enforce those laws. When we lived in Florida they used signs to mark the site of a crash. Others have adopted laws limiting the time a memorial is allowed to remain on the side of the road. Still others offer to plant memorial trees at the sites of fatal accidents.

Joyce Keeler much prefers the garden over the roadside memorial. “Things like that get old, and the flowers fade,” she says. “But this will never go away.”

The very same instinct that drives people to the site of a crash may have carried Mary Magdalene, a close disciple of Jesus, and another Mary, identified a few verses earlier as the mother of James and Joseph, to the tomb early in the morning.

They came not with a handmade cross and flowers, but with oils and spices.

They came not to set up a roadside memorial, but to care for the body of the one they followed, the one who loved and accepted them when no one else did.

They came prepared to do the only thing they could think of to honor the memory of Jesus.

Another Mary, was grieving the loss of her son. Who could know the agony she endured from Friday to Sunday morning? Even the care she received from the “beloved disciple,” John, her son’s best friend, could not alleviate the sadness and despair. It’s not likely, that she ever went back to the place where he died. Not much chance she wanted to sit by a cross, like some mothers might do today. The cross on this hill was the instrument of her son’s most cruel and painful death. She’d been there to witness it. Where would she go to remember?

Did she want to erect a memorial?

Did she want some place she could visit and just think about her son?

Did she want to erect a pillar of stones in his memory in his hometown, Nazareth, or in Bethlehem where he was born?

Did she want to post a sign at the site of some of his most famous miracles?

Did she want to turn the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus into a shrine or museum in his honor?

Surely, the thought crossed her mind: “How can I remember my son? How can we all remember him?”

Her people, after all, had a strong tradition of building memorials or Ebenezer’s. If you pay attention to hymns in church, there is one Hebrew term you will remember singing. It’s in the second stanza of… “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” The stanza reads:

Here I raise my Ebenezer,
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

“Ebenezer.” A Hebrew word. Hear the word and your first thought is of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and the most famous “Ebenezer” in all of literature: Ebenezer Scrooge.

The prophet Samuel took a stone, set it up and named it Ebenezer. 1 Samuel 7:12 memorably says: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us.'” Samuel set up a memorial stone. “Ebenezer” literally means “stone of help.” It was a stone set to commemorate the help the people of Israel perceived had been given them by God in defeating the Philistines when they got back the ark of the covenant. … The Scots Bible translator, James Moffatt, translates it literally: “Samuel took a stone … naming it Helpstone.”

What do all 4 Gospel accounts have in common? An empty tomb! Jesus is ALIVE! Death has been defeated. Love wins. Our God is the God of help. This is the refrain that breathes through the Bible. The Great God of the Universe, our God has gave us the greatest Ebenezer of all – Jesus – our Cornerstone, as it says in our Psalm this morning. Our Cornerstone is the greatest Ebenezer that the world has ever known! The one they thought was in the grave is instead on the move. He’s still calling them to follow him as he now calls to us to follow him.

May we do so. May we be Resurrection people! May we embody the love of Christ to all the world. May we not be afraid to share our Ebenezer’s, the times that God’s helped us on our faith journeys and share them with the world. I ask that you come as you feel led to get one of these stones, symbolizing the stone that was rolled away. Symbolizing the Great Ebenezer that God sent us in Jesus, our Ultimate Help. Symbolizing our Cornerstone in Christ. I’ll also challenge you to take another stone. Tell someone in the weeks ahead about Jesus. Share a story of how he helped you. Tell a story of how he saved you. It may be awkward, you may stammer and stutter a bit, but what a blessing, and a Help you would be to someone who doesn’t know our Risen Savior. We’re Easter people after all! We are called to share this Good News of the empty tomb! Jesus is Alive!

Bellarive, Death, Easter, Enoch, Hercules, Pollen, Resurrection

Resurrection Dust

Posted on April 20, 2014 by narciejeter

Did any of y’all watch the movie the Ten Commandments last night? They play it every Saturday night before Easter to capitalize on Jewish and Christian audiences celebrating the Passover and the fulfillment of the Passover, Jesus as the lamb. That is a theory of atonement. At-one-ment, Jesus becoming one of us, Emmanuel. There’s substitutionary, as In Jesus took our place, there’s Jesus as the mediator, where he mediates on our behalf to God, there’s ransom theory, where Christ literally paid our ransom, a la “Jesus Paid It All” and there’s many more, too many to name. But this one is my personal favorite, if you can have favorites of atonement theory without coming across as a seminary nerd. It’s Christus Victor. It’s that Christ conquers death and he is the victor. I remember an old FCA skit with Jesus and the Devil in a boxing ring, well long story short, the devil won the first three rounds, but I can still remember as a teenager the build up as the person representing Jesus stood strong on his feet, and delivered the TKO, Total Knock Out!

We say in the United Methodist Book of Worship these words of grace at funerals, “Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.”

Enoch and Evy asked me yesterday, “Mommy, what is today?” You see they went to the Maundy Thursday service at Trinity and they went to the Good Friday Tenebrae service at Gator Wesley, so they wondered about what Jesus was doing on Saturday? What do we believe happened on Holy Saturday? Ken Carter, our Bishop, writes, “On this day between the death of Jesus (Good Friday) and his resurrection (Easter) we reflect on his descent into death and hell, and thus the depths of his love for us. The theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar writes, “Christ disturbs the absolute loneliness striven for by the sinner; the sinner who wants to be damned, apart from God, finds God again in his loneliness, but God, in the absolute weakness of his love…enters into solidarity with those damning themselves. We resist God. But God comes to us, descends to us, even in the very darkest places in our lives. The witness of the Apostle Paul is true: “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We believe our God has the power to knock on the gates of Hell. We believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen?

So what is happening in our text for today?

John 20:1-18 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

I love that the writers of the New Testament didn’t redact this part, that Jesus first appeared to the women, it shows that Jesus’ wanted his legacy to be serving the marginalized or the least, the last, the love. I love that we’re invited into the story, by the varying reactions. Peter, hesitant, looking at the linens. John, the one whom Jesus loved, seeing and believing. Mary, brushing off and accusing the gardener, then realizing it’s Jesus by the sound of his voice saying her name.

Do we have our eyes open to the Jesus, the Living God, all around us? We are trying to explain the divinity and humanity to our inquisitive 6 year old, Enoch. He’s intrigued because he doesn’t understand him defeating sin and death. We happened to watch Hercules this weekend and we couldn’t have picked anything better because as Hercules seeks to rescue his love interest, in the river of souls, the sisters couldn’t cut his string, because he was a god. I explained to Enoch last night, Jesus was both fully God and fully human. He was greater than any super hero. Enoch ended up singing a song about Jesus being both God and Man, that I partially recorded last night. Fully human, but fully divine, and CONQUERING DEATH, so that death is no more!

My Mom was helping me food clothes the other day and she picked up a pair of Enoch’s underwear and said incredulously, “Is this Jesus!!!??” “No,” I said. “It’s Thor.” But she’s getting to my point. Are you seeing Jesus in the world around you?

Are we seeing Jesus in our friends, in our roommates, our parents, the stranger, the other, in the lady behind the cash register? Who are you breaking through the darkness to shine the light and love of Christ Jesus our Lord? We sing “Follow You into the homes of the broken,” but do we actually mean it?

Thomas has prayed several times about the pollen and I think that’s totally appropriate for us to pray for that which is affecting us right here and now. Several years ago I did a sermon on “resurrection dust.” Giving thanks for the yellow pollen/resurrection dust bringing new life, creating all things new, life bursting forth, and on the pollen days where I can no longer look through my windshield without a little windshield wiper fluid, I pause and give thanks because we know a savior that’s making all things new indeed. We know a savior who is RISEN! Do we trust God to sprinkle his resurrection dust to guide our feet and give us the words to say? Do we believe his grace is enough to supply our every need?

We need to trust in the Risen Christ. We need to build our hope on nothing less, with exams, final papers, and the dreaded group projects, that the One that has gone before us and conquered death, will surely be faithful now at this critical point in the semester. We need to see Jesus in the world around us, his resurrection dust everywhere, and be the lights of love and grace in the world.

I heard this song earlier in the week, “Stories” by Bellarive and I think it’s appropriate on this Easter Sunday.

Here are stories of a man who walked on water
There are stories of a man who washes all our shame away
And the rumors in the air say His words bring freedom
And I believe it
For my eyes have seen the King

There are stories of a man who dines with angels
Could Heaven come down to make room for the least of these
Well, the rumors in the air say He is the remedy
And I believe it
For my eyes have seen the King
Yes, I believe it
For my eyes have seen the King

We’re singing, Alleluia, we sing
For a new day is dawning
Alleluia, we sing
For redemption is here
And Alleluia, we sing
For a new day is dawning
Alleluia, we sing
For our eyes have seen the King

There are stories of a man who saves the nations
They’ve been echoing through time to meet us here today
Well, His promises are true, they pull us through the darkness
And I believe it
For my eyes have seen the King
Yes, I believe it
For my eyes have seen the King
They have seen You

Holy Spirit, come
Descend on Your people
Your fire’s in our hearts
It’s all we’ll ever need
For we know, we know, we know that You’re alive
So come and speak here
Our ears are open now

Easter, Last Supper, Lent, Music, reality

The Gritty.

Posted on April 5, 2012April 5, 2012 by narciejeter

I am obsessed with the “Fun.” CD right now. If you’ve been in my office or walked by my office in the past week you know that I’ve been listening to it almost constantly. There are several things that I like about it and there are many a time that I’d like to play one of the songs in worship, but the lyrics aren’t the most “clean” shall we say. However, as Jon wisely pointed out, our lives are often not all that clean. They’re often pretty dirty and gritty and not quite what we want to show to the world. Tonight is Maundy Thursday – in other words – the night that Jesus had his “Last Supper” with his disciples. He knew that some crazy stuff was going to go down in the coming days but he shared a last meal with those who he loved the most. Things weren’t going to be all rainbows and rose-colored glasses, it was going to get pretty real, real quick – with ears being cut off, betrayal, cock crows, whipping, a crown of thorns, crucifixion. It’s not the glamorized view. It’s reality. May we find God not just in the beautiful and in the high points of our lives, but also in the midst of the struggles and the confusion. May we remember during this Easter season that it’s not just about Easter Sunday in all of its glory, but that these days leading up to it, happen as well – days that feel dark and hopeless, days when it feels like we’re alone. May we fully feel that so that we know the true power of the resurrection that’s coming!

Community, Easter, Faith, Health, Holy Week, Miracle, Prayer, Support

Miraculous

Posted on April 2, 2012April 3, 2012 by narciejeter

I got a phone call on Friday after a long week of good, fun, tiring and yet rewarding work. It was not a number that I or my phone recognized and I’m usually tempted to let those go to voice mail since you never know if it’s a survey or a wrong number or who knows. But for once, I didn’t. It was a student who had something to give me. A pastor of hers knew that she was a student at Winthrop so she wanted to pass something along to me. That’s all she really said. So I had no idea what this could be.

When she stopped by Wesley, she handed me a beautifully colored picture. I love rainbows and bright colorful things so I liked the picture instantly. She then said that it was a Mandala and as the picture says on the back – it’s a contemplative practice. Rev. Annie Edwards who I don’t know, created this for me during my brain surgery in 2010. She started it at 11:45 am and finished it at 1:30 pm – truly roughly the time of my surgery. As she writes on the back, “This was done for you during your surgery, with love and compassion. Your Dad is my friend.”

It’s beautiful and something I’ll treasure. As are the prayer shawls, books, pictures, everything that has been passed along to me that I can share with others.

I am admittedly sometimes flippant about the surgery and I in some ways am pretty successful at brushing it off. In my day to day life – I don’t walk around with a sign around my neck that mentions it. When I get an invitation to the survivor’s dinner for Relay for Life, I am more often than not – surprised. But I think, as is often the case with the things that we are flippant about, most of my bravado comes from a place that is truly grateful and humbled by the outpouring of love and support – so much so that I don’t know if I can express how much it means or how much even when it’s not at the forefront of my mind – that I depend and rely on the prayers and the Spirit of mercy and grace that I feel ever present.

It’s not something that I’m afraid to talk about, but it is something that’s deeply personal. So yes, I keep it on the About Me part of the blog – though I’ve debated that – and it becomes a part of the fabric of my life. Not definitive of all of who I am, but yes a defining moment….among many.

One of the things that struck me on Friday was yes, the picture, but also what the girl from Winthrop who I’ve never met, said to me as she delivered. She talked about what a miracle it is. I asked her what she meant and she said, “You. It’s miraculous.” No, this is not a big head moment. I’m not slapping myself on the back. But part of me did want to slap my forehead at the “Doh!” moment. I don’t know about you but I think it’s easier for me to see the miracles around me – my students, Spring, healing of friends and family, the birth of a child – but it’s harder to see ourselves in that way. I don’t know if we can even wrap our minds around that. But we can sure as heck be grateful. And hugely grateful at that. For the prayers of so many, for the love that encircles us, and for the hope of the resurrection.

During this Holy Week, my hope is that I not rush straight to the resurrection but that I take time to attend to the twists and turns between Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday and that I’m attentive to all that is the darkness and despair of Good Friday because we all have felt and walked and witnessed times like that. And that when I hear the Good News of the resurrection on Easter morning that I feel both the impossibility and the miraculous and the ever present and real hope and promise that it offers. May we know and see the miracles in each of our lives, our communities and the world around us and may we claim and treasure them!

** Dad’s reflection on this time period – Holy Saturday Redux – http://wtmcclendon.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/holy-saturday-redux/ I think about it around this time of year…and I appreciate his honesty.

Campus Ministry, Cross, Easter, Grace, Hope, Jesus, Movies, pride, Sermons, Suffering

Easter?

Posted on April 25, 2011April 25, 2011 by narciejeter

We say that as Christians we’re an Easter people, a Resurrection people. I believe that and have given an enthusiastic “He is risen. He is risen indeed!” I don’t know if it was because Easter was so late in the season this year but I started off pretty well at the beginning of Lent in trying to be intentional about this journey to the cross, but as the semester began to draw to a close and the to do list piled up, our car was totaled and we were depending on just one car, three of us had strep throat, and we moved everything out of my grandparent’s house, Easter somehow got lost in the shuffle and all the upheaval of life.

A clergy friend of mine posted the other day that Lent and Holy Week are her favorite time of the year. I love spring and the flowers and the sun out more (even though we haven’t seen that as much yet). I love the smell and feel in the air as people begin to come outside and play volleyball in the sand at Winthrop Lake, go on walks in the evening, and enjoy time on your front or back porch. The transition from winter to spring is an amazing one and I know that very easily makes a symbolic leap to death and the resurrection. So don’t get me wrong, I love this time of year, but I can’t say that I enjoy Good Friday. It’s like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler’s List where it’s not something that you watch every day to lift your spirits, but it’s something you know you need to watch at least once to recognize the sacrifice and the weight of what was cost.

I hate to pick favorite anything’s but Advent and Christmas are probably hands down my favorite time of year. It’s such a powerful witness to me that the great God of the universe decided to come as a baby and dwell among us. Emmanuel, fully human and fully divine, is such a super big deal. You can’t have Easter without that in-breaking of the kingdom where God became a vulnerable baby right here in all of our human frailty and all the kaleidoscope of human experience. In some ways it’s the same reasons that I love watching The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston the night before Easter every year. There’s something about when Moses says,” I want to know God,” as he longs to go on the mountain, and something sacred and special about this God who speaks and delivers the people. There’s something about Ramses in the movie when challenged to cry out to his gods for help saying about Moses’ God, “His God, is God.” A God that could have anything or do anything God wants, that chooses to be in relationship with God’s people, that chooses to bring deliverance and justice, and that chooses to be present in the midst of suffering – that is something more powerful than any adjective could describe.

In thinking about Easter, I think a lot of my unease is around Good Friday. It’s easy for us to lift up the tiny baby Jesus a la Ricky Bobby or in pictures and greeting cards, but you don’t see people sending out greeting cards or putting giant pictures of Jesus still hanging on the cross, crucified with the nails and the blood and the crown of thorns. It’s easy to believe in this present and loving God that chooses to be with us, it’s a little harder to take the responsibility that all the suffering he did on the cross was for us. That’s a little more weighty and pricks our pride a bit for those that think works or merit or self-seeking is what makes things happen, which is why I think we often rush straight from Palm Sunday right on to Easter and the resurrection. We know it ends well and it’s all good and grace for us, but it’s hard to hear the words from Gethsemane, “Father, take this cup from me.” It’s hard to read about the suffering much less watch anything like the Passion where we get an up-close and personal look. If we really believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. If we believe that this innocent man was martyred for us, how does that change how we live our lives? Does it? Sometimes Easter makes the sacrifice look easy and the grace that’s thrown out in bushel-full’s seem simple. But then I think about Peter and the other disciple running as fast as they can to the tomb and Mary weeping there. This was real and personal and not something just long ago, but something that affects each of us as Jesus calls our name.

How would you describe Easter? How would you describe what Jesus did? Using real life language, what would you say? In thinking about how to describe the Easter story to Enoch and Evy in ways that they understand, do I just pop in a Veggie Tales video on Easter or read them a children’s book or hope they pick up something at church? How do we explain to the world what Easter means, not just the cute little baby Jesus, but the full scope of the story?

There’s a line to a song that I heard the other day that says “there’s no hope without suffering.” There’s no hope without suffering. I don’t know if that’s wholly true all the time, but I do believe that the hope born from suffering is a real and sustaining hope indeed. What kind of resurrection hope are we offering our world? This isn’t a hope that tells you that everything in life is going to be easy or rainbows and butterflies. It’s much like our South Carolina motto, “While I breathe, I hope.” This is a hope that says that no matter what, even on the darkest of days, that God is with you. Sin and death have been conquered and new life, eternal life, abundant life, is offered in Christ. No more do we have to make the same mistakes over and over, but through the power and grace of God and the Spirit that intercedes for us, we have the promise of something more in this life and a story unfolding far more magnificent, magical, and miraculous than any royal wedding, any Lifetime or Hallmark movie, or anything we may try to do on our own. Beyond any “greatest story ever told” this God of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, and everything in between – this God is seeking us and calling us to live this resurrection life out loud in the world by loving God, loving our neighbor, and loving ourselves to know that we don’t have to do it all, but we just have to depend on the One who did it for us.

Still love this song for Easter…