Easter People Proclaiming God’s Glory in Cyber Space

Devotion by: Gil Miller

John 20:19-22

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’

Matthew 18:20

'For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

Here are some final last thoughts as we close the 2007 edition of the Christ the King Lutheran Lenten Devotions.

Nature proclaims the glory of God in so many ways. As Easter and dogwood blooms many times arrive together during April in Northern Virginia, the dogwood has become my favorite reminder of the Christ’s gift of grace to all of us. The legend of the dogwood was first told to me as a boy by my mother and then was enhanced for me last year by Pastor Gysan.

The poetic version of this legend goes like this:

In Jesus' time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.
'Twas strong & firm it's branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
"Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so
Slender & twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom's center wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony."

Just as Christ overcame death on the cross, so does the dogwood overcome the winter to proclaim the wonder and glory of the Lord. And, just as the dogwood tree proclaims His wonder and glory, so have the Lenten devotions published since Ash Wednesday. And responding to Christ’s direction – “as the Father has sent me, so I send you” – we go forth into cyber space proclaiming the His glory.

As you read this page, recognize that you are part of a community of fellow believers:

>1,010 unique individuals who have visited the Lenten devotions blog site from 50 US cities and 24 international cities on 4 continents
>57 subscribers who receive devotions via an email message each morning
>the many members of the extended Christ the King Lutheran family who read in printed form

And since Christ told us – “where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there” – we know that he is among this truly unique community separated not only by space, but also time. Just as the Advent devotions were read not only in December, but also in February, our Lenten devotions will be read for months to come. And as Christ is working among and through this community, his message of grace, love, and healing is making a difference in people’s lives. Consider these comments posted at the Lenten devotions blog site:

>"Thank you! These wonderful devotions are just what I needed. The every changing earthly body wreaks havoc with my contemplative prayer routine. Appreciate you thinking about me and for sending this blessing as well."
>Boy, today's posting surely hit home with me!! I have enjoyed reading them each day, but somehow this one spoke eloquently to me. Thanks."
>"This has been an especially difficult time for us with our congregation going through turmoil so your messages have meant so very much and I have forwarded them on to other members of our congregation. "

PRAYER: Father, as we close the 2007 Lenten Devotion, we again give thanks for the gift of your Son. As you sent your Son, help us in this community of believers to remember that He sends us, like the dogwood blooms, to proclaim your glory in the world. Amen.

Epilogue

Devotion by: Greg Maxwell

Psalm 116:1-2

I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

In this psalm, the anonymous author sings praises for being saved from certain death. It reminds us that worship is a thankful response to the blessings granted to us by God and not a repayment for what God has done in our lives. The footnote for this verse in my Life Application Study Bible provides us the following guidance: “God is so responsive that you can always reach him. He bends down and listens to your voice.” The psalmist expresses love for our Lord that has grown because he experienced answers to his prayers. Why is it that most of us turn to God in prayer only when we are discouraged? Do we take God for granted when times are good? Do we seem to think that when times are good, we don’t need God as much in our life? We need to remember that God is near, always listening carefully to our every prayer and answering each prayer in ways that we may not immediately understand or realize. But if we do not ask, how can we expect God to hear us?

Sometimes we find it difficult to ask each other for forgiveness. Our sinful pride gets in the way and we are reluctant to ask for forgiveness, fearing that the person from whom we have begged forgiveness will refuse to grant us that forgiveness. We perceive that asking for forgiveness would be interpreted as a sign of weakness, or perhaps we fear the other person will attach conditions upon that forgiveness. Perhaps if we first ask God for forgiveness and ask for his support, we might find that with God’s help, the other person will look upon us with mercy and grace and grant us that forgiveness that God so freely gives to us without asking anything in return.

Later in this psalm, the author asks how he can repay the Lord for all the goodness granted to him. He then responds by promising to fulfill his vows to the Lord, by recognizing that he is a servant to the Lord, and by making a sacrificial thank offering to the Lord. Surely God is responding to the psalmist’s request by providing those answers to him in prayer. Our congregation here at Christ the King has the opportunity to offer a thankful response to God for all the blessings he has granted to us over these past 25 years by making a sacrificial thank offering as part of our Silver to Gold capital campaign. I hope you will join me in asking God for guidance and courage to make that sacrificial offering at this time.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we offer our thankful response to the blessings you have granted us, the greatest blessing being the sacrifice of your son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of his sacrifice, our prayers have been answered and we are saved from eternal death. We ask that you continue to encourage us to seek you in thoughtful prayer and we ask for you to guide us in serving you. Amen.

Commitment: Easter

Devotion by: Pastor Paul Gysan

Acts 20:28-36

Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.

Easter is the greatest festival day of the church year! Christ is risen, He is risen indeed !!!!!!! Let the seven exclamation points after that last statement represent the feast of weeks – seven weeks of celebration. During this celebration we are having our own “Silver” anniversary, with a high point being next Sunday when we gather at 10:00 am for a special 25^th anniversary worship celebration. Wouldn’t be wonderful to fill the sanctuary, narthex, and other areas of the building with worshippers excited about the news of Jesus’ resurrection? We will celebrate our vision of “Connecting the World with God’s Grace” and we will claim our place as Easter people who enable this to happen.

Thanks to our crucified and risen Lord Jesus, nothing need ever be the same again. Nothing! We see that in the life of St. Paul. Before departing for Jerusalem by boat he invited the elders of Ephesus, a few miles from the port of Miletus, to come to him. Upon their arrival he spoke to them from the heart, and showed he cared nothing about his own life, only about the mission on which God sent him. Paul through his travels was “connecting the world with God’s grace.”

Paul in verse 33 says, “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.” Beginning in vs. 35 we read, “In all of this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Following this he knelt down and prayed with them, they brought him to the ship, and he set sail for Jerusalem. This scene is captured in a stained-glass window in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Ohio in memory of Rector Frederick Brooks. Underneath the window are the words, “Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they should see his face no more.”

Our risen Lord Jesus conquered death! Someday we shall be reunited with our loved ones, along with St. Paul and the whole company of saints. Thankfully we remember words of our loved ones, but most all let us remember the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

St. Paul lived those words, and he challenged the elders from Ephesus and each of us to do the same as we “shepherd the church of God.” In verse 32 Paul wrote “and now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.” With lives filled with Easter grace and thanksgiving, I challenge you to commit yourself to capture the vision of Christ, and claim its mission. See you next Sunday at 10 am. It’s a great Easter day in the life of Christ the King Lutheran Church.

PRAYER: Spirit of the Risen Lord, descend upon us we pray! Bless this day as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, and bless this week as this celebration and joy continues via many opportunities to gather. Bring us back next Sunday as we worship you and celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of our congregation. Prayerfully lead each one of us to ask the question, “what can I sacrificially do to further the ministry of Christ the King Lutheran Church through my gift to this campaign.” In the name of our risen Lord. Amen.