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| Christ Jesus feeds the 5,000. What is he calling us to do? |
As I sit down to write the Eastertide edition of this column, Quincy, the West Highland White Terrier, sits belly deep in the overgrown red clover behind our home surveying his domain. Rawley, the Cairn terrier, languishes with me on the back porch in an exile which is completely lost on him. Last night’s encounter with some local wildlife led to a brouhaha which lasted very audibly until about one o’clock in the morning. Like most of his breed, he is not to be trusted. Faithful old Pat, the white hound, sleeps behind me. His arthritic and bony frame reveals his age and condition, but he is still a good friend of long acquaintance. And so here, in the midst of the beauty of the countryside, I sit with my friends to write about the possibilities afforded us by the risen Christ.
Several recent conversations with parishioners have focused on the very issue of possibilities in Christ. Last night at Nicks over pizza, I challenged our middle school youth to be thinking about a service project they could do to show the love of Jesus to someone. We talked about the possibility of doing some yard work for an elderly member of our church, or volunteering to do some painting for someone who can‘t afford to have it done, or planting potatoes and pulling weeds for the Common Friars in Athens (and then staying to pray Evening Prayer with the community!) Ivan and I met after last week’s mission committee meeting and talked about how many of our folks are involved in prison ministry, and what we as a church might do to help released prisoners to reintegrate into society. I received an e-mail today from a friend about how we might support the work of Wycliffe Translators, whose purpose is to provide the Scriptures in every known language on the planet in this generation. Jenn e-mailed over the weekend to ask if I knew anyone who might like to usher at the 10:30 service. I was contacted this week by the Gideons about how we might support their work to provide Bibles free of charge to those who cannot afford them around the world. I met recently with Mike and Barb about how we might continue to support our community’s National Day of Prayer observance where people of faith come together at the behest of our leaders in Washington to pray for and support those individuals and institutions which bring us stability, opportunity, and security. I was on the phone yesterday when Paul came in to collect our weekly donation of food for the local pantry, but his faithfulness reminded me that we can do much to help our neighbors in need. Today, I received a gift catalogue from Food for the Poor, and have been thumbing through it to see what Rebecca and I might donate on behalf of Margaret and Helen, our grand daughters, to help our friends in the Caribbean and Latin America. Perhaps this year we will donate a swarm of bees or some pigs.
The possibilities around us for living out the Easter message are endless. I hope that all of us at St. John’s and beyond might prayerfully consider what God would have us to do to show the love of the risen Christ to those who are made in the image of God, to those for whom Christ died. It is through concrete expressions of our love for each other and for the people around us that those outside the church will be drawn to hear our teaching, to experience our worship, and to give their hearts and lives to Jesus, who by his resurrection offers to us the gift of eternal life. If you are having a hard time making up your mind, I invite you to call me at 740/215-3900, or e-mail me at rector@stjohnlancaster.org. And of course, you can always catch me after church. I would like nothing better than to sit down with you and prayerfully seek how God might have you to serve him.
Faithfully,
Bill+
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