Tag: Resurrection of Jesus

THREE DAYS OF AMAZING GRACE

The Three Days, also known as the Triduum in Latin, takes place at the climax of Holy Week, and it’s actually one worship service in three parts over three days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Saturday Easter Vigil.

First comes Triduum Part I (Maundy Thursday), and the word “Maundy” means mandate or commandment, referring to the Love Commandment of Jesus Christ our Lord. Consequently, Maundy Thursday centers on Jesus’ command for us to love one another as he loves us. It is also the night we commemorate the instituting of the Lord’s Supper. Then, at the end of this first part of the Triduum, the lights are dimmed and the altar is stripped bare while Psalm 22 is read, foreshadowing the commemoration of the crucifixion of our Lord on Good Friday.

Second comes Triduum Part II (Good Friday), and this day is the second part of the liturgy of The Three Days, extending from Maundy Thursday through Saturday Easter Vigil (Easter Eve). As the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world gathers to remember the suffering and death of Jesus on this day, the altar is dressed in black, and we focus on the significance of the sacrificial love that Jesus showed us upon the cross of Calvary. In this way, Good Friday brings us to the foot of the cross, where Jesus bore our sins and died in our place. Here we stand before the cross, beholding the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world [see John 1:29].

Third comes Triduum Part III (Saturday Easter Vigil), and this is the night when Christians around the world gather to celebrate Christ’s passage from darkness to light, from death to life. The Easter Vigil service is the other candlelight service of the Church calendar. This special service includes powerful signs: a “new fire” burning in a fire pit outside the church, the Christ Candle lit from the new fire, our handheld candles lit from the Christ Candle, the Word of our Baptismal Covenant declared, and the very first Eucharistic Meal of Eastertime received. As the altar is changed from the darkness of Good Friday to the white and gold of heavenly light, we are the first to exclaim, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!”

For Lutherans, the Triduum is the very heart of the Christian year. Far from a mere historical remembrance, the Triduum invites us to encounter the Living Christ, and through faith, we are united in the awe and wonder of his victory. Maundy Thursday calls us to love and serve as Christ did, and to be strengthened and kept in true faith by his body broken and blood shed for us, received in bread and wine. Good Friday anchors us in the cross as the source of our atonement and reconciliation with God. And Saturday Easter Vigil proclaims the new light and life we possess, showered upon us in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, which changes everything for us.

Again, Maundy Thursday calls you to love and to receive grace. Good Friday anchors you in Christ’s atoning sacrifice and forgiveness, even when your life seems to be falling apart. Saturday Easter Vigil steadies you to wait on God’s timing to bring light anew and life everlasting. So the Triduum isn’t just three holy days — it’s a way of life. We live as those who are set free. When guilt creeps in, remind yourself that your sins died with Jesus on the cross and stayed behind in the tomb when he rose again. When fear of death looms, cling to the promise of your own resurrection made possible by his. And always celebrate small victories, like a kind word or a mended relationship, as echoes of the big victory of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ our Savior.

Blessed Triduum & Happy Easter!!! Pastor Tim

THE EASTER EGG & THE EMPTY TOMB

Although Christianity is essentially a form of Judaism, over the centuries the Christian Faith has incorporated and inculcated itself into the various cultures of Pagan societies. So Christianity’s spiritual inheritance is a blend of ancient Hebrew faith mixed with some Christianized archaic Pagan practices. And while this fact is often greatly overstated these days by those who wish to discredit and malign Christianity, the reality is that Christian observances (such as the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ) include some formerly Pagan elements as well. Consequently, things like colored eggs, bunny rabbits, and so on, have been given new and eternal significance by the grace and truth of God revealed in Christ our Savior. For “God has placed all things under Christ’s feet and has made him the head over all things for the church…” (Ephesians 1:22).  

Moreover, while the name of the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus maintains its Hebrew roots in many non-English languages (Pascha in Greek, Pascua in Spanish, etc.), in English the name of this most holy of all Christian holy days is taken from an Anglo-Saxon spring festival centered on the goddess Eostre, a Germanic goddess of the sunrise whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. So this is only the case in English (Easter) and German (Ostern), not in other languages. In most languages, the paschal connection between the celebrations of Passover and Holy Week is maintained, stemming from the Hebrew root word of Pesach.

Now that all this has been said, how are we Christians to regard symbols like colored Easter eggs?

The egg is an obvious candidate for a resurrection symbol of renewal and regeneration. The egg has been honored during many spring rites throughout the ages: Egyptians, Jews, Persians, Romans, Celts, and even the Chinese, have all understood the egg as representing new beginnings. Whether it was the commencement of building a bridge across a river, sowing a field of wheat, or launching a new fishing boat, the egg was used as an emblem of renewal. So Christians naturally adopted the egg symbol to specifically and preeminently represent the new life received through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus. For, again, “God has placed all things under Christ’s feet and has made him the head over all things for the church…”

The good news is that God enacts, establishes and extends his absolute love for all nations and peoples through the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ the Son of God, offering the free gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life to everyone by God’s grace through faith. Therefore, according to the biblical gospel, Christianity ascribes the ancient Hebrew symbolism of the Passover lamb and the archaic Pagan symbolism of the decorated egg to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Universal Messiah.

So for us Christians, a colored Easter egg (and its emptied shell after eating it) represents the empty tomb, and it calls us to be empty tombs as well. For the truth is that we can sometimes be overwhelmed by our unrealized expectations, disappointments, losses and grief; we can sometimes be overcome by despair, frustration and an apocalyptic mood. We can become so spiritually and emotionally severe that we become tombs filled with the deadly stench of judgment and condemnation, directed at ourselves and others. However, we must realize that we cannot force the Kingdom of God to be perfectly manifest in others any more than we can force God’s Kingdom to be perfectly manifest in ourselves. So we must love and forgive ourselves and others, just as God loves us and forgives us in Christ.

In other words, by the grace of God, let us become empty tombs in our lives — empty of our desire to control and our attachment to specific outcomes. By God’s grace, we must LET GO and LET GOD! By God’s sovereign grace and will, let us TRUST IN THE LORD and be at peace. God is the Lord of human history (including you and me) and God’s steadfast love endures forever.

“O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:2)

Blessed & Happy Eastertime!!! Pastor Tim

JUST GETTING STARTED

After Jesus’ crucifixion, death and burial, the disciples thought all was lost. They deeply grieved the death of their beloved teacher and friend. They felt post traumatic stress and overwhelming despair concerning the events of Jesus’ arrest, trial, torture and execution. They also feared retribution for their association with Jesus. They even wondered if anything Jesus said and did was true, questioning if they had backed the right messianic contender.

Everything was falling apart. Everything was broken. Was it all for naught? Was it all coming to an end?

You know, this past December marked two years since my family and I moved to La Crescenta, and I’ve realized that April marks one entire year of strict COVID-19 protocols for our congregation. While we have maintained online sermons, devotionals and worship throughout this whole timeframe, we actually went without in-person worship from April to June of 2020, resuming in-person worship in July. And barring fires and inclement weather, we have faithfully kept The Lord’s Day each week with in-person worship services since July, as well as with drive-thru and YouTube options.

So about half of the time my family and I have lived here has been during COVID restrictions, and all of us as a congregation have journeyed together during this difficult time of national and communal loss, fear and stress. Consequently, we might have some of the same thoughts and feelings that the early disciples had right after Jesus’ death prior to his resurrection.

We might wonder… Are basic community institutions (congregations, fraternities, service clubs, etc.) coming to an end? Are the functions of these fundamental institutions being superseded and replaced by centralized state programs? Is religious faith and spiritually at an end? Is Christianity in America coming to an end? Or is God just getting started?

We often forget that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ took place at some point during the night. The empty tomb was discovered on Easter Sunday morning (John 20:1-18), but the resurrection itself happened in the darkness. So, even while the disciples were under a self-imposed lockdown, with an emotional and spiritual pall of darkness over their hearts and minds, the truth is that the resurrection happened during the darkest hours of night.

This gospel truth of the resurrection of Jesus happening in the darkness of night is a wonderful metaphor for what’s happening right now. Our families, small businesses, schools, and community institutions like our congregation, are all feeling the distress and desperation of this past year, but we are starting to see the light at the end of this long tunnel. As the vaccinations continue at a warp speed pace throughout our nation, we are beginning to see signs of renewal and emergence.

Resurrection is happening, brothers and sisters. Restoration is happening. God is just getting started with us. Thanks be to God that we are just getting started!

Blessed Holy Week & Happy Easter!!! Pastor Tim