All the Sin of humanity killed the Son of God on the cross. But all the Sin of humanity couldn’t keep him in the grave. On Easter, we yell: Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Christ is victorious over Sin and Death! Come celebrate the mystery of our salvation this Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday on Apr 12-13 and climaxing on Easter on Apr 20.
We don’t need to worry about our relationship with God—our sins are forgiven! We don’t need to worry about death—Christ has opened the way to eternal healing and life!
So, what do we do now? We don’t need to spend our time and energy trying to prove ourselves to God or anyone else. We don’t need to invest in ways to deny death.
This is Christian Freedom—the freedom given because Jesus is alive to focus our energies on loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The whole Christian life is a response to Jesus being alive and answering the question: now what?
Throughout Lent, we recited the Ten Commandments and I heard many ways the Holy Spirit worked through that to answer the question.
Starting on April 27, we’ll share another way we can answer “now what?” We’ll give everyone a “pledge card” to consider signing. These are based on cards that Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth wrote for those who came to participate in the Birmingham bus boycotts from 1955 to 1956. When I read them, I thought, “this is a great way to respond to Christ!” (You can see the language of the original card at https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Nonviolence_pledge.)
Consider this way of responding to Christ and new life in him:
Because Jesus has saved me and made me his own forever apart from my works (Eph 2:8-10), I pledge my heart, soul, mind, and strength and ask God to help me:
PRAY daily to be used by God in order that all people would be free in Christ
MEDITATE daily on the teachings and life of Jesus
SEE friend, foe, family, and stranger as my neighbors for whom God has called me to care
WALK and TALK in the manner of love, for God is love
SEEK to perform regular service for others & the world
REFRAIN from violence of hand, mouth, or heart
STRIVE to be in good spiritual, emotional, & physical health so I may serve God and my neighbor
GATHER regularly with other Christians to strengthen faith in God and the community of St John’s
GIVE my time, energy, and money to the Church & others in need without expectation of reward
CHANGE my thoughts and habits that distract me from doing these and other actions that show Christ
New members already heard about this in March--we’ll be inviting you into conversation about these 10 ways to respond to the good news that Jesus is alive!
Trusting in Christ and his resurrection,
Pastor Peter
