Mount Olivet UMC

If Jesus is Lord of all Creation, then Dr. Stanley Hauerwas is correct in his assertion that everything else is...

There is no urgency in the church other than to proclaim God's amazing grace. The only urgency is the urgency of grace.

As we celebrate the Easter season, we are living into hope together. We have pondered joy, love, and strength during hard times. Today we are considering our identity as followers of Jesus. We are like living rocks and our value comes from the God who loves us and claims us!

Last Sunday we explored the concept of loving each other “deeply from the heart,” not to be better at doing good, but because we are first loved by God. Today we celebrate our freedom from sin through the healing power of Christ. Jesus is our good shepherd who welcomes us home, into the safety of the fold, where he will guard our souls.

Last Sunday we explored the joy of Easter and today we turn our attention to verse 22 in our epistle reading. "Love one another deeply from the heart." 1 Peter is imploring us to love one another not because it is a good idea to be a loving person, rather we are to "Love one another deeply from the heart" because we are first loved by God. There's been no greater display of God's love for humanity than on the cross, and there's been no greater display of the power of God's love than in the empty tomb.

While the brass, guest conductor, Easter lilies, and pomp and circumstance of Easter Sunday are gone, we continue our celebration of Christ’s victory over death. Peter’s letter opens with a blessing to God for our living hope through Christ’s resurrection, even amid difficult circumstances and surroundings. While life’s difficulties never seem to cease, the same is true of the Church’s Easter proclamation. We are full of hope and joy because of the power of God’s mighty triumph over the grave.

We have journeyed through the wilderness of the Season of Lent for 40 days. Together we have explored themes of racial justice, healing, reconciling, hope, and liberation. Like the redemptive work of the cross, our journey is not complete but just beginning. We enter into this new Easter season full of hope in the power of transformation and wholeness.

We celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. With the crowd, we shout our hosannas and wave our palms. We transition to the passion of Christ, foreshadowing the somber Holy Work that is before us as we anticipate the glory of the resurrection.

As we move towards the events of Palm Sunday and Easter we take the time to ask about Hope. Walking through a classic but difficult story, we as the people of God, are invited to speak challenging truths in our own lives and in the life of our communities. At times it can be hard to see any hope in the on-going struggle for racial justice in our nation. But we believe that the story of Job speaks a truth necessary to begin dreaming and hoping for a richer and vibrant future.

We cannot carry the message of God's reconciling work apart from God. All of us, every single person on this planet, whether they or we like it or not, are in Christ Jesus. It has been that way since we were formed in the image of God, and it remains that way when we finish the race and rest in Christ.