Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

congruity (kən-’grü-ə-tē) - the quality or state of being congruous : agreement

It is not in any lists of spiritual disciplines but remains one of the goals of our Christian life. Bringing our daily life into agreement with the truth we proclaim is the work of a lifetime. Thursday’s collect understands this.

Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith

What God does and how he does it are never in conflict. In Him, the means and the ends are always congruent. What’s already true of God is becoming true in our lives. Maybe slowly, in fits and starts, but it is coming. Through the Paschal mystery, in his death and resurrection, Christ draws us up to that place where what we proclaim and how we live are congruent. A faith less fragmented is an important witness to our atomized world.

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, two of his followers walked to Emmaus, and Jesus walked with them. They did not know it was him. The fact that Jesus was brutally executed 48 hours earlier affected their perception. Maybe Jesus concealed his true identity for some greater purpose. Or, maybe, in his glorified body, Jesus looked much, much different. We don’t know. But we do know what they initially did not; it was Jesus walking with them. (see Luke 24:13-49)

True to form, Jesus opts to reveal himself in a manner consistent with his earthly life: humbly, quietly. Instead of the standard, “Guess who? It’s me!” he waits until they eat. Jesus gives thanks for the bread, breaks the bread, and then voila! They see him for who he really is. What more appropriate way to show himself than at a meal with friends?

Of course, this meal with friends is still celebrated today. At every Wheatland worship service, we pause and allow Jesus to reveal himself again in “the breaking of the bread.” When you come forward for the Lord’s Supper, remember that you are receiving the bread and the cup from Christ himself. By revealing himself in this way, he makes the mundane sublime.

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

Death is the enemy. But the resurrection of Jesus reminds us of death’s defeat. We’ve been given a glimpse of what is coming when “there will be no more death.” (Rev 21:4)

The collect reminds us that “Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light.” When we pay attention to the resurrected Christ, we remember what’s most true of life and death. We learn what’s most important about ourselves. Life has been unleashed through Jesus’ resurrection, and death has been defeated. We still feel its sting, but hope in the promise of resurrection.

The rain could not dampen the joy of Easter morning. As always, the worship was wonderful and filled with joy. Click on our FB Group to enjoy some of the beauty of yesterday morning, complete with Easter hymns and the Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom. (You’ll want to scroll ahead to 20:45)

This is Easter Week. Look here, or in your e-mail, each day this week for the Daily Collect that celebrates the joy of Jesus’ resurrection as we anticipate our own. Christ is risen!!! (You bet he is!)

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

St. John Chrysostom’s Paschal Homily is preached every Easter in Orthodox Churches worldwide and at Wheatland! Listen to it here (this one was preached at St. George in Wichita) - read it here - or, in case you missed it, here are some thoughts on it from earlier this week - Golden Mouth Does It Again

You can hear it in person, this Sunday morning, at Wheatland’s Easter Morning Service. (Map to Easter morning)

This thoroughly Christian poem comes to us through an unlikely source, the novelist, John Updike. He’s the author of The Witches of Eastwick, Roger’s Version, and the Rabbit series. With some brief commentary, you can hear the poem here - 7 Stanzas Live, or read it at the Gospel Coalition - 7 Stanzas.

Amelia McKee writes about art in the life of the church. In this post she has us look at the crucifix and reflect on the meaning of the cross. Let us always reflect on the cross and especially today. — The Cross and the Paschal Mystery

On this note, here is prayer for Fridays. Pay special attention to the last line,

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace: through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

Enjoy this delightful reflection on 8th Day Books and the callings we all have been called to. From Emily Freeman — Your Vocation is Not Cancelled

This little post is better than I thought and a fun little read. Enjoy! (Especially you Nate Hansen.) — 10 Reasons

A new “classic” Easter song and one we sing at Wheatland.

A slightly older “classic” Easter song by Keith Green. (Originally, 2 Chapter of Acts.)

Condemnation is a burden. It’s more of a burden for the one who condemns than the condemned. Often the judged are blissfully unaware of what we think of them—lucky them. Being a judge is hard. The responsibility of being right to such a degree that another is wrong is an unbearable burden, and one Jesus worked hard to free us from.

St. Ephrem knew this. He speaks to it toward the end of his prayer,

Yes! O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors, and not to judge my brother or sister, for thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

What Ephrem knew and we are learning is that the love of God requires self-awareness. This is one reason our weekly prayer of repentance is so beneficial. It is an opportunity to see ourselves as we really are. We are wounded and sinful, but we are loved even more. It’s critical we learn this. Jesus’ journey to the cross was not against his will—he went there for us. When God thinks of us, he’s not chewing on antacids. He is smiling.

To love God well requires that we know that we are not God. Does this seem obvious? Maybe, but that doesn’t keep us from trying.

What Ephrem knew and we are learning is that to love our brother or sister is to suspend our judgments of them. Our judgments keep us dishonest. Our judgments keep us unavailable. Our judgments move us from the command to love into the role of accuser. A role even Jesus refused. (John 8:1-11) To avoid the burden of condemnation is to begin to love. And St. Ephrem himself would agree that to love our brothers and sisters is to love God.

Self-awareness leads to less judgment/condemnation of others. The more we experience God's love in worship, prayer, and friendship with his people, the freer we will be from the burden of judgment.

Like St. Ephrem the Syrian, Wendell Berry is a poet. (St. Wendell the Kentuckian?) What Ephrem and Wendell Berry knew/know is the health of self-forgetfulness.

“The Health of Self-Forgetfulness”

I know for a while again
the health of self-forgetfulness,
looking out at the sky through
a notch in the valleyside,
the black woods wintry on
the hills, small clouds at sunset
passing across. And I know
that this is one of the thresholds
between Earth and Heaven,
from which even I may step
forth and be free.

With this sermon, Bob Mueller has moved up to the A Team, finally. (In truth he has always been there. You can hear about it starting at :14 min.)

Bob deftly takes the story of the Prodigal, Palm Sunday, and the resurrection of Jesus weaving them together so we can see God’s big plan. Not only does he do that, but he puts Don Carson and William Lane Craig, in conversation with Rudolf Bultmann and the Passover Plot. (Let the reader understand.)

I encourage you to give Bob’s sermon a listen. It is top shelf stuff!

St. Ephrem continues his “but give rather” portion of his prayer, asking for “patience and love.”

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to your servant.

Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother or sister, for thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

Christian faith is not just a list of “Thou shall nots.” Sin, that thing we are to resist, isn’t bigger than God. But it clouds our perception of God and harms our capacity to receive what God longs to give.

The Christian faith does include a list of “Thou shalls.” These positive activities don’t make us more presentable to God, we are loved regardless, but they help us enjoy God’s company. When Ephrem has us pray for patience and love, he simply encourages us to live where God is.

Patience and love are so closely intertwined that they are hard to tell apart. (“Love is patient.” - I Cor 13) Patience may be one of the clearest expressions of love, but as time’s passengers, it’s one we recognize only with time’s passing.

The old joke goes something like this, “Don’t pray for patience God may just give it to you!” Of course, the implication is that God will take us through an experience that is difficult enough to make us develop that patience we are asking for.

But how would we even know that we have grown in patience if it weren’t tested, and tested with intensity? The writer Alexander Schmemann writes,

The “natural” or “fallen” man is impatient, for being blind to himself he is quick to judge and to condemn others. Having but a broken, incomplete, and distored knowledge of everything, measures all things by his tastes and ideas. Being indifferent to everyone except himself, he wants life to be successful right here and now.

The foundation of impatience is pride (I am the center of all that is and I deserve what I want) and a lack of empathy (no experience is like mine). But God invites us to receive a share of his patience by living in his proximity. Schmemman continues,

Patience however, is truly a divine virtue. God is patient not because he is “indulgent,” but because He sees the depth of all that exists, because the inner reality of things, which in our blindness we do not see, is open to Him. The closer we come to God, the more patient we grow and the more we reflect that infinite respect for all beings which is the proper quality of God. - The Great Lent, pg. 37

Ultimately, our patience is tested not merely with our human neighbors, or even ourselves, but with God himself.

The Parable of the Prodigals is open-ended. We celebrate because the younger son has come come but we don’t know if he stays. We are chastened by the older brother’s aloofness but we don’t know if we warms up to the father’s love. It’s not unfinished, it’s story is left open for us to enter.

The father loves each son and gives each the freedom to be what he can, but he cannot give them freedom they will not take nor adequately understand. The father seems to realize, beyond the customs of his society, the need of his sons to be themselves. But he also knows their need for his love and a “home.” How their stories will be completed is up to them. The fact that the parable is not completed makes it certain that the father’s love is not dependent upon an appropriate completion of the story. The father’s love is only dependent on himself and remains part of his character. As Shakespeare says in one of his sonnets: “Love is not love which alters when it alterations finds.” - Arthur Freeman, in The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen

After last week’s Wheatland-Hilltop Extravaganza, I asked Paul if I could commandeer “For the Love of Links” this week. Surprised to find that there is absolutely no vetting process, he said yes. So, welcome to FTLOL - Hilltop edition.

In my sermon last Saturday night, I quoted James Bryan Smith quoting Dallas Willard (or, more accurately, I quoted Paul Hill quoting James Bryan Smith quoting Dallas Willard). Praying for other churches is something Wheatland has prioritized for years. I’d say that last Saturday night’s celebration was just some of the fruit of that prayer. Prayer will only nourish and deepen friendship. I encourage you to read this brief excerpt from JBS. - The Most Important Job

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As I think about the many things that Wheatland and Hilltop can learn from one another, I am often reminded of this study from the NY Times a few years ago. While not comprehensive, I have found this idea to be true. - Rich and Poor Friendships

In the past 4 -5 years, I have read several books on addiction. Kent Dunnington’s “Addiction and Virtue” is by far the best. Not only because of the way he recommends serving those in addiction, but even more so how he shows how addiction is “a kind of embodied cultural critique of modernity and the addict a kind of unwitting modern prophet” - Addiction As Modern Prophet

New and deeper questions always lead to deeper friendships. I’m sure we could all learn how to inquire more of those we love. This list of questions from last year is one I keep in my phone and return to now and then. - Thoughtful Questions For Deeper Conversations

I try (very clumsily) to do a quarterly Hilltop ministry update for those who are interested in a very small taste of how to pray for Katie and me in our ministry at Hilltop. Here is my Winter Newsletter. The Spring Newsletter is forthcoming. As the Church that sent me to Hilltop and supports my being there in so many ways, I am deeply grateful to Wheatland for getting to be at Hilltop. - Hansen Family Winter Newsletter

57 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in Nashville one day after delivering his “I have a dream speech.” On this dark day, it is good for us to remember an American saint.

Finally, for no other reason than to celebrate friendship (and because Paul gave me the FTLOL power this week) here is a clip from a very obscure movie about that celebrated friendship.

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