What lens are you wearing?

 Easter III 2023 (April 23)

Why can’t see disciples see Jesus as they walk with him on the road to Emmaus?  (Luke 24)

Pastor Rob suggests that what lenses we wear in life powerfully impact why we can see.  (The glasses in this image are from the movie National Treasure; without them, one cannot see the treasure map on the Declaration of Independence). After witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples are looking at life through a lens of violence, defeat and death; Jesus must renew their lenses of resurrection.

Likewise in our lives, Jesus also needs to renew the lenses of resurrection, that we can see his presence in worship but also on the road of life.

The glasses above were for sale on Ebay.

The Gardener

 Easter Sunday 2023

Jesus is assumed to be a gardener by one of his early followers on Easter morning.

This is not a coincidence.  Pastor Rob reflects on how Jesus must be raised in a garden, for the restoration of the garden is his mission.  However grand though, this mission is, like a good gardener, Jesus tends to each person individually, including you.  A reflection on how THE gardener, Jesus Christ, connects the cosmic with the individual as he restores THE garden.

The photo comes from a Best Pick Reports gardening website.

Encountering Jesus, Palm Sunday: Judas and the Poor

 Palm Sunday, April 2 2023

Jesus rebukes Judas, telling him “The Poor will always be with you.”  These are words that can feed our growing cynicism, if not our greed.

Pastor Rob reflects on where we’ve been in John’s Gospel, showing how Jesus’ actions are again and again about helping the people in need, in poverty and on the margins.  It turns out that we cannot eliminate all the problems in the world, but we are called embrace and serve our neighbor.  Jesus words to Judas about the poor being with us remind us to turn our attention away from the big, grand problems that are beyond us and turn our gaze to the people who need our help.

This Lent we focused on encountering Jesus.  Pastor Rob concludes the sermon by reflecting on how we encounter Jesus in serving others and our need for something more than Palm Sunday.

The picture is of the youth helping to read our Gospel reading, in which Jesus encounters Judas.