Sunday, April 20 - Easter Day: The Rev. Lex Breckinridge

John 20:1-18. I have seen the Lord.

It was only the day before yesterday that Mary Magdalene had been sitting in another place, waiting. It was on a hilltop in a place called Golgotha. She was sitting beneath a wooden cross. Hanging on that cross was her teacher and friend. He was dying a slow, painful death. Like many approaching their last hours or moments, her friend’s mouth was dry. He said, “I am thirsty.” After receiving a sponge soaked with a little sour wine, the friend hanging a few feet above her spoke what she imagined were the last words she would ever hear from him. “It is finished.”

But it turns out that it is not finished. Early on a Sunday morning, before the sun is up, Mary Magdalene waits in another place. This time in a garden in front of a tomb. The last time she had waited with her friend, she knew what she was waiting for. His death. She was present with her friend, keeping watch with him as his life slipped away. What is she waiting for now? A good question. Maybe waiting is all she knows anymore. A figure appears in the shadows. She assumes it is the gardener beginning his morning’s work. And the she hears a voice that is so familiar. “Mary.” What? My God, who is that? The grief that has been clouding her vision falls way in an instant, and she recognizes him.

“I have seen the Lord,” she runs to tell her friends. “I have seen the Lord.” But not until he had called her name. And of course he could not have called her name if she had not been waiting. Waiting for who knows what in the midst of grief and loss. Are you waiting for something? Maybe something you can’t even name? Be attentive. Listen.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest;

and in your weariness lay down your head upon my breast.”

I came to Jesus as I was, so weary, worn, and sad;

I found in him a resting place, and he has made me glad. (Hymnal 1982, no. 692)

—The Rev. Lex Breckinridge

Saturday, April 19 - Holy Saturday: Dovey McLeod

Matthew 27:57-66. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

This scripture reminds me of two important elements of being a Christian. The first element is our Covenant with God. The dictionary defines a covenant as a legal term denoting a binding declaration of benefits to be given from one party to another. For us, as Christians, we learn that our covenant (Hebrew term meaning to bind) with God promises us eternal life through Jesus. May the God of Peace, who through the blood of our eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ… Heb 13:20

In our Covenant with God, He promises salvation through our faith in Christ, and we accept this by promising a life of faith and obedience.
In Matthew 27, we see Joseph’s faith when he collects the body of Jesus and prepares it for His return. He created a tomb out of the rock and wraps His body in a clean linen cloth, which makes me believe he has faith that Jesus will be resurrected as He had said. Also, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the tomb. This, along with their return to the tomb on the third day, shows they are awaiting our Lord Jesus’ arrival. I sometimes wonder if my faith is as strong as theirs.

Secondly, this chapter in Matthew brings to mind our upcoming Lent. Lent, by definition, is the Christian season of preparation before Easter, the time when Jesus is resurrected. We traditionally do this through prayer, penance, repentance, giving and self-denial. During the Wednesday Evening Program during Epiphany and Lent, we have discussed many things, one being whether or not we think attendance at church is a matter of choice or an obligation. Many different answers were given, but in the end we all agreed that though no one is forcefully dragging us here, it is a spiritual imperative to come to church. Praying together is strong and reinforces my faith. For me, it is important to be inclusive with all of my new family at St. Thomas. This means corporate worship, Stations of the Cross, works of mercy and simply being with you all. This Lenten Season, I will remind myself of our Covenant with God, focusing great attention to my obligations to Him, working on my Faith and Obedience. I look forward to worshiping with all of you.

—Dovey McLeod

Friday, April 18 - Good Friday: Zonnie Breckinridge

John 18:1-19:42. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.”

As I write this, my mother in law is at the very end of her life. She is quite frail and has the gaunt look of a body nearing the time of death. It has been hard to watch her deteriorate so rapidly, especially as she was quite vigorous all of her life. Yet, every time I am at her bedside, she reaches up her wrinkled, yet beautiful hands, grabs my face, pulls me close to her, kisses me and whispers to me that she loves me. She speaks very little, but when she does, it is almost always about how much she loves us. 

So, when I read this passage about Jesus anticipating the end of his life, the words “it is finished” came to me as words of love. As Jesus accepts that his physical body is dying, his letting go of “this life” makes room for the only thing that matters in the end, union with the one true love that is God.

—Zonnie Breckinridge

Thursday, April 17 - Maundy Thursday: The Rev. Kathryn Ballinger

John 13: 11-17, 31b-35. You also ought to wash one another’s feet.

Deacons feel a special affection for this passage, in Christ’s extraordinary act of service, the washing of his disciple’s feet. It is a reminder that we are all called to serve in humility and love, just as Jesus did, all of us who sit at his table and share in his body and blood. The Eucharist compels us also to do what Jesus did for others.

The liturgy of Maundy Thursday is about intimacy. Intimacy revealed in a meal and washing of feet. Intimacy can be frightening. It calls us to a place of vulnerability, risk and openness, a place where we can be changed, transformed. It is about relationship, oneness and union, with God, each other and ourselves. It is how God loves. It is how we are to love. Jesus gives us an example of unconditional love and service, a parable in action.

To allow Jesus to touch our feet is to allow him to touch our will, to remove all that prevents us from following him, to scrub away our insecurities, to wash away our weariness, to buff off our bitterness. Can we allow Jesus to wash that part of us that needs to change, that needs healing and forgiveness? Can we accept that Jesus wants to make us whole, holy and fully human? To be a disciple and part of the Kingdom, we too need to be washed. 

Foot washing is a divine courtesy that God has for us. It demonstrates how Jesus cares for us all through life. See how in gentleness he kneels down before us to raise us up. This is the mystery of God. Jesus asks us to look to him for inspiration and guidance, to serve in a humble, sincere and loving manner, to notice when people need help, to be available to comfort and support, to be unashamed to be the servant.

—The Rev. Kathryn Ballinger

Wednesday, April 16 - Wednesday in Holy Week: Jana Anderson

John 13:21-32. Do quickly what you are going to do.

Jesus said this to Judas knowing that Judas was going to betray him. Jesus said this to Judas knowing that it would bring pain, suffering and eventually death to himself. It did happen quickly. Judas left immediately after receiving a morsel from Jesus. He returned after midnight and delivered Jesus to his enemies. They hurried to get him condemned before dawn and had him on the cross by the “third hour.” We all would have liked the story to have gone differently but we all know that it had to happen this way.

Why did Judas betray Jesus? Judas may have thought that it would force Jesus to use his miraculous powers to save himself. Most of the apostles thought it was time for Jesus to settle his throne in Jerusalem. The apostles had been arguing amongst themselves over who would have the most important jobs. The apostles were sure their place was to rule not to serve. Jesus had referred to his crucifixion but they thought it was a parable.
“Do quickly what you are going to do” also applies to us today. Too often we procrastinate on our Christian duties. When you have faith in God and know what is right, act on it. Move quickly to answer God’s call to serve others. Pray, worship, love God and give thanks that God loves us.

—Jana Anderson

Tuesday, April 15 - Tuesday in Holy Week: Thomas Eggenberger

John 12:20-36. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.

In this passage Jesus is talking to some Greeks who “came to worship at the feast”. He gives them many pieces of advice “he that loveth life shall lose it” and ‘”walk a little while the light is with you… lest the darkness come upon you” Jesus is saying that good things must come to an end. The light the world is enjoying is only available for a short time the darkness will come. He asks us to “walk while we have the light” because all the good things we enjoy are only temporary. The things we enjoy in this life our coffee in the morning, the fun evenings we have with our friends, the joy we experience on a daily basis it is all temporary. When “the darkness” of death comes the only thing that we keep is our relationship with God. Therefore we must strive to not only have virtuous relationships in our lives but to more importantly keep our relationship with God good because that is forever. This Lenten season we set aside things from our lives to remember that what is most important is our relationship with God. We must set aside what is only temporary and focus on what remains forever, our relationship with God.

—Thomas Eggenberger

Monday, April 14 - Monday in Holy Week: The Rev. Karen Haig

John 12:1-11. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

At our recent women’s retreat, we were invited to bring something with us that somehow represented our deepest longing. Not just something we thought we wanted, or something that we hoped for, but something sacred, some one thing that spoke of our heart’s desire and the deepest parts of ourselves. I brought this little wooden jar.

This little jar is filled with nard from Jerusalem, and I imagine it to be just like the nard Mary poured over Jesus’ feet, just like the nard Judas rebuked her for wasting, just like the nard that filled Mary and Martha’s house with the divine fragrance of costly perfume.

I didn’t choose that little jar because my deepest longing was for that luscious, fragrant, costly nard. I chose it because it reminds me of Mary and of her deepest longing. It seems to me that Mary’s deepest longing was for Jesus. Not for something from Jesus, but a pure, simple and deep desire just to be with Jesus, and always at his feet.

My deepest longing to be like the one who sat at Jesus’ feet, while her sister Martha took care of all the work of making that first dinner party happen. My deepest longing is to be like the one who knelt weeping at Jesus feet when her brother Lazarus died. My deepest longing is to be like the one who anointed Jesus’ feet with the most costly perfume imaginable, and wiped them with her hair.

We often think of Lent as a time of denial - a time to deny ourselves those things which seem to us to be self-indulgent. But I’m thinking of Lent differently this year, and for me there will be no denial, no “giving things up.” I hope instead, that Lent this year will be for me a time of great self-indulgence… 40 luxurious days of indulging that deep, deep longing in my soul, my pure, simple and deep desire for God.

—The Rev. Karen Haig