Dear Church, 

Apparently, March is a season of confusing weather.  It can rain and be warm.  It can rain and be cold.  It can be sunny and cold, or sunny and warm. It can even snow in March.  March in Pennsylvania is about the season in conflict, unsure if the past winter ought to be continued, or the upcoming summer ought to be welcomed early.  I guess that’s why Pennsylvanians consult groundhogs in early February for the long-range forecast.   

When you couple the volatility of March with the season of Lent, it may be easy to find yourself in a wonderland of introspection.  What, we wonder, is God up to in this time?  Which Biblical image is best suited for us for the next few months?  Are we entering a season of promise – the end of exile, and the beginning of the return (cf. Isaiah 40)?  Are we celebrating a season of exodus from the pains of the past and living amid sustaining victory (cf. Exodus 15)?  Are we in a season of rebuilding the community in ways that rely on the past and point to the future – a time of both great joy and stinging grief (cf. Ezra 3)? 

All I’m certain of these days, while the trees begin to bud in anticipation of what might come, and the nights flirt with freezing temperatures in remembrance of what has been, is that God is always with us in volatile times.  God is good, and God’s mercy (i.e., Hebrew – “hesed” – stubborn love and loyalty) endures forever. 

All things March are unpredictable.  The weather, baseball’s spring training, and the NCAA basketball tournament (aka, “March Madness”).  Even in the dusty classics of Western literature, we do well to “beware the Ides of March.” 

Church, I pray that in this liminal time the volatile and unpredictable reality of the present moment will not cause us grief and worry and doubt and pain.  Rather, may March be a symbol to us all that the uncertainties of Lent will most certainly give way to the surety of Resurrection.  

Be ready, church, God is at work …
Pastor Jeff
jeff@bgmc.net

PS – Coffee and conversation this Friday, March 22 and next Friday, March 29, at the Broad Street Grind, 3:30-4:45 pm.  Dialogue over Oatmeal and Omelets next Monday, March 25 at the A&N Diner, 7:30-8:45 am.  This is your time to engage in the conversations that matter to you and make your point of view known.  It is also just a good time of food, coffee, and fellowship.  I hope to see you there …

Dear Church, 

First, an explanation.  In last Sunday’s sermon, I used an image of late actor, Steve McQueen, in his 1963 role as Capt. Virgil Hilts in the movie, The Great Escape (you can watch a trailer of the movie here).  I’m not sure I rolled out the illustration as well as I could have on Sunday morning.  Allow me this elaboration: for me, the movie is an imperfect but helpful illustration of God’s redemptive work in Christ.  Humanity is like the POWs in the movie – whether we have religious language for it or not – we know sin holds us captive and we desperately want to escape our imprisonment.  And in Jesus, a way to escape the imprisonment of the soul to sin was created at tremendous cost (Grace being free, but not cheap).  Still, we must find where the walls of separation have been torn down, such as the scene where Capt. Hilts discovered a blind spot in the Stalag fences.  We must find the confidence to embrace Jesus’ escape plan for us, just as Capt. Hilts had to come to believe in the extravagant plan of the POWs to escape.  And we must redefine our essential purpose in life, as Capt. Hilts’ purpose was transformed in the movie from simply looking after his own personal well-being in escaping to working with others to seek the escape of many prisoners.   

Second, an invitation.  This Sunday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s day for all you Celtic Mennonites!) during worship, the Elders will be serving the congregation through the ministry of anointing.  Anointing is provided for those in the church who are sick (James 5.14-16).  Truth be told, we are all sick.  We are sick of the brokenness of our world.  We are sick of the brutalities, and bad manners that abound.  We are sick of violence and viciousness we see on our screens and mobile devices every day.  We are sick of the unexplainable tragedies that befall those we love.  We are sick of growing old. Even as we seek to follow Jesus daily in life, we struggle with the imperfections and miseries of life.  An anointing service is one way we as the church can acknowledge the brokenness all around us, and publicly declare our confidence in the faithful of God through Christ to ultimately bring healing and hope to us, to our families, and to our neighbors near and far.  I want to invite you to the oil of anointing this Sunday, not because you or your loved are broken, but because Christ makes all things new! 

Third, a prayer.  In this season of Lent, I have been drawn in prayer to ask God to visit us as a congregation with sufficient power from the Holy Spirit, so that we can see in Christ’s call to follow him joy rather than burden. To see, amid the swiftly changing world, the enduring joy of God’s faithfulness to us in Christ.  The words from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer provide me with a frame of reference this week: 

“Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners:
Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” (1979 Book of Common Prayer, p.219, as referenced in Esau McCaulley, Lent: the Season of Repentance and Renewal, [IVP:2022], pp.69-70) 

Lent is a season to rediscover the faithfulness of Jesus in rescuing us through our own Great Escape by means of the Cross and Resurrection.  Lent is a season to acknowledge the disease all around us and declare God’s intent is to heal us and the world by means of Jesus.  Lent is a season to pray for, and with, and because of the joy that exists everyday through Jesus Christ. Certainly, Lent is also a season to reckon with the reality of our sin, but if such reckoning does not lead us to the Great Escape to Joy … well, I wonder what’s the point? 

Be joyful, church, even within the sorrow of Lent … 

Pastor Jeff
jeff@bgmc.net 

PS – Coffee and conversation this Friday, March 15 (Beware the Ides of March!) and next Friday, March 22, at the Broad Street Grind, 3:30-4:45 pm.  Dialogue over Oatmeal and Omelets next Monday, March 18, at the A&N Diner, 7:30-8:45 am.  These are times for you to raise questions, engage in conversations around issues that matter to you, and make your point of view known, if you so desire.  It can also just be good coffee and good food with good friends.  I hope to see you there…