Hope and Valby Lutheran Churches
All Saints' Episcopal Church
Easter 2 0 0 0 . . . a Shrinking World
We live in a shrinking world. Shrinking through continuing
advances in transportation, communication and by our economic
interdependence. All these factors have brought the world's belief
systems into direct communication (or conflict, depending upon
your point of view) with one another as never before.
One response to this contact is "pluralism" - the conclusion that
any claim for uniqueness must be abandoned. There can never be
just one of anything. There are no absolute values given to us.
Therefore, we must create them; but this must be a collective
exercise in which all faith communities make’an equal contribution
through their interpretation of the transcendent.
Where does that leave us who would make a truth claim that
there is a "unique event" of the Transcendent in human history? An
event that is true not only in a historical sense, but also "a living
truth" in the lives of believers down through the centuries that
continues even today? Namely the life, death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ, who was not just the human Jesus, but also the
Incarnate Word.
The cover article of the March 27, 2000, Newsweek was
"Visions of Jesus - How Jews, Muslims and Buddhists View Him".
It contained a fascinating overview of the world's religions views
and understandings of Jesus of Nazareth. He is held in high esteem
by many: Muslims recognize Jesus as a great prophet; Jews see
Him as an "admirable Jew", but not the Son of God; Buddhists
liken the earthly Jesus to an enlightened being much like Buddha;
Hindu legend has a tradition where Mary takes the teenager Jesus
into Asia where he learned yogic meditation, whereupon he
returned home to become a guru to the Jews. But of course for
Christians, He is unique, the only Son of God and the Savior of the
world.
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But it is the central event of Holy Week - the cross of Good
Friday - that separates the Jesus of Christianity from these other
views of Jesus. In Judaism there is no provision for a Messiah who
dies, much less on a cross. For Islam, Jesus' death on a cross is
rejected as a direct affront to Allah. Hindus can only accept Jesus
as a yogi who escapes the degradation of death. Buddhist Monk
Thich Nhat Hanh says of the crucified Christ, "It is a very painful
image to me. It does not contain joy or peace, and this does not do
justice to Jesus."
The authors of the Newsweek article conclude, "There is, in
short, no room in other religions for a Christ who experiences the
full burden of mortal existence; and hence there is no reason to
believe in him as the divine Son whom the Father resurrected from
the dead."
The irony is that it is precisely here - in the "full burden of
mortal existence" that Christians find the revelation of the true
God. God becoming man in the incarnation, entering fully into the
our human existence to fully participate in our lives, even to the
point of enduring a criminal's death on the cross. A God who
knows our pain and struggles. An incredible claim about God?
Yes, but one that the Apostle Paul understood as the power and
wisdom of God:
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God
through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our
proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand
signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:21-24,
NRSV)
Little has changed in 2,000 years. The gracious gift of God's
grace that we call "faith" or "belief' is just as hard for us to accept
or fathom today as it was for the Jews and Greeks of Paul's time.
This contradiction of God's power being manifest in the obedience
and sacrifice of Jesus as the Son of God even onto death on a cross
is an affront to many even today. It is what Soren Kierkegard
called the "absolute paradox", that this humble, crucified man is
also the eternal Word of God.
Ultimately, our "truth claim" must simply be a matter of faith.
Faith that the Easter event breaks through the pain and struggles of
our earthly existence just as the empty tomb erases the gloom of
the cross of Good Friday. Easter is God’s "yes" to Jesus as the
Christ -- the ultimate affirmation that Jesus is the decisive
disclosure of what God is like. And in that revelation we know that
God's will for us is life . . . "I came that they may have life, and
have it abundantly." (John 10:10) Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The
Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
-The ReverendR.G. "Dick" Metz, Pastor
St. Patrick's Catholic Church
His Past, His Present, His Future
As we consider the life of Jesus Christ, we find him during the
week that we call holy in Jerusalem. A quick flashback tells us that
he was bom in Bethlehem, was an exile in Egypt, lived at
Nazareth. Then began his ministry which started him on this
journey to Jerusalem. He traveled through Judea and Galilee. He
met and influenced all kinds of people: the woman from Samana,
the Roman officer, Nicodemus the Jewish scholar, The Syro-
Phoenician woman who asked for help, Lazarus whom he raised
from the dead, the widow's son at Naim, and a multitude of others.
Then came his triumphal entry into Jerusalem where there were
young and old, Jew and Gentile, Roman and Greek. And what an
entry it was. The people chanted "Hosanna to the Son of David,
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
If one had been an observer, one would have been convinced that
he was on the crest of a wave of success, that the whole Jerusalem
was about to follow him. However, there was an undercurrent.
There were those in high places who were opposed to him. As the
week wore on they were able to turn the current of events. And so
we find him taken prisoner by the Romans, condemned to
execution, death by hanging on the cross. The prelude to this was
being whipped, crowned with thorns, spat upon, led through the
streets in infamy. He submitted to this contemptuous form of death
for the salvation of mankind. In dying on the cross his arms are
outstretched to welcome all mankind of all generations, to reach
out with hope to the fallen, the destitute, the sinful.
Had that been the end, it would have indeed been tragic ...The
Gospels tell that he rose gloriously. It was an angel that
i
and after the resurrection.
The second witness is the apostle Paul who was Jesus' mortal
enemy until that life-changing day on the road to Damascus when
he personally met the risen Lord. Paul's witness is also worthy of
our closest scrutiny on the subject of the resurrection. See I Cor.
15:1-8
Now neither Dr. Luke nor Sanhednn candidate Paul were
scatterbrains. They were not given to crazy philosophies. Both
were highly educated, trained observers of nature. Both of them
wrote clearly and emphatically of the fact of Jesus' resurrection.
Paul went even further than Luke in stating the effect on
Christianity if the resurrection were a hoax. See I Cor. 15:1420
The next alternative is, of course, to accept the record as given
in scripture, that Jesus Christ actually did rise from the dead, which
makes the Bible the inspired word of God, the total revealed mind
of God to man.
The overwhelming evidence tells us that Christ shattered the
grave, that He was indeed risen from the dead. That means that
everything He said about himself is true. Jesus is the Son of God.
He is the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world. He is the
only way to God.
You cannot be neutral about this. The observance of Christ's
resurrection is not just another holiday or a time that you add to
your wardrobe.
You have two choices about this whole concept: You can just
deny that it ever happened and go on your sinful way ignoring the
claims of Christ. But to do this, you step on and over the
overwhelming evidence that Jesus did indeed rise from the grave.
It's like denying gravity-utterly foolish and unknowing to do so,
and also probably fatal.
Or, you can believe that Christ came forth from the grave and
therefore believe that the rest of the word is also inerrant and
infallible. You will believe everything else the Bible teaches us
about our blessed Lord Jesus. Believing, you become a servant of
the Lord, a Christian with all your heart and soul.
If you deny the story, then nothing in the Bible can possibly mean
anything to you, But if you believe it, then only total commitment
to Christ will work. You will declare it fervently," as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord". Joshua 24:15.
Now it's just about Easter weekend. Resurrection is fresh on our
minds. What about your newness of life? What about your
spiritual rebirth? What a great time for you to come to God with all
your cares and burdens.
-Tim Van Cleave, Pastor
proclaimed:"He is nsen." Now there were apparitions - to Mary
Magdalene, to the Apostles, to two disciples on the road to
Emmaus, to a multitude who witnessed his ascension. Like St.
Thomas, those who saw believed. The apostles were so convinced
that they were willing to give their lives for that faith. His fixture
is in heaven while on earth his followers live by his principles and
values. He has said:"Blessed are those who have not seen and have
believed." (John 20, 29) When we put our faith in Him we will be
able to say with St. Peter: "Master, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are
convinced that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6, 68-69)
-Fr. Gerry Condon
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, Willow Creek Branch
April is the month when we normally celebrate Easter, the
resurrection of our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. This time
of year always has a special significance in that Spring is here with
its life-giving sunshine and rain, the return of the birds, the
sprouting of flowers and the budding of trees. It is a time of
newness, of freshness, of beauty.
We imagine the Savior had a special fondness for Spring and for
all it brings. It was in the Spring he made his ultimate sacrifice and
display of love in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary. It
was in the Spring the new lambs were bom which brought him so
much joy and a part of many of his parables as he thought of his
love for us.
*
Easter brings many pleasant memories and feelings to each one
of us. However, what should be foremost in our hearts is what the
atonement of our Lord really means to us. One of the most
important aspects of the atonement is the actual resurrection, the
conquest over death. Without this, we would be eternally
prevented from being with our Father in Heaven and doomed to a
world without progress. We are now assured that we will rise
again, spirit uniting with body, to form an immortal soul. The other
aspect of utmost importance is that the Lord took upon himself the
sins of all us. This unlocks the other door whereby we may be
cleansed of our sins and able to stand unspotted in the presence of
our Father.
Another aspect of the atonement most of us do not think about is
the savior suffered for more than just our sins in Gethsemane. He
also suffered for our sorrows, our despair, our failures, our
loneliness and even our weaknesses. How else could he be able to
lift these burdens from our shoulders if he hadn't already felt them
himself? If we but faithfully ask for his help, we will be comforted.
As we prepare for this Easter holiday, let's remember all of the
blessings our elder Brother has given to us through his ceaseless
love. If we need his help we must seek it and it will be given
abundantly.
May we constantly seek the Lord's presence in our lives.
-The Branch Presidency
Dar Merrill
k
Heppner United Methodist Church
Every year as we prepare to enter into the remembrance of Jesus'
passion and resurrection, we read from the Gospels the poignantly
familiar stories of his triumphant and almost comical entry into
Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, of his confrontations with an
entrenched and narrow-minded religious establishment, of his
tender farewell dinner with his closest associates, and then his
existential agony in the garden, his betrayal and the mockery of a
trial by the religious authorities leading to his execution as a
political subversive by the Roman military ("Are you the King of
the Jews?")
The writer of the Gospel of John takes special pains to lay the
blame at the feet of "the Jews." Because of John's vehement
condemnation of this group in that Gospel, Christians have seized
upop this phrasing as an excuse tq persecute, defraud, and kill
Jewish people living in.their communities.. However, a.,careful
•reading of the Gospel and a look at the primary Greek text behind
our translations reveals a far different theme at play.
In the Greek text of the New Testament, the antagonists to Jesus
are the judaioi, or the "Judeans," that is, residents of the region of
Judea, which was the Greek and Latin rendering of the old region
claimed by the kingdom of Judah. Jesus and his followers were
from the region of Galilee, to the north of Judea, and a place
considered to be a political and religious backwater. Certainly no
good could come from such a region or its inhabitants. John's
Gospel especially reveals the ethnic, regional and political power
tensions and conflicts which existed between the privileged and
powerful Jerusalem religious establishment and the poorer people
of the hinterlands. Jesus' teachings and shifting of moral and
spiritual authority away from Jerusalem, its temple and religious
functionaries was a direct assault upon the political and religious
elite in Jerusalem, the "Judeans." It is this elite which sets out in
collusion with the Roman government to destroy Jesus and
maintain their religious and moral monopoly. It is this "power
bloc" which conspires to disgrace Jesus and thoroughly demoralize
his followers by crucifying him and placing him on public display
upon a Roman cross.
As a religious leader, I take this story to heart, for it warns me
never to presume to speak authoritatively for God. Only the Holy
Spirit can speak for God, and the Holy Spirit speaks to each
person's heart, to their spirit ("When we cry out 'Abba,' Father, it
is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are
children of God." Romans 8:15-16). In John's Gospel, when Jesus
appears to his disciples after his resurrection, he breathes the Holy
Spirit upon them. That is the sign that God has moved out of the
temple, where access to God could be monitored and controlled,
into the human heart, where God is free to move, and human
beings are free to respond to or reject God.
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus remind us where to put
our hope. Ultimately our hope is not in appeals to religious rivalry
nor in proclamations concerning whose side God is on. Rather, our
hope is in the One who smashes through our denominational and
national divisions, bigotries, and ethnic arrogance and rises in
triumphant witness to the broadness of God's embrace.
The Easter message is basically this: all the forces and powers in
our world that conspire to divide the human family and hang its
heroes upon a cross are doomed to failure. The power of God's
love is the most powerful force in the universe, and it is a force
poured out upon the entire world, not a select few.
Come hear and experience the power of that Spirit poured out
upon all flesh this Sunday, and every Sunday, every day. Come
worship at the church of your choice. The risen Jesus will be
waiting for you.
-The Rev. Craig Strobel
Church of the Nazarene
You Gotta Believe In Something
What do eggs and rabbits have in common? New life? The egg
symbolizes life because from it all living creatures have a
beginning. The rabbit, emblem of the Anglo-Saxons goddess,
Eastre, goddess of springtime, also represents new beginnings.
From these ancient ideologies came stories about rabbits delivering
painted chicken eggs in colorful baskets to people. Well that's easy
to believe. Isn't it?
Well, some believe that Elves make toys for Christmas, which
Santa then slides down chimneys to deliver. In fact some people
will believe almost anything that does not require rational thinking
or verifiable facts. Did you know that one has greater odds of
being killed traveling to purchase a lottery ticket than actually
wining (Big-Time). You gotta believe in something. Don't Ya?
Believing in something requires a certain degree of faith that
"something" will happen. Yet, when it comes to believing by faith
that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, right out of a sealed grave,
many people scoff. Nevertheless, this "something" did happen.
Bible accounts written by several different people at different time
intervals confirm our faith about Jesus. So is this really so hard to
believe? Check the facts out for yourself. (Begin by reading the
book of John-any version, your choice.) You gotta believe in
something.
God loves you and me so much that He allowed His Only Son to
be punished for our transgression. And, as if that were not enough,
He then validated His love for us by bringing Jesus back to life.
This act is our assurance that we too will experience eternal life.
By faith we believe in Him and we are no longer condemned.
However, those people who do not believe already stand
condemned. Why? Because they have not believed in the name of
God's one and only Son.
John 3:19-21 "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world,
but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were
evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into
the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives
by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that
what he has done has been done through God."
Easter Bunnies delivering chicken eggs? Well, You Gotta
Believe In Something.
-The Rev. Duane Jones
BEO to sponsor scholarship
The Bank of Eastern Oregon
will
again
sponsor
an
agnculture/business scholarship
for graduating seniors at
Heppner,
lone,
Arlington,
Condon, Riverside, Spray and
Wheeler
County
schools,
announced George Koffier, Bank
of Eastern Oregon president.
This marks the fifth year the
bank has sponsored the $500
scholarships to Morrow, Gilliam
and Wheeler County students.
This year the awards total
Christian Life Center
Resurrection: Hoax or Reality
"Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is nsen; He
is not here: behold the place where they laid Him". Mark 16:6
Everything a Chnstian believes and ever hopes for hinges on the
truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it:
If the resurrection story is a hoax, nothing about the gospel is
valid. Nothing.
Let's review some of the testimony. The first witness is none
other than a physician, the beloved Luke. In two lengthy letters to
his Greek friend Theophilus, Luke told the story of Jesus before
f
$3,000.
Applicants must plan to enroll
in college in either agriculture or
business. Selection will be based
on scholarship, leadership and
citizenship.
Applications may be picked up
from schoo counselors. The
deadline to submit applications is
May 12.
BUSINESS CARDS
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