PH’s Page –
On Sunday, 27 March, I’ll be celebrating my 61st Easter. I was born on Good Friday 1956, so I don’t really remember that first Easter of my life, but there are few after that one that do not loom large in my memory.
Soon after I came to Seattle in 1996, I think that my Holy Week and Easter season question became consistent. “Where in the world am I seeing the Risen Christ in the world today?”
I wish that you could see what I see. I wish that you could see what I have been seeing since coming to Luther Memorial at the beginning of February. Sometimes a pair of fresh eyes can help those who have been here for a long time to see what you may not be able to see quite so clearly. I wish you could see what I see. I wish you could see the Risen Christ in the world today the way I see him through the ministry of Luther Memorial.
I wish that you could see Christ alive
…in the lunches handed out through the office window on a daily basis.
…in the circle of Council leaders who gather to guide this congregation’s ministry each month, many of them coming after a long day of work and all of them wading through Seattle traffic to get here.
…in the faces of children gathered for Children’s Time and the rest of the Sunday liturgy each week.
…in the increasingly concrete plans that are developing to provide housing for neighbors in need.
…in the lives of senior adults who continue to worship faithfully.
…in the fellowship with one another where lives and stories, hopes and dreams are spoken and heard.
…in the eager faces and open hands that come to the table to receive the
Risen One in bread and cup each Sunday.
…in the welcome you offer to visitors who come to worship with us here.
…in the faithful service of staff and volunteers.
…in the gifts that are gathered to create hygiene kits for brothers and sisters
in Christ who we will never meet.
…in all of this and so much more.
Are you getting the picture? Can you see what I see? I feel truly blessed to have this brief time among you to serve as pastor and to see the Risen Christ in all of these and so many other ministries, people, and examples of faithful living.
As this month of March draws to a close, our final Sunday will be celebrated as Easter. There will be joyful songs and vibrant worship. The bare sanctuary of Lent will give way to the festively dressed church of resurrection; mournful purple replaced by Christly white, folded grave clothes. There will be lilies, and smiles. And we will see the Risen Christ all around us.
But in all the days between one Easter and the next, I hope you will see what I see. The Risen Christ is alive and among us every day.
Risen Lord Christ, gives us eyes to see.
And speaking of seeing…
See you in church,
Pastor Hoffman