Scripture: John 20:1-18
Message: She Saw a Gardener
Welcome to Holy Week. Yes WEEK! Because these days leading up to Easter Sunday are arguably even more important than Easter itself. During these days we can remember that new life does not come out of nowhere but from the death of something else. We are only born again when we have already died. So, then, this week on Thursday evening at 7:00pm at the UPA we will gather in mediation and song and prayer to formally recognize the death that is occurring through our retelling of the story of Jesus’ trial and murder. Retelling this story, however, invites each of us and all of us to consider how we will be made new in the resurrection. It brings us into a place of confession – how have we participated in the divisions of God’s beloved, in the violence that would put the most prophetic to death, in the murder of hope for peace – and leaves us in this place for 3 whole days allowing for the deconstruction of what we have put in place this past year to empower us, though often at the expense of another. Like Jesus sat in the wilderness with the devil for days between his baptism and the first days of his ministry, we must sit in this darkness to truly appreciate the suffering and hopelessness that threatens the Beloved Community, this nation, and this world.
After this, and only after this, will we wake at sunrise to a new life that is hope for something more; something better. We will come together in Hallelujahs and Amens naming our commitment to being a part of the resurrected Christ which promises to lead with love and compassion trusting that this is enough to flip violence to kindness and disregard to compassion.
So!… Join me Thursday evening at 7:00pm in the sanctuary for a dramatic service of storytelling and song. THEN on Friday, stop by the church between 12:00pm – 3:00pm (the hours we are told Jesus hung on the cross before dying).
And finally, I’ll see you on Sunday – Easter Sunday! – when, together, we announce to the world the Love cannot be killed! That Christ has indeed risen!
Peace,
Cheryl
Music:
Prelude: “Gymnopedie No. 1” Erik Satie
“Pie Jesu” Gabriel Fauré
“An Old Garden” Edward MacDowell
“Easter Day Hymns”
Choral Anthem: “Alleluia” Randall Thompson
Meditation: “Vocalise” Sergei Rachmaninoff Marina Khankhalaeva, mezzo soprano
Postlude: “Quintet No. 1, Movement 4” Victor Ewald
Easter Offering
This year’s Easter Offering will be in support of The Twin Cities ICE Relief Fund. This fund was created by a faith-based organizer to help coordinate grocery and ride requests for neighbors who were afraid to leave and work due to the presence of ICE agents. Despite the news largely ‘moving on’ from the crisis in Minneapolis, many are still not able to safely get to their jobs and are struggling to stay afloat financially. Here’s an excerpt from the latest update (from March 19) from the fund:
Eviction filings in Minneapolis have surged 339% – 237 filings in just the first 11 days of March, compared to 54 in the same period last year. And that number only captures what’s happening in the formal system. For families without written leases – those renting a room, a bed, an informal arrangement – there’s no filing, no record, and no protection. Many of them don’t show up in any data at all.
Here’s one of the most challenging aspects of the current landscape: city rental assistance requires a lease. But many families in our communities have loose or entirely verbal arrangements. They have no written agreement. Under current rules, that means no access to city funds – and as tenants, effectively no rights. The people most vulnerable are often living in the shadows of the system meant to help.