People of Trinity,
You are invited to join us for Good Friday worship this evening at 7 p.m. and for worship on Easter Sunday, April 12 at 9:15 a.m. – instructions for joining our live streaming and/or viewing the services later are included in the attachment.
A love potent enough to bring resurrection
It is Good Friday, and the call to gather in reverence at the foot of the cross is commended to people of faith. This evening we come together for worship at 7 p.m. with the solemn reading of the Passion According to St. John and with musical offerings to provoke our quiet reflection. Holy Week culminates. It is Good Friday, but Sunday is coming . . .
In “Seasons of the Spirit,” Roddy Hamilton shared a reflection which provides a bridge from our kneeling at the foot of the cross on Good Friday to the empty tomb. It evokes the miracle of incarnation, of God entering flesh and sharing our human reality. That incarnation, God-in-flesh, was not a one-time occurrence in the birth of Jesus. It is at the heart of the revelation of God in the whole story of human history, the promise Richard Rohr summarizes in the phrase “matter matters.” The God who became sacrifice for sin in crucifixion is the God who enters our story in this time of pandemic, with a love potent enough to bring resurrection.
If God does not weep,
then there is no love deep enough to touch the pain.
If God does not get close,
then there is no love real enough to meet our brokenness.
If God does not touch,
then there is no love earthy enough to value our humanness.
If God does not need compassion,
then there is no love tender enough to endure our pain.
If God does not walk on,
then there is no love restless enough to witness the truth.
If God is not anointed,
then there is no love ready enough to die.
If God does not know pain,
then there is no love broken enough to comfort our world.
If God does not know death,
then there is no love potent enough to bring resurrection.
At the heart of incarnation theology, of God-in-flesh proclaiming that “matter matters,” there is the truth that God is with us in every challenge, in every heartache, in every failure, in every encounter with disease, in every moment of despair, in every dying.
God present with us is transformative. We proclaim that in that presence there is love potent enough to bring forth resurrection. It is Good Friday, but Sunday is coming . . .
Join us in live streaming of “virtual worship” this evening and on Easter Sunday:
- Good Friday, April 10 at 7 p.m.
- Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of Our Lord, April 12 at 9:15 a.m.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Bob Linstrom
