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Holy Week and the Consummation of Bliss
or Living the Truth While Experiencing the Lie or Living Easter: Changed by the Promise I am not a big chess player, I used to play quite a bit, but not anymore. Chess is a game of combination moves where planning ahead is the key to success. When I look at world history I can see how it can be perceived as a cosmic chess match in which God and Satan are seemingly locked in a close and anxiety-filled series of moves and countermoves. We see it throughout Scripture: God makes a move, Satan counters with his move. God creates angels. Lucifer rebels against God and gets evicted from heaven, taking a bunch of angels with him. God creates people. Satan tempts them to sin, turning the earth over to his control. God responds by providing a sacrifice and assured redemption for His children, Satan sows seeds of doubt and tempts to disillusionment. On and on it goes, through prophets and judges, kings and nations, onward through Incarnation until today. But in truth, this is not a battle between equal forces. Satan is the creature, God is the Creator and God has already announced Satan’s defeat, And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Revelation 12:9), but that doesn’t stop Satan from trying to destroy God’s work and His people. Move, countermove, move. After 400 years of silence, the promise of God is realized and God himself enters into human history. Still, Satan counterattacks, tempting Jesus in the wilderness and trying to sabotage His mission. In the end, at least Satan thought it would be the end, he succeeds in destroying the Son of God. After what seems like forever in three years and an eternity in three days, Jesus is crucified. Delusion, Hope and Truth We know the end of the Easter story, of course. We celebrate Easter every year with our Sunday best and the retelling of Christ’s final move. The tomb would be empty, the board reset, the Son of God lives and begins to teach us how to live as well. It seems incredible that, though defeated, delusional Satan still thinks he can win. He is cunning and crafty and does have some success in obscuring the truth, but it is more than that. Satan actually believes that he can take us, re-kill the Son, and claim it all for himself. St. Peter admonishes us to be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, resist he firm in your faith (1Peter 5:8-9a) as evidence of his efforts, but we know what Satan does not, he is already beaten. Still, we need a more complete understanding of what Christ’s death and resurrection have already accomplished for us and each year we repeat the celebration in the hopes that these truths will remake us in Christ’s image. God’s Love How often do you say, “I love you!”? Maybe it was just this morning, part of the farewell you tossed out as someone left the house. However it happens, you recognize that these words are not the only evidence of your love. Love is best understood when proclamation is backed by demonstration — your ability to meet the one you love where they are is evidence of sacrifice and devotion. We understand love through action as we have learned from our Father in Heaven. God lovingly provides for our needs and lends us His wisdom and direction every day. The Holy Spirit is a constant and unwavering presence reminding us and teaching us as Jesus said, But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you (John 14:26). Satan wants to draw us away from the reality of God’s love. It’s his oldest trick, getting humans to doubt the truth that God loves them. How does he do it? Helping us to believe that we are unworthy, unwanted, or unforgiven. We all know what this is like, don't we? We ask God for forgiveness, but we are unable to accept it because we can't/won't forgive ourselves. Since no one wants to live in a state of guilt, we passively believe that we are too bad to be forgiven and this is proven by God's silence on the matter. The truth is, God has already forgiven us; the lie is, we are too important to be forgiven. Move and counter-move. Easter is the celebration where we embrace the reality of God’s love with renewed excitement and energy. Easter is the celebration that has the potential to change everything for us, even as the Resurrection changed everything for everyone for all time. We are called by the empty tomb, by the new day, by the shining truth to let ourselves die to self and rise to Christ. We can rise with Jesus to a new life of excitement and devotion as we praise Him by serving one another. A New Hope Re-given In our family, we’ll often conclude prayers with “In Jesus’ name.” Do you pray the same way? It’s easy for it to become a reflex, a little tagline at the end of prayer. In truth, we are adding “In Jesus’ name” both as praise and as a cry for help. Implicit in our “In Jesus’ name” is our longing for Jesus to do all that he promised and for the ability to truly accept that as our reality. When you pray “in Jesus’ name,” be aware of the longing you have to die to self (the self that keeps telling you that you are unforgivable) and to be present to the fact that you have called on your Lord to be manifest in your life. The End of the Game The only power Satan has over us is what we give him. We know he is a defeated enemy, crushed by the Cross. We know that Jesus suffered and died for us, that he took on our sin, guilt, trepidation, fear, and longing as his own to set us free. When you hang on to whatever it is that is separating you from Jesus, you are living as if Satan has won. I once heard a story about a father and son back in the pioneer days who were trying to outrun a fast-moving prairie fire. The fire was about to consume their wagon when the father turned the horse around and went to a spot that had already been burned. He told his son to jump out of their wagon and stay put. His son said, “But the fire is all around us!” The father explained: “This spot has already been burned. The fire can’t get us here.” Jesus has already been “burned” at the Cross so that we don’t have to be. He has already won the match and in Him you are safe. There will always be temptations to sin. But Jesus has endured it all — temptation without failure, punishment without cause. The Devil’s fire can’t harm us as long as we are standing firm in Jesus. Immerse yourself in Holy Week and be truly set free at Easter. Satan has no countermove to stop what God has already done. In Jesus Name, Fr. Bill+
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Our opinions are simply the angle of our perspectives.
Point of view or Perspective? Point of view and Perspective are not the same thing. My Point of view is the position from which I view a matter, perspective is the particular attitude or way of considering a matter. They are similar, but the difference is important. My point of view can be implicit and unconscious such as when I observe an event from the standpoint of a Christian versus if I saw the same event as a Hindu. We do not regularly identify our point of view as it is simply who we are. In somewhat the same way, perspective may be as unconscious as point of view. My perspective is the emotional result of my observation from my point of view. While point of view is often fully unconscious, perspective, because it involves emotion, can only remain unconscious by an act of will. In the same way that I can mentally ignore a pain in my hand when my body is telling me to figure out why it hurts, I can ignore the source of my emotional response (perspective) only by mentally engaging it. Perspective and Opinion Perspective: the particular attitude or way of considering a matter. Opinion: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. (Oxford Dictionary) Once we observe (point of view) and emotionally respond (perspective) we actively engage to form an opinion. As Oxford stated, this process does not require any knowledge on my part, it can be and is most often a “knee jerk” response based on habit rather than reflection. Still, this is not the place where we get into trouble, that comes in the next stage, action. Acting on our opinions based on emotional response without adequate reflection is the quagmire of the devil. Proverbs 14:29 tells us, "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly," the basis of this is reflected by Proverbs 10:19, “When there are many words, wrongdoing is unavoidable, But one who restrains his lips is wise.” Both of these Proverbs, as well as similar statements made by Job, Jesus, Peter, Paul, and David point to the absolute need to reflect and discern the truth before acting. In all cases the truth referred to here is the knowledge of what point of view and perspective are and to realize our need to move beyond ourselves. In all of these biblical addresses, the key is always a godly focus and dependence. We must challenge ourselves to know from where our perspective comes before we form or (Lord have mercy) act on our opinion. In truth, time-held opinions and actions are often driven by fear. Jesus was rejected, not because He said something completely new, but because those who heard Him did not want to change. Their perspective—the basis of their opinion about Jesus—was formed by their comfort and powered by their desire for self. In a world so fraught with violence and hate, Christians are called to boldly embody the higher standard found only in the divine perspective. Christ’s perspective, NOT mine. Christ calls us to open our spirits to His presence---and our minds to His thoughts. The Holy Spirit guides and challenges us in all that we do, our work is to become less of who we are and more of who Christ is. St. Paul tells us to be more “Christ like” in our living, he is not simply saying we should do nice things like Jesus did. We are to be like Christ—in our thinking, feeling, loving, and living--our perspective is to be from, and have its formation in, Him. Once we reflect in this way, our words and actions will lift others up, project love and concern, and bring glory to God. Striving to see all things through Christ, Fr. Bill+ Thanking God for Christ’s call to serve
We are truly blessed by God and enriched in our fellowship by the many people of this congregation who volunteer their time and their talent in small and large ways. Their dedication and efforts witness to love and devotion of our Lord and the advancement of the Gospel of Christ in this place. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Corinthians, tells us that, “there are varieties of gifts and varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good” (12:4-11), the wonderful variety of gifts reflects the incredible complexity of God’s creation. There is no insignificant work performed here. all efforts--from maintaining our property to cleaning the church to Vestry leadership to visiting the sick to praying for one another in our Parish Family, all are equally received from the God who loves us and calls us to service. When someone responds to God’s call in the name of Jesus Christ, the blessing is twofold. All who receive the gift of their service are enriched in substance and witness and the one called is afforded an intimacy with Christ that can lead to a new depth of relationship and spiritual growth. St. Paul also teaches us in 1st Thessalonians to “give thanks in everything; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (5:18). The thanks we are called to express includes the thanksgiving for the service of others, the witness of fidelity, and the stewardship of the Gospel, but it is also thanksgiving for being called in the first place. In the name of Jesus Christ we gather and serve each other and through our dedication and His intervention, our service is elevated beyond the self as a direct result of His companionship. We serve with the heart of Christ and the mind of the Holy Spirit leading us as we are available for God’s glory. Everyone is called to ministry and services by Christ, time and space are not barriers to God. It is a joy to recognize the work that is done by so many faithful and dedicated people, giving thanks to one another and to Almighty God for making the Spirit manifest among us in such a variety of ways. Where is God calling you to serve and witness in His name? Let us pray. Almighty God, you have called us into fellowship as the Church of Jesus Christ in this place, and you have blessed us and enriched our lives through your Holy Word and Sacraments. You strengthen us and inspire us with your Holy Spirit to live lives of mutual love and service in the world. Blessed Lord, we thank you for all the good people of faith that you have raised up among us for the work of the Gospel. Multiply our gifts by your Holy Spirit. Be in our hands and our minds and our words that we might bring your love to the world. And prosper our work to the glory of your Holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen Responding to Christ’s call to serve, Fr. Bill+ Dear Creator Family:
I pray as we approach the midpoint in Lent, that you have been blessed by your offerings to God. I pray that you have experienced this time of reflection and introspection, not as a time of drudgery and depression, but as a joyful—if challenging—time of drawing closer to God. I am also prayerful that those of you who have experienced the spiritual rewards along with the physical ones. As I said in my Ash Wednesday sermon, the practice of fasting has been much misunderstood in our Christian history, especially in our “modern” day. What should rightly be called a gift to God has often been referred to as “fasting” because it falls within the category of giving something up. I have been as guilty as anyone, in the past, of using the term in this way. I’d like to include this beautiful poster from Pope Francis, printed below, which expresses the wonderful intention to offer to God the fruit of introspection and reflection. Offering to God those things in our lives that we can readily identify and, through some effort and vigilance, act on throughout the day. I commend to you this meditation, as a means of combining a reminder of God’s command for physical fasting with the inspiration to make joyful offerings to God. Offering and fasting to God, Fr. Bill+ DO YOU WANT TO FAST THIS LENT? In the words of Pope Francis
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AuthorFather Bill Burk† Archives
April 2025
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