Passages by the Senior Minister

Easter Happens

Easter happens once a year but the message of Easter is spoken every week. Every Sunday’s worship service is, in many respects, a little Easter. Each week we gather around the Lord’s table to proclaim the good news of God’s open invitation to all. In the pastoral prayer we confess our weakness and failure and even our sin, but we also remind ourselves that the ultimate good news of Easter, forgiveness, has been given once and forever for all. In the sermon the Gospel is proclaimed again and we are sent on our way to be witnesses to the amazing grace of God.

The air was filled with good news on April 29 at Country Club Christian. Carla delivered a wonderful sermon. The table was ready with gifts of bread and wine and the people of God, gathered in the sacred and beautiful space of our sancuary, were once again filled with the joy of God’s love.

Then the news hit the airwaves on Sunday afternoon: there had been a shooting. This time it was literally just down the street at the Ward Parkway Mall. I am writing this from Indianapolis where I am attending the General Board meeting of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In the coffee shop at KCI, someone looked at the headline of The Kansas City Star and asked out loud but directed at no one in particular, “What is happening in our world?”

That is a good question, one that is as old as humanity itself. What is happening? What is happening when a simple trip to the mall for a new pair of running shoes or a cup of coffee suddenly becomes a visit to Hell? What is happening when the idyllic world of higher education is overwhelmed with murder and grief?

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, Fred Craddock was asked, “What will preachers say about all of this?” His response comes as no surprise. “Sometimes,” he responds, “it is best to say nothing. Sometimes the only answer we have is ‘I don’t know.’”

That is a difficult answer to give. My experience is that many people want the preacher to say something, anything, to fill the empty void of doubt and pain. The problem, of course, is that words are never adequate. Like junk food on an empty stomach they may temporarily fill the emptiness but in the long run they fall short of helping.

The chuch will do what the church has done for centuries. Gather outside of an empty tomb, the burial place of an innocent murder victim, and proclaim through faith and doubt and worry and wonder, that death is not the final word.

Grace and Peace to you,