Friday, April 10

Dear church,

Let me begin this Good Friday morning on a brighter note: Today is the 10th wedding anniversary of Joe and Michelle B. and we rejoice with them. They were married on this day, April 10, 2010 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. May the Lord bless them and continue to bless their marriage! (Joe’s mom told me the other week, “Michelle is the best thing that ever happened to Joe!” – Such a mom thing to say!) Let us also congratulate a few people who have birthdays today: Ginny B., our friend Dick S. in North Carolina, Mari D. in Macungie, and Lisa K-C. It’s another popular day, we wish them all a most blessed birthday. May they celebrate as best they can during these conditions! Today is also the Baptism day of two young fellows: Lucas Ryan Morrow and Jeremy Heilman Jr. who were both baptized four years ago today. May their parents read this and light their Baptism candles. Be blessed, boys!

Before I go any further, let me share with you that Manna on Main Street is closed today for Good Friday. That means that our collection will not happen today. Please bring your food items next Friday, same time, same procedure. Tonight at 7:00 p.m., we will live stream our Good Friday service with special pre-recorded music. I would like to thank Kirsten, Gretchen, Liz and everyone involved.  Join us on Facebook Live at 7!

This Easter Sunday will be different than any other Easter Sunday we have had. But don’t worry, we intend to make this feast special for our community. First, let me tell you, the musicians have been busy recording in different corners of our community (the technology works in our favor) and you will get a full delight of Easter music. We have even two groups of musicians. Here they are…

Easter Musicians, Group 1:

  1. Alan Berger, trumpet:  “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” “Thine is the Glory” 
  2. Lily Shaffer, solo:  “I’ve Got Peace Like a River”
  3. Noah Shaffer, trumpet:  “Ode to Joy”
  4. Clark Family Band:  “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” featuring Abby on flute, Emily on trumpet, Karin on trombone, and Ben on baritone horn.

Easter Musicians, Group 2:

  1. Megan Flanagan, solo:  “Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord”
  2. Kenny Graham and Emily Rittenhouse:  “The Canopy” by Dear Hunter
  3. Karin Clark, bell tree:  “Hallelujah” from Messiah by Handel

But that’s not all: At the beginning of the service, we will present a picture show with Easter and spring images sent to us by our people, with Bob and Carol McGilloway singing and playing in the background. And after the service, around 11:00 a.m., we invite you to our Easter Zoom Café. After some debate, we decided to have one Zoom Café instead of three. It will be nice to see some familiar faces. Contact Pastor for login information.

Now, here is my Good Friday message for this year (scroll down)…

Be blessed and be safe,

Pastor Andreas Wagner

Good Friday Message

What time is it? What day of the week? It’s crazy how we lose our sense of time during these quarantine weeks. Monday is like Wednesday, Wednesday is like Saturday, and Saturday could be any other day, right? Some people are working in PJ’s all day long.

Well, today is Good Friday and in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion the timing is important. Matthew says: from noon until 3 in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. At the brightest time of day, when people in our day use their coolest pair of sunglasses, everything went dark as God’s son hung on that cross. It’s a powerful metaphor. And then, at the end of that dark spell, Christ utters those famous words that express the emotional despair of all people who have ever felt forsaken in this world: “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” You never heard someone say that? Yeah, some people may not use religious language to express that kind of despair. They use words I can’t repeat here. Choice words. Insults. Curses. You’ve heard it, haven’t you?

But no matter, God understands what they mean. Jesus understands how lost souls feel. He’s been there. To me it has always been hugely important that Matthew and Mark have the courage to show Christ on the cross as weak, on the brink of collapse, his faith faltering, his soul overburdened – naked. Because I know that sometimes some of us feel like that. Just yesterday I had someone asking me to talk to a friend who feels overwhelmed about the obstacles in his life. Could you talk to him? Could you suggest a Scripture verse? And then we go and search our Bible for comforting words of God’s presence, like: “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” Psalm 23. But the reality of Good Friday is different. Jesus, at the brink of death, selects the previous psalm (22), and recites it. “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” Well, we say, how can he say that? The Son of God? He can say those words, knowing that God will meet him on the other side of despair. No quick fix, but hope! No immediate relief, but hope!   

Here is the good news and the bad news about this day. The bad news is that nobody offers Jesus any comfort in the hour of death. He doesn’t even feel that God is on his side anymore. It’s sobering. The good news is… three days later – or two days by our count – it’s Easter morning. And this is what I make of it… Sometimes in life you can’t get out of a bad moment right away. You can’t pray it away. You can’t force it away. You can’t therapy it away. You somehow have to get through it, hopefully with the help of friends and family. During those times God may be hidden to you, hidden in darkness. Many mystics, people of God, have taught us that. St. John of the cross called it “The dark night of the soul.” But remember, on the other side of that experience, there is a morning. Easter. Light breaking through. Resurrection. And Jesus knew that. Deep inside he did.

What time is it now? It’s two days before Easter. The world is still wrapped in the dark clouds of a pandemic and we don’t know how much longer. Timing is not in our hands. We have to accept this moment for what it is and learn from it. But even in this darker time we hold up hope for that morning when we come out on the other side. When our Easter arrives. When light breaks through. When people hug again. It will come. We can’t rush it. We can’t force it. But it will come. And like the early Christians who later called this horrible day “Good Friday,” and saw God’s hand of redemption and forgiveness all over the cross, we may look back at this pandemic and say: this time was a Good Friday moment for us. Some of the sins of the world were crucified during this pandemic! And it prepared us for a whole new life. Easter morning. New beginnings. That’s my hope anyway. Because, while we may feel like Jesus felt on the cross – absolutely forsaken! – the deeper truth is: God never forsakes us. Amen.