The Jefferson Park Hub invited pastors from two neighborhood churches to offer a reflection on Easter 2010. Their thoughts are below.
First is pastor LK Pendleton of the Redemption Community Church, A United Methodist Congregation. The church is located at the intersection of Winburn Drive and Jefferson Avenue.
The second meditation is from pastor Darwin A. Caldwell of Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church
"He Will Come Through”
John 2:19-22
Have you ever been discouraged, disillusioned or disappointed by hopes dashed and dreams deferred?
We fall into the misconceptions that we must always strive to reach that elusive “next level” in life. What we long for in our circumstances, our relationships or even spiritually always seems just beyond our reach.
After Jesus was crucified it was beyond the disciple’s reach that He would be raised from the dead on the third day just like He said that he would. (John 2:19) After Jesus died on the cross, the possibility of deliverance for a people experiencing oppression died too. Discouragement overwhelmed them because the hope of Israel as they viewed him through a human lens was gone. All of the people who supported Jesus ran away after he succumbed to death on the cross except for Joseph and Nicodemus, whose names mean Honorable Counselor and Victorious among his People. At night, they went to claim the body of Jesus from Pilate.
When they went to claim the body of Jesus, the Bible says they bought a mixture of myrrh and aloes. They used about 70 pounds; 50 pounds over the recommended daily dressing to embalm the body so when people walked by the tomb they would only notice the beautiful smell of the myrrh and not the rotting flesh of a dead God.
It was humanly inconceivable for them to believe that the one who interrupted a funeral procession and raised a dead girl to life and the one who called a dead man (Lazarus) out of his tomb was dead! And, they were unaware that in a few days, God would defy human logic and the laws of nature by breathing life into the impervious, lifeless body of Jesus Christ and resurrect Him from the dead.
Like many of us, we prematurely abandon our hopes and dreams when we don’t see the results of our hard work or things just didn’t materialize the way we desired. Easter reminds us that no matter how lugubrious things might seem, that we are Easter people living in a Good Friday World. Stuff happens! because life is lived on levels and experienced in stages and established on dimensions and everything will not proceed as planned. Yet, we have a God who specializes in breathing new life into dead things.
As we prepare to celebrate Easter 2010, let the lyrics of this old gospel song inspire you to keep striving for purpose in your life knowing Jesus will sustain you in your journey!
Time is filled with swift transition, Naught of earth unmoved can stand. Build your hopes on things eternal, Hold to God's unchanging hand.
LK Pendleton is the Senior Pastor of the Redemption Community Church, A United Methodist Congregation, East Point, Georgia and an ordained elder in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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Have you lost hope? Easter 2010 finds many changes in our world especially in the United States of America. Our congress has just passed a Health Reform Bill and President Obama has signed it into law. It seems that none of us know what the bill will really accomplish and the unknown opens the door for fear to overcome us.
Unemployment is still over 9 per cent with rumors that it may still go higher. Those without jobs live anxious and frustrating moments as they look for work that will support their families.
And there are many other issues facing us that when we try to work through them in our own strength and fail causes us to lose hope and become depressed.
The whole message of Easter is that God has a plan for each of our lives and He wants to work that plan for our good. He gave His only Son to live a rejected, persecuted, but sinless life here on this earth and die the most excruciatingly painful death to pay for all our sins so that we could keep hope in all circumstances.
Since we have read the last chapter (of the Bible) and know that God always overcomes evil and wins the battle it helps to remember that He is still in control today. Nothing slips up on God and He is capable and willing to work through anything that comes upon us and give us a victorious end. He not only gives us hope He brings that hope to completion.
Our prayer for you to know God’s very best blessings!
Darwin A. Caldwell, pastor, Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church
