Here we are in the middle of Holy Week, the time of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  Jesus washing the feet of his friends.  Jesus celebrating Passover with his these same friends-giving them (and us) a new holy meal to celebrate.  Jesus taking those friends into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  Jesus is arrested, interrogated, beaten, tried and eventually hung upon a cross.  It was a week like no other.

Now we find ourselves in a week like no other as well.  We are facing a week filled with fear, dread, anxiety, and…death.  The question is, how will we face our week?  Will we face it feeling abandoned?  Will we face it feeling as if the odds are against us?  Will we face it feeling betrayed by those we trust our safety to?

Jesus faced the week ahead of him with a resolve to follow God’s will in his life.  Jesus knew what was before him, he knew who would betray him, abandon him, and who would stick close by.  All of this he knew, and yet he entered that week filled with love, grace, compassion and forgiveness.

We are at an intersection my friends, of our faith and future.  We can let our circumstances determine our future, or our faith.  If we let our circumstances determine our future we will forever be captured and overwhelmed by every setback, every bump in the road, every tragedy, every major loss we encounter.  That isn’t the future God wants for you and I.  God’s future is one that is filled with hope, a hope born of faith.  Faith in God would tell us God is present with us in our sufferings, in our fits of fear, in our anxieties, in our grief.  God knows and understands all we are going through.  And God stands with us.  God stands with us urging us forward, beckoning us into a future that is filled and dominated by hope.

As you and I prepare for Easter, let us be faithful in all that we are going through.  Our faith will reveal the hope God offers us.  Know that it may seem like dark times now, but the day of Resurrection is coming.  That is our hope, and remember, hope does not disappoint us.

Blessings and Peace,

Pastor Tom