Bearing the Light
I recently met a pastor who shared with me that a number of his parishioners were highly educated, affluent, specialized professionals, many at the peak of their careers, and some were working in exclusive and high-security jobs. Out of curiosity, I asked how he stayed grounded to preach and teach among those of such great capacity. His response was profound for me. He said that he respected them as experts in their fields, but they respected his expertise in sharing the Christian message that they so greatly needed in their lives.
Dear friends, may we remember during this Holy Week and Easter season that in our Christian message, we have something to offer that is so greatly needed by many people in the world today. Our Christian witness about the life, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus is a priceless treasure that lets the world know that there is hope that can span beyond the bounds of human limitations, perception, and imagination. This hope that God has offered the world is an amazing grace, extended unconditionally and unearned, and in a way that fully restores us to our best selves in relationship with God.
This is an Easter hope that comes to life in the hearts of those who have experienced the Christian witness extended by so many of you, which you offer with such excellence, care, and dedication through your ministries of worship, service, compassion, generosity, and so much more. This is a hope that is so desperately needed as it offers restoration and assurance in a world filled with so much struggle, strife, confusion, and despair.
So even despite challenges we may face in offering our witness in today’s world, I pray that as we experience again the fullness of Holy Week and the good news of Easter once again, we will be affirmed and renewed in our commitments to continue to be living witnesses to an Easter hope that shines through us in our ministry and service to all. May this blessing from Jan Richardson’s book, Circle of Grace, undergird us in this quest. This blessing is entitled “Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light.”
Blessed are you who bear the light in unbearable times,
who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable,
who bear witness to its persistence when everything seems in shadow and grief.
Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes—
your heart, a chapel, an altar where in the deepest night can be seen
the fire that shines forth in you in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope, in love that illumines every broken thing.
We have something special to offer as the light of Easter shines through our hearts in our Christian service. May it shine ever so brightly in this season to come.
Grace and peace,
Marcus