Category: Meditation

Welcome as Christ Has Welcomed You!
“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7).

This verse of scripture is right out of last Sunday’s reading from the Epistle to the Romans. It is a reminder to us of how vital hospitality is to life in Christian community. St. Martin’s has a long-standing commitment to hospitality, radical hospitality. The banner on the side of the church boldly and unequivocally says,

For ten years I have served as an intentional interim. I have served eight parishes in seven states. Those parishes were in small towns, medium towns, suburbs, downtowns, and metropolitan areas. All of them work very hard at inviting people to come and see what God is up to among them. All of them work very hard at extending a genuine and generous welcome. All of them take great care to follow up with those who visit. None of them can match the number of first-time visitors we have at St. Martin’s!

The people of this parish have a golden opportunity week in and week out to extend a welcome to people who are new, people who are on a spiritual journey, people who are seeking a community of faith with whom they can grow in their relationship with God and as disciples of Jesus Christ. When we welcome the stranger, or one another for that matter, we are following the example of Christ who welcomed us and we are glorifying God.

Someone once told me that God sends people to churches when God can trust them to take care of them. Consider the possibility that God is sending people to us. Here are some specific ways you can help keep St. Martin’s a welcoming church.
- Look for people you don’t recognize and speak to them before you speak to anyone else. If you are afraid you’ll be embarrassed if they tell you they aren’t new to St. Martin’s, don’t worry. Nobody ever died from embarrassment.
- When you approach someone who might be new, just say, “Hello. Welcome to St. Martin’s. My name is _________. Have I met you before?”
- Invite new people to sit with you during worship or to join you at Coffee Hour after the service.
- If you notice that someone is having difficulty juggling the prayer book and hymnal, gently offer assistance.
- Invite new people to join you for brunch at a restaurant nearby.
- Encourage newcomers to fill out a visitor card.
- Wear your name tag and encourage newcomers to wear one too. Paper name tags and sharpies are at the entrances to our gathering places.
- Contact Flo Lowrey and offer to serve as a greeter, bake bread for newcomer gift bags, or to staff the new Welcome Table in the parish hall during Coffee Hour once a month.
- Invite newcomers to events other than worship. There are many different entry points.
- Keep a note card to remind you of the names of the people you meet.
- Pray for them.
Any or all of these ways of welcoming others will help ensure that St. Martin’s is known as the most welcoming and inclusive church around. Newcomers will experience the hospitality of God through the hospitality of God’s people!

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas
December 12, 2019
God’s Tough and Tender Love

It is a happy coincidence that the commemoration of St. Ambrose, the fourth century Bishop of Milan, occurs during the Advent season on December 7. I say that because one of the chief contributions of Bishop Ambrose was his defense of Athanasian (orthodox) Christianity against Arianism. Athanasians affirm that the Logos or Word (John 1:1) is fully God in the same sense that the Father is, while Arians affirm that the Logos is a creature, the first being created by the Father. So it is appropriate that his feast day occurs during the season in which we are preparing for the coming of the Messiah because Bishop Ambrose helps us better understand what kind of Messiah we are talking about.

Ambrose may have written the Athanasian Creed (BCP p. 864), the first creed in which the equality of the three persons of the Trinity is explicitly stated. Whether he wrote it or not, it is consistent with his theology:

And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.

The Messiah who came as a little child and died on a cross as a man is not just a messenger. He is Emmanuel, God With Us in the flesh. That was as incomprehensible a Mystery in the first and fourth centuries as it is today – the Word that was in the beginning, the Word that was with God, the Word that was God, “became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son; full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The proof of it is a matter of faith. This Word Made Flesh, Jesus, the Messiah, matters so much to us because he is the ultimate expression of God’s eternal love for us.

His entire life demonstrates to us that God’s love does not shrink in the face of tragedy, injustice, exploitation, and alienation. Love Divine embraces everything that happens to human beings from birth to death. God With Us heals brokenness, overcomes oppression, and reconciles estrangement. There is no love in the universe that is tougher or more tender!

A meditation attributed to Bishop Ambrose beautifully expresses what God’s love means to us in these words: “Lord Jesus Christ, you are for me medicine when I am sick; you are my strength when I need help; you are life itself when I fear death; you are the way when I long for heaven; you are light when all is dark; you are my food when I need nourishment.”

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

December 6, 2019
Seeking Balance During Advent

December 1 is the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is hard to observe in our culture, isn’t it?

The Church tells us it is a period of preparation for the Feast of the Incarnation, Christmas. Our faith tradition encourages us to make it a reflective time during which we identify with those who waited long centuries for the appearing of God’s anointed one. The liturgy for the Sundays and weekdays in Advent direct our attention to the wonderful gift that has come to us in Emmanuel and the promise that he will come again at the end to establish his victorious reign over all things.

Yet, here we are again with all those sights and sounds and smells that tell us it is time to be the world’s most accomplished consumers. Our culture encourages us to believe that the things we need and the things our loved ones need to make their lives complete can be bought for a price, and quite possibly must be acquired if life is to be worth living. The liturgy of advertising and shopping mall directs our attention to the near frenzy involved in getting there while supplies last.

I’m not really suggesting that we should not buy gifts or support our local merchants who work so hard and rely so heavily on sales at this season. I enjoy going to the mall and listening to the music in the stores. I like to shop for presents and believe it is a good thing to be thoughtful and generous with others as God in Christ has been thoughtful and generous with us in offering us his very life.

What I am suggesting is that the spiritual dimension of the season can easily be overshadowed. We need to find a balance and the Church can help. Go to the mall, after you’ve gone to church. Buy gifts, after you’ve left your gift at the Altar. Spend time shopping for the perfect gift, after you’ve spent time in communion with the most perfect gift, Christ the Savior. And then, after you've observed the spiritual practices of Advent, have a wonderful, peaceful, and blessed Christmas!

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

“O Little Town of Bethlehem”
The Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

November 29, 2019
Christ’s Reign in Our Lives – Now and Then

We are coming to the Last Sunday After Pentecost. Many liturgical churches also celebrate this as The Feast of Christ the King. In our continuing efforts to make our language more gender inclusive, the term Reign of Christ is gaining acceptance as the designation for this Sunday. I really prefer Reign of Christ because the emphasis is on what Christ is doing throughout the cosmos and throughout eternity – reigning!

Matthew 25:31-46, is often referred to as The Parable of the Last Judgment. It speaks of the accountability of all people when the reigning Christ sits upon his throne.

I recall an encounter I had with a radically evangelical fundamentalist during my college years. He and I were about the same age. He was a member of Campus Crusade for Christ and had chosen me as the target of his mission. We talked about our differing theological views and never found much common ground. It turned out to be a debate, not a conversation. At the end of our debate, he referred to this passage of scripture and said as he parted, “I hope you’ll see the light and end up in heaven with me after the great judgment.”

He wanted the Reign of Christ to be all about the Last Judgment. Ever since then, I've been very curious about how and when we are accountable to Christ. So, naturally, when this text pops us, that's where my thoughts go.

If you’ll read the passage carefully, you’ll see that the basis of our accountability is not on having the right doctrine. When we stand before Christ it is always about how we express the faith we profess – how we are ministering to Christ through our service to the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick, the prisoners, the marginalized and vulnerable people we encounter in our journey of faith. Faith in Christ is a challenge to expand our comfort zones and reach out beyond them to such as these in ways that our faith and our good works are in alignment.

A hungry man was walking down the street in a village of medieval Turkey. He had only a piece of bread in his hand. He came to a restaurant where some meatballs were being grilled. The cooking meat was so near and the smell so delicious the man held his piece of bread over the meat to capture some of the smell. As he started to eat the bread, the angry restaurant owner seized him and took him away to see a judge.

The owner protested, “This man was stealing the smell of my meat without asking permission. I want you to make him pay me for it.” The judge thought for a moment, then held up his purse in front of the owner and shook it.“What are you doing that for?” asked the restaurant owner? The judge replied, “I am paying you. The sound of money is fair payment for the smell of food.”

The challenge when we are dealing with the kind of people described by Jesus in this passage is to make sure that what we are sharing with them is real. We must make sure that our care is expressed in ways that are tangible and life changing.

Each Sunday, we say we believe “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” One might say that Matthew 25:31-46 is a scriptural basis for that belief. It seems clear to me that the Judgment is not about arguing our case or preparing to be judged. Neither the sheep nor the goats had much of an argument or seemed prepared. It is about how we live day by day and it is about being accountable for our discipleship all along the way and not just at the end. The reigning Christ is already on the throne. We are judged not by the precision of our dogma or our membership in a particular church but by what we do for others. We are judged not by what we know but what we have shared.

What I wish I’d had the experience and presence of mind to say to my fundamentalist friend at the end of our conversation long ago is this: Both the sheep and goats will be judged not by their creeds but by their deeds.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

November 21, 2019
The Practice of Passionate Worship
Continuing a series based on Bishop Robert Schnase's book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.)

Worship describes those times we gather deliberately seeking to encounter God in Christ. God uses worship to transform lives, heal wounded souls, renew hope, shape decisions, provoke change, inspire compassion, and bind people to one another. The word passionate expresses an intense desire, an ardent spirit, strong feelings, and the sense of heightened importance. Congregations who practice Passionate Worship offer their utmost and highest; they expect worship to be the most important hour of the week.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that worship attendance is declining in most mainline Churches and even in some evangelical mega churches. Given the fact that participation in corporate worship is almost universally regarded as of the utmost importance among Christians, this downward trend seems odd. What's wrong with this picture?

Perhaps we have not been effective in teaching about the centrality of worship. Most of us who have been in ordained ministry for a while have tried all of the less direct, “kid glove” approaches and they are not working. We've tried to fix our sermons, our music, and our wardrobe to make things more “convenient,” “appealing,” and “entertaining.” We've set attendance goals, assumed much of the blame for the behavior of people given into our care, and tried numerous gimmicks to coax the faithful to worship. And still, worship in our churches continues to decline.

So, let's try the direct approach. We have not been completely honest and we have not served the flock of Christ well by shading the truth. One of the most important and helpful things a pastor can do is tell you this:

God wants you to adjust your life so you can be there when your Church gathers for divine worship!

God will be pleased. It will strengthen the Church, enrich you spiritually, and help you love others. Think of this time as God’s time with you instead of your time with God. Consider it the most important appointment of the week. From the earliest of times, God has called God’s own people to join together in worship. In corporate worship, we focus our hearts not on ourselves, but on our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. When we do that, we open ourselves up to receive the grace and love that we cannot earn or find anywhere else. There is just no substitute for worship.

How to get started – If you are still with me and have concluded that worship needs to be a greater priority in your life and the life of your household, you may be wondering how to proceed. Here are some ideas:
- Some may be able to simply decide to be there every Sunday unless prevented by a major physical difficulty like illness, disability, or severe weather conditions.
- Others may commit to a gradual change during the next year. For example, if you attend corporate worship once a month, try twice; if you worship twice a month, try three times; or just decide that you will worship twice as often.
- Some may have a job or obligations to others that make Sunday morning attendance extremely difficult or impossible. At Saint Martin’s, we have a service on Saturday evenings at 5:00. We also have a service in the Chapel at noon on Wednesdays. One of those may be an option for you. If not, let me know and we’ll discuss the possibility of starting a service at a time that does work for you. It may work for others as well.
Most Christians could double their worship attendance and still not be there every Sunday of the year. I'm not a mathematician but I believe I'm correct in suggesting that if places of worship are typically two-thirds empty and we doubled attendance, our churches would then be two-thirds full. That would be a good thing for God, for the People of God, and for the world God loved so much that he sent his only begotten Son. There would be more of us there to welcome newcomers. It could be the beginning of another Great Awakening in the hearts and minds of Christians.

Whatever you do to improve your participation in corporate worship will be a step in the right direction. It is time to reverse the trend and it has to start with a new commitment on the part of the believer. This is a call to worship – passionate worship.

Therefore, I join St. Paul in extending this invitation to those born of water and the Spirit, who bear the Name of Christ: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (I Cor. 12;1-2).

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas
November 8, 2019
Let’s Talk Hospitality!

A decade ago, United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase wrote a book entitled Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. That book and a variety of supporting resources that followed resulted in a movement toward congregational health that has extended beyond denominational lines and made an impact in many churches.

The five practices are: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity.

I have applied the principles of the five practices in a variety of ways and to one degree or another in the churches I have served as an interim. As a community of faith moves through the journey of transition between rectors, these five aspects of its life and mission deserve special attention so that everyone will be ready to enter a new era of mission when the new rector arrives.

St. Martin’s already has some experience with the Five Practices material and I want us to revisit them together at this stage of transition. Let’s start this week with Radical Hospitality.

Radical Hospitality in our personal walk with Christ begins with an extraordinary receptivity to the grace of God. In distinctive and personal ways, we invite God into our hearts and make space for God in our lives. We say Yes to God and open ourselves to the spiritual life. We accept God’s love and acceptance of us. We receive God’s love and offer it to others.

I met last week with some of those who have been promoting radical hospitality at St. Martin’s. We are beginning to explore what is happening and what else needs to happen to be sure that our “no exceptions” policy is authentic and consistent. It has to apply to those who are newcomers to this church and school as well as to those who are members.

One of the most obvious and important ways of practicing radical hospitality is with an inviting and tasty coffee hour following worship. We have begun a somewhat new approach to our coffee hour after the 8:30 and 10:30 Sunday morning services. When you enter the parish hall, you will see a round table in the center of the room. On that table will be a spread of tasty items along with coffee, tea, punch, and water. There are items that are attractive to both the kids and the adults. We’re also placing visitor information cards and name tags on the table. Coffee hour hosts have been provided with the details of the new procedures and may be asking for assistance. Greeters are escorting newcomers to the parish hall.

This brief time for companionship before going about our Sunday activities allows us to welcome and get acquainted with those who are new and to strengthen relationships within the faith community. I hope each one of you will make a new commitment to participate in coffee hour. And make it a point to speak first to someone you don’t recognize.

Thanks to Flo Lowry, Linda Snow, and Ann Luttrell whose counsel helped to give a shot in the arm to our coffee hour. Thanks also to all those who are serving as hosts. If you’d like to help, contact Linda Snow at 682-717-9238 or snowman2014@outlook.com.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

P.S. Next week we'll talk about extravagant generosity as we get ready for Consecration Sunday, October 20. If you haven't yet let us know your attendance plans, please contact the parish office right away or go online HERE.

October 10, 2019
Follow Him, Seek Him, Love Him

My remaining time as Interim Dean at St. Andrew's Cathedral is getting shorter by the day. It's a big transition for me, not simply because I'm saying farewell to people I have grown to love and respect, but also because I have notified the Church Pension Fund that I am ready to retire. I've never looked forward to retirement because I love what I do and I love the people with whom I am honored to work for the building up of the Church during healthy transitions.

This transition for me marks the end of a way of life and service that I've known all of my adult life. But it also marks the beginning of a new series of adventures, serving the Church in different ways – consulting, supplying, mentoring, coaching, and a few other possibilities. Gay and I will finally start living in the house we've occasionally stayed in for the last four-and-one-half years, get to know our neighbors, and explore a part of Texas we've barely visited, even though it is our home state.

The chorus from W.H. Auden's Christmas Oratorio is on my mind today as I reflect upon my life and ministry and the people and places I have known. It describes the journey into a new kind of normal with all its dangers and surprises, traveling with our memories and the Lover of our souls.

He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.

He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.

He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.

(W.H. Auden – 1907-1973)

This poem is set to two different tunes in The Hymnal 1982 of The Episcopal Church. Here's a beautiful choral setting: The Way, The Truth, The Life (Royal Holloway Choir, University of London, Samuel Rathbone & Rupert Gough)

Please hold us in your prayers and stay in touch. We are excited for you and your new Dean and will be watching with eager anticipation as you begin a new era of mission together.

I'll see you in Church (one more time)!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

June 13, 2019
He Ascended into Heaven

Have you thought about the fact that, while the Ascension Window in the rear of the Cathedral Nave is our largest window, we hardly ever talk much about the Ascension other than when we're reciting the creeds?

Perhaps the reason the Church has neglected the Ascension in its preaching, teaching, and liturgical life is that it is so easy to let issues such as the location of heaven, behavior of clouds, and laws of gravity obscure the central theological affirmations of the event. I invite you to look beyond the literal description of the event with me and consider those affirmations.

The first affirmation is that it rings the curtain down on the earthly ministry of Jesus.

He had walked with them and talked with them about the Kingdom before and after the resurrection. He had walked the way of the cross. He had journeyed with them along the road to Emmaus and appeared to them in the breaking of the bread. He stood among them in that fear-filled room in Jerusalem and restored their courage and their faith. For forty days he had shared with them his risen presence. He had prepared them for his going away and promised them that he would send the Comforter, power from on high, and that because he was going to the Father, they would be able to do even greater works than he had done. Now it was time for the earthly part of his ministry to cease.

The Ascension was a farewell scene. They needed a transition and this was the event that made it possible. We know the need ourselves. His departure points to a new day in God's Realm, a new relationship with his followers, and a new responsibility for his work. So, the Ascension affirms that his earthly ministry has come to a close and his work in the world is now to be done by those whom he has chosen and empowered.

A second affirmation of the Ascension is a broadening understanding of the purpose and mission of the Church.

The figure in white asked them, “Why are you standing there looking up into heaven?” That may be another way of saying, “You have been told what you are supposed to do and it is NOT to stand there looking up into the sky. Jesus told you he’ll return but he didn’t give you a schedule. You have things to do. Go and do them!”

The challenge to the Church now as then is, while we expect his return at any moment, we are not to spend our waiting time looking up into the sky and meditating on the past but moving into mission in the world. Theologian Leslie Newbigin once observed, “The Church is unique in that it exists not for its own sake but for the sake of those outside it.”

We are not to become so caught up in gazing in wonder that we fail to capture the vision of the mission field at the doorsteps of our churches into which we are sent at the end of every service. We must not be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good in advancing the reign of God in our part of the world!

The third affirmation of the Ascension is that Jesus, the suffering and crucified One, is now with the Father.

What does that mean? I am reminded of Luther’s debate with Zwingli during which Zwingli was challenging Luther’s perspective on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Zwingli declared, “He can’t be in two places at once, and the scripture says he’s at the right hand of God.” Luther responded, “The right hand of God is here, there, and everywhere.”

The right hand of God is not a geographical location you can Google, but rather the power bestowed upon the Son by the Father. He brings God’s power to us. It means that the One who has been given all power and authority has been touched with the feeling of weakness, knows our pain, has wrestled with temptation. His incarnation, which began with his Nativity and concluded with his Ascension, has brought something of our humanity into the very life of God.

It means that he is Sovereign of the Universe. All that is left is for the universe to acknowledge that truth.

And, it means that the ultimate outcome of history is no longer in question. The Kingdom, the power, and the glory are his now and forever. He has triumphed and, we who are his sisters and brothers through Baptism are heirs of all that he has won. His victory is our victory. You might say that his victory is hidden in our history, to be perceived only through eyes of faith. What do you see when you look around? Look again!

In the Letter to the Ephesians, we are told that the world should be able to get a glimpse of God's Reign when it looks at the Church, his Body. We have to confess that is not always what the world sees. It’s not always what we see either. But he’s probably doing more with us than he’s getting done with any other group on this planet. The Church is still alive and at work in human lives, bringing compassion, healing, purpose, and victory to people of all types in all places.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (BCP)

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

P.S. This Charles Wesley hymn about the Ascension is a favorite of mine.

May 30, 2019
Christ the Good Shepherd

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday every year. Our collect and readings remind us that in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament, the middle eastern shepherd is a metaphor for the divine nature. The gospel readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter are always from the tenth chapter of John. If you read the entire chapter you not only hear about the Good Shepherd but also the flock.

It helps me to pay more attention to the flock in these readings. The character of the flock reveals something about the one who guides and cares for it. The fact, for example, that there are different kinds of sheep indicates that the shepherd values diversity along with unity.

I’m very grateful that the Good Shepherd values this sort of unity in the midst of diversity, yet I am aware of how difficult it is to achieve and how challenging it is to maintain. We tend to associate with people with whom we share racial, cultural, economic, and religious characteristics and values. At times we may even ridicule those who appear to be different.

The Good Shepherd calls us all, "from every nation, race, people and tongue." Unlike the societies in which we live, in the Good Shepherd’s flock our differences are to remain as distinctions but not as separations. They enhance the color and texture of the community of believers rather than alienating or marginalizing. There is no dominant or superior group in this flock. We are all God’s people, "one flock, one Shepherd."

It is a paradox of our faith that the Good Shepherd is also the Lamb of God. Of his own accord, he laid down his life for the sheep. He paid for the undisputed right to lead us by the shedding of his blood. If we hear his voice and follow him, he will make it possible for us to live together in peace. If we can do that, as diverse a flock as we are, perhaps the flock of Christ can offer hope to our divided world. This is reason enough to cry out Alleluia!

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

P.S. I want to share with you one of my favorite musical settings of the twenty-third psalm. It is by composer Howard Goodall and some of you will recognize it as the theme song from a BBC television production about a flock that was tended by a very interesting shepherd. The choir is that of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

May 9, 2019
Then Came Easter

In Baptism, we are incorporated into the Paschal Mystery. That is, we are incorporated into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His life is our life. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. It is for this reason that Christians observe Holy Week every year. It is a commemoration intended to put us in touch with that life which the world can neither give nor take away. It is a time to look at the Paschal Mystery and to recover our true identity, our authentic self, in him.

Five hundred years before Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be a king. Since the time of the Exile, no Jewish ruler had borne the title of king. “Look, your king is coming to you. Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion.” The time was just right and the people were happy that day to acknowledge it.

They wished to crown him their king. In their enthusiasm, they missed the paradox. They saw the glory but overlooked the shadow. But Jesus was conscious of both.

He knew who he was so the acclamation of the crowd did not impress him. He saw that their palm branches cast the shadow of a cross. He sensed that the kingly crown they were offering to him that day would become a crown of thorns by the end of the week. Jesus knew that the identity the world offered was not a secure identity, not a legitimate identity, and certainly not a dependable identity. No, for Jesus, the only true identity is consciousness of who we are in the eyes of our Creator.

To the disciples, on the next weekend, it must have looked like the world’s biggest failure, a cruel joke. Imagine being sucked in to a group like “the Twelve.” To them “the Way” must have appeared more like a primrose path. Because they were still so dependent upon the things of the world for their sense of identity, they had to be the most embarrassed people around Jerusalem.

Then came Easter. Out of the tomb came the Risen Messiah with his identity still intact. “He is risen” is shorthand for Jesus message of resurrection, “Behold, I have overcome the world. Behold, I died and I am alive. Behold, who you are need never again depend upon who you know, what you wear, where you live, what you do, how much you possess, or even what people say about you. Because I live, you will live also. You will experience new life in me and you will be able to face the popularity contest the world is running with confidence that you don’t really have to enter it in order to find out who you are. Here is my crown. It is yours! Take it! And believe me when I tell you that this crown of glory, which is both mine and yours, will never fade away.”

Who and whose we truly are – that’s what Holy Week and Easter are all about.

I’ll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Rector

April 18, 2019