Pastor's Corner

From Ashes to Glory

If one would describe the greatest event in Christian history, that event will be the Resurrection of our Lord.

The greatest of the miracles is the Resurrection and the greatest of the mysteries also is the Resurrection. Sometimes I wonder if I am qualified to touch this great divine mystery. A single man who worked the shortest period of three and half years created the highest sensation in the world. It began as a small community of 12 disciples, it took hardly three centuries to ‘conquer the Romans Empire with the message of God’s love. It is interesting that the Roman Emperors were the most terrified by the inception of the new way life called ‘Christianity’. The Roman Emperors tried for three centuries to uproot Christianity from its empire killing millions of Christians during that time, hoping that Christianity could be brought under control. But the people who believed in the way of Christ increased day by day throughout the Roman Empire. Finally the Roman Empire declared Christianity as its official religion in 308 A.D. during the time of Emperor Theodosius I. How did a single person conquer the entire Roman world in three centuries? It was simply the power of the Resurrection. The Roman Empire had seen many great emperors who spread the empire to unseen borders and brought fantastic reforms but none of them could win more people than Jesus Himself, in spite of being the target of attack. The one who was attacked by the emperors conquered the emperors. The Romans conquered their territories by the sword but Jesus conquered them by the power of his love.

As Christians, we shouldn’t forget the first three hundred years of history of the martyr Church. “The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church”. It was all simply because they truly believed in a resurrected Lord. Christians were ready to die because they knew they would join the Lord after death. Even today we can see many who are willing to die and kill for the sake of faith but the difference in the the Early Church was that they did not kill or attack others but subdued themselves to attackers and showed ‘The Way’. The Apostle Paul, when he experienced the touch of God on his way to Damascus was never the same and exclaimed later in his writings in 2 Timothy 1:12b “ …for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” ‘Know’ in this context indicates a personal relationship the apostle had with Jesus Christ. Here are some reflective thoughts as we enter Holy Week leading to Easter / Resurrection Sunday: That death as a frightening reality is changed to a hopeful reality. It is humanly difficult to understand that mystery of Resurrection but faith can answer that mystery which will give courage to live and die.

Resurrection gives us liberation from fear. Our Lord told his disciples, “Fear not” “peace be with you” when he appeared to them.

Resurrection assures us of the continuous presence of God with us. Saul was not a fan of Christ, he persecuted those who followed the Way of Christ. Later when the Resurrected and the living Lord encountered him on his way to Damascus, Saul became Paul the greatest missionary ever that the world saw. That is why St. Paul said, “If Jesus did not resurrect our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain”. Those who experience the continued presence of God in their life will never move from their faith even at the point of death.

Resurrection gave us the divine dimension of life. As humans we have been shaped by the material dimension of life; by our senses. Jesus helps us overcome this worldly perspective of life by looking beyond the physical. Still so many do not understand this. So we keep trying the material dimension of life as the primary navigating principle for life. We can see how easily this is a pointless endeavour. No matter who we are, unless we identify with the divine God-oriented life, we can never bear witness to the Lord.

Finally Resurrection confirms the sacrificial love that alone has victory. ‘No pain, no gain,’ ‘no cross, no crown’ ‘no sacrifice, no victory’ ‘no love, no God’. It is the sacrifice of the Lord that gave Him victory over everything including Satan. The world in which we all live today can only be saved with this message of love.

Resurrection power. The power that raised Jesus from the dead. The power to heal and mend and protect and loose from bondage. The Apostle Paul sought to know this power, to know the "power" behind the power. In a real sense, the power of the resurrection is that 2000 years removed from the actual event, people are still coming to know the One who was Resurrected!

Lives are still being changed. Marriages are being restored. Addictions are being broken. Proud men and women are being humbled. Truly evil people are changing their lives completely. The Christian Church triumphant is growing around the world. The world is changed each and every time someone believes in Jesus.

Yes, it's that resurrection power.

Lord, you have the power to bring life from death. Thank you that through the resurrection of Jesus you have given us new life. Let us all loudly say this and live in that experience. Our Lord is Risen! Indeed our Lord is Risen!

Amen

Happy Easter to you all,
Pastor Samuel K. King-Kabu

Linda's Travels - Part 2 : India

To continue : I never did get to see a real live tiger.
But the adventures continued !

My heart-stopping ride : I had bent my glass-frames accidentally, and asked Bhupendra, our guide, to find an optometrist to fix them. The city of Bharatpur has a wonderful bird sanctuary -Keoladeo Reserve, once the private hunting reserve of a Maharajah, until 1972 . It is now a National Park and a World Heritage Site. This is also Bhupendra's hometown. He went home for his motorcycle and said he would take me to a friend of the family, an optometrist, in the city. So - hop on his motorbike (struggle on ) no helmet - just hang on - and off we went ! Dusk - dark - and most vehicles have no tail lights - I hoped our guide had cat's eyes - and prayed. We finally reached the city - walled - so in through the gate, past a fort - a moat - and finally - the optometrist. It took no time for him to straighten my frames, then clean the lens, tell Bhupendra that he needed glasses - then off on the bike - to his home to meet his parents, his wife, sister-in-law, and 3 children ! What a neat experience!

Another "off the beaten track " : One morning Wes (my fellow traveller) and I went exploring - and came to a village where a young lad approached us and invited us to see his home - clay floor, swept very clean, mud walls, a neighbourhood well. Of course we were soon accompanied by several - many - children - who showed us their school - a clay floor, no desks, a small "blackboard" about 4 feet wide and high, no books - classes were starting in an hour so no teacher. Our "guide" then took us all around the village and outskirts - he knew everyone - seemed to be related to everyone - then on to another village, and to a river where the women were washing clothes. This was the same river - or creek - where he had washed his face and slurped some water ! He showed us his cousin "threshing" grain by walking 4 bulls round and round his pile of grain ! Then blowing the chaff away . We had more fun than on the safari later that afternoon !

Our last stop was Mumbai (Bombay), and there is so much to see : the Science Centre needs two days to explore; the Hanging Gardens is a children's delight, built on top of the city's water reservoir; Bollywood; finally the beautiful beach on the Arabian Sea.

Our hotel was an example of why our tour was so inexpensive ! But it was only three (3) blocks from the beautiful TajMahal Hotel, and the Gate to India (dedicated to King George the Fifth and Queen Mary, on their visit to India in 1906.) This is a huge open square on the Sea, with many tour boats, and tour buses, and hawkers selling everything, and beggars - a very popular and crowded place - and place where the carnage occurred only 2 weeks later - and I thank God I was gone by then.

My next stop was Malaysia : Kuala Lumpur - to visit a friend,fellow chorister and music teacher from Montreal, Cathy. Cathy is very involved in volunteer work, especially with the Kachin hill-tribe children, refugees from Myanamar, who have no official status in Malaysia. I went with her to their school (a smallish room) where she teaches them many things - through music ! Then they treated me to a performance, in traditional folk dress, of some Kachin dances and songs. It was very moving.

That evening, Cathy had tickets for a concert at the modern Philharmonic Concert Hall. Khadijah Ibrahim - a very popular Malaysian performer - the Celine Dion or Anne Murray of Malaysia ? We were told that the King (Sultan) would be there. He wasn't - but his wife came, with entourage, and we all stood up when she entered her special box seats. The concert was fun - she encouraged the audience to sing along - and many did ! Of course I knew none of the songs. Another time we went to the Tourist Centre to see the cultural show - very professional - dances and dance-stories from the many different cultural groups of Malaysia. We went to the twin Petronas Towers bridge. The Islamic National Museum is excellent, and the Orchid Gardens were beautiful.

Next stop : Jakarta, with Cathy and 10 other Canadian ex-pats (wives whose husbands are working in Malaysia)

Cathy and I did a tour of the city - to Batavia, the old Dutch capital, and harbour; the Puppet Museum - Wayang puppets and shadow puppets; the National Monument Monas with 48 dioramas depicting the history of Indonesia; Chinatown; and finally - the private school which Obama attended when he lived here !

I was surprised at the security systems at the hotels and condos. The outer gates are manned by patrols who check your identity, and at the door to the hotels, a guard checks your handbags, purses.

I must tell you more about the Kachin children from Myanamor - next time ! It is heart-breaking - and heart-warming.

Linda Tae

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Roger Kenner & Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2009/05/07
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal