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The Good News of Reconciling Love

By Vicar Lisa

In browsing through February’s Living Lutheran Magazine, I found an article by Chad Rimer entitled “the good news of reconciling love”.  You can read the entire article by clicking on the link but some of Rimer’s main points I wanted to cover here.

“Martin Luther spoke of sin as the state of being turned in on the self. Genesis describes the “fall” as a turning away from our relationship to each other to focus on the individual self. That egocentric focus introduces shame into the human experience. And shame leads to isolation and violence that separate human beings from one another, from the land, from animals and, ultimately, from the Divine.”

“Being turned in upon ourselves takes the form of “othering” our neighbor. Someone who belongs to a different race, gender, religion or culture, or a nonhuman creature, becomes the “other”—someone “alien,” someone strange and suspicious. “Othering” becomes a barrier to belonging and separates what was meant to be held in harmony.”

“The gift and promise revealed to us in Christ Jesus is the source of our hope in the cosmic reconciliation of all that has been divided by the forces of our age. The world fractures along lines of race, gender, culture, class, economy, geopolitics, and species. But God’s mission is to transform broken relationships into a just and holistic balance that sustains life and peace for people and the planet.”

“Paul writes to the Corinthians that this ministry of reconciliation begun in Christ Jesus is entrusted to the church (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). Lutheran confessional writings understand the gift and promise found in Word and Sacraments as a means of participating in this ministry of reconciliation. Our diversity is reconciled not through our strength but through the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Rimer goes on to state that “the heart of the Triune God, who is a dance of diversity in perfect love, offers us a new story of belonging to our local community, to the global body of Christ across God’s Garden, to the land, to our co-creatures and to the whole inhabited Earth. How is your congregation embodying the story of “One Body, One Spirit, One Hope” in your corner of God’s Garden?”

Excellent question. One I hope you will ponder this week.

Serving This Sunday, Second Sunday of Easter

April 7 -- 10 a.m. Worship with Communion

Announcements

  • Weekday Bible Study: Is on hiatus in April and May.
  • Flowers: During Lent we used greens on the altar. With Easter, flowers have returned to the sanctuary and there are plenty of days available for sponsoring them. Select the available date in the flower book at the back of the sanctuary, write your name and any commemoration you would like to see included in the bulletin. A minimum donation of $35 is encouraged and donation envelopes are in the flower book, too.
  • Green Flower Trays and Vases: If you have taken green flower trays or vases home, please return to the church.
  • Zion’s Newsletter: The April edition of Zion’s Connections newsletter was emailed on Tuesday, additional paper copies are available in the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall, as well as on the Zion’s Website at ZionsLuth.org.
  • Portals of Prayer: Copies of the Spring Portals of Prayer are available in the back of the Sanctuary and in the Fellowship Hall.
  • Early 5-Loaves Help: Thank you to everyone who assisted with 5-Loaves meal preparation and delivery on March 29 and 30. The recipients were thankful for the special Easter meal.
  • First Sunday Potluck: Join us after worship on Sunday for a potluck meal and Bible Study.

E-formation – The Second Sunday of Easter, April 7, 2024

The church keeps Easter for eight Sundays. Early Christians referred to Sunday as the eighth day, as if the normal week of seven is miraculously completed in an extraordinary eighth day. The fifty days culminates at Pentecost. Each Sunday, individually and communally, we meet the risen Christ in word and sacrament.

John 20:19-31

The church continues the pattern alluded to in John’s gospel, of assembling on the first day of the week to receive the Spirit of the cross and resurrection and to exchange the peace of Christ. As we expect of John, the narrative in chapter 20 testifies to the identity of Christ as Lord and God. For Christians, to touch Christ is to touch God, and we do this in the flesh of our neighbor’s hand at the peace and with the bread of Christ in our palm at communion.

Acts 4:32-35

Throughout the Sundays of the fifty days of Easter, passages from Acts proclaim the meaning of the resurrection. In today’s idyllic description of the primitive community, we see that the resurrection of Christ changes the values of believers, and their sense of self embraces the whole community.

1 John 1:1—2:2

Throughout the weeks of Easter, year B reads through 1 John. Chapter 1 proclaims the resurrection with language of eternal life, the light of God, and forgiveness. Christ is not dead but appeals for us before the Father.

Zion's Lutheran Church

zionsluth@gmail.com

719-846-7785