St Paul's United Church of Christ
50 North Main St.
PO Box 129
Manheim, PA 17545
717-665-2447
The Reverend William J. LaSalle, Pastor
email:stpaulsucc@dejazzd.com

Pastor's Message

April 2007

You can tell when the climax of a good story is near. Time slows down so we can take it all in and feel the full effect. This mimics our own lives. When we are in the midst of a liminal moment, our bodies seem to slow down. Our senses are heightened as we attempt to integrate what is happening.

Holy Week is a time when we slow down as we move through the climax of the story of faith, Jesus’ betrayal, death and resurrection. Worship throughout the rest of the year skims the surface in some ways, whisking us through the story of Jesus’ life. But in this week, we linger. There is so much centered here. We have to take our time to be able to receive it.

Worship in Holy Week will cover it all, creation and redemption, death and life, fire and water, desolation and celebration. These days enact the great Christian drama and the worship services are, in many ways, dramas that embody the story, the tensions, and the teachings of the very core of our faith.

On Maundy Thursday evening (liturgically the beginning of Good Friday), we reach back to the beginning of Lent to recall the confession we made on Ash Wednesday. The service is focused on the words of forgiveness and the institution of the Holy Meal, where remembrance is relived each time we come to the Table of grace. It is only with a clear knowledge of forgiveness that we can engage the rest of the story of this Holy Week. In some traditions, we wash each others feet as a sign of humility before such grace.

Good Friday is a time of somber reflection on the darkest day of the church year. We hear about Jesus’ betrayal, capture, and trial. We hear of his humiliation, his interrogation. We know the night was long for him, and lonely. Our visual center is the Cross. There is nothing to distract us. The pace is slow, as those final hours must have been for him. We move relentlessly toward the end.

At this time, when he is near to breathing his last, we read Pilate’s mocking sign, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Because we believe it is true, we pray, interceding for the world around us, for our church, and for ourselves. We are reminded that Jesus’ death was, paradoxically, the moment of his triumph. Through his death he defeated death. In gratitude we may spend a few moments in adoration of the crucified one.

In many parts of the Body of Christ, the Easter Vigil is a long and meaningful vigil, awaiting the triumph. A new fire is often lighted as a sign of the new creation. From this fire a Paschal Candle is lit for the first time in the new year. Like the pillar of fire that led the people of Israel in the wilderness, so the paschal candle will lead these worshiping communities into the Easter celebration.

Finally the Easter dawn breaks and we feast with abandon. He who was dead lives. The promise has been fulfilled. Flowers, which begin again the cycle of life, surround us in worship. Their fragrance fills the sanctuary as the fragrance of our worship of the risen savior fills our sanctuary. Christ is risen. Alleluia.

I invite you to partake of this focused story of the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. See this as a time to slow down and engage fully in the mystery of faith. May we all be blessed through this time of great mystery and drama.

Pastor Cluley