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

May 2007

On Easter Day, we stand gaping at the open and empty tomb. Though we have had centuries to get used to the idea, if we think about it at all, it is dumbfounding. He is risen? Really?

On that first evening, Jesus’ followers, understandably more upset than we, found what they thought would be a safe place and hid there. When Jesus appeared among them, he began the process of drawing them away from the graveyard and into the land of the living. The season of Easter does the same for us. We need not linger at the tomb. Because he is risen indeed, we must discern how we shall live.

White Easter paraments set off the beauty of our emerging understanding, like the dormant plants now stirring outside. The fresh colors of spring, buds swelling and then releasing the pent-up leaves and flowers, all shine vividly after the sparse reality of the Lenten season.

Easter is the morning of faith. The air is fresh and new. The sun is not too harsh. If Lent was the night of waiting, Easter is the dawn of hope, not yet tarnished by discouragement or impatience. The texts for the third Sunday of Easter works this theme. We could not see in the night, but in the morning, we can recognize that it is Jesus who feeds us and calls us to feed others.

During the Easter season, the raw fear and confusion of the hours surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection slowly gives way to a growing awareness that we are called out of our comfort zones to claim and proclaim the power of the resurrection. Faced with this new identity, we need assurances, much like a child who is learning to walk. No longer immobile, or a crawler, a walking child gains a certain independence and is faced with the responsibility and risk inherent in it. The fourth Sunday of Easter reminds us that God is still in charge and will use the power of the resurrection to bring life to others and to us. Dorcas, who had done much good, was raised to life again. We shall not want, the psalmist confesses. Jesus, with a view of the Mount of Olives where he prayed so earnestly before his death, asserts that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand. We are encouraged to venture forth, people of the resurrection. We can boldly claim the bloom that is ours.

Assured of God’s steadfastness, we are invited into the visions of what his resurrection faith looked like.

Pastor Cluley