March-April Chimes 2010

The Reverend

Dr. Donald J. Stager

Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth, Serve the Lord with gladness, And come before Him with joyful singing.  Psalm 100 1,2

As we journey through Lent and into the season of Easter, these words speak so loudly to me.  When I think about what God has done for all of us in sending Jesus into the world to show us how to love God and our fellow human beings better, I want to sing with joy!  God has given us a model, a path to follow through life that can bring each of us increased joy every day, if we choose to follow it.  By listening to the teachings of Jesus and trying to put them into our daily lives, we have the ability to reach new levels of peace and joy.  By looking at the example that Jesus has given us in how to deal with other people, we can develop better relationships with our families, our friends, and those all around us.  By imitating Jesus in our actions towards others and ourselves, we can have lives which are fulfilling and with less stress.  And to me, that is a real reason to sing.

The essence of the Easter experience is that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected.  For those of us who follow him, this Easter experience is similar.  Not that we need to go to our actual deaths, but that we are willing to let go of the things that get in the way of us being closer to God.  It means taking a deep inner look at ourselves and letting go of anger, rage, resentment, revenge, hatred and prejudice.  It means nailing pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness to the cross.  And when we do this, the result is a new creation, a resurrection.  But we need also to understand that we cannot accomplish this on our own.  It is only by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that we are transformed, reborn into new creations.  And so as we continue through Lent to Easter, let us all invite the Holy Spirit to work within us and let us be honest as we lay out our individual things that keep us from singing a song of joy to God and our fellow human beings.

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