What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31, NRSV)

What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? (Romans 8:31, Living Bible)

I woke up this morning with this grand question of Paul in my wondering. It seems on the one hand he just can’t find words to explain the mystery of God’s love acted out — and yet this question comes right in the middle of arguably the greatest description of the good news of the gospel that we have in all of scripture. Romans chapter 8 — just take it in at some point with with Easter day still fresh in your spirit.

Walking Bear this morning, I found my earbuds and an old favorite song, “Speechless”, by Steven Curtis Chapman, from the year 1999. His expression helps me find mine in Eastertide:

Words fall like drops of rain/my lips are like clouds/I say so many things trying to figure you out/But as mercy opens my eyes my words are stolen away/with this breathtaking view of your grace

And I am speechless/I’m astonished and amazed/I am silenced by your wondrous grace/you have saved me/you have raised me from the grave/and I am speechless in your presence now/I’m astounded as I consider how/you have shown us a love that leaves us speechless

So what kind of love could this be/that would trade Heaven’s throne for a cross/and to think you still celebrate/over finding just one who was lost/and to know you rejoice over us/the God of the whole universe/it’s a story that’s too great for words.

Bear kinda kept glancing back at me as if to see if I was ok as I sang/shouted my joy with Steven. The song continues, finding the scripture doxology:

Oh how great is the love the Father has lavished upon us/that we should be called the sons and the daughters of God

I guess I’m thinking about the wonder of this good news of our faith that comes to life forever in Jesus’ resurrection, and the challenge of putting words to it. Or maybe more it’s that words diminish the wonder of it all, that there are times — days, hopefully seasons of life — when the invitation is not to try and explain or make sense of such love, but just swim in it like the hymn says, a favorite line — “May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea…” (Hymnal 366).

I am praying that resurrection’s news can just blow through my life and fill my spirit for awhile now, even though Easter day has come and gone. As I watch creation come bursting through the soil, as the sun starts to warm me up (hopefully!) after a long winter, and as I look into life’s challenges, always still around, with a deep and abiding hope.

I’m with St. Paul today. Just throwing my arms up in joy and wonder, with the only words I can find:

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

Celebrating with you wherever you are!

Peter Hawkinson

HOLY SATURDAY
April 4, 2026
Year A, Revised Common Lectionary

Job 14:1-14

“A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,
comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last.
Do you fix your eyes on such a one? Do you bring me into judgment with
you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one can. Since
their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you,
and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass, look away from
them and desist, that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days. “For there is
hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again and that its shoots
will not cease. Though its root grows old in the earth and its stump dies in
the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a
young plant. But mortals die and are laid low; humans expire, and where are
they? As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, so
mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they
will not awake or be roused out of their sleep. O that you would hide me in
Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would
appoint me a set time and remember me! If mortals die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24

I am one who has seen affliction under the
rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without
any light; against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long.
He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones;
he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has
made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about
so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and
cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn
stones; he has made my paths crooked. The thought of my affliction and my
homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is
bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an
end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is
my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16

In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; do not let me ever
be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save
me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me
and guide me; take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my
refuge. My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your
steadfast love.

1 Peter 4:1-8

Since, therefore, Christ suffered in the flesh, arm
yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the
flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your time in the flesh
no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent
enough time in doing what the gentiles like to do, living in debauchery,
passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are
surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation,
and so they blaspheme. But they will have to give an accounting to him who
stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the
gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been
judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God
does. The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline
yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for
one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.

Matthew 27:57-66

When it was evening, there came a rich man from
Arimathea named Joseph, who also was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went
to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given
to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and
laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a
great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is,
after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered
before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he
was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the
tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise, his disciples may go
and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’
and the last deception would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them,
“You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they
went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
John 19:38-42 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a
disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him
permission, so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first
come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and
wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of
the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and
in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.
And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was
nearby, they laid Jesus there.

GOOD FRIDAY
April 3, 2026
Year A, Revised Common Lectionary

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted
and lifted up and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were
astonished at him —so marred was his appearance, beyond human
semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— so he shall startle many
nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which had
not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they
shall contemplate. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom
has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a
young plant and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty
that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire
him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and
acquainted with infirmity, and as one from whom others hide their faces he
was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our
infirmities and carried our diseases, yet we accounted him stricken, struck
down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us
whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not
open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep
that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a
perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his
future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his
tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no
deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with
affliction. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his
offspring and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall
prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see; he shall find satisfaction through
his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out
himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the
sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so
far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day,
but you do not answer; and by night but find no rest. Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they
trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were saved; in you
they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not human,
scorned by others and despised by the people. All who see me mock me;
they sneer at me; they shake their heads; “Commit your cause to the LORD;
let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!” Yet it was you
who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On
you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been
my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to
help. Many bulls encircle me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they
open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured
out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is
melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my
tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs are all
around me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they bound my hands and
feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my
clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O
LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my
soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! Save me from the
mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. I
will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the
congregation I will praise you: You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you
offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of
Israel! For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did
not hide his face from me but heard when I cried to him. From you comes
my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who
fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall
praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall
remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall
worship before him. For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over
the nations. To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord and
proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Hebrews 10:16-25

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write
them on their minds,” and he adds, “I will remember their sins and their
lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no
longer any offering for sin. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we
have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new
and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his
flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us
approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for
he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one
another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see
the Day approaching.

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Since, then, we have a great high priest who
has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to
our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has
been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the
throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers
and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to
save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent
submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he
suffered, and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal
salvation for all who obey him.

John 18:1-19:42

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with
his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a place where there was a garden,
which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also
knew the place because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas
brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests
and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and
weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward
and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of
Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing
with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell
to the ground. Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they
said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you
are looking for me, let these people go.” This was to fulfill the word that he
had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then
Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and
cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the
Father has given me?” So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police
arrested Jesus and bound him. First they took him to Annas, who was the
father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one
who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the
people. Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple
was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the
high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other
disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman
who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, “You
are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now
the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and
they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was
standing with them and warming himself. Then the high priest questioned
Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, “I have
spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the
temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.
Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know
what I said.” When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby
struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”
Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have
spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to
Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming
himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a
relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in
the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock
crowed. Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It
was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters,
so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate
went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this
man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have
handed him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and
judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted
to put anyone to death.” (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he
indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the
headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of
the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell
you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and
the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus
answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom
belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from
being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a
king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the
truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked
him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again
and told them, “I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I
release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you
the King of the Jews?” They shouted in reply, “Not this man but Barabbas!”
Now Barabbas was a rebel. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they
dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail,
King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and
said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find
no case against him.” So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and
the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief
priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case
against him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to
that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his
headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus
gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to
me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify
you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it
had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to
you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on Pilate tried to release him, but
the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.
Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar.” When Pilate
heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench
at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was
the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. He said to
the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with
him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief
priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed him over
to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross by
himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew
is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and with him two others, one on
either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written
and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
Many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was
crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in
Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The
King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” Pilate
answered, “What I have written I have written.” When the soldiers had
crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one
for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not
tear it but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the
scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my
clothing they cast lots.” And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile,
standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother
and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother,
“Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your
mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After
this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill
the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So
they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his
mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he
bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Since it was the day of Preparation,
the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath,
especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they
asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies
removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the
other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of
the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water
came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His
testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth, so that you also may
continue to believe.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be
fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of
scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” After
these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a
secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take
away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and
removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also
came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred
pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen
cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden
in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new
tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish
day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

MAUNDY THURSDAY
April 2, 2026
Year A, Revised Common Lectionary

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the
land of Egypt, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it
shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of
Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each
family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole
lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be
divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall
be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from
the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the
whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They
shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel
of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night;
they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire,
with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the
morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire.
This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and
your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of
the LORD. I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike
down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all
the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall
be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will
pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of
Egypt. “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate
it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it
as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

I love the LORD because he has heard my voice
and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call
on him as long as I live. What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to
me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD; I will
pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. Precious in the
sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. O LORD, I am your
servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my
bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the
LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in
the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the
LORD!

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed
on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a
loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is
my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he
took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my
blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often
as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until
he comes.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus
knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The
devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray
Jesus. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God,
got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.
Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to
Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus
answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will
understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus
answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter
said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus
said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the
feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he
knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are
clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had
reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You
call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I,
your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I
have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their
master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you
know these things, you are blessed if you do them. When he had gone out,
Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been
glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in
himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little
longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you,
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that
you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another.”

WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
April 1, 2026
Year A, Revised Common Lectionary

Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God has given me a trained tongue, that I
may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning
he wakens, wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The
Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn
backward. I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to
those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and
spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be
put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with
me? Let us stand in court together. Who are my adversaries? Let
them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare
me guilty?

Psalm 70

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O LORD, make haste to
help me! Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt
me. Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!” turn back because of their shame.
Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love
your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do
not delay!

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that
clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set
before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for
the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of
the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against
himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls or
lose heart.

John 13:21-32

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit and
declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The
disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking.
One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining close
to his heart; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of
whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked
him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give
this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he
had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon
Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him.
Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” Now no one
knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had
the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the
festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after
receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was
night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has
been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been
glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him
at once.

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
March 31, 2026
Year A, Revised Common Lectionary

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands; pay attention, you peoples
from far away! The LORD called me before I was born; while I was in my
mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in
the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his
quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in
whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my
strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the LORD and
my reward with my God.” And now the LORD says, who formed me in the
womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be
gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has
become my strength— he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my
servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the
end of the earth.” Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy
One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers,
“Kings shall see and stand up; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has
chosen you.”

Psalm 71:1-14

In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to
shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to
me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress. Rescue me, O my God, from the hand
of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. For you, O Lord, are
my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. From my birth I have leaned
upon you, my protector since my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of
you. I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. My
mouth is filled with your praise and with your glory all day long. Do not cast
me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life
consult together. They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has
forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.” O God, do not be far from me; O my
God, make haste to help me! Let my accusers be put to shame and
consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and
disgrace. But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

For the message about the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of
God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the
discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise?
Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world
did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of
the proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews ask for signs and
Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block
to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s
foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger
than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not
many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not
many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to
shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to
abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom
from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order
that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

John 12:20-36

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival
were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew,
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The
hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain,
but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those
who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves
me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever
serves me, the Father will honor. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should
I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have
come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from
heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing
there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has
spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for
mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be
driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd
answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains
forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this
Son of Man?” Jesus said to them, “The light is in you for a little longer. Walk
while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you
walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have
the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After
Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them

MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK
March 22, 2027
Year B, Revised Common Lectionary

Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in
whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring
forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or lift up his voice or
make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a
dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth
justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established
justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his teaching. Thus
says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them
out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives
breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am
the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I have taken you by the
hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a
light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the
prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in
darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and
new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

Psalm 36:5-11

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the
heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like
the mighty mountains; your judgments are like the great deep; you
save humans and animals alike, O LORD. How precious is your
steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of
your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give
them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain
of life; in your light we see light. O continue your steadfast love to
those who know you and your salvation to the upright of heart! Do not
let the foot of the arrogant tread on me or the hand of the wicked
drive me away.

Hebrews 9:11-15

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more
perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he
entered once for all into the holy place, not with the blood of goats
and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of the ashes of a
heifer sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is
purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our
conscience from dead works to worship the living God! For this
reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are
called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a
death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions
under the first covenant.

John 12:1-11

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they
gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those
reclining with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure
nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house
was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one
of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why
was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money
given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to
steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought
it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have
the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” When the great
crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only
because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from
the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as
well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were
deserting and were believing in Jesus.

…“And with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

Lately we’ve been singing some spiritual songs along with our hymns. It’s been wonderful! Recently, as we read about the encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well, and offered her some kind of living water, we had the chance to sing this:

All who are thirsty, all who are weak, come to the fountain, dip your heart in the stream of life, let the pain and the sorrow be washed away in the waves of His mercy, as deep cries out to deep, we sing “come Lord Jesus come”, ‘Holy Spirit come”.

This followed a recent “band Sunday” when we worshiped and sang with guitars and piano instead of organ and choir. You likely won’t be surprised to hear that reactions came from different directions. Some of you shared how it feeds your spirit to sing new songs and be led by voices and other instruments. Others have shared how it is not your preference because it does not feed your spirit. This becomes a dim reflection and quiet echo of “worship wars” that have ravaged the American Church over the last fifty years.

The way it has played out for most congregations is that we have fought for power, and ended up choosing hymns, organ, and choir exclusively, or contemporary songs and praise bands exclusively. This leaves us as worshipers with the encouragement to become consumers who value personal preference over diverse community, and so we go find a new church that feeds that preference. The subtle sin is this, that worship becomes focused on US, it becomes for US rather than for God’s praise. It is possible for our own worship preferences to become an idol — that is, that we can “worship worship” rather than the God we come to encounter.

It’s a struggle for all of us, because we all have our preferences, we all have worship traditions that have formed us. That’s just natural, and as it should be.

What is unnatural for us is this New Life in Christ which causes us to love one another in ways that we just can’t without the Spirit’s help. In Christian community, when God’s Spirit is having its way with us, as we say in our behavioral covenant, “we value others above ourselves as Christ does” — and so my own preferences – though they remain – sit right along yours, which I understand are different than mine. Spiritual maturity helps us to grow into this space where we accept and even can celebrate a worship moment that isn’t what I would like or choose but that I see and sense is helping you to praise God, or find language with which to pray.

I’m thinking about this in terms of the high value we put on inter-generational life together. We celebrate all the moments we have together. Though we’re young and old, we tend to do everything possible not to separate off into our own age groups or experiences. We learn from each other, laugh together, and our kids have so many grandparents and our grandparents have so many grandchildren! This is just wonderful, and also somewhat unique in our current American church landscape. Most churches are “under 40” churches or “over 60” churches. Much of this has to do with a defined worship pattern (a good thing!) that has become closed to other, different, and wider expressions (a bad thing!)

Our vision as pastors is for us to continue to worship together with more and more new and varied expressions and experiences as our church family grows and changes. It’s not about leaving hymns behind, but allowing the spiritual songs to grow our worship of God right alongside of the hymns. This will be especially important in the seasons of transition ahead. And as you know, this word comes from a hymn geek!

What we are trying and hoping to do, and what we need to do as an inter-generational church family is see each other, and celebrate our different opinions about all manner of things, including the worship of the Church. And as a congregation that has a long and well-developed worship pattern and style that is on the more liturgical and traditional in nature, it is critical for us now to acknowledge the growing hunger in our church family for other worship expressions too! I. myself am learning to love and long for them.

Can we find the maturity and strength as we worship God to value and celebrate each other?

Love From Here

Peter Hawkinson

Recently I found myself harried and hurried with a bevy of “to-dos”. It was one of those days. I was in a mid-afternoon rush, and traffic was slowed by emergency vehicles and construction and delivery trucks and school busses and crossing guards. As I fell further behind on my plan to accomplish my errands, I could feel my blood pressure pulsing.

I decided a cup of coffee might sooth the strain, and so veered into Dunkin Donuts where of course the drive thru lane stretched all the way out into the side street. Uggh! “Quicker to just go in” I muttered, feeling sorry for myself, and as I got the door a woman on her way out held the door even with four coffees in a carrier bundled in her arms.

“Well, hello!” she said as I tried to scoot past without noticing. But she pushed through. “Hey, I hope you’re having a blessed day!” she said, kind of bending down a bit so that she could catch my eye and ask me to catch hers. What followed was just a couple of seconds of sharing life together, seemingly insignificant, as we looked into each other’s eyes and she smiled at me, as if to say, “Hey, it’s all going to be ok, we’ll get through this!” And that was that as she pushed on and I pushed into the line for my coffee and blueberry donut — my favorite Dunkin’ fare.

Finally back in the car, I laughed to myself a bit recalling the encounter — first kind of shaking my head at my own attempt to avoid, to ignore someone saying hello to me, and then finding myself grateful that she didn’t give up, but sensed in some way that I needed a little encouragement, a bit of hope, and stooped down to really see me and wish me a blessed day.

I’ve been thinking about it since, and trying to learn to become more intentional about greeting the people who I am passing throughout each day, trying to lift my head up and look at others I meet, and borrow that woman’s kind words….”Well, hello!” I realize that I have been conditioned behaviorally, culturally, in my lifetime of urban living to just kind of ignore the presence of others and stay in my lane. Someone might get nervous if I acknowledge them on the elevated train as I sit down next to them, let along go even further to say hello.

But I’m re-learning how much I need this human interaction, and the constant opportunities I have to see and acknowledge others who might be having a tough time, a hard day. I think about all these Jesus encounters in John’s gospel we’ve been reading through lent, and how each of them begins with Jesus own ability to essentially say to those he meets, “Hey, I see you. I see you.”

The invitation for me is two-fold. First of all, to lift up my head and my life and see others around me, always passing by. And second, seeing them, to bless them, to greet them, to say thanks for holding that door, and even more importantly, for seeing me.

Love From Here!

Peter Hawkinson

A year or two ago on a Wednesday night at church, I remember someone asking me some variation of the question: “what is one of the hardest parts about being a youth pastor today or at our church?” My answer was “helping kids understand that God doesn’t live at camp.” Growing up this was a struggle for me, and it took me into adulthood (really I’m still working on it) to incorporate God into every area of my life. Or, put another way, to understand that God is in and through all things– God is already there if only I’d have eyes to see. Beyond the example of camp, I think this is a constant tension in all of our lives and faiths. God doesn’t live at church, rather somehow we are supposed to be the Church! Perhaps God is actually most active in the places we least expect and our own presumption that God cannot possibly be found there a) limits God and b) is woefully arrogant to assume. 

In fact, God shows up in these unexpected ways throughout the biblical story. In the book of Ezekiel, when the people are experiencing exile, there is this image given of a divine throne on wheels which demonstrates God is not confined to his Temple and will go with the people wherever they go. In the person of Jesus, we come to understand that God is not even confined to his divinity or to the heavenly realm, but that God comes to earth as a human to be God with us. After Jesus ascends, again, God is not gone, but the Holy Spirit comes down and somehow God’s home and presence is within us, you and me. 

If these things are true, then we know that God cannot be confined, boxed in, or limited, and it is therefore an important part of our discipleship that we begin to invite God into every part of our lives, seeing how God is in and responds to the world around us. Our junior high students are embarking on such a journey in youth group for the rest of this year, and into next year. We are participating in the second cohort of Justice Journey– a Covenant curriculum designed for kids, that helps connect our faith to the world, and most specifically the injustice that we see around us. The program was primarily written and designed by Dominique Gilliard, director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation in the Covenant Church and Steve Burger, current children & youth ministries coordinator for our conference and general children’s ministry and curriculum writing giant in the denomination. 

This group of junior high students is ready for this journey! At the end of every youth group we share prayer requests together and their requests demonstrate their concern for their neighbors, for the political climate, for the environment, for the world. I am so eager to see how we will continue to grow in faith together, in doing justice together (Micah 6:8), and how our students might push us adults forward in our own discipleship. But perhaps we need not wait for that push, instead may we be ever asking ourselves– where do I need eyes to see God’s movement? How is God already at work in the world around me? How is God inviting me to join in?

With love, Pastor Lynnea

P.S As a part of our participation in this Justice Journey cohort, we have been sent many books that I will be putting into the Garden of Readen as resources, that I am encouraging all of you to check out and use, especially for the littlest ones of the church. You can see a picture

just some of the selection here: