Nothing Can Separate Us

Nothing Can Separate Us

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Romans 8:38-39.

I talk to many people who do not believe they deserve God’s love. I remember visiting with a very alert, highly educated woman in her 90s, still involved in her successful business, who wanted to start going back to church—but only after she got her life together and felt she was a better person. I told her the famous line, “The church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners.” But she never returned.

I talk to many people recovering from addiction who feel so much shame for the life they have led. They do not see how God and others can forgive them. So many have been taught to fear a judgmental God looking over their shoulder to catch them in sin.

I want to tell them there is another way, a belief in resurrection, an Easter that can be redeemed after a Good Friday life or experience. I remind them of Jesus’ disciples who abandoned and denied him if I can. He did not return to them in that upper room on Easter evening and say, “Shame on you.” Instead, he said, “Peace be with you.… When he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” (John 20:21-23).

We discuss the difference between shame, “I am a bad person,” and guilt, “I did a wrong thing.” We also talk about addiction not being a moral failing but a disease. Finally, we look for any sign of God’s love alive and well, working in their life. We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead both of us to recognize this presence alive in each other so we will both see and be led by Christ in each other.

Sometimes, I tell my story of  God’s presence in my life through many difficulties to see if they recognize similarities between my story and theirs.

 Lastly, I may share the above mantra from Romans that I still use as I became aware of my harm to others and myself and now seek forgiveness.

Sometimes, I share this image from Trinity Cathedral’s Pierce Chapel of Jesus, the Light of the World, with his bright lantern, constantly seeking us to love us.

Joanna. Joannaseibert.com. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Resurrection Takes a Second Look

Resurrection: It Takes a Second Look

“Seeing things as they actually are usually takes time. How else are we to explain the fact that no one- no one!—noticed the resurrected Jesus at first sight? Seeing the resurrection requires a second look, another glance. It takes a while for our eyes to adjust to the light of the resurrection, and then all of life looks radically different…Seeing God’s “new thing” is about seeing an old thing in a new way through a new lens.

Such is the miracle of Gospel sight—to see what has always been there in such a radically new way that it becomes a new thing. This is always a work of grace, and we can only handle so much of it at once.”

—Kris Rocke and Joel Van Dyke in Geography of Grace, Doing Theology from Below.

Caravaggio suuer Emmaus London National Gallery

When friends ask what life must be like after the resurrection, I remind them that our only stories are about the resurrected Jesus. After the resurrection, the disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize him, and Mary Magdalene did not recognize him. The disciples who met Jesus on the beach were not sure who he was. Jesus came and went through closed doors. The resurrected Jesus gave fishing tips, cooked meals, and ate dinner with his friends.

The Easter season is the perfect time to read and meditate on the resurrected Jesus’ appearances on Easter Day and the next forty days (Acts 1:3-8).

We may be most familiar with several Easter Day accounts of Jesus's appearances (Mary Magdalene in John, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in Matthew, Mary Magdalene and the Galilean women in Luke, two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke, and disciples in the upper room when Thomas is absent and then present in John).

The resurrected Jesus appears at least 12 times. This Easter Season is an excellent time to practice Ignatian meditative practices, imagining ourselves in more unfamiliar scenes.

Jesus appeared to the disciples eight days after the resurrection (John 20:24-29), with Thomas present in the upper room. He appeared to seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee, asking Peter to feed His sheep (John 21). Jesus appeared on a hillside in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20), perhaps to over 500 people, as referenced by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:6). Jesus was later seen by his brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Jesus’ final appearance was the Great Commission after the disciples returned to Jerusalem and were led out to Bethany at the Mount of Olives. (Luke 24:50-52, Acts 1:9-11). Then we know that Paul also encountered Jesus a few years later on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:5, 1 Corinthians 15:8).1

The fact that people have difficulty recognizing Jesus tells us at least two things. First, the resurrection is so overwhelming that it is almost impossible initially to believe. Second, Jesus looks different in the resurrection. 

May we, in turn, learn from these stories the different resurrection life in this life and the next.

1Msgr. Charles Pope, Blog, April 9, 2012, blog.adw.org

From his Native American heritage, Bishop Steven Charleston constantly reminds us that we got through the pandemic and racial and social unrest with the help of those who love us in the resurrection in the next life. Through them, God prays, walks beside us, and nudges us to care for ourselves and others.

ivanov yav hrista mari

Joanna. joannaseibert.com   https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil 1

“Dear friends in Christ: On this most holy night, in which our Lord Jesus passed over from death to life, the Church invites her members, dispersed throughout the world, to gather in vigil and prayer.” —Book of Common Prayer (Church Publishing, 1979), p. 285.

Episcopal Church of the Messiah Santa Ana California

The Easter Vigil is one of the year’s most complicated and beautiful services for the church. The difficulty is that it is only once a year, so it is hard to remember all the tiny details from year to year. As a result, there is sometimes more chaos on this evening than the church would like.

But this also adds to its beauty: light and creation emerging from chaos. The service starts with lighting the Paschal candle from a fire, usually outside the church. The large lighted candle then enters the church into complete darkness.

The deacon carries the Paschal candle in as they light the congregation’s candles while singing “The Light of Christ” three times in a slightly higher pitch. The deacon next chants the beautiful Exsultet.

It is time for me to turn the Exsultet over to someone else. I have loved chanting the Exsultet for more than seventeen years. It has been a privilege. Our former deacon at St. Mark’s, Susan, sang the Exsultet for three years. I loved hearing her practice and beautifully chant it from her heart. Michael, one of our priests, chanted it the following year, and our rector, Barkley, now chants the Exsultet.

Old Testament readings about God’s history with God’s people follow the Exsultet. Next come baptisms, crying babies, and curious toddlers escaping from their parents, all still in the dark. Finally, the cacophony of the incredible noise of bells of every size announces that Christ has risen indeed.

The lights come on, and we see all the flowers of Easter surrounding the inside of the church. Then, we celebrate the first new Eucharist of the Easter season.

The service may be similar to what the spice-bearing women experienced when they came to the empty tomb on that early Easter morning. They saw one or two angels in dazzling white, telling them they were the first to know that Jesus was raised from the dead!

This is the Easter message: Jesus defeated death and rose from the dead. We will rise from the dead. We also have the promise that we will find resurrection in all the suffering and unnecessary deaths from a virus and the social and racial unrest in our world.

This year, we especially pray for peace and resurrection for the people of Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan, and the people of our state still suffering from recent tornadoes.

Joanna. joannaseibert.com   https://www.joannaseibert.com/