Dear PPPC,

A lot can change in seven days.

It’s pithy and we know it to be true. In our own lives, significant change happens in a single day, hour, moment.

The same is true of the story at the center of our faith, which we observe unfolding from Palm Sunday to Easter. The shouts of Hosanna! Save Us! will turn to cries of Crucify Him!, as we journey with Jesus to the cross once more.

Then there is the truth which sits at the center of our faith: the resurrection changes everything. God in Jesus Christ overcomes death. Death will no longer have the last word. Things will not stay as they are.

Christ assures us, “Because I live, you will live also.” It is the same one who also says “Repent!” and “Follow me” and “Come and See.” And so we must also change, not only from death to life, but in the way we live as followers of Christ. The same Christ who saves us, declares that we can change, that we must transform, if we are to faithfully follow Him.

Most of us remain fearful of change in our own lives and in the world. We’re only human after all. We ask a million questions of change; we ask a million questions of Christ. We are worried and anxious. And there are certainly changes in our lives which we grieve and lament.

My friends, as best as I can tell, change asks two thing things of us. Change reminds us to surrender and acknowledge that we are not in control, no matter how hard we try to be. Change asks us to declare once again that God is God and we are not. Now re-read this paragraph, and where it says “change,” read “Christ” instead.

Change invites us to hope. Christ invites us to hope. We are a resurrection people. With our grief and lament, we hope and trust in the new life God brings. As Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “Those who have hope live differently.” We believe that change is possible, for we have experienced it within ourselves and we have witnessed it in the world around us, only through the power of the Risen Christ. We believe it.

Perhaps I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Easter is next week. This week we begin with shouts of Hosanna! Save us!, proclaimed with the knowledge that we need saving, we need changing. We need our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to draw near, in servant humility and in powerful glory.

Good thing a lot can change in seven days.

See you in church.
Pastor Molly

Other items I wanted to talk about in this week’s letter, but in the interest of space, I am including as a list:

• Don’t forget your fish banks for the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering!
• The first three restored stained glass windows have been re-installed! Make sure you take note on Sunday (or see the photo at the bottom of this e-mail).
• Our hearts are breaking as we continue to read, hear, and see the war and famine in Israel/Palestine/Gaza. Lord, come near.
• An encouragement to make plans to worship at our Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service this Thursday at 7pm in the Sanctuary. The bulletin and Zoom Link will be sent out on Wednesday. Let us not skip past Holy Week in our eagerness to get to Easter.

The Passion: Daily Scripture Readings for Holy Week
You are encouraged to spend some extra time in the Word this week.
Monday, March 25: John 12:1-11
Tuesday, March 26: John 12:20-36
Wednesday, March 27: John 13:21-32
Thursday, March 28: John 13:1-17, 31b – 35
Friday, March 29: John 18:1-19:42
Saturday, March 30: Romans 6:3-11
Sunday, March 31: John 20:1-18