Pastor Note for
April/May 2023

As we celebrate the Resurrection the first Sunday of April. In the weeks that follow we are challenged to explore how far from the morning of resurrection we get before we return to ‘normal.’ Is it just a couple of miles down the road following worship, a few days later, maybe a little more than a week? Jesus, following that holy morning when the tomb was found empty, points toward a time of waiting (Luke 24:49). But this instruction is not to give time for safety to come, or the celebrations to be past, or for the pain and mourning to ease. In other words, this was not to give time to return to normal. Rather, this was a time of discernment, to move toward a new normal. As the apostles met, prayed, and stayed together trying to figure out what life would be like now, they needed time to explore what ministry would be like, what form it would take as they waited for the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was to get past what it had been like growing up or even when Jesus walked with them. Now would be unique to the present and future as Jesus was then. How would they help others hear the word of God in their lives and be open to it in their hearts for the transformation of their world?

Yet we often, in fear of the change that will come by following the Spirit and how that will be different than it has been, either turn away or simply get stuck in this waiting phase of our journey. This time of waiting, a time between times, is essential as we prepare for what lies ahead. But the Biblical narrative, and especially the account of the events following Christ’s resurrection and the beginning of the church, is one of change. Think of how many people’s lives are transformed and changed in the Bible, a history of a people changed by faith written down. This is our story. We are the authors of the next chapter. This is not a static and past determined reality. Our chapter should not repeat what has come before, but be something entirely new as Jesus is embodied in us for our present. We must use this time to consider how we are being challenged to proclaim God’s word in new and different ways, and while difficult, leave old ones behind. This will mean that things might sound different or look different which is uncomfortable. If this is how we reach others with this Good News, then let us pray for the Spirit to give us confidence to undertake the change.

The gift of the Spirit will come. What will we do with it? Share it? Proclaim it? Reach others with it? Or walk away from it? Now is the time to prepare for the great awakening to God’s love possibly by opening ourselves to where, how, and to whom we are being called. We stay, but as followers of the Risen Lord, we do not remain.

Yours in Christ, 

Rev. Daven Oskvig