News from Paxton Methodist, April 13th

April 13, 2020 - Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus, Amen. Happy Easter—Resurrection Sunday. Today is the most important and mysterious day of our faith. If you were like the majority of people, you found a different way to celebrate Easter and to be with family. Sue and I stayed home; the storms that blew through Sunday left us without power for several hours. So it is Monday morning, and I am finishing up my article and weekly newsletter.

A good friend sent some remarks found on church marques about yesterday. One said, “Services canceled. God making house calls.” Another said, “Folks, it’s okay that the church is empty on Easter. The tomb was empty too.”

All four gospels speak of this special morning. I used as the text for my sermon the story from John 20: 1-18. His narrative has Mary Magdalene discovering the empty tomb. In the ancient world, the word of a woman was not considered binding or trustworthy, so Mary runs back to tell the men. The disciples discover the empty tomb, but John makes it quite clear that the disciples do not understand that Jesus has been raised from the dead. The other disciples return to where they are staying; however, Mary stays and sees two men—angels—in the tomb. Mary asks them if they know where her master’s body has been taken. Mary must feel someone behind her because she turns to see a man standing there. As soon as the man speaks the word “Mary,” she knows that he is Jesus.

I was reminded as I was reading and studying this week that some denominations and sects do not call Sunday Easter but Resurrection Sunday. The term Easter does not have Christian roots, instead referring to a festival honoring Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of light and spring, whose symbol is an egg. Most/all Christian holidays, though, have elements from earlier pagan celebrations; our Christian forefathers looked for ways to make the “new” religion more palatable to those who found it strange.

I spoke to most Paxton Methodists in the last week or so, and everyone seems to be following doctors’ orders, staying home and safe as much as possible. I know we all miss visiting with friends and family, but we are doing what we have to do. Sue and I often ate out, which we really miss. The Joaquin Senior Center remains closed: Sue was on the phone plenty this week, checking up on the Senior folks.

My daughter sent me some humorous quips about these strange times in quarantine. Here are a few:

I need to practice social-distancing from the refrigerator.

I don’t think anyone expected that when we changed the clocks, we’d go from Standard Time to the Twilight Zone.

I am so excited—it’s time to take out the garbage. What should I wear?

We humans find ourselves living in the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter morning. We live between the terrible violence of Good Friday and that sweet Easter freshness of dawn on a spring day. We live with our strengths and weaknesses. We live with our doubts and our frustrations. But we can and must also live with promise and hope. Even in these most trying times, we must remember that other generations have lived through difficult times and had their own doubts and frustrations. Today, Easter Sunday, is a day of great hope, great promise, and great expectations of a better day.

Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here. Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, and Open Minds.” Normally Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. But during the Pandemic our usually “open doors” are closed. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist, you can send your email address to the Paxton email address, and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.