When I called, I was greeted with the usual automatic voice menu but none of the choices seemed to fit my situation. I could select “accounts” but the newspaper I was receiving was not my account but the previous owners. I was expecting a choice for “New Customer” but I couldn’t find one. We often hear about how people are no longer wanting a printed newspaper or magazine as they would rather access their news and general interest articles digitally on their phone, tablet or computer. Was it just an oversight to not have an option for new customers or has the decline put the newspaper industry into maintenance mode?
I couldn’t help but make a similar analogy to the church. There are numerous articles that tell us church attendance has and is continuing to decline. I had to go no farther than today’s Opinion page to see yet another article, this time titled, “Atheism is rising in Iowa.” It has me wondering if the church has gone into maintenance mode. Are we no longer in awe or amazement at the mystery of the empty tomb? Where is the joy that Jesus Christ is risen?
The gospel reading that my congregation and many others will hear on Easter morning is Matthew’s version of the empty tomb which includes a great earthquake, the stone rolled away and an angel sitting on the stone. The angel told the women “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.” Matthew 28:5-6. Jesus told them he would be raised but yet when it happened, they were surprised, it wasn’t what they expected to find at the tomb.Have we become so accustomed to our Lenten, Holy Week and Easter traditions that we no longer expect anything new? The mystery of the empty tomb is gift of grace just as is the gift of Jesus’ birth. Sometimes we try to explain this mystery or search for ways to prove to our atheist friends and family that God truly did raise Jesus from the dead.
The mystery of faith is just that, a mystery. I don’t know why some people believe in Jesus Christ and claim him as their Lord and Savior and others do not. What I hope to do as we approach Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship is to be present in the moment, to experience in community the magnitude of this incredible story. Then come Easter morning when we proclaim “Christ is Risen!”, maybe I will once again be in awe and amazement at this incredible gift of life out of death. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3:16
Peace,
Pastor Kristine Dohrmann
St. Matthew Lutheran Church
Davenport, IA
