Sermon – 11-10-19 – Proper 27 – Cycle C
Scriptures: Job 19: 23-27a, Psalm 17: 1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Sermon Title: “How Does Resurrection Look?”

Last Sunday, we listened to writings by family members who were resurrected to new life with Jesus in heaven. Gradually, I realized that something was missing. We did not hear the reflection from a close friend of one who was lifted into transformation. The friends are Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris and John Harvey Grimes. I now share the story by John about Robert.
______________________________________________________________________________

Remembering Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris
I was wondering what to say about Bob (Klip) after hearing Rev. M. read his brother, Richard’s, remarks during last Sunday’s sermon. Klip and I were born three days apart in September of 1947 and fully expected to grow old together here. We would not connect for the first time until the 4th grade when my parents moved the family back to Womelsdorf. Our families were already known to each other as Klip’s Mom had been a student of my mother at Womelsdorf High School. After high school we would be separated again by his military service (Air Force) and my educational wanderings. Upon my return to Womelsdorf we would be best friends for the next 40 years.
In some respects we were very different people, with his love of antique cars . I did enjoy riding in the rumble seat of the “31 Model A,” alien to me and my love of mineral collecting foreign to him. He was a vegan for many years, I was not. I loved watching sports on TV; he was mostly disinterested. I always felt like a member of his family when I was visiting him, his Mom, and late Grandma Leiss. He in turn was also connected to other members of my family, cycling long distances with my brother, David, sharing kayaking and cycling trips with my brother, James, finding colonial costume suppliers with Harriet, and taking Harriet and Genny to the seashore when it became intolerable for me due to heat intolerance and now loss of skin pigmentation. He was there for me in Boy Scouts, moving my family from Canada, and in supporting several local historical societies to which we both belonged.
I have thought at length about what thread held us so closely over these years. We both had serious concerns about the finances of some of the institutions to which we both belonged, but I believe at heart it was our shared love of family, Zion Church, the Boy Scouts, local historical societies, the Womelsdorf area community, and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that held us together.
I will look to my right in the balcony at the Christmas Eve candlelight service and very much miss the sight of my best friend.
__________________________________________
Losing friends to the final resurrection is not fun. It does not lend itself to happiness unless the person was suffering. But letting the good memories float to the top of our mind and heart is an antidote.
But, how does resurrection look? What is it like? Job, the character in the Old Testament, is sure about God! He declares, “I know that my redeemer lives!” He believes that God is real despite the suffering caused by Satan because Satan has God’s permission to torture Job. You wonder why God would do such a thing? Most people wonder that until they get to the end of this long book just before the book of Psalms in the Bible. Job learns that declaring himself righteous, having done no wrong, is not what pleases God. When Job acknowledges that he has flaws, that he does not have God’s almighty power, then resurrection happens to him. But, not in death. Before death! Once the sin of pride has been confessed, life turns around. The world is once more a happy place for the changed Job. Job had to let the seed of pride die, come apart, break open, so that new life can spring forth.

Yes, the seed must die before new life can happen. Yes, our selfish desires and thoughts must die before something better can happen to us or be given to us. Yes, we must die before we can be resurrected.

Resurrection can be a feeling, a change for the better, a new life. It can be our transformation from our earthly condition to our heavenly condition. Some people find resurrection in the earthly life such as finding God in religion, or through nature, or through person-to-person relationships. We claim new life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What does new life look like?

We could be carrying a heavy weight of some sort – be it guilt or oppression or anger or the burden of a loved one’s illness or the grief of watching our world collapse because of anger and revenge by rulers or by our selfish habits which are eroding our planet. Whatever our burden, we can let God remove it from us. Or maybe we are just drifting, watching things come at us but letting them pass by. God will help us to change our expectations. Even if circumstances do not change, the way we feel about them and react to them can change if we invite God to do this for us. It becomes a resurrection of our souls. It becomes a new way of living, new life in reality. It is seeing our lives in a whole different light.

When we emphasis Christ’s resurrection, we are welcoming our own transformation. We can no longer think of ourselves as a seed. We will be thinking of ourselves as the sprouting plant, the sprouting new life, the living into the reality that our God is a living God and our God is the Lord of the living. That is us! We are living, alive people! We are God’s people. Our God is not a leader of lifeless robots. Is that us? Lifeless robots. It cannot be! No we are not lifeless robots. We are not wandering sheep, either. We are here to be an influence in the world for our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we, a congregation of believers and worshipers, are moving into a new life, a new way of being the body of Christ in this community, let us do it as resurrected people!

Sermon – 11-10-19 – Proper 27 – Cycle C
Scriptures: Job 19: 23-27a, Psalm 17: 1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Sermon Title: “How Does Resurrection Look?”

Last Sunday, we listened to writings by family members who were resurrected to new life with Jesus in heaven. Gradually, I realized that something was missing. We did not hear the reflection from a close friend of one who was lifted into transformation. The friends are Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris and John Harvey Grimes. I now share the story by John about Robert.
______________________________________________________________________________

Remembering Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris
I was wondering what to say about Bob (Klip) after hearing Rev. M. read his brother, Richard’s, remarks during last Sunday’s sermon. Klip and I were born three days apart in September of 1947 and fully expected to grow old together here. We would not connect for the first time until the 4th grade when my parents moved the family back to Womelsdorf. Our families were already known to each other as Klip’s Mom had been a student of my mother at Womelsdorf High School. After high school we would be separated again by his military service (Air Force) and my educational wanderings. Upon my return to Womelsdorf we would be best friends for the next 40 years.
In some respects we were very different people, with his love of antique cars . I did enjoy riding in the rumble seat of the “31 Model A,” alien to me and my love of mineral collecting foreign to him. He was a vegan for many years, I was not. I loved watching sports on TV; he was mostly disinterested. I always felt like a member of his family when I was visiting him, his Mom, and late Grandma Leiss. He in turn was also connected to other members of my family, cycling long distances with my brother, David, sharing kayaking and cycling trips with my brother, James, finding colonial costume suppliers with Harriet, and taking Harriet and Genny to the seashore when it became intolerable for me due to heat intolerance and now loss of skin pigmentation. He was there for me in Boy Scouts, moving my family from Canada, and in supporting several local historical societies to which we both belonged.
I have thought at length about what thread held us so closely over these years. We both had serious concerns about the finances of some of the institutions to which we both belonged, but I believe at heart it was our shared love of family, Zion Church, the Boy Scouts, local historical societies, the Womelsdorf area community, and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that held us together.
I will look to my right in the balcony at the Christmas Eve candlelight service and very much miss the sight of my best friend.
__________________________________________
Losing friends to the final resurrection is not fun. It does not lend itself to happiness unless the person was suffering. But letting the good memories float to the top of our mind and heart is an antidote.
But, how does resurrection look? What is it like? Job, the character in the Old Testament, is sure about God! He declares, “I know that my redeemer lives!” He believes that God is real despite the suffering caused by Satan because Satan has God’s permission to torture Job. You wonder why God would do such a thing? Most people wonder that until they get to the end of this long book just before the book of Psalms in the Bible. Job learns that declaring himself righteous, having done no wrong, is not what pleases God. When Job acknowledges that he has flaws, that he does not have God’s almighty power, then resurrection happens to him. But, not in death. Before death! Once the sin of pride has been confessed, life turns around. The world is once more a happy place for the changed Job. Job had to let the seed of pride die, come apart, break open, so that new life can spring forth.

Yes, the seed must die before new life can happen. Yes, our selfish desires and thoughts must die before something better can happen to us or be given to us. Yes, we must die before we can be resurrected.

Resurrection can be a feeling, a change for the better, a new life. It can be our transformation from our earthly condition to our heavenly condition. Some people find resurrection in the earthly life such as finding God in religion, or through nature, or through person-to-person relationships. We claim new life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What does new life look like?

We could be carrying a heavy weight of some sort – be it guilt or oppression or anger or the burden of a loved one’s illness or the grief of watching our world collapse because of anger and revenge by rulers or by our selfish habits which are eroding our planet. Whatever our burden, we can let God remove it from us. Or maybe we are just drifting, watching things come at us but letting them pass by. God will help us to change our expectations. Even if circumstances do not change, the way we feel about them and react to them can change if we invite God to do this for us. It becomes a resurrection of our souls. It becomes a new way of living, new life in reality. It is seeing our lives in a whole different light.

When we emphasis Christ’s resurrection, we are welcoming our own transformation. We can no longer think of ourselves as a seed. We will be thinking of ourselves as the sprouting plant, the sprouting new life, the living into the reality that our God is a living God and our God is the Lord of the living. That is us! We are living, alive people! We are God’s people. Our God is not a leader of lifeless robots. Is that us? Lifeless robots. It cannot be! No we are not lifeless robots. We are not wandering sheep, either. We are here to be an influence in the world for our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we, a congregation of believers and worshipers, are moving into a new life, a new way of being the body of Christ in this community, let us do it as resurrected people!

Sermon – 11-10-19 – Proper 27 – Cycle C
Scriptures: Job 19: 23-27a, Psalm 17: 1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Sermon Title: “How Does Resurrection Look?”

Last Sunday, we listened to writings by family members who were resurrected to new life with Jesus in heaven. Gradually, I realized that something was missing. We did not hear the reflection from a close friend of one who was lifted into transformation. The friends are Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris and John Harvey Grimes. I now share the story by John about Robert.
______________________________________________________________________________

Remembering Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris
I was wondering what to say about Bob (Klip) after hearing Rev. M. read his brother, Richard’s, remarks during last Sunday’s sermon. Klip and I were born three days apart in September of 1947 and fully expected to grow old together here. We would not connect for the first time until the 4th grade when my parents moved the family back to Womelsdorf. Our families were already known to each other as Klip’s Mom had been a student of my mother at Womelsdorf High School. After high school we would be separated again by his military service (Air Force) and my educational wanderings. Upon my return to Womelsdorf we would be best friends for the next 40 years.
In some respects we were very different people, with his love of antique cars . I did enjoy riding in the rumble seat of the “31 Model A,” alien to me and my love of mineral collecting foreign to him. He was a vegan for many years, I was not. I loved watching sports on TV; he was mostly disinterested. I always felt like a member of his family when I was visiting him, his Mom, and late Grandma Leiss. He in turn was also connected to other members of my family, cycling long distances with my brother, David, sharing kayaking and cycling trips with my brother, James, finding colonial costume suppliers with Harriet, and taking Harriet and Genny to the seashore when it became intolerable for me due to heat intolerance and now loss of skin pigmentation. He was there for me in Boy Scouts, moving my family from Canada, and in supporting several local historical societies to which we both belonged.
I have thought at length about what thread held us so closely over these years. We both had serious concerns about the finances of some of the institutions to which we both belonged, but I believe at heart it was our shared love of family, Zion Church, the Boy Scouts, local historical societies, the Womelsdorf area community, and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that held us together.
I will look to my right in the balcony at the Christmas Eve candlelight service and very much miss the sight of my best friend.
__________________________________________
Losing friends to the final resurrection is not fun. It does not lend itself to happiness unless the person was suffering. But letting the good memories float to the top of our mind and heart is an antidote.
But, how does resurrection look? What is it like? Job, the character in the Old Testament, is sure about God! He declares, “I know that my redeemer lives!” He believes that God is real despite the suffering caused by Satan because Satan has God’s permission to torture Job. You wonder why God would do such a thing? Most people wonder that until they get to the end of this long book just before the book of Psalms in the Bible. Job learns that declaring himself righteous, having done no wrong, is not what pleases God. When Job acknowledges that he has flaws, that he does not have God’s almighty power, then resurrection happens to him. But, not in death. Before death! Once the sin of pride has been confessed, life turns around. The world is once more a happy place for the changed Job. Job had to let the seed of pride die, come apart, break open, so that new life can spring forth.

Yes, the seed must die before new life can happen. Yes, our selfish desires and thoughts must die before something better can happen to us or be given to us. Yes, we must die before we can be resurrected.

Resurrection can be a feeling, a change for the better, a new life. It can be our transformation from our earthly condition to our heavenly condition. Some people find resurrection in the earthly life such as finding God in religion, or through nature, or through person-to-person relationships. We claim new life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What does new life look like?

We could be carrying a heavy weight of some sort – be it guilt or oppression or anger or the burden of a loved one’s illness or the grief of watching our world collapse because of anger and revenge by rulers or by our selfish habits which are eroding our planet. Whatever our burden, we can let God remove it from us. Or maybe we are just drifting, watching things come at us but letting them pass by. God will help us to change our expectations. Even if circumstances do not change, the way we feel about them and react to them can change if we invite God to do this for us. It becomes a resurrection of our souls. It becomes a new way of living, new life in reality. It is seeing our lives in a whole different light.

When we emphasis Christ’s resurrection, we are welcoming our own transformation. We can no longer think of ourselves as a seed. We will be thinking of ourselves as the sprouting plant, the sprouting new life, the living into the reality that our God is a living God and our God is the Lord of the living. That is us! We are living, alive people! We are God’s people. Our God is not a leader of lifeless robots. Is that us? Lifeless robots. It cannot be! No we are not lifeless robots. We are not wandering sheep, either. We are here to be an influence in the world for our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we, a congregation of believers and worshipers, are moving into a new life, a new way of being the body of Christ in this community, let us do it as resurrected people!

Sermon – 11-10-19 – Proper 27 – Cycle C
Scriptures: Job 19: 23-27a, Psalm 17: 1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Sermon Title: “How Does Resurrection Look?”

Last Sunday, we listened to writings by family members who were resurrected to new life with Jesus in heaven. Gradually, I realized that something was missing. We did not hear the reflection from a close friend of one who was lifted into transformation. The friends are Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris and John Harvey Grimes. I now share the story by John about Robert.
______________________________________________________________________________

Remembering Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris
I was wondering what to say about Bob (Klip) after hearing Rev. M. read his brother, Richard’s, remarks during last Sunday’s sermon. Klip and I were born three days apart in September of 1947 and fully expected to grow old together here. We would not connect for the first time until the 4th grade when my parents moved the family back to Womelsdorf. Our families were already known to each other as Klip’s Mom had been a student of my mother at Womelsdorf High School. After high school we would be separated again by his military service (Air Force) and my educational wanderings. Upon my return to Womelsdorf we would be best friends for the next 40 years.
In some respects we were very different people, with his love of antique cars . I did enjoy riding in the rumble seat of the “31 Model A,” alien to me and my love of mineral collecting foreign to him. He was a vegan for many years, I was not. I loved watching sports on TV; he was mostly disinterested. I always felt like a member of his family when I was visiting him, his Mom, and late Grandma Leiss. He in turn was also connected to other members of my family, cycling long distances with my brother, David, sharing kayaking and cycling trips with my brother, James, finding colonial costume suppliers with Harriet, and taking Harriet and Genny to the seashore when it became intolerable for me due to heat intolerance and now loss of skin pigmentation. He was there for me in Boy Scouts, moving my family from Canada, and in supporting several local historical societies to which we both belonged.
I have thought at length about what thread held us so closely over these years. We both had serious concerns about the finances of some of the institutions to which we both belonged, but I believe at heart it was our shared love of family, Zion Church, the Boy Scouts, local historical societies, the Womelsdorf area community, and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that held us together.
I will look to my right in the balcony at the Christmas Eve candlelight service and very much miss the sight of my best friend.
__________________________________________
Losing friends to the final resurrection is not fun. It does not lend itself to happiness unless the person was suffering. But letting the good memories float to the top of our mind and heart is an antidote.
But, how does resurrection look? What is it like? Job, the character in the Old Testament, is sure about God! He declares, “I know that my redeemer lives!” He believes that God is real despite the suffering caused by Satan because Satan has God’s permission to torture Job. You wonder why God would do such a thing? Most people wonder that until they get to the end of this long book just before the book of Psalms in the Bible. Job learns that declaring himself righteous, having done no wrong, is not what pleases God. When Job acknowledges that he has flaws, that he does not have God’s almighty power, then resurrection happens to him. But, not in death. Before death! Once the sin of pride has been confessed, life turns around. The world is once more a happy place for the changed Job. Job had to let the seed of pride die, come apart, break open, so that new life can spring forth.

Yes, the seed must die before new life can happen. Yes, our selfish desires and thoughts must die before something better can happen to us or be given to us. Yes, we must die before we can be resurrected.

Resurrection can be a feeling, a change for the better, a new life. It can be our transformation from our earthly condition to our heavenly condition. Some people find resurrection in the earthly life such as finding God in religion, or through nature, or through person-to-person relationships. We claim new life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What does new life look like?

We could be carrying a heavy weight of some sort – be it guilt or oppression or anger or the burden of a loved one’s illness or the grief of watching our world collapse because of anger and revenge by rulers or by our selfish habits which are eroding our planet. Whatever our burden, we can let God remove it from us. Or maybe we are just drifting, watching things come at us but letting them pass by. God will help us to change our expectations. Even if circumstances do not change, the way we feel about them and react to them can change if we invite God to do this for us. It becomes a resurrection of our souls. It becomes a new way of living, new life in reality. It is seeing our lives in a whole different light.

When we emphasis Christ’s resurrection, we are welcoming our own transformation. We can no longer think of ourselves as a seed. We will be thinking of ourselves as the sprouting plant, the sprouting new life, the living into the reality that our God is a living God and our God is the Lord of the living. That is us! We are living, alive people! We are God’s people. Our God is not a leader of lifeless robots. Is that us? Lifeless robots. It cannot be! No we are not lifeless robots. We are not wandering sheep, either. We are here to be an influence in the world for our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we, a congregation of believers and worshipers, are moving into a new life, a new way of being the body of Christ in this community, let us do it as resurrected people!

Sermon – 11-10-19 – Proper 27 – Cycle C
Scriptures: Job 19: 23-27a, Psalm 17: 1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Sermon Title: “How Does Resurrection Look?”

Last Sunday, we listened to writings by family members who were resurrected to new life with Jesus in heaven. Gradually, I realized that something was missing. We did not hear the reflection from a close friend of one who was lifted into transformation. The friends are Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris and John Harvey Grimes. I now share the story by John about Robert.
______________________________________________________________________________

Remembering Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris
I was wondering what to say about Bob (Klip) after hearing Rev. M. read his brother, Richard’s, remarks during last Sunday’s sermon. Klip and I were born three days apart in September of 1947 and fully expected to grow old together here. We would not connect for the first time until the 4th grade when my parents moved the family back to Womelsdorf. Our families were already known to each other as Klip’s Mom had been a student of my mother at Womelsdorf High School. After high school we would be separated again by his military service (Air Force) and my educational wanderings. Upon my return to Womelsdorf we would be best friends for the next 40 years.
In some respects we were very different people, with his love of antique cars . I did enjoy riding in the rumble seat of the “31 Model A,” alien to me and my love of mineral collecting foreign to him. He was a vegan for many years, I was not. I loved watching sports on TV; he was mostly disinterested. I always felt like a member of his family when I was visiting him, his Mom, and late Grandma Leiss. He in turn was also connected to other members of my family, cycling long distances with my brother, David, sharing kayaking and cycling trips with my brother, James, finding colonial costume suppliers with Harriet, and taking Harriet and Genny to the seashore when it became intolerable for me due to heat intolerance and now loss of skin pigmentation. He was there for me in Boy Scouts, moving my family from Canada, and in supporting several local historical societies to which we both belonged.
I have thought at length about what thread held us so closely over these years. We both had serious concerns about the finances of some of the institutions to which we both belonged, but I believe at heart it was our shared love of family, Zion Church, the Boy Scouts, local historical societies, the Womelsdorf area community, and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that held us together.
I will look to my right in the balcony at the Christmas Eve candlelight service and very much miss the sight of my best friend.
__________________________________________
Losing friends to the final resurrection is not fun. It does not lend itself to happiness unless the person was suffering. But letting the good memories float to the top of our mind and heart is an antidote.
But, how does resurrection look? What is it like? Job, the character in the Old Testament, is sure about God! He declares, “I know that my redeemer lives!” He believes that God is real despite the suffering caused by Satan because Satan has God’s permission to torture Job. You wonder why God would do such a thing? Most people wonder that until they get to the end of this long book just before the book of Psalms in the Bible. Job learns that declaring himself righteous, having done no wrong, is not what pleases God. When Job acknowledges that he has flaws, that he does not have God’s almighty power, then resurrection happens to him. But, not in death. Before death! Once the sin of pride has been confessed, life turns around. The world is once more a happy place for the changed Job. Job had to let the seed of pride die, come apart, break open, so that new life can spring forth.

Yes, the seed must die before new life can happen. Yes, our selfish desires and thoughts must die before something better can happen to us or be given to us. Yes, we must die before we can be resurrected.

Resurrection can be a feeling, a change for the better, a new life. It can be our transformation from our earthly condition to our heavenly condition. Some people find resurrection in the earthly life such as finding God in religion, or through nature, or through person-to-person relationships. We claim new life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What does new life look like?

We could be carrying a heavy weight of some sort – be it guilt or oppression or anger or the burden of a loved one’s illness or the grief of watching our world collapse because of anger and revenge by rulers or by our selfish habits which are eroding our planet. Whatever our burden, we can let God remove it from us. Or maybe we are just drifting, watching things come at us but letting them pass by. God will help us to change our expectations. Even if circumstances do not change, the way we feel about them and react to them can change if we invite God to do this for us. It becomes a resurrection of our souls. It becomes a new way of living, new life in reality. It is seeing our lives in a whole different light.

When we emphasis Christ’s resurrection, we are welcoming our own transformation. We can no longer think of ourselves as a seed. We will be thinking of ourselves as the sprouting plant, the sprouting new life, the living into the reality that our God is a living God and our God is the Lord of the living. That is us! We are living, alive people! We are God’s people. Our God is not a leader of lifeless robots. Is that us? Lifeless robots. It cannot be! No we are not lifeless robots. We are not wandering sheep, either. We are here to be an influence in the world for our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we, a congregation of believers and worshipers, are moving into a new life, a new way of being the body of Christ in this community, let us do it as resurrected people!

Sermon – 11-10-19 – Proper 27 – Cycle C
Scriptures: Job 19: 23-27a, Psalm 17: 1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, Luke 20:27-38
Sermon Title: “How Does Resurrection Look?”

Last Sunday, we listened to writings by family members who were resurrected to new life with Jesus in heaven. Gradually, I realized that something was missing. We did not hear the reflection from a close friend of one who was lifted into transformation. The friends are Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris and John Harvey Grimes. I now share the story by John about Robert.
______________________________________________________________________________

Remembering Robert R.C. (Klip) Morris
I was wondering what to say about Bob (Klip) after hearing Rev. M. read his brother, Richard’s, remarks during last Sunday’s sermon. Klip and I were born three days apart in September of 1947 and fully expected to grow old together here. We would not connect for the first time until the 4th grade when my parents moved the family back to Womelsdorf. Our families were already known to each other as Klip’s Mom had been a student of my mother at Womelsdorf High School. After high school we would be separated again by his military service (Air Force) and my educational wanderings. Upon my return to Womelsdorf we would be best friends for the next 40 years.
In some respects we were very different people, with his love of antique cars . I did enjoy riding in the rumble seat of the “31 Model A,” alien to me and my love of mineral collecting foreign to him. He was a vegan for many years, I was not. I loved watching sports on TV; he was mostly disinterested. I always felt like a member of his family when I was visiting him, his Mom, and late Grandma Leiss. He in turn was also connected to other members of my family, cycling long distances with my brother, David, sharing kayaking and cycling trips with my brother, James, finding colonial costume suppliers with Harriet, and taking Harriet and Genny to the seashore when it became intolerable for me due to heat intolerance and now loss of skin pigmentation. He was there for me in Boy Scouts, moving my family from Canada, and in supporting several local historical societies to which we both belonged.
I have thought at length about what thread held us so closely over these years. We both had serious concerns about the finances of some of the institutions to which we both belonged, but I believe at heart it was our shared love of family, Zion Church, the Boy Scouts, local historical societies, the Womelsdorf area community, and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that held us together.
I will look to my right in the balcony at the Christmas Eve candlelight service and very much miss the sight of my best friend.
__________________________________________
Losing friends to the final resurrection is not fun. It does not lend itself to happiness unless the person was suffering. But letting the good memories float to the top of our mind and heart is an antidote.
But, how does resurrection look? What is it like? Job, the character in the Old Testament, is sure about God! He declares, “I know that my redeemer lives!” He believes that God is real despite the suffering caused by Satan because Satan has God’s permission to torture Job. You wonder why God would do such a thing? Most people wonder that until they get to the end of this long book just before the book of Psalms in the Bible. Job learns that declaring himself righteous, having done no wrong, is not what pleases God. When Job acknowledges that he has flaws, that he does not have God’s almighty power, then resurrection happens to him. But, not in death. Before death! Once the sin of pride has been confessed, life turns around. The world is once more a happy place for the changed Job. Job had to let the seed of pride die, come apart, break open, so that new life can spring forth.

Yes, the seed must die before new life can happen. Yes, our selfish desires and thoughts must die before something better can happen to us or be given to us. Yes, we must die before we can be resurrected.

Resurrection can be a feeling, a change for the better, a new life. It can be our transformation from our earthly condition to our heavenly condition. Some people find resurrection in the earthly life such as finding God in religion, or through nature, or through person-to-person relationships. We claim new life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What does new life look like?

We could be carrying a heavy weight of some sort – be it guilt or oppression or anger or the burden of a loved one’s illness or the grief of watching our world collapse because of anger and revenge by rulers or by our selfish habits which are eroding our planet. Whatever our burden, we can let God remove it from us. Or maybe we are just drifting, watching things come at us but letting them pass by. God will help us to change our expectations. Even if circumstances do not change, the way we feel about them and react to them can change if we invite God to do this for us. It becomes a resurrection of our souls. It becomes a new way of living, new life in reality. It is seeing our lives in a whole different light.

When we emphasis Christ’s resurrection, we are welcoming our own transformation. We can no longer think of ourselves as a seed. We will be thinking of ourselves as the sprouting plant, the sprouting new life, the living into the reality that our God is a living God and our God is the Lord of the living. That is us! We are living, alive people! We are God’s people. Our God is not a leader of lifeless robots. Is that us? Lifeless robots. It cannot be! No we are not lifeless robots. We are not wandering sheep, either. We are here to be an influence in the world for our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we, a congregation of believers and worshipers, are moving into a new life, a new way of being the body of Christ in this community, let us do it as resurrected people!