Letter From the Pastor – April 2025

Dear Church,

As part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we take part in the sacrament of communion each Sunday. During the invitation to communion each week you will often hear the Elders not that the table is open, meaning anyone -regardless of identity or prior beliefs- who wants to take part in communion is invited, and welcome, to do so. To illustrate this point, I like to acknowledge that at the Last Supper Jesus sat down to break bread with a man that he knew would betray him to the authorities, and another man with a temper who Jesus knew would deny knowing him when things got difficult (Simon Peter). Even though he knew these men would hurt him he still sat down with them and included them in that meal. If these men can be included in Christ’s covenant of love and new life, then what is to stop us from offering that invitation to anyone?

In Luke 24: 36-48 we read Luke’s account of Jesus’ first appearance to his disciples after the resurrection. It says that when they see him, they were “startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost” (24: 37 NIV), and as Mennonite pastor Isaac S. Villegas points out, ghosts are often represented haunting the living, trying to avenge some wrong or unfinished business. No wonder they were afraid. Perhaps Christ had returned to punish them for abandoning him to crucifixion and then hiding away. That was not why Christ was there, however. He proves to them that he really is there, alive, and that his presence is not something to be afraid of, but rather, the fulfillment of a promise, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name (24:47).

Through the lens of our modern context, it may seem strange, even wrong, that Christ would invite to dinner people who would betray and deny him. Or that he would seek out those people who failed him and wronged him and offer them words of hope and comfort. But punishment is the way of the Roman Empire, and rejection is the way of the mob. Christ’s life, and new life, tells a story of inclusion and forgiveness for all God’s people, including (and especially) those who have sinned, who have obstructed their relationship with God. Both the Last Supper before Christ’s death and this post-Resurrection homecoming meal of broiled fish (24: 42), show us that even in sin and failure, God is always reaching out, desiring to cultivate a relationship with us. As we move through Lent and Easter, I pray that we are open to reaching out to the world in relationship, even in times when we may feel startled and frightened in an increasingly chaotic and unpredictable world.

Peace and health,

Zach