Month: March 2023

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:17-19 and Matthew 27:27-54

Dear Church,

I used to love those Era detergent commercials.  Do you remember them?  You’d see grass, mud and blood stains on a t-shirt.  Then they’d write the name ‘Era’ on the stains with the clear detergent.  Then they’d spray it with water, and you’d see the word appear like magic.  Every part of the stain covered by the detergent would be washed clean.

But would the stains covered in bargain detergent be so transformed? Nay–not so.  Only the superior cleaning power of Era (and later Era Plus) could handle the really tough stains.  It’s possible I watched too much TV as a child.

Sometimes we act like the cross is bargain brand detergent, only capable of cleaning what isn’t really dirty, only powerful enough to fix what isn’t that broken.  We live like the goodness of God is powerful enough to transform the lives of already-pretty-good people in not-so-bad situations.  But when lives are truly twisted and crushed, when evil is palpable and all consuming, we despair.

Friends–the cross is not bad news.  It’s not medicine we have to choke down to get to the goodness of resurrection.  For us, the cross is power.  A power the world has never known–a merciful power, a beautiful power, a good power.  A power strong enough to transform the most brutal and broken.  A power that gives us hope.
 
Together, by God’s grace, we will learn to see the hope of the cross.

Peace,
Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scripture: Colossians 2:13-15

Dear Church,

There is so much beauty this time of year.  

As the world transitions from winter to spring we see beautiful new life everywhere in the natural world. And the beauty our common life as the church is especially visible in this season–the goodness of new friends joining the church, special worship services for Holy Week and the joy of sharing what we have with our neighbors–whether that’s fresh vegetables at the Bulb, treasures at the yard give or healthy meals and joyful activities during our spring break vacation bible school.  

As good as all of this is, as pleasing as it is in our eyes, there is another beautiful thing at the center of our life together and its beauty is harder to see.  I’m talking, of course, about the cross.

Let’s be honest, we see the cross as many things–essential, powerful, necessary, revelatory.  But it’s hard to see the cross as beautiful.  The blooms of dogwood trees and azalea bushes are beautiful; the Carolina blue sky is beautiful, friends sharing faith and food and abundance is beautiful, strangers becoming neighbors becoming family is beautiful, a group of children laughing and playing and making art together is beautiful.  But the son of God who was born among to heal and work miracles and welcome everyone into God’s love, seeing him nailed to a cross, suffering and dying–how is that beautiful?

The cross reveals ancient and forgotten beauty, a beauty deeper than appearance, a beauty that is, the beauty that is source of all goodness and grace, a beauty that never fades away.  On the cross we learn to believe in the beauty we cannot see and to see a beauty that cannot be believed.  

Peace,
Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scripture: Genesis 15:7-21, Romans 5:6-11

Dear Church,

The first question that the cross inspires in us is why?  Why did this happen?  What was the point?

If you’ve ever asked that question, someone has probably tried to answer by saying that it had to happen–so that the penalty for sin could be paid, so that the wrath of God could be satisfied, so that God’s righteousness would no longer be offended by the sinfulness of humanity.  These are all different ways of describing what theologians call ‘penal substitutionary atonement.’ It’s the idea that God couldn’t show mercy to humans until someone suffered the consequences of all our evil actions, because mercy without punishment would be the same as condoning sin, which is something God’s righteousness simply won’t allow God to do.  So Jesus took the punishment we earned and deserved and now we can be forgiven by God.

Substitutionary atonement isn’t the only way to understand the cross, but it is the simplest and most popular.   But it bears a suspicious resemblance to the way our secular justice system works, so it’s faithful to wonder–is this how God responds to sin and evil or how we do?  Does the cross shows us redemption is accomplished by penal substitutionary atonement?  Or is that what we’ve learned to look for?

Today, we’re taking a deep biblical dive all the way back the Genesis 15 and God’s original salvation covenant with our father Abraham.  This story is teaching me new ways to look at the cross.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scripture: Luke 6:12-20; 27-36, Luke 23:32-34

Jesus begins with the beatitudes, and then he jumps right in, ‘I tell you who hear me; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without any expecting to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, as your father is merciful.’ 

He says it, and then on the cross he lives it, praying for those who are crucifying him, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’

The theory of enemy love sounds aspirational in the pews, it seems wonderful when you are looking down from the mountaintop.  But it sounds different in practice, when you hear the victim praying for his victimizers.  It’s different when you are looking up at a dying man, as he gasps for air on a cross and asks God to forgive his murderers.

When we look at the cross, we must see Jesus loving and praying for his enemies, using his last breaths to plead for their forgiveness.  If we are, by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ, then this is our way too.  If we are one with Christ, we won’t just talk about enemy love, we won’t just agree with it–we will practice it. 

Do you have enemies?  Does the way you love Jesus empower you to love them?  Or does your faith harden your heart against them?

‘To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies.  Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.’ (Luke 6:27, The Message)

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS