Seasonal Notes from the Rector
A Vulnerable and Victorious Love
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Several years ago, theologian William Placher reminded a group of us that our God is a vulnerable God. The word, he noted, comes from the Latin vulnus, meaning "to take on the wounds of others." He cited Hosea 11:8, where the prophet passes on the Lord's word: "My heart is turning over inside me. My emotions are turned over to the turmoil around me."
Our God is totally invested in the needs of the world.
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As we ponder Lent again in 2008, it is highly appropriate then that we consider poverty in our world - the emptiness and hunger of every human soul and body. Early in his ministry Jesus said he had come to heal the sick and proclaim good news to the poor.
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Good Friday is good because Easter means that Christ defeated sin and death and gives God's children access to real love and justice. The Resurrection demonstrated that Jesus accomplished his mission of salvation and ushered in the Messianic kingdom, a reality God had promised would correct injustice and give opportunity to the poor and outcasts.
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In his book Befriending the Stranger, Jean Vanier writes of the outcast in our society - the outsiders, the sinners, the weak, the rejected, the poor, the hopeless. These people, whom we encounter every day and in whose shoes we may someday find ourselves, are referred to in the Old Testament as anawim: the young man with AIDS who calls in the middle of the night; the developmentally disabled adult who languishes in the state institution; the adulterer who is crippled by guilt; the Sudanese child who exists with death-dealing hunger. While we might prefer to ignore these people in favor of focusing on our denominational malaise, the Crucified God has them and us ever in his sight and in his heart. God offers mercy and deliverance to the outcast, and, as Vanier reminds us, if we want to be God's people we must do the same.
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So, during this season when we receive a cross-shaped smudge of ashes, hold a palm branch, wash feet, stare at the rough hewn cross and raise hearts in alleluias, you might ask yourself: when I love someone - my child, my spouse, anyone - am I vulnerable? At the foot of the cross we learn that we cannot love without sharing the burdens of others.
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On Easter morning we discover that this same love is also victorious in joy and freedom.
On behalf of the clergy, staff, Wardens and Vestry, a blessed Lent and joyful Easter to each of you and yours.
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Bob Dannals
