Week of March 26, 2001
Pastor Tracie

Paul writes, "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all! God sent Christ to make peace between God and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between God and others. What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing the message about peace."
     2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (CEV)

Thinking about this reading which was part of the appointed lessons for this past Sunday, I was struck by the overwhelming good news that we hear. "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten and everything is new. God has done it all!" A new creation. Every day as we remember our baptism into Christ, we are a new creation. Just think of the wonderful possibilities in that. A new creation filled with relationships and opportunities which can lead us down unknown paths of joy.

One of my favorite poets is Gerhard Frost. He was a Lutheran pastor. The words in his poem, Let us Give Thanks, serve as our prayer

Let Us Give Thanks
Let us give thanks this moment:
for the sturdy fact of God's continuing love,
for mercies which go before us
and follow after us,
for those free gifts
which cost God so much.
 
Let us give thanks: for memory and expectation,
for the good that we have known
and know today in Jesus Christ,
for the Spirit's brooding presence
in our nights and in our days.
 
Let us give thanks:
for pleasures which comfort
and pains which force our growth
and keep us at the Shepherd's side,
for deep meanings revealed
and mysteries mercifully concealed,
for the image of God within us,
for the capacity to inquire and adore.
 
Let us give thanks for one another,
for just being together,
for differences which complement and complete,
for gifts which enrich
and disagreements which challenge,
for our oneness in Christ.
 
Let us give thanks for melody and mirth,
for rhythm and beat,
for the repeated and the common,
for the ever-unfolding,
and for senses with which to respond.
 
And let us give thanks for Someone to thank.
Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Tracie
Published Monday March 26, 2001
Week 18 of Liturgical Year C