Palm/Passion Sunday This Sunday may seem to have two “personalities” for you. Many of us grew up with the Sunday before Holy Week being celebrated as simply Palm Sunday. We celebrated with God’s people the triumphant Jesus entering Jerusalem on a colt. The people spread cloaks and palms before him, as they would for a king! We sang our Hosannas as we also entered the sanctuary waving our palm branches! 

Well, over the years, the church recognized that many faithful members would attend Palm Sunday, then skip to Easter without attending either of the Holy Week services (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday). So that meant many members were missing the crucifixion of Jesus. They celebrated on Palm Sunday, then celebrated on Easter. But they missed the cross. They missed the death of Jesus on that cross. So the church decided to have this Sunday be Palm/Passion Sunday.

At Elim this year we open with a few of our members marching down Stanley Street with our palms (and really! they are Elim’s palms!) waving as we make our way into the sanctuary. We hear the Gospel of Jesus entering Jerusalem, with the people calling out their Hosannas! 

As we move further into worship, we hear the story of the Passion of Christ – which includes his death on the cross. We sing hymns which are interspersed throughout the Gospel readings. There is no sermon. We allow the Word of God and the hymns to move our hearts and minds as we reflect on Jesus’ suffering. We ourselves are making our way to the cross.

So we begin with our “Hosannas”, and end with the crucifixion – Jesus giving his life for the whole world.

After this Sunday, we enter Holy Week, thirsty for the completion of God’s astonishing work. I encourage you to attend our Maundy Thursday Zoom worship with Marin Lutheran and our Good Friday worship.

See you in worship,
Pastor Kathryn

​“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God . . . “ (Ephesians 2:8)
I’m preaching on Ephesians this Sunday. (Ephesians 2: 1 -10) 

I’m preaching on the grace of God. Lutherans speak so much about the grace of God because Luther felt it was the lens through which we view all our theology. 

I want to share the following words from The Rev. Frederick Buechner, a Presbyterian pastor, who I enjoy reading. It comes from his book Wishful Thinking.  Interesting fact: I bought my husband this book for our wedding. Romantic – I know!!  

“A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody? 
 
A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. 
 
The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you." 
 
There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. 
 
Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.” 

May God’s grace be with you, sisters and brothers in Christ. 
Pastor Kathryn

​In preparation for this Sunday’s sermon, I suggest you read: Exodus 20: 1 -17. It’s the 10 commandments.

Here’s what a Lutheran pastor and theologian wrote about the 10 commandments in the Christian Century:
 
“Our common misunderstanding of the commandments as a set of burdens overlooks something essential, namely that they are prefaced not by an order: ‘Here are your rules. You better obey them or else.’ But instead by a breathtaking announcement of freedom: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’ ”

They’re from a God who is madly in love with us – who loves and cares for us in the wilderness of our lives. A God who comes to us, gives us guidance so that we will not lose our way. A God who says to us:
 
“This is what you were made for. You were made to LIVE in this community of justice, in right relationship with me, Your God.

This is the way you shall love with your whole heart, with all your soul and with all your might. This is the way you will practice my love for the world. This is the way you will remain true to me.”
           
Of course – God knows, and WE KNOW – we won’t always remain true to God. We will get lost or disoriented in the wilderness and forget whose we are.
           
Thanks be to God that in Christ – we are FORGIVEN.
                       
And thanks be to God, that God never tires of calling us back home again.
           
“See” you in worship – you beloved children of God,
Pastor Kathryn