Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
I am writing this thought just after preparing my Passion Sunday Sermon based on the shortest verse in the Bible - John chapter 11 verse 35 "Jesus wept." It comes, of course, from the story of the raising of Lazarus, when Jesus was moved to tears by the tears of his great friends Mary and Martha at the death of their brother Lazarus, as they all stood together outside the dead man's tomb.
The fact that he was moved to tears is remarkable, especially as he knew that he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, and this demonstrates just how much Jesus, the Son of God, is touched by our pain and suffering.
Jesus tears that day affirm the depth of his love and concern for people. A love and concern that is later expressed by the way that he took the burden of our sins upon himself on the cross as the sacrificial lamb; by the way that he forgave his tormentors "because they knew not what they were doing"; by the way that he made sure that his mother was cared for by his brother, even though he was at the very moment suffering so terribly on the cross; by the way that he bore even the terrible torment of separation from his beloved Father, in order to achieve our forgiveness, as he cried out: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"; by the way that he spoke so gently and lovingly to Mary Magdalene "Mary", as he emerged free and triumphant from the tomb; by the way that he later on said "Peace be with you", as he appeared amongst his frightened and bewildered disciples, and by the way that he forgave and reinstated the guilt ridden Peter.
In all those ways, and in many other ways, Jesus demonstrated the sacrificial love and compassion of God - a God whose greatest desire is that we should open the door of our hearts to let him, in and let him share himself with us in love and fellowship.
That sacrificial love of God that is most powerfully demonstrated by a true story from Auschwitz told by Eliezer Weisel, a Hungarian Jew, in his book "Night".One day the thousands of prisoners were forced to watch the guards torture and hang a young boy "a child with a refined and beautiful face" . It took the boy a full half hour to die, and, as they stood watching, Eliezer heard an anguished voice whisper behind him "Where is God? Where is he?" Then the prisoners had to all march right pass the gallows and look the dead boy full in the face. Behind him in the line Eliezer heard the same voice ask "Where is God now?" At that moment Eliezer heard a voice within him answer: "Where is he? Here he is... hanging here on the gallows"
Jesus' weeping for his friends reminds us that God weeps for all his children who suffer. He wept for the victims of the tsunami disaster as they ran screaming from the terrifying waves; he wept for the victims of the twin towers atrocity in New York; he weeps for the bereaved, the frightened, the starving, the homeless, the orphaned and the sick - he weeps for you and me when we are in trouble and in need. But he does more than weep - just as the risen Lord brought peace and hope to his frightened and demoralised disciples on that first Easter Day - he brings strength, comfort and hope to those in need. A strength and comfort that comes from the knowledge that he is with us, and wants so much to guide and strengthen us to face the difficulties and challenges that life brings. Above all he wants to restore us by giving us the hope we need to rebuild our lives and to carry on - a hope that asks "Do you love me?" and then shows just how much he loves us.
May God bless you all.