An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

So the other disciples told Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (from John 20:19-31 ) You’d have to see it to believe it!!! I have a 60-year-old automatic watch my father gave me for college graduation. The watch, like me, slowed down, needs repair, and requires a specialist compelling me to do an internet search for a repair shop fixing antiques and vintage timepieces. I located a shop about 20 miles away claiming to repair antique and vintage watches. Entering the shop, I was amazed to see a collection of grandfather clocks, mantle clocks, wall clocks, and a collection of antique vintage watches. It's an astonishing collection!! You’d have to see it to believe it!!! The only way to experience my amazement, you MUST go there! (133 S Courtland St, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301)   That’s how it was with Mary and the ...

"But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” (from Mark 16:1-8 ) Last week I reconnected with two former youth group members via social media. One, teaching in an English school, lives in Dubai with two teen-age daughters.  Knowing his life journey and how far he has come, I’d describe it as going from a “tomb” to an Easter life of new beginnings. The other moved from the “tomb” of rural life to Easter city life with new beginnings including job hunting, commuting, and learning a transportation system with trains and busses. I’m certain if we were to reconnect face to face, we’d have a great celebration. When Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome came to anoint Jesus, found the stone rolled back, and a young man in a white robe, they were amazed and afraid.  The young man told them to tell Peter and the disciples to go to Galilee where they will see him. Through the young man, J...

"After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him." (from Mark 15:1-47 ) As I reflect on the story of Jesus’ torment, suffering and crucifixion, similar stories come to my mind. Stories such as George Floyd, Breyonna Taylor, school shootings by students, and NYC subway incidents. On the one hand, I think there’s nothing outstanding about Jesus’ torment, suffering and crucifixion.  The Roman government crucified lots of people because of betrayal, arrest under false charges, abandonment, physical abuse, and mob “justice". The world in Jesus’ day experienced profound cruelty from the elite and those with governmental power able to manipulate the legal system for their corrupt interests. On the other hand, Jesus’ trial and crucifixion was an apocalyptic event, a revelation. The disciples understood Jesus as the Messiah when the Centurion said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”  The first chapter is...

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ( from  John 12:20-32 ) During Fellowship Time, I try talking to new folks asking why they chose to attend our church. Many have chosen to attend because they have just moved into the area, were seeking a church, and experienced us as a friendly church. Some, after experiencing a traumatic event, are seeking Jesus. One person, sharing the event using limited language, spoke of feeling clueless, not having money, and poor at conversation. The person was seeking Jesus with a troubled soul needing comfort and hope. The Greeks are seeking Jesus, but the Scripture doesn’t tell, and we don’t know, their expectations In searching the Scriptures, John 7:35-36 suggests the seekers aren’t Greeks, rather Jews dispersed among Greeks freed the Babylonian exile and heading to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. The “Greeks...

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” (from John 3:14-21 ) The most familiar Bible passage is John 3:16, “for God so love the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. The idea is that God gave Jesus to earth to save it with love by sacrificing his body on the cross saving those who believed in him.   This raises questions: What does it mean to believe in?  Did Jesus need to come into the world because of sin? What kind of sin then?   As I search the scriptures to discover God’s work through Jesus according to John, I need to constantly go back to John’s main theology: there is light and there is darkness and followers of Jesus are called to live in the light. So, I begin with verse 19: This is the...

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (from John 2:13-22 ) One morning I received a phone call saying, “Rev. Cooper, this is the Fire Chief informing you of a structure fire on 226 Main St”. That meant the church was on fire. At the church I found fire engines, anguished church members, and smoke rising from the education wing.  That evening we held a service praying for guidance with the coming trials of damage repair and continuing ministries. One unspoken, heart-felt prayer was, “Jesus, where are you in this tragedy?” When I long for answers, I begin searching the Scriptures, not merely for a verse here or there, but a story or event.  The Gospel states John’s mission is to witness to testify to the light, shining in the darkness which did not overcome it so all might believe through him. The bigger picture here is the 46 years of rebuilding the Second Jerusalem ...

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them,  “If any want to become my followers,  let them deny themselves and  take up their cross and follow me." (from Mark 8:31-38 ) Carrying the cross through village of Swanton, Vt. was an annual event. The pastors and members of the village churches met on the green preparing to carry a wooden cross from church-to-church reading scriptures and prayers at each stop. This procession portrays Jesus carrying the cross to his death on Golgotha thus ending his holy mission. In the pain and tumult of our times, without searching the Scriptures, it’s hard to see God making things right. If Jesus’ mission was suffering and dying to save us from the sins of the world, the violence following the Kansas City Chief’s victory parade indicates a misunderstood message. The culture of the Kansas City Chief’s parade was violence coming from a broken society. Jesus’ mission, I feel, was a counter-culture mission. Jesus’ counter-culture ...