Lord Of Light
Stories
Contents
"Lord of Life" by John Fitzgerald
Lord of Life
by John Fitzgerald
Romans 8:6-11
This first Sunday in April we come to worship with thoughts of mowing green grass for a first time and entering into the Opening Day of baseball. Signs of spring are all around us. To capture the mood of today hear these words of a familiar poem written by Cecil Alexander:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful;
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
Spring is season of New Life and Hope. This day we acknowledge that all living things come from God. Jesus is Lord of Life and grants us victory over death. After the long winter months of life being dormant, we can once again see the creative powers of Christ bringing forth a new creation wherever we look.
We have heard too much about death and destruction. Our news is filled with violent accounts and stories about the beastliness and brutality of mankind. In our culture death is sexy -- destruction is glamorous.
Our movies, musical videos, and computer games portray death in slow-motion sequence with emphasis upon cruelty and gruesomeness. Destruction is glorified. We enjoy watching things being blown-up and property destroyed in vain, glorious fashion.
Just think about our violent vocabulary. We talk with words like: I’m going to make a killing off this -- Take a stab at it -- They were at each other’s throats -- Drop dead -- She couldn’t pull the trigger -- I will kill him. It is no wonder our murder rate is so high in this country.
The opposite of death and destruction is light, life and love. God is the one who brings light, life and love into our walk. Instead of being sexy and glamorous like death is viewed in our culture -- life is as tender as a first bloom on the rose bush. Life is precious like the aged mother cat taking care of her kittens. Life is vulnerable like the face of a Syrian refugee.
The question for us as we head toward Easter Sunday now just two weeks away is what fills our life? Are we part of death and destruction or life, light, and love? This is the issue raised by Saint Paul in our scripture lesson from Romans 8.
Paul begins our Bible passage with the statement:
the mind governed by flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The Apostle goes on to say:
But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life (verse 10).
It is only in Christ that we can overcome the threat of death and destruction. Jesus teaches us to walk in the light of love and light. The scripture reading concludes with this glorious promise:
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (verse 11).
This is the hope of Easter. Jesus being raised from the grave on Easter Sunday offers us a possibility of victory over death and freedom to live in Christ’s light and love.
The message of Cecil Alexander’s poem
rings true:
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.
John Fitzgerald lives in Leesburg, Ohio, with his wife Carolyn and has served as pastor at the Leesburg Friends Meeting for the past 27 years. Cornfield Cathedral (Fairway Press, 2013) is the second book authored by Pastor Fitzgerald. John has earned a Master's of Ministry Degree from the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana.
*****************************************
StoryShare, April 2, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Lord of Life" by John Fitzgerald
Lord of Life
by John Fitzgerald
Romans 8:6-11
This first Sunday in April we come to worship with thoughts of mowing green grass for a first time and entering into the Opening Day of baseball. Signs of spring are all around us. To capture the mood of today hear these words of a familiar poem written by Cecil Alexander:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful;
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
Spring is season of New Life and Hope. This day we acknowledge that all living things come from God. Jesus is Lord of Life and grants us victory over death. After the long winter months of life being dormant, we can once again see the creative powers of Christ bringing forth a new creation wherever we look.
We have heard too much about death and destruction. Our news is filled with violent accounts and stories about the beastliness and brutality of mankind. In our culture death is sexy -- destruction is glamorous.
Our movies, musical videos, and computer games portray death in slow-motion sequence with emphasis upon cruelty and gruesomeness. Destruction is glorified. We enjoy watching things being blown-up and property destroyed in vain, glorious fashion.
Just think about our violent vocabulary. We talk with words like: I’m going to make a killing off this -- Take a stab at it -- They were at each other’s throats -- Drop dead -- She couldn’t pull the trigger -- I will kill him. It is no wonder our murder rate is so high in this country.
The opposite of death and destruction is light, life and love. God is the one who brings light, life and love into our walk. Instead of being sexy and glamorous like death is viewed in our culture -- life is as tender as a first bloom on the rose bush. Life is precious like the aged mother cat taking care of her kittens. Life is vulnerable like the face of a Syrian refugee.
The question for us as we head toward Easter Sunday now just two weeks away is what fills our life? Are we part of death and destruction or life, light, and love? This is the issue raised by Saint Paul in our scripture lesson from Romans 8.
Paul begins our Bible passage with the statement:
the mind governed by flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The Apostle goes on to say:
But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life (verse 10).
It is only in Christ that we can overcome the threat of death and destruction. Jesus teaches us to walk in the light of love and light. The scripture reading concludes with this glorious promise:
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (verse 11).
This is the hope of Easter. Jesus being raised from the grave on Easter Sunday offers us a possibility of victory over death and freedom to live in Christ’s light and love.
The message of Cecil Alexander’s poem
rings true:
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.
John Fitzgerald lives in Leesburg, Ohio, with his wife Carolyn and has served as pastor at the Leesburg Friends Meeting for the past 27 years. Cornfield Cathedral (Fairway Press, 2013) is the second book authored by Pastor Fitzgerald. John has earned a Master's of Ministry Degree from the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana.
*****************************************
StoryShare, April 2, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
