April 16, 2017 - Easter - Moments where God Shows Up in Life

Matthew 28:2-3 "And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow."

Photos by Debi Stromberg

In her words Pastor Michelle was "not afraid to be a fool for Christ", as she witnessed today in her sermon a moment in daily life where God's presence became a reality that she could perceive and testify to publically.

Internally this declaration shook me like an earthquake and, yes, a stone that was firmly in place and hindering my spirit was rolled away. She admitted to being a little scared of giving this sermon, a feeling I shared, together with being thunderstruck and illuminated, much like I was during Pastor Michelle's Easter sermon last year.

Why this strong emotional and theological connection? Well, I had just struggled with what I wrote in my Easter Vigil blog entry yesterday about God showing up years ago. The coincidence that Pastor Michelle chose this Sunday to make this part of her sermon astonished me.

I experienced a few "God showing up" moments years ago. I referenced the one I experienced at my first Easter Vigil to give context to what I wrote about Saturday's service. However the words I used to express the feeling of God's presence were awkward and, I felt, rambling. As a result, rather than expressing what God showing up meant to me, I wrote that I needed to focus on yesterday evening's worship, which did not have this kind of "God" moment for me.

What moved me today, beyond the chronological coincidence of our witness of God's presence in this way, was how Pastor Michelle's moment matched up with mine and where the moments were different. Those similarities and differences caused a stone to roll away in my thinking, leaving me with a new clarity on how to talk about God, in my daily life anyway.

Pastor Michelle's moment was personal with on one else around. Mine have all been in places where I am with other people. To testify that God "showed up" in this places and at this time has implications. One is the implication that anybody physical there would confirm that presence as  real. Marcus Borg was fond of asking the question in this way "Could someone have videotaped it?" That was not what I have ever experienced. I would not have expected the person next to me to agree God appeared in this particular place. I don't think Pastor Michelle would have expected her dog, who was present in the room when she was visited, to react to the presence she perceived.

Many people today might then conclude that God wasn't there, and chalk it up to just an internal mental construct. Today that was the stone that rolled away - a realization this does an injustice to these moments.

It was neither personal opinion, a decision, or a moment of inspiration, exhilaration or sorrow that triggered my knowing what I know. Like Pastor Michelle's moment, I had no choice of where and when but, rather, only an openness to accept the personal reality of the moment. I imagined for years that experiencing God's presence would be a mystical, otherworldly experience. Interestingly my experiences are not particularly mystical but rather intimately related to, and actually springing from, what is happening in a fragile, ephemeral world. For me, God showing up is closer to feeling a depth of love experience. Often there is a "giving away" offering which can feel profoundly foolish.

I noticed this week that Easter would be my 100th blog entry. I find that not only am I detailing Creator's Easter celebration but something much more emotional and scary than what I typically write.

There was more that happened in this service beyond the sermon. The choir sang Now the Green Blade Rises at both services as a musical offering to the congregation together with Life Tree. Robert played a beautiful recorder solo on Life Tree with Matt on piano. The music, that is sung to the American folk melody  O Waly Waly, gently floated over the congregation with an inner grace that was humbling.

The service moved to an individual congregation member as well. Easter was Sam's last worship at Creator before his move which will eventually take him to the coast. Our quilting group presented him with a quilt and the congregation gave him a blessing, a heartfelt god speed for his life journey from here, and a hope that our paths would cross again.

Creator's traditional Easter Brunch took place between the two services. In addition there was a bake sale with both helping to raise funds for our youth.

I met Valentine's family over brunch. They just arrived at the service after flying in from Cameroon, Valentine has not see his mother and father for fourteen years. It is a real joy for me to be in choir with him and to swap stories about what is going on in our lives.

As our table talked the presence of  Valentine's parents moved me. Together with the many members who were dressed specially for Easter, my thoughts began to turn to my own parents and sister, past Easters shared with others, and being together with my family today.

Mary, Eric and I attended the second service together. Normally I have something to do in worship but today singing in choir did not relegate me to sitting in a particular place so we had the opportunity to sit and worship as a family.

Altogether this was a blessed Easter for this congregation.