"He Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem..."

(Luke 9.51)

It has been a tough road. The past year has been filled with much pain and heartache and many tears. We have held 14 funerals in the past 25 months. A number of those funerals were for people who died too young. Some of you have lost spouses, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, or uncles. Some of you have lost dear friends. Some of you have lost a beloved child. Some of you have experienced the anguish of an irreparably broken relationship with your spouse. Some of you have been burdened by continued unemployment. Some of you have been enduring tremendous stress at your workplace. Some of you have experienced health issues that have caused you to step back from your job or schoolwork or other things that you care about. The pain and heartache are very real. The grief is palpable. The tears have been flowing like streams of water, and sometimes we wonder if they will ever end.

Long ago, our Lord and Savior set his face to go to Jerusalem. He knew what awaited him. Pain and heartache. Suffering and death. His anguished followers would shed many tears. Yet he knew what he had to do. He set his face to go to Jerusalem. He passed the crowds waving palm branches. He came to the garden and asked that his burden be lifted from him. He was brought to the cross and cried out to God in lamentation. He died.

That would have been the end of the story . . . had not God's love been mightier than death's rage. Against all odds, defying all common sense, beyond all hope, God's love triumphed. Grief gave way to joy. Anguish turned to elation. Sorrow turned to joy. Death became life.

Let us set our faces to go to Jerusalem. Let us walk this journey with our Lord and Savior. He has walked this journey before. He grieves with us. Let us bring our pain and our heartache and our tears on this holy journey. Let us weep with Jesus in the garden on Maundy Thursday. Let us lay our anguish at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. And then, come . . . and let us celebrate with joy the victory that is Easter. The victory . . . of resurrection life.

Peace and blessings,

Bill