From all they could see, those with all the worldly power had won-once again. But they stayed with Jesus, nevertheless. They stayed with him because they loved him and refused to abandon him in his humiliating and painful death. And it was some of these friends who stayed with him at the cross who were among the first to be aware of the resurrection. When life is at its worst, when we feel God-forsaken and we experience a failure of faith and hope, it is those whose lives are characterized by love who do not drift away and thus who are most likely to be among the first who experience the reality we call Easter.
Love is the greatest because love endures-even in the midst of crucifixions.
God, help us be more than pep rally Christians. Enable us to live lives of love so that even as we deal with the worst situations in life, we are in a position to see Easter when it happens. God, at this time in the life of our congregation, we know that each of us needs to seek your guidance because we are in the process of making decisions that will impact the way this congregation will be doing ministry for the next forty or fifty years. And yet, O God, we tend to avoid seeking your guidance. Forgive us when we are so focused on ourselves and our agendas that not only are we insensitive to your presence and deaf to your will, we even convince ourselves we do not have time to seek your will.