Hello,

     Those of us Christians who worship and live according to a liturgical calendar celebrate Easter for 50 days, at which we turn our attention to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to shape us in faith.  Six weeks ago, on Easter, the choir processed to the front of the church, a la Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, carrying balloons….silver and gold balloons, three feet tall, in the shape of letters  spelling out the word “ALLELUIA”.  Ultimately, the balloons took their rest in the front of the church, held to the ground by fishing line and flying in the shape of an arc that matched the arc of the stained glass window.

     On Easter, my hope was that the “ALLELUIA” balloons would stay afloat through the 50 days of Easter, and thus far my hopes have held up.  Thing is, little by little, the helium is seeping out of them leaving them less and less inflated with their buoyant gas.  I’ve been checking on them every day, fearing that they might begin to sink…but so far despite their partial deflation, they are still flying high.

     As I have watched them deflate, it has occurred to me that what is happening to them is the same thing that happens to us, the people of God.  On Easter Sunday, the day when Jesus’ resurrection changed all of creation for all time, we pull out all the stops when we gather for worship.  The volume of the organ shakes the walls echoing the power of God that brought life out of death in that Jerusalem tomb.  Trumpets, joining the trumpets of heaven, blare out into the universe the victory that Jesus has won.  Our lungs which have been damped throughout the 40 days of lent, explode in unfettered resurrection joy with shouts of Alleluia!  Easter is a day, as Hans and Franz of Saturday Night Live would say, “pumps you up!”

     But no sooner than we walk out of the doors of the church on Easter, the pressure of the world takes aim on our Alleluia!  Failures … roadblocks … judgments … temptations … expectations … the world can be quite a pressure cooker, squeezing the joy, hope, peace, and Alleluia right out of us.  We, too, can begin to sink and be brought down to the ground.  It happens to all of us.  All of us need to be “Pumped back up.” (including Hans and Franz)

     That is what every Sunday morning is all about.  When Christians decided when they would gather for worship, they chose Sunday to weekly mark the day of God’s greatest victory.  Every Sunday is meant to be a “mini-Easter”, and every Sunday is meant to be a day when God’s resurrection power re-inflates our lives.

     When people ask me why it is important to worship every Sunday, it is not in order to keep God loving us, but rather to keep us soaring in God’s love.  That is why if you come to worship with us we begin every Sunday by patching things up with confession and forgiveness, and then when every thing is patched up we make sure to re-inflate you with God’s grace….with a sermon that proclaims the truth that no matter how low you might have sunk, God doesn’t expect you to somehow try and float back up to him, but instead he finds you where you are and takes hold of you…with the tangible grip of God’s grace at his table filling you with resurrection life….and sealing you in a blessing of God’s presence that will go with you no matter where the wind might take you.  When you come to worship with us, we don’t promise that every Sunday will be as exciting as Easter, but it will be full of Easter.

     We only have 8 more days for my “ALLELUIA” balloons to keep soaring in our church….but we have a lifetime ahead for ALLELUIA to keep us soaring in life.  See you Sunday and together we will all “get pumped up”!

Have a great week!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger