March 31 Update: Blessed Holy Week and Joyous Easter Sunday
Seattle Presbytery
As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one,
so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:20-24
Dear friends,
I (Eliana) love using the daily lectionary for my reflection and prayer time. It inevitably points in a direction I may have been avoiding or simply neglected. I guess the Word of God can do that.
This year’s lectionary Gospel reading for the day is part of Jesus’ prayer for us. Right before Jesus is arrested, he goes to God in prayer for his followers, including the future generations of Christians. Yes that means you and me.
Christ once again lifts up the essential value of being community. To grow in our faith, to seek the will of God, to live the fullness of life as God intends for us all calls that we do so in relationship, in mutual trust and love. Or as I used to say to my kids, you really can’t be an individual Christian, you can’t do it alone. We do this thing together.
As the season of Lent draws to a close, and we are once again comforted and convicted by God’s extravagant love in the mystery of the resurrection, even as we witness the ongoing violence against our AAPI siblings, the traumatic courtroom testimony in George Floyd’s murder, and so much human brokenness around us. Yet in the midst of all this, Jesus’ prayer for us right before his death calls us to unity; that we be one as he was one with God. And in that unity, may we find communion, worship, and love in our faith.
Let us recommit ourselves to one another, that we might encourage and support one another in Jesus’ fervent prayer. And may you and your congregations join us, your presbytery staff, in pausing to pray for our unity. No matter our differences or disagreements, may we find the love and grace of the resurrected Christ in one another. May we hold each other accountable in seeking to be the best possible version of ourselves, to live fully into God’s call on our lives, to do justice, and seek mercy as we are one.
Blessed Holy Week and Joyous Easter Sunday!
Seattle Presbytery staff
Scott Lumsden Eliana Maxim
Tali Hairston EJ Lee
Maggie Breen Glen Ferguson
*please note that the Presbytery office will be closed April 1-4 in observance of Holy Week and Easter Sunday.