On a recent litter patrol, I filled a plastic bag with trash strewn around our block. The corner of Northside Drive and West Wesley accounted for much of the refuse. Apparently people toss their trash out the window while waiting at the traffic light.

The rubbish included Styrofoam cups, plastic straws, fast food wrappers, potato chip bags, soft drink cans, newspaper flyers, and four feet of a metal stud, complete with screws. Based on the beer bottles and wine coolers, the street also doubles as a corner bar.

People are pigs.

I should apologize—such a comparison is unfair to pigs. While hogs earn their stinky-sty reputation, a porker never tossed Bud Light cans out a truck window.

Dilly, dilly.

A week later litter again festooned the block. Two Toyota hubcaps gave the road’s shoulder a festive touch. I grabbed a trash bag with a sigh and started over.

See comment about people and pigs above.

According to the opening chapters of Genesis, the Lord appointed humans as co-stewards of creation. Our birthright mandates we treasure the world both for God’s sake and for ours.

In many national parks, signs instruct hikers: “Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.”

And the people of God say, “Amen!” Then they pick up some trash because every litter bit helps.

Historians disagree over the origins of April Fools’ Day. A search of the Internet (the source of all knowledge) reveals various explanations about the holiday. Regardless, April 1 traditionally marks a day for pranks, monkeyshines, shenanigans, and high jinks.

For the first time since 1956, Easter Sunday fell on April Fools’ Day this year. Many remarked on the concurrence. Preachers made bad jokes concerning the coincidence before preaching about the Resurrection.

However, Easter and April Fools’ share more in common than one might first imagine.

Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, dead, and buried. At the cross, sin seemed to win. At the tomb, death appeared to reign.

Three days later some women visited Jesus’ grave to anoint his mangled body. In the garden, the women encountered angelic figures who proclaimed the news that continues to echo in our ears today: Why do you seek the living among the dead? Jesus is not here—he is risen, just as he said!

April Fool! Sin’s power is broken.

April Fool! Death’s reign is overthrown.

April Fool! On the third day, Christ arose from the dead.

In 1 Corinthians 4:10, Paul wrote: We are fools for Christ!

Happy Easter AND April Fools’ Day. Christ is risen, indeed!

Last Sunday we celebrated the glorious news of Easter: Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Sanctuaries overflowed as churches experienced their annual, high attendance Sunday.

The liturgical calendar calls the week AFTER Easter Low Sunday. Historians believe the name originated in contrast to the great festival of Easter. Following the celebration of the Resurrection, churches returned to the “low” or ordinary routine of worship.

Church pastors know better, however. Low attendance puts the LOW in Low Sunday! Easter marks the high water mark for worship. The Sunday AFTER Easter ebbs at low tide. Some congregations may even experience negative numbers!

However, we continue to celebrate the Season of Easter this week. Over 40 days, the risen Lord appeared to his disciples. Mary encountered Jesus in the garden. Two disciples met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Paul reported that Christ appeared to Simon Peter, the Twelve, and more than 500 followers at one time.

According to John, one man missed Jesus’ appearance to the other apostles on Easter night. Unconvinced by second-hand reports, “Doubting” Thomas announced he would only be convinced by touching Jesus’ wounds.

On the Sunday AFTER Easter, Jesus once again appeared in the Upper Room. He confronted Thomas’ doubts and displayed his wounded hands, feet, and side. The disciple knelt and professed: My Lord and my God!

Christ responded: Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

It’s a good thing that Thomas decided to attend church the Sunday AFTER Easter. Otherwise, he might have missed the Risen Lord.

On Low Sunday, we continue to celebrate the Easter good news: Christ is risen, indeed!

During my first two pastoral appointments, I lived beside church cemeteries. I often visited the graveyards, pausing to read the monuments. The tombstones inspired me to consider my own epitaph.

Possibilities included: Gone But Not Forgotten, Asleep in the Lord, Beloved Husband, Father, and Nobel Prize Winner, or I Told You I Was Sick!

Regardless of the words they grave for me, one day I will not be. Even lines etched deep in granite will weather and fade over time.

However, I will not be forgotten. One will still know me by name. God’s children never perish.

In his classic poem, “Death, Be Not Proud,” John Donne wrote: One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die.

In a high hymn of hope and praise, the apostle Paul exclaimed: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the good news of the Resurrection. No tombstone marks Jesus’ grave. The first disciples discovered an empty tomb. The angelic proclamation still rings in our ears today: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen, just as he said!”

For my epitaph, simply inscribe my name and the two customary dates. After the year of my death, however, place a comma rather than a period.

Easter reminds us that death is not THE END but a new beginning for all who trust in the Lord.

Sue Allen serves as the Director of Women’s Ministry at Northside Church. She also publishes a daily devotional that I thoroughly enjoy. With Sue’s permission, I am sharing one of her recent posts.

Good morning . . .

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing . . . not healing, not curing . . . that is a friend who cares.”

This Henri Nouwen quote reminds me of the “Three C” wisdom of the twelve-step program. When pain ravages the life of a loved one, we must remember:

1. I did not cause it.
2. I cannot control it.
3. I do not possess the power to cure it.

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusin, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing . . . not healing, not curing . . . that is a friend who cares.”

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. (Philippians 2:1-2, MSG)

Sue

If you would like to read more of Sue’s blogs or receive her daily devotions, visit https://suetoyou.com

Since 1979, I have preached on a weekly basis. Say 50 sermons per year . . . 39 years . . . that’s roughly 1,950 sermons. Makes you sleepy just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

Many church members assume pastors accumulate sermon manuscripts that serve them for decades. Preachers simply open a folder or file and: VOILA—instant sermon.

If only this was true.

Like perishable food, sermons possess an expiration date. Homilies are written in a specific context for a particular people in an explicit time. In my personal experience, any sermon 18+ months old is as stale as week old bread.

Despite this knowledge, I own a couple of four drawer file cabinets filled with sermons going back to Jimmy Carter’s presidency. I’ve faithfully hauled them from church to church in the certain knowledge they would one day prove useful.

I’m not sure why.

Perhaps my future biographer would reference the preserved manuscripts. Maybe literary agents would outbid one another to publish Volume 1 of Bill Burch’s Sermons. Surely my grandchildren would treasure these homiletical masterpieces.

I was wrong.

So I’ve started the laborious task of sorting through the sermons. The process is relatively straightforward:

• Sermons composed on a typewriter—TRASH
• Sermons printed on a dot-matrix printer—TRASH
• Sermons yellowed with age—TRASH
• Sermons with rust-stains from paper clips—TRASH
• Sermons written before 2013—TRASH
• Sermons . . . well, you get the idea.

So I’m throwing away most of my files; however, the process has filled me with a spirit of peace. Sermons are designed to be disposable. Like the daily news, the good news is relevant, fresh, and hot off the press.

I also have a lot more room in my file cabinets.

Winter’s dreary days drag a gray blanket over the cold world. Spirits plunge along with the mercury in thermometers. Bare branches, brown grass, and pale skin long for the sultry touch of sunshine, but all they receive is the chilly comfort of February rain as winter blues fade to bleak black.

Then one hears those four mystical, marvelous, miraculous words: “Pitchers and catchers report!” The magical incantation causes Old Man Winter to vanish into thin air. Suddenly, the light pierces the clouds with golden streams of promise. Morning temperatures receive an early wakeup call from spring. Branches bud, lawns green, and the sun shines.

The Boys of Summer are back, and spring cannot be far behind.

Winter does not officially end until March 21. However, an early harbinger of warmer days is the advent of baseball’s Spring Training. The American and National League teams practice in the sunny climes of Florida and Arizona in preparation for Opening Day. The first to arrive are the pitchers and catchers to warm up their arms after the off-season hiatus.

John Fogarty, former lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival, sings a baseball anthem entitled Centerfield.  The rock beat declares:

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone—the sun came out today!

We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.

A-rounding third and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man;

Anyone can understand the way I feel.

Then the chorus expresses a sentiment that any child of the game intuitively understands:

Oh, put me in coach, I’m ready to play today.

Put me in coach, I’m ready to play today.

Look at me, I can be, centerfield!

Our Lenten Worship Series at Northside Church is entitled Spring Training as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter. Join us each Sunday at 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00.

Preachers and laity report!

People keep time in a variety of ways. The calendar year runs from January to December. Businesses operate on a fiscal year. Families with children follow the school calendar. Kindergarten students learn about the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter.

The church marches to the beat of its own time. The church year begins with Advent—the four Sunday season prior to Christmas. The Twelve Days of Christmas celebrate Christ’s coming into the world. Epiphany begins with Jesus’ baptism and recounts Christ’s early ministry.

During the forty days of Lent, believers prepare their hearts for the events of Holy Week. Easter proclaims that Jesus Christ is risen indeed! Fifty days later the festival of Pentecost recalls God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.

The annual cycle rehearses the story of Christ and the church. The seasons recall Jesus’ birth, life, teaching, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Christian calendar baptizes ordinary time with sacred meaning.

This year Lent begins on Wednesday, February 14. The 40 day season (excluding Sundays) concludes the Saturday before Easter. The somber, reflective time calls Christians to prepare their hearts to hear once again the story of Jesus’ suffering and death.

During Lent, many believers “give up” something as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice. Others “take up” a spiritual discipline or charitable cause in imitation of God’s love.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. During the service, the minister marks believers’ foreheads in the sign of the cross. Traditionally, ashes from the previous year’s Palm Sunday fronds are used. Since Old Testament times, God’s people have observed penitential times with “sackcloth and ashes.”

During the imposition of the cross with ashes, the minister typically says: Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe in the gospel. The ashes and words serve as reminders of humanity’s mortality and sinfulness. However, the sign of the cross recognizes God’s gifts of eternal life and forgiveness.

On Ash Wednesday, we begin the journey to the cross and empty tomb. During this 40 day journey, let us walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

Recent signs in my life that I’m growing older—if not up:

• I drive around town with Sam the Yorkshire Terrier sitting in my lap.
• I fall asleep in my favorite easy chair watching TV after 9:00 p.m.
• I have a favorite easy chair.
• On Saturday mornings, I cannot sleep past 6:00 a.m.
• I bought blue jeans on sale at Costco (sign 1). Then I discovered they had a stretchy waist band (sign 2). After trying them on, I decided to keep them (sign 3).
• The candles on my birthday cake indicate that I missed any chance to have a mid-life crisis.
• I find myself using phrases like “Back in the day,” “In my time,” and “I don’t understand young people today.”
• Putting on a sweat shirt and pants after supper makes me happy. If supper is before 6:00, then I’m even happier.
• If I fall asleep warm and pain-free, then it’s been a GOOD day.
• I often awake at 2:00 a.m. to ponder the problems of the world.
• And staring at the dark ceiling does not generate any solutions.
• I lift with my legs.
• I try not to lift at all.
• I think before bending over . . . and then consider what else to do while I’m down there.
• I watch athletes and think: “They’re going to regret THAT in thirty years!”
• I no longer know all the answers. Some days I forget the questions.
• God has used the years to make me wise enough to know that I’m not wise enough.

So I’m growing older—if not always up. MOST days it beats the alternative.

“Comfort food” first appeared in the 1972 Webster’s Dictionary. The phrase describes food that promotes a feeling of well-being and contentment. We often associate these foods with pleasant, childhood memories.

Comfort cuisine typically features a high sugar and carbohydrate content: sugary desserts, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, or pizza. And chicken soup is always good for the soul.

Comfort food also plays an important role in the Bible. In the Old Testament, breaking bread with others was a covenantal act of faith. Manna fed the Israelites in the wilderness. The Psalmist described God: Preparing a table in the presence of mine enemies. The Jewish people described God’s coming kingdom as a Messianic Banquet.

In the New Testament, Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. Christ did some of his best work while sitting around a table with his disciples. The only miracle recorded in all four gospels (other than the Resurrection itself) was the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. On their final night together, Jesus shared with his friends a last supper. When Christ appeared to the disciples after the Resurrection, he asked them for something to eat.

Comfort food continues to be an important part of church life today. Congregations gather each Wednesday for a Family Night Supper. We ask God’s blessings upon our meals before eating. In worship, we remember Christ’s words of institution as we partake of the loaf and cup of Holy Communion. A people of faith are also mindful of others’ needs and share their resources so that all might be full.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that God would grant us our daily bread. This is not only a prayer for life’s physical sustenance but also a petition that our Lord will fulfill our every need. Jesus knew that we do not live by bread alone but by the living Word of God. The best comfort food satisfies both the body and the soul.

Those who feast on God’s Word find a comfort that this world cannot give. Nothing else will ultimately satisfy our hunger within.