I am always slow. My life is circumscribed by demands that don't fit the normal weekly schedule of most. I struggle with my small congregations and am intent on speaking to them of the reality of their faith in the world we live in. This was my Easter witness. If you are not interested, please delete. If you find theological error, please help me. Margaret Living in Christ Grace be unto you and Peace from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ. This has been a week of formidable challenges. We have been compelled to live our lives in Jerusalem. Have you found yourself focusing on yourself in this journey or focusing on others and how they were managing the journey? For me, there has been some whiplash in this week. I am focusing on myself and then Peter denies Jesus. I really struggle with this one. If you try to think of what might have happened if he had not denied Jesus, I quickly end up in a morass where I wonder if we would even be here in the Church. Then again, denying Jesus? I have to wonder how I have denied Jesus this week-in every week? Am I a proclaimer or denier? It felt a bit to me this week like we got to watch the crucifixion first hand, and then thanks to the cameras in everyone's phone we got to watch it over and over. Do you know what I am talking about? The characters are almost all the same. Instead of the perfidious Roman government you have a business giant named United Airlines. This overly sanctified organization decided that four of its passengers must leave the plane. Three leave and one stays. He says he is a doctor and has patients to see the next morning. Just as the priests handed Jesus over to the Romans, so the pilot or stewards of the flight handed the passenger who said no over to the Chicago Police. The doctor was battered and drug off the plane. The passengers took pictures and screamed that it should stop, that the airline shouldn't be doing this. (If you listen carefully to all the replays you can hear more than one person saying, "Oh God! Oh, my God.") Some passengers were in tears. It has been said that some of the passengers became ill. The doctor ended up in the hospital. Were people praying to God? Were they cursing God for letting this happen? What were they saying with their "Oh God! Oh, my God." No one stood up and said, "Take me." No one said, "Here I am Lord, send me?" None of the officials of the airline suggested reconsidering the arrangement. The good doctor was left alone after he was drug to the lobby and he came back to the plane-bleeding profusely from his face. He stood holding on to the divider between the first and regular class sections of the plane. Did you hear what he said? "Just kill me." He stood there holding on to the partition and begging, "Just kill me." Then he was drug off a second time. No one of sound mind intervened. No one volunteered to bring any rationality to the situation. In the story we know, the people were given the option of choosing to release a different prisoner. They all chose to release Barabbas rather than Jesus. What does abba mean in the Bible? (Father) What does bar mean? (son of) They chose to release the son of God. How could it be that no one on that plane could see the doctor as a Child of God? How is it that no one found the courage to take responsibility for a situation they knew was wrong, negative, divisive and dehumanizing? A situation that was hurting everyone on the plane. At what point do we say, "Not my will, but thine?" At what point do we stand up to the Romans? What are we waiting for to know that it is time to stand up to the priests and Pharisees? You may be more than ready to say that I have carried this analogy too far. You may want to say that the doctor did not die. You may be wanting to remind me that the doctor has acquired a lawyer to sue the airlines. Imagine your life after this has happened to you. There have been millions of views through news organizations and You Tube. Once you are out of the hospital do you imagine that you can just go home and start seeing patients again? How do you get home? Do you have enough nerve to get on another airplane? I want to assure you that the crucifixion and resurrection are real. They are present in our world today. If we are moving through the world with our eyes open, we will see them. We have the opportunity to participate at any moment. We can say no (and yes) to the crucifixion through intervention. We can enable the resurrection, by being the neighbor prepared to lift another up. We need to see God in each person we meet. We need to love the God in ourselves so very much that we are not stopped by fear or anxiety or even the thought of what others might think. We need to love our Creator so completely that we are compelled to protect the God in others. Look around. This is where the journey to Jerusalem leads us. The challenges will always be formidable. Let us embrace God's blessings and face them together. In the times we are apart, pray for one another.