Last Week of Classes

The semester's winding down, so that means our programming is coming to an end:

The last FREE LUNCH is Tuesday, May 5th, 11-1
After this Tuesday, you'll have to buy Twinkies from the vending machine. 324 of your friends and classmates came last week...don't wait until the Fall!

End-of-the-year WORSHIP AT THE CENTER is Wednesday, May 6th, 12:30
Celebrate the end of classes (and start finals!) with this service of praise and celebration for God's goodness in this year.

And if you are looking for something to do this summer, get involved with your local church. Don't have one? Visit the college & young adult group at Wesley United Methodist Church: Sunday morning class at 10:30, Small Group study Tuesday nights at 7:30. More information at http://www.wesleyumc.com/college

Holy Saturday

“On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”

—Luke 23:56b

+

What do we do on Holy Saturday? If it isn’t the most-ignored moment in the liturgical year, then it certainly comes close. I certainly never celebrated Holy Saturday as a child…the church-wide Easter Egg Hunt was the most important thing.

What did the first disciples, the women and Joseph of Arimathea do? What about the centurion who had just stood beneath the cross? Pilate? Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin? The out-of-town faithful who came for Passover and got something dramatically different?

They rested, according to the commandment. They waited. They observed the sabbath.

What an odd thing to do for those early followers of Jesus! The one who had come to fulfill the law was dead…and yet, they still obeyed the law. The conversation must have been somber over dinner, furious, despairing. And yet, probably out of habit more than anything else, forgetting the words which the Word had spoken…they waited.

Waiting, listening, keeping silence is something which we have neglected in our churches as much as in our culture. When the absolute value of productivity and efficiency are taken for granted, when we rarely understand the meaning of quiet in our urban, fragmented life, when our babble dominates worship, it is hard to hear the authentic voice of the living God. When the rush to celebration and victory and joy obliterates sacrifice and struggle and sorrow, then we cannot be complete and whole and holy. Holy Saturday reminds us that there is no blessing without sacrifice.

So, for all of us whose worlds and even churches insist on neglecting if not ignoring the observance of Holy Saturday, may we be witnesses to everything that is missed in the silence, the waiting, the dark night in broad daylight.

+

Merciful and everliving God, Creator of heaven and earth,
the crucified body of your Son was laid in the tomb
and rested on this holy day.
Grant that we may await with him the dawning of the third day
and rise in newness of life, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

from the United Methodist Book of Worship #367

A Student's Thoughts..

Recent generations have grown up with superheroes and stars on the big screen. Action figures, comic books, and television have allowed children to find and explore these characters. But now…. We call them idols. They aren’t stars or superheroes anymore. We don’t ask children who their role model is. We ask them who their idol is. I have a serious problem with this. I suppose for the extreme fan the word idol has hit the nail on the head. I don’t see anything special with any “idol”. They are just people like everyone else. I would never want my child to fall into this trap of finding an “idol”. We build up all these people and for what? You can be the biggest fan and your idol will never know who you are, much less care. So why do we search out idols to worship? God is the one who is right there, He never leaves us, and yet we search for other things like He is not enough. But He is more than enough, He is all that we need. People can say they don’t worship them, but they do. It may not be worship like a person worships God, but if it is tearing you away from God, or putting something up on a pedestal, then yes it is a form of worship. God tells us in the bible that we are to put no gods or idols before Him. He is a jealous God. He is jealous for His people. Isn’t that amazing that He loves each of us so much that He is jealous for our love? If we are allowing anything to come between us and God it becomes sin. If a person idolizes someone or something they are worshiping something/one other that God. We can allow anything in our lives to take precedence over God. Television, music, drugs, alcohol, sleep, food, friends, school, homework, and even work can take over our lives and tear us away from our Father.

-- Chelsea Matts

What is Maundy Thursday?

On Maundy (or Holy) Thursday, Christians commemorate the supper Jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17) and instituted the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:13-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).

The title for this day, Maundy Thursday, recalls the new commandment (mandatum novum in Latin) to love one another in John 13:34. The act of footwashing dramatizes the servanthood of Jesus, both on the night before his death and in his continuing presence in our midst.

At table with his disciples, Jesus not only foreshadows the giving of his own life for the life of the world, but also tangibly enacts our unbreakable and everlasting relationship with the eternal Christ. The gift of Holy Communion also points towards the time when disciples will break bread together with the Risen Lord.

Maundy Thursday marks the first day of the Triduum—the climax of Lent (and the whole Christian year)—which is the bridge into the Easter Season. It is traditionally followed by observing Good Friday, and then the Easter Vigil (either late Saturday night or before dawn Sunday). These Great Three Days proclaim the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. During these days, the community journeys with Jesus from the upper room to the cross, to the tomb, and to the garden.

- adapted from The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992).

Don't forget about our Maundy Thursday worship at 12:30,
this Thursday (4/9) at the Wesley.