We have decided to follow Jesus: Bishops’ Pastoral Letter
Dear family
We greet you in the name of Jesus, our brother and our redeemer, in this most holy of weeks.
Gracious God, you have heard the cries of your suffering people. You have sent Jesus to us to be our Redeemer and brother. Open our eyes to see the immensity of your love for us and the wonder of what you have done for us. Give us the courage to be your hands and heart for those who are in pain. Give us the wisdom to speak out for justice and righteousness. May your will be done in us today and always. Amen.
This is the week where we walk, day by day, with Jesus to the cross, and then beyond the cross into the glory of his resurrection. We walk slowly and purposefully. Bishop N.T. Wright describes Holy Week as the summit of a great mountain crossing; it’s a path we might take many times, but it is never the same twice. Each journey over these mountains gives new views, new insights, new discovery. A Holy Week pilgrimage in lockdown will certainly be a unique pilgrimage for us all!
So often it can feel as though we expect Jesus to fit into our lives, our priorities, our schedules. This is a week where our decision to follow Jesus, particularly in the pattern of our Holy Week services, holds a stronger sway over our lives. We re-orientate our lives to walk day by day with Christ, and we are always changed as a result. How much more can that be true of this week, when our normal pattern of life has already been stopped? And how might this shape us for the priorities and pattern we choose for our lives going forward?
Our hope, always, is that our whole lives are increasingly changed by the intimacy and revelation of God’s love for us in Christ. Whether this is our first Holy Week as a follower of Jesus, or our 75th, there is always more revelation of God’s transforming love to receive, and more courage available to pick up our own, and one another’s crosses, and follow Jesus.
May we encourage all of us to give our best attention and our best desires to God this week. Lean into God’s Spirit. Join us in our live-streamed service on Thursday night, then in our Thursday night vigil of prayer for our world and our church. Then join us for our Good Friday reflection at 10am, followed by our Chrism service on Saturday evening at 8pm when we are all invited to renew our baptism vows, and our Easter Sunday celebration at 10am. All services are available here on movementonline.org.nz, and on Facebook. For those of us without good internet access, you can see all services except those from St Peter’s on Willis) on Freeview channel 200. This is available for those with UHF aerials only, and is not available through Sky decoders. Let us walk together, in your homes and house churches, with Jesus to the cross.
In particular, we so look forward to seeing the children’s art and photo competition for Holy Week: “walking with Jesus”! And a word about Holy Week particularly to our families: this week Jesus takes the posture of the servant of all. As you comes downstairs and find that all the weetbix have been either eaten or crushed all over the kitchen, or as you find the permanent marker pen used to create art on the wallpaper, or as you respond to the 10th “but there’s nothing to do!” shout of the morning, know that as you serve your household, so you serve and honour Jesus. And when you disappoint yourself, as we all do, may you know that it is in the “sorry” that Jesus is glorified, not in the perfect parenting that has no cause of apology. May fresh grace fall from heaven on our households and may we join together in prayer for the extravagant grace of God to fall over all the households of this land and this world.
Jesus came to be with all of us, just as we are, so that we can be with the fullness of God in perfect peace. We have decided to follow Jesus and we are not turning back:
Come, fill with your Spirit Christ’s broken body, our Church, and give to your people everywhere a deep longing to take up the cross and to understand its mysterious glory. So that we and all your people shall be free and the whole earth live to praise your name.
In faith and love,
+Justin and +Eleanor
