FIRST LIGHT

A NEWSLETTER OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
110 SYDENHAM STREET KINGSTON , ON K7L 3H5

(613) 548-7116
fbckgstn@kingston.net
April 2006

She was the first, and we all stand behind her. Everyone since her who ever heard the news of Christ's Resurrection, first heard it secondhand. But not her. She was the first to see Him and the first to tell. The others who saw Him that day had already heard it from her. Ever since, the news has been flowing down the centuries like a swelling river; but the start of it all was a clear little stream of words from Mary Magdalene's mouth.

Since that makes her more or less the first Christian preacher, we would do well to stand beside her for a while to learn what she teaches about our responsibility and ourselves. Luke 8:2 describes her as "a certain woman who had been set free from evil spirits and infirmities and from whom seven demons had come out." Her gratitude as a recipient of grace is a model for all witness.

Isn't it something that the first proclaimer of Easter did it with red-rimmed eyes? Who knows what else was in her face when she told the eleven, "I have seen the Lord!" but her eyes were still swollen and bloodshot from hard crying. I have little doubt that many of you who read these words will identify with her. While it's true that the news we share is finally and supremely good, there are many losses along the way. The news follows our losses - follows them - which means we never really comprehend the news apart from comprehending the losses. What this suggests is that, in the end, the most effective preparation for talking about the Resurrection may well be the anguish of personal, terrible grief. Or, in the words of Jesus, "Blessed are you who weep now; you shall laugh."

How did Mary come by such grief? By being faithful. By refusing, unlike so many other disciples, to flee the bloody scene of execution. She stood there facing that hideous death, and God only knows what it cost her. Even when His agony finally ended, she stayed grimly with the fact of His death, following His corpse to its grave. And now in the dark on the third day she is back to attend His death. You may call this her love, but you may also call it her courage. In her is not a trace of denial, not an ounce of escapism, nor any other kind of absenteeism from pain. More than anyone, she resolutely faces the wrenching horror of this loss, lets herself shudder in the chill of it, and is utterly undone by it. So she is the one in place to comprehend and declare the Resurrection.

It would be presumptuous to say that the way of Mary Magdalene is the only way for our own sense of Easter to become real. But wouldn't it be a shame if hers were the path we most needed to take, and yet - because of dullness, or denial, or fear, or unfaithful busyness - refused to take it?

So why not ask yourself the following questions: What recent crucifixions have occurred in my world? Have I turned away from them or attended to them? Have I been refusing to face pain, death, and loss, in any of their forms? Have I sufficiently mourned what I needed to mourn? Is it in any sense true that "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him"? Are there still unwept tears in me, and if so, what keeps me from weeping now?

"Blessed are you who weep now...". And of course tears can blind us for a time. That's the great and tender joke of John 20. Mary Magdalene's eyes are so clouded with crying that she can't tell if it's two angels, beside themselves with glee, asking her, "Woman, why do you weep?" And when the very one she's looking for stands near her to ask the same rich question, she's sobbing so hard she doesn't know the voice - not until the voice makes clear that He knows her. But the deepest and best joke of all is that this woman who was brave enough to be ruined enough to mourn and mourn and mourn - hers was the first name called by the risen Christ. She who most faithfully faced the cross was the one who first discovered the wonderful news of the resurrection, found her voice, and began to spread the tremendous news.

As we gather on Easter and the days that follow, can we, with red-rimmed eyes, share the shocking news that our Lord has risen and that we have encountered Him? Can we hang in there when we face the burdens of bearing Christ's cross? Can we welcome back the "Peters" who have denied Him?

From one who has received God's grace,

(Rev) Kevin Smith

 

We are fast approaching the highest season of the Christian year. Here are a number of upcoming events to consider taking in.

SUNDAY, APRIL 4 PALM/PASSION SUNDAY
10 AM Worship Service followed by refreshments and a time of prayer
6:30 PM "Taste and See" - our informal evening service with contemporary music

MONDAY, APRIL 5
7 PM Seekers Bible Study (Project Reconciliation Lounge)

TUESDAY, APRIL 6
8:15AM Trip to Ottawa to see the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit at the Museum of Civilization
7 PM Final Christianity Explored Video

THURSDAY, APRIL 8
7 PM Maundy Thursday Communion Service to be held in our church hall.

FRIDAY, APRIL 9
10 AM Joint Good Friday Service held at St. Mark's Lutheran Church (corner of Victoria and Earl). The choirs from both St Mark's and First Baptist will participate in the service.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11
6:30 AM Easter Sunrise Service in the pavilion at MacDonald Park (foot of Barrie Street)
8 AM Easter Potluck Breakfast
10 AM Easter Morning Worship Service
6:30 PM Easter Evening Worship Service - "Taste and See" - an informal gathering of contemporary worship

SUNDAY, APRIL 18
10AM Baptist Women's Sunday – Our guest speaker for that morning service is Bonnie Hunter. Bonnie has served on the board of Project Reconciliation for a number of years. She is also the spouse of the Rev Neil Hunter, long-time Canadian Baptist pastor.

SATURDAY, APRIL 24
Baptist Men's World Day of Prayer

 

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO READ

Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2002) has already sold over 12 million copies and is on the New York Times' bestseller list. This is a very fine book for Christian and non-Christian alike. I read this book and couldn't help but think that in a subtle way this is a political statement on the situation within the Southern Baptist Convention. I have noticed it on sale at the Church Book Room, Indigo, New Vision, and Blessings. However, I'm told the best price is at Costco. What a great book to read in the aftermath of Easter.

We're all wondering what direction to take in order to reach a younger generation. Formality left the scene around the time that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Since then there have been progressive movements in the direction of informality. One of my favourite authors is Mike Slaughter, a pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist congregation just outside Dayton, Ohio. I'm now reading the fourth book among those he has written. Out on the Edge (1998) is a wonderful book on the church and technology today. Tex Sample, a professor in a United Methodist seminary has also written a thoughtful book in this area. Spiritual Entrepreneurs written a year or two earlier is a terrific picture of the direction many churches, including his own, have taken. Real Followers: Beyond Virtual Christianity, a radical quest to expose the pretender inside each of us (1999) is a marvelous book on discipleship. Unlearning Church: Just when you thought you had leadership all figured out (Loveland, Colorado: Group Publishing, 2002) is another great book. There are sidebar descriptions of many churches that are reaching the younger generation. Checking out their web sites is a powerful way to see what other churches are doing. This is a must-read!

In the current Link and Visitor is an advertisement by Read On Bookstore. One of the books mentioned there is Brian McLaren's Finding Faith: A Self-Discovery Guide for Your Spiritual Quest (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999). This is another book by a prolific author and pastor of a church reaching our post-modern world. McLaren, who pastors a church between Washington and Baltimore, is definitely an author to read. His most recent work is co-written with Tony Campolo. It is entitled Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2003). He has also written A New Kind of Christian: a Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001) and The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Post-Modern Matrix (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000).

 

Please continue to pray for the Pastoral Ministry Team and the Next Generation Pastoral Search Committee regularly. We need wisdom in an Xtra large dose as we discern many options.

Have a wonderful Easter!