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Written by Dr. Kurt W. Borows, Jr. of Resurrection Lutheran Church
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Tuesday, 11 March 2008 |
Ten days from now - on a Sunday morning that could have sleet or snow and temperatures in the teens or trees beginning to bud as the temperature nears 70 - I will once again be getting up very early to take part in the 40th annual Easter Sunrise Service on Miller's Dock. Members of our congregation will again be gathering with a large group of celebrators from the Port Clinton area and from as far away as Columbus and Cleveland. They come from near and far each year to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His promise that all who accept His invitation will experience a similar resurrection in our future - on the other side of the death He has conquered for us. We come from near and far to celebrate our receiving of a Divine and Eternal Gift.
It is a gift which was purchased for us at a very great price. God began paying that price when He took on human flesh and vulnerability to live among us as one of us - a Gift and a Sacrifice we celebrated three short months ago on Christmas.
He used that life in human flesh and vulnerability to give us the perfect Model of how God created us in His Own Image to live. Sadly, as I reach my 70th birthday today, I am very much aware of how much we need that perfect Model more today than in any of the other previous decades of my life. Not that we haven't always needed it. Jesus' words and actions and the Holy Scriptures He has left us provide us with the only model for successful and blessed living that never fails. But, especially during these present times, I find so precious little respect for those institutions which once championed beliefs, ethics, and morality - the family, the church, and the state. Knowing only too well our human fallibilities, God gave us those institutions which seem to now tragically have lost the respect they once held. How blessed are we to still have Jesus' words and actions and the Holy Scriptures. How fortunate we are that God came among us in human flesh and vulnerability to show us how He created us to live happily and successfully.
And, of course, His visit was not merely to provide us with that perfect Model of how God created us in His Own Image to live. God came among us to offer that life as the perfect Sacrifice to pay the penalty of our sins and to restore the eternal relationship God created us to have with Him. He rose that first Easter to proclaim the Victory He'd won and its meaning for our lives.
Yes, ten days from now - on that Sunday morning that could have sleet or snow and temperatures in the teens or trees beginning to bud as the temperature nears 70 - I and a lot of other people will once again be getting up very early - as a number of them have for 40 years - to take part in the 40th annual Easter Sunrise Service on Miller's Dock. At 7:29 a.m. DST, we'll hopefully see the sun rise and definitely celebrate the Rising of God's Son. But first on the holiest of weeks, we will remind ourselves of the price God paid on His way to Easter Sonrise.
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