From the Interim Pastor

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Jesus.
- Luke 24.31

Walking down a road, two disciples of Jesus engaged in a conversation of faith that energized them. It was only later that day they recognized it was Jesus who was with them. Their perception of life and death had been radically altered, as did how they approached the future. Thinking Jesus dead, they wondered how to go on with his teachings. Knowing now Jesus is alive, all the Scriptural teachings began to take hold of them in a way. “Their eyes were opened.”

We often move about in many circles where the evidence of a resurrected Jesus may be slim to non-existent. Even believers can live a-theistic lives, that is, lives that really do not manifest any relation to God. Or, we can place ourselves among disciples like Thomas who may not have all the faith and convincing intellectual arguments of Paul the Apostle but want to know and believe more.

One of the ways our eyes are opened is when, like the disciples, we become fluent in the biblical story. Do we know the biblical story well enough that it shapes the choices we make and the attitudes we carry? In applying the Jesus Creed (love God and neighbor) on a daily basis during Lent, many stories were shared about how a simple text can shape our personal and congregational life.

Our eyes are also opened when, like Thomas or Paul, we find Jesus encountering us in some revelatory way. It may or may not be as dramatic a conversion story, but we may see within our lives and the lives of others the way a life is turned around through the grace and love of God.

Our eyes may be opened by someone who looks to us to help them and we become wonderfully aware of how it is God who leads us to respond appropriately with grace and love. Sometimes praying with the person is the most important activity to include alongside your response.

And our eyes may be opened simply in fellowship, worship, and conversation with Jesus. “Where two or three gather in my name, there I (Jesus) am in your midst.” Small talk and small groups can build enduring spiritual relationships and foundations of faith within us.

May Jesus who died and lives, who prays for you, open your eyes to the way his grace and love can shape your life and God’s hope for this world. Join us as we seek to be people of God whose eyes are open to his leading us.

Yours in the fellowship of Christ,

The Rev. Robert Foltz-Morrison
Interim Pastor
Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green

Past messages from the Interim Pastor:
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009