2025 April NL: From Pastor’s Desk

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

2 Timothy 4:16–17, ESV

As we continue through the Lenten season and look ahead to our Lord’s passion, we are reminded of the state of humanity. Betrayal is a part of the human condition. How quickly do we betray those who we feel are not seeking out what is in our best interest? If we are honest, we would need to question our feelings about what we believe is best for the reality of what our Lord calls us to be. God continues to call us to be faithful to Him without regard to our circumstances. Jesus knew the purpose He entered Creation to fulfill. Jesus knew He would be betrayed and, if we listen to His teachings, He was warning His disciples which includes us. The more we seek to be faithful to the Word and our Lord Jesus Christ, we will find that there will be a distinct change in all of our relationships and some of them will betray us. It is the nature of our faith, either we betray Christ, or we will find ourselves betrayed.

The reason for this is that Christ’s influence is contrary to our nature and the nature of the world. As we reflect on this throughout this season, let us look to the most tragic of persons within the account, Judas Iscariot. Judas thought of himself as a faithful and honest person. Sometimes we can become so caught up in our understanding of what is right, that we may find that Christ is far from us, and we may be guilty of betraying Christ as Judas betrayed Him. Our faith calls us to a level of humility to be gracious to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, yet we may not always respond as Christ would desire us to respond. For this reason, we are called to be quick to forgive and even faster to ask forgiveness. Judas’ penitence came too late at great expense to him and his soul. It would be a shame for the same to happen to us. This is our continued calling as we seek to be faithful and, yet, willing to stand by one another in our Christian journey and walk. Things contrary to the Word, we are called to stand against, but not to condemn but to be corrective and, yet, seeking to be in unity with Christ and ultimately with one another. So, as we come to the celebration of the Resurrection, let us journey together with Christ and seek to shine His glory in how we live in faith with one another.