tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715350302811661486.post8258912706179994610..comments2023-04-17T04:28:26.819-05:00Comments on Faith Steps with PastorE: BrokenErik Jelinekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379500320756068697noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715350302811661486.post-55732083227797427192008-03-20T13:33:00.000-05:002008-03-20T13:33:00.000-05:00You're right! We're all broken. We all mess up a...You're right! We're all broken. We all mess up again and again and Jesus keeps finding us, lifts us up and loves us anyway.lulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08136996474228528050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715350302811661486.post-59187437136581414632008-03-20T09:43:00.000-05:002008-03-20T09:43:00.000-05:00The Lenten services this year were especially enjo...The Lenten services this year were especially enjoyable and creative. Placing Judas Iscariot on trial and hearing the "testimony" of various Biblical personages brought the story to life. <BR/><BR/>At the last Wedneday service, the congregation, (the jury, if you will) was asked to come to a verdict. Did Judas deserve eternal damnation, or did he, too, deserve God's grace?<BR/><BR/>To be honest, I had never thought of Judas as being important before. Raised with the notion that to kill oneself places you irrevocably in hell, I paid him little mind, and long ago wrote him off as merely "a necessary presence of evil" in the Easter story. Necessary to the story, for it is only through his actions that Jesus is brought to the cross.<BR/><BR/>But Judas is no more broken than any of us is. None of us comes even close to the glory of God. On my ballot, I wrote the comment, "Judge not, that ye be not judged," and therefore found for the defense in the trial. Surely even Judas deserves forgiveness for his brokenness. If we cannot forgive him, how can WE be forgiven?<BR/><BR/>On this Maundy Thursday, I thank God for the weekly reminder of his Holy Communion, his reminder to us of his grace and mercy, despite our brokenness.Betty Dygarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13228417023345371842noreply@blogger.com