Monthly Letter from the Pastor

March 2024

Letter from the Pastor

Letter from the Pastor

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.- Luke 24:5-6a

Do you remember the Johnny Lee song,  “Lookin ’ for Love in All the Wrong Places ”? I
grew up hearing this song everywhere, especially in movies. The song recounts the
singer ’s journey to find love while searching in all the wrong places, finally finding
love in the arms of his girl. I think I identify with this song so much, not because I
identify exactly with the same journey, but because I constantly look in the wrong
places for validation or joy.

When the women approached the tomb that Sunday morning after Jesus‘ death,

they were going about their duty of finishing the preparation of Jesus’

 body for burial. They were sad, frightened, looking for comfort and joy. For those of us who
have lost a loved one, we know that we can find some comfort and joy in taking
care of the arrangements for their final resting place. But instead of finding some
comfort in these preparations, they found a pair of heavenly messengers, who
remarked: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” This question redirects
these women to the proper place to find comfort and joy. Comfort is not found in a
coffin. Pleasure is not found in a plot. Gladness is not found in a grave. Death
brings devastation and despair. But on this Sunday morning, their joy, comfort,
pleasure, gladness, and ultimately their salvation had been realized because Jesus
had defeated death. I feel so much like these women and like this Johnny Lee song:
looking for love, joy, peace, salvation in all the wrong places. I pray that this Easter
season, we can ask ourselves the very question that the angels asked that first
Easter morning,
“Why do we seek the living among the dead?”