Rev Chris Roth

To the people of St. Augustine 's,           In many ways this feels like leaving home all over again. I felt just as wordless then as I do now. I'm not a fan of goodbyes. I don't like crying in front of people. I don't mind tears, but I don't like losing my voice and I really don't like that thing my lip does when it curls up and gets all quivery. If it was someone else I would say, "If God didn't give us tears for now then what did he give them to us for?"   It's harder to be on the receiving end of those words.           I guess I mostly don't like goodbyes because I don't like thinking about not having people I care about within arms reach. I don't like thinking about not being able to poke my head around the corner of my office to tease Denise. I don't like not being able to walk out the back door of the office after a parish council meeting late at night and have James sh...

Luke 24: 36-48 Jesus Appears to the Disciples 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them,...

John 20 The Empty Tomb 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture th...

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2013:1-17,%2031-35&version=NIV One of my favorite things about this night is the tension in the air. Our lives interweave with the Gospel and the whole drama of Holy Week. I love being caught up in the story. I love finding myself on the dusty roads- Waving Palm branches with the crowds- overhearing Jesus' teachings in the days before the crucifixion.             Tonight especially I love the tension in the air. Peter says to Jesus, "You will never wash my feet." and Jesus answers him, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Jesus is saying Peter will no longer be a disciple ... unless he washes his feet.   Now, tonight the Youth Group was washing feet at the entrance to the church. Some of you snuck in and tried not to make eye contact with them. Some of you wore nylons so it gave you a reason not to have your feet washed. And then you heard Peter's words an...

John 12   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2012&version=NIV             Mary glimpsed something amazing. Our gospel reading tonight isn't the first time Mary has fallen at Jesus' feet. In the previous chapter Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. There we met a grief-stricken Mary. In John 11 we read 32 "When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.""   having lost her brother, Mary wept at the feet of Jesus, and Jesus wept with her. Many here know the emotions Mary felt. She cared for   her brother, Lazarus, as his illness progressed. At some point they realized that Lazarus was not going to recover. They felt helpless- their cures, their efforts weren't enough.   They called for Jesus hoping he could help, but he didn't come. Lazarus died and they entered into grief. Mary was 4 d...