April 12, 2020
Death Be Not Proud
In maybe the most famous of his holy sonnets, noted above, John Donne, an Anglican cleric, wrote: “Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so . . .” Indeed, it was our Savior, Jesus Christ, who overcame death so whomever believes in Him will have eternal life. Jesus, conqueror of death; His morning of resurrection set us free.
The resurrection is central to our faith, for as Paul states beginning in 1 Corinthians 15:13: “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty . . .” He goes on, however, to say that: “But now Christ is risen from the dead . . .” This fact that Christ is risen is well documented in a number of scholarly works, Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ, and Eric Metaxas’ Miracles among them. After detailed analysis, Metaxas concludes: “this most celebrated event . . . actually happened – and perhaps most miraculously of all, can be understood to have
happened.”
And while obviously we have not seen the resurrection, I’m sure we can all point to instances where in moments of deep despair, God has visited us and in a manner that our mind could not fathom, vanquished our troubles, including the physical manifestations of impending death. I can attest to the miracle recovery of a friend-- as if there had never been cancer, his doctor said – whom modern medicine had only weeks from death. Such instances, I believe, are fruits of the Resurrection designed to assure us of the truth of the Resurrection upon which are faith is based.
While we will not be physically together this glorious Easter Sunday, imagine the happy faces, think of the smell of the beautiful lilies, and assured of the certainty of the Resurrection, celebrate in your heart our Savior’s beautiful morning.
Faithfully,
Rich Garon
Senior Warden
Notes of the week:
Thank you to all who took the time to vote in our vestry elections. I want, first, to thank our outgoing vestry members: Kathy Westcott (registrar), Chloellen Miller, and Andy Oravetz. They’ve joined with our other vestry members to help lead the church during challenging times; challenging times being an understatement. Their faithfulness and dedication to Immanuel was demonstrated again and again. On behalf of the entire Immanuel family, their fellow vestry members thank them for their faithful service. Well done!
The vestry election was scheduled for Sunday, March 15, two days after the announcement to close the public schools. Accordingly, secret balloting was conducted by mail with tellers connected via Zoom, counting those ballots being mailed in. Our registrar then certified the results.
Due to mail forwarding issues, the window to receive ballots will extend until Saturday, April 11, 2020. The ballots envelopes still must be postmarked April 7, 2020. Look for an announcement of new vestry members early next week.
Please visit the Resources section on our website. You’ll find there a new FAQs section answering important questions you may have.