March Madness

March is upon us and as I tend to state just about every time March rolls around, "I love the month of March. The main reason being is that I grew up with basketball. My mom played collegiate basketball at Rhode Island. We had a basketball hoop in our backyard and for literally years, the neighborhood played there seemingly daily. I love college basketball and "March Madness". I love the drama of the whole NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. Even though I fill out a bracket and that bracket is blown to pieces within the first day, I still enjoy watching and rooting for the underdog to snatch a victory where victory is seemingly impossible.

Over the years of watching the Men's tournament, I have mellowed out in my viewing demeanor. In my earlier years of viewing, I would root for the lower seeded, less known, small market team to bring down the major team. And I would yell at the refs, and the players and the coaches when I felt they were not playing or officiating the game in an appropriate "fair" manner. I would get so involved in the drama of the game that my heart rate would increase and I would be emotionally invested siding with the underdog every time. The feeling of joy would be so overwhelming when the underdog won and the sour grapes in my teeth was very, very sour when they lost a close one. But now a days, as I watch, I am less invested (except when it comes to the Wildcats), and I can truly find a sense of joy in the fact that these young men had the chance to play on this type of stage.

The March of 2018 lends itself to a sense of "Madness of March" in our Lenten and faith journey. The calendar shows that Holy Week and the final day of darkness in the Lenten journey will find its completion on March 31. (That's right, Easter is on April 1st!) The themes of Midweek worship, the unfolding of Holy Week opportunities calling us to consider the events which lead up to the death of our Savior, the feeling of the light of the world surrounded in the darkness of a tomb will find its culmination on March 31st.

Do we dare take the time to become involved in the movement of the "Madness of March"? Do we dare enter into the "Madness" of the events of Holy Week? To enter into the madness of Judas, the Pharisees, the disciples, Caiaphas, Pilate, the soldiers, the madness of the jeering crowd? Do we dare vest our complete selves to immerse our very being into the unfolding events of the "Madness of March?" If I could invest myself for years in the Men's NCAA basketball tournament I sure can do it for my Lord.

When we participate as a community of faithful disciples in the events of the life and death of our Lord, we open ourselves up to experience the entirety of the possibilities of Easter Morning and resurrection. The lone Jesus seemingly defeated lays in the tomb, seemingly no time on the clock. But the Lord of time cannot be bound by the elements of the world. Jesus doesn't operate solely on the clock, but solely as the Eternal One who has taken on flesh to transform all of creation, including you and me. I pray your March is filled with "Madness" in order to know the Peace which surpasses ALL HUMAN understanding coming in the salvation Christ fulfills on Easter Sunrise morning.

In Christ's love and service, Pastor Dan