Young Adults in the News!

As a young adult community, we want to stay aware of the particular gifts that young adults bring to our world as well as the particular challenges that young adults face. We are also curious to learn about culture and trends among young adults.

Here are some recent news stories and blog posts that concern young adults:

Christian Century: No Need For Church - Ministry With Young Adults in Flux

Young Adults Switch Media 27 Times an Hour

March Young Adult Employment Summary

All Church Multicultural Retreat: This Saturday!

We invite all members and friends of Pasadena Presbyterian Church to join us this Saturday for an All Church Multicultural Retreat. The retreat will take place in Fellowship Hall from 9am-2:15pm. Lunch will be provided. Expect delicious Korean food!

We will. . .

. . . meet together.

. . . have a Bible Study.

. . . play and laugh a lot!

. . . share a meal.

. . . have meaningful conversation.

. . . share communion.

Please join us for a fun and transformative day!

Easter Reflection: Run!

Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

As I think about what had happened before our story begins, the truth is, I can hardly fathom the deep devastation that the disciples were feeling. I can hardly imagine their sense of loss. All of them - the eleven who had been twelve before Judas’ betrayal and recent suicide, droves of other disciples, the women who traveled with him - all of them had followed him for three years of their lives. They left their work, their homes, some of them left their families, and it looked as though it had all been for nothing.

I can hardly imagine how their hopes must have seemed truly dashed. They had lived in awe, knowing that life was changing as they followed this Jesus. He was ushering in the Kingdom ofGod right before their eyes. He was loving boundlessly and healing those who were suffering. They knew they were witnessing something - Someone - beyond anything they could have imagined, but now, their Savior, their loving One, their healing One, was lying dead in a tomb. After he was interrogated, tortured, and disfigured beyond their recognition, Jesus was crucified. He died with criminals, humiliated, and his death was painful and long. Their hopes must have felt truly dashed.

And I can hardly imagine the fear they must have had. The last 48 hours were terrifying as they watched Jesus’ arrest and death, and surely they knew that they could be next. The gospels give us a picture of the disciples together after Jesus' death, waiting and watching. The Gospel of John tells us that they hid behind locked doors. Of course, it made sense to do such a thing: They didn't know what would be next for them. They must have been living in complete terror. I can hardly wrap my mind around that kind of fear.

And so you can imagine how brave and dedicated those women were when they ventured out to Jesus’ tomb very early on Sunday morning. . . They addressed their loss, faced their crushed hopes, and boldly conquered their personal fears as they brought spices to anoint and care for Jesus’ broken and disfigured body.

But as they arrived, they had a new challenge before them.They had to face a new reality that was beyond their imagination. When they arrived at the tomb, the stone was rolled away. They didn’t expect this. Who could be inside? Is everything okay? I wonder if they immediately felt panic within themselves.Perhaps their fearful imaginations anticipated the scene before reality confirmed it. Perhaps they immediately panicked and pictured that tomb empty without Jesus’ body.They had woken early to anoint Jesus’ body, but had somebody already been there? Could the authorities have stolen him away from them? They went inside the tomb, and the picture certainly would have confirmed their suspicions if they were thinking them. Jesus wasn’t inside the tomb. The tomb was empty. Abandoned.

But then, a new, stunning revelation. As the women are standing there perplexed, they realize that two men are standing there in front of them. And they have a pointed question for the women. And though it was a pointed question, I imagine that it was spoken with gentleness. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the two men asked this simple and yet pointed question: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Why do you look for the living among the dead? Why are you looking for Jesus in a tomb of all places?Your sense of loss is great, it may feel as though your hopes are crushed, and you may be living in fear, but this One you seek isn’t among the dead at all! He’s among the living!

The men remind the women about Jesus’ words to them, and in excitement, they rush back to tell the other disciples. Can you imagine their joy? Can you imagine the hope that came flooding back into them? And yet the disciples are still living in their loss, dashed hopes, and fear. They can’t imagine it either, and can we really blame them? The scripture tells us that they believed these words to be an idle tale. Perhaps it was too difficult to even try to hope. Maybe it didn’t feel worth it, if they might be disappointed again.

But Peter won’t sit idly by. He won’t simply brush the story away like an idle tale.He needs to allow himself to hope. He needs to see for himself. He leaves those fearful disciples and travels to the tomb. And hedoesn’t walk hesitantly. Hedoesn’t keep looking over his shoulder, fearing the authorities. That wasn’t Peter’s means of traveling to the tomb. Peter ran! Peter ran with passion! He got to the tomb, stooped in, and saw what his eyes could hardly take in. Jesus was not in that tomb – only the linen cloths were there. The scripture says that Peter went home amazed at what had happened.

He went home amazed at what had happened.

And so here we are. We are here on Easter Sunday. And here we are hearing the story again. Where are we? Where are we? – not just, where is our location? But where are we in our hearts and minds? It’s true that it may be hard to imagine what the disciples were feeling, but maybe we know loss, disappointed hopes, and fear. We haven’t experienced what these disciples experienced directly more than 2000 years ago, but here we are on Easter Sunday - some of us earlier this morning were all in a room, all gathered together, and we’re disciples too. We’re hearing the story of resurrection. We’re hearing that question: Why do look for the living among the dead? We’re hearing the testimony of those women. Where are we?

David Johnson, one of my professors from Austin Seminary, had an interestingFacebook status a few years ago: He said this, “There are only two Easter sermons: 1. This is extraordinary and hard to believe, but it changes everything. 2. This is a crock, and we have to figure out some symbolic way of making it believable. I'm going with #1.” I have a feeling that most of us would prefer to go that way too.

The Resurrection does change everything. I know that it has changed Pasadena Presbyterian Church. The resurrection may seem like a 'thing,' in the ways that we have questions – perhaps excited questions, and perhaps critical questions, and those are all good and worthy of being asked – but ultimately the resurrectionisn’t a thing. It isn’t a thing that we can plop down on a stainless steel counter for analysis or a thing we can put under a microscope. We can’t do DNA tests or an autopsy. The resurrection isn’t a thing.The resurrection is a Person. You worship and serve – we worship and serve – Jesus Christ, the Resurrected One.

Why do you look for the living among the dead?

Jesus is the Resurrected One, the Alive One, the Living-With-And-For-Us-One.Resurrection is a Person.And ours is a Resurrected Faith. On Easter Sunday – and for that matter, every Sunday because our faith is a resurrected faith – we remember that the Resurrection is an event that changes everything. And yet the Resurrection is infinitely more than some event that mysteriously and miraculously happened more than 2000 years ago. The Resurrection tells us something true about Who God always is toward us. Jesus is our Resurrection.In his resurrected life, he shows us who God is toward us, toward this creation.

Like Peter we can run to the all tombs of this world and discover who Christ is.Because as Christ goes to the cross, loving even to the end, even to death on a cross, he reveals Who God Is toward us. God says, “When you suffer, I suffer. I will always suffer with and alongside you.” And as Christ is miraculously raised from death itself, it reveals Who God IS toward us, “I will rise with and for you. As I rise, you will rise.I am resurrection for you and for all creation.”

So on this Easter Sunday, let’s commit ourselves as a community and as a family of faith to run to that tomb.Run to it! Run to that tomb 2000 years ago! Run to the tombs of this world: War-torn nations, poverty, children abandoned and neglected, illness, pain, homelessness and so many more tombs. Discover Jesus as the Resurrected One – the One who lives for those in the tombs, raising them to new life - he himself, the Resurrection for you and for this world.See him alive there. And you – servants of the Resurrected One – be his life there. Take this life changing message always and proclaim it. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Thanks be to God.

-Renee Roederer, Associate Pastor, Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Multicultural Ministry: Three Core Values

Young Adults in the News!

As a young adult community, we want to stay aware of the particular gifts that young adults bring to our world as well as the particular challenges that young adults face. We are also curious to learn about culture and trends among young adults.

Here are some recent news stories and blog posts that concern young adults:

Opinion: Young Adults Should Forget Church, Follow Jesus

How Young Adults with Asperger's Syndrome Cope

Mayo Clinic Says Skin Cancer on the Rise Among Young Adults

Front Yard Picnic Spot!

Pasadena Presbyterian Church is very eager to unveil an exciting celebration that will happen this week! Monday through Friday from 11am-1pm, we are turning our Front Yard into a Picnic Spot!

We invite you to bring some blankets, some food, and most importantly, yourselves. Please join us on our Front Yard. We'll have music and fun things lying around - like hula hoops!

We want to be an inviting, sacred space for our neighborhood. Please join us!

Reflection: A Living Procession

Mark 11:1-11

It was a tremendous procession.

Shouts of praise erupting everywhere. Multi-colored layers of clothing splattering the ground – two miles of stretched-out garments. Green, leafy branches swirling about them. This was a tremendous procession. All of it, wrapped up in the frenzy of this one who was coming – this Jesus, who was now entering Jerusalem.

And it seems he was entering more than a city. He was stepping into an identity, a public one. And more than that, he was entering the hopes and dreams of these people. In the original Greek, Mark simply calls them the “leading-before ones” and the “following-behind ones.” These people surrounded Jesus with their dreams. They had themselves – invested, wrapped up in this honor parade.

It was a tremendous procession.

It was a political procession.

“Hosanna!” they cried. Hosanna – meaning Save us. "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!" This was turning out to be much more than an honor parade. To anyone, it could have easily appeared to be insurrection. Under the occupation of the Roman Empire, this procession was making claims of a new kingdom, an alternative kingdom, a new order to things. And this new kingdom was connected to an old kingdom, which was part of the political nature of it all.

Jesus descended from the Mount of Olives, a piece of land connected with Biblical prophesy and laden with hopes of the people. It was a place where God’s redemption of Israel would be visible. And Jesus descended on a colt, an animal that represented peace. He wasn’t riding down on a white horse with sword in hand, but even this colt had political implications. Certainly, an image like this one would call to mind ancient prophesy about a coming king of humility:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

It was a political procession.

It was a revealing procession.

Revealing. It was an unveiling – an uncovering of what is ultimately true – a proclamation of the central truth of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus is publicly revealed to be he one he is – the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Coming One. And perhaps this is surprising. So often in the Gospel of Mark, people are completely botching who Jesus is. The disciples seem to be clueless. Peter makes that famous claim about Jesus: “You are the Messiah,” but moments later, he shows that he has no idea what that even means.

In Mark’s Gospel, only the outsiders seem to really grasp who Jesus is: a leper, unnamed women, unclean spirits. And what does Jesus do in Mark? He does something that might seem a bit odd to us. He often tells those people – those people who get it, “Don’t tell anyone.” He sternly warns them to keep his identity to themselves, to keep it a secret. But here, Jesus intentionally sets out to be publicly revealed. The first seven verses of our scripture passage are all about the intentional preparations of what is to occur. Something was to be revealed – something was to be made known, made manifest. Perhaps it’s just as easy for us to hear this passage and also misunderstand, but no one can doubt that some identity was meant to be uncovered in this event.

It was a revealing procession.

It was an ironic procession.

People marching – cheering. People shouting praise – offering cloaks and palm branches. Jesus is ushering in the kingdom – the true, promised kingdom - a new reality. One can only begin to wonder what’s coming next. What new, amazing things are on the horizon?

The questions can certainly be asked. I imagine those questions must have lived and breathed inside the minds and hearts of those people. But let’s not kid ourselves here. We know how this procession to Jerusalem ends, right? We’ve been taught the entire story, and it’s hard to hear “Hosanna!” as anything more than a cheap prelude to “Crucify him!” – the words that some of the people with power will cry in a few days time. We can’t deny it. Though this tremendous, political, revealing procession is stunning and incredible, we must remember that it is a procession that will lead to a horrible, unjust death.

It was an ironic procession.

And so what do we do with a procession like this one? Is it a farce? Is it a mockery? What do we do with it, knowing where it leads next? Perhaps we read it, sympathizing with those people. We know that some may be praising a type of Messiah they will never actually experience. Some believe this Messiah will step into a concrete monarchy, overthrowing the Romans who oppress the people. We know they will be disappointed.

So what about Jesus’ intentions here? His actions to organize this procession are intentional. Are they a farce? Are they a mockery? Why did he do it, knowing where it would lead next?

The Jesus that Mark portrays isn’t ignorant about what awaits him in Jerusalem. Three times earlier in the Gospel, Jesus tries to make it plain to the disciples. In the chapter that precedes this one, he makes it pretty clear: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem,” he says, “and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.” The Jesus Mark presents knows exactly what he’s walking into, and he does it anyway. And he does it with intention. He deliberately enters the city as a King of Peace, who is ushering in a new reality, a reality of what is most true, a reality that fulfills God’s dreams for this world. It’s so true and so worth processing for, that he will choose to march to death if that is what it takes.

And so this is Palm Sunday, and this is Passion Sunday. Palms – shouts of “Hosanna!” and Passion – shouts of “Crucify Him!” These come together for one Sunday in every Liturgical Year. Full of irony, and perhaps it sounds kind of grim. But there is good news – gospel – to be found even in the difficult, tragic news that will come before us as we walk through Holy Week.

And here it is: The things that are worth dying for are worth living for. Again: The things that are worth dying for are worth living for. Jesus believed in his message so strongly, loved humanity so deeply, honored God so fervently, that the message was worth preaching, humanity was worth loving, and God was worth honoring – even if it would lead to a horribly unjust death.

Paul writes in the letter to the Philippians that Jesus, being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. The message was worth preaching, humanity was worth loving, and God was worth honoring all the way up to the last moment, to the last breath. Perhaps the best truth of the gospel is that we have been loved purposefully – intentionally – to the end. Not even the threat of death could deter that love from reaching us. Even in death – the lowest moment of the low – love was found and reigned supreme. God loves you to the point of death. You are so worth it, that you are not only loved in death but in life, in life that continues and is resurrected. The things that are worth dying for are worth living for.

G. K. Chesterton was a 20th century British writer, who was particularly known for turning popular sayings, proverbs, and allegories on their head to find greater meaning in them. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well," i.e. if it’s worth doing, you should do all you can to do it well. Instead, Chesterton said this: “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.” Okay, now that sounds strange to our ears. The point isn’t to do it badly. The point is that if something is really worth doing, it’s worth doing – no matter the result! Even if it fails or appears to fail, it’s worth doing. It’s intrinsically worth it. It must be done no matter the result.

What do you believe – who do you love – so much that if you had to, you would even die for it? Now, no one wants to send themselves to their own death. I’m not saying we should go seek martyrdom in something. I’m not sure Jesus was seeking martyrdom in something. But what do you believe and love so strongly that you would die for it, rather than see it end, rather than see it die? Well, if you know the answer to that, here is the invitation for us today: Live for the things you would die for.

And the second you do that – the second we do that – we’re going to find ourselves swept up in a procession, and it will take us places that we never dreamed. And those saving places, those saving moments, will be worth it. And other things will suddenly become less important.

For instance, most people wouldn’t die for their bank accounts. So why do so many people live for them? Most people wouldn’t die for their forms of entertainment. So why do so many people live for them? Most people wouldn’t die for awards and achievements. So why do so many people live for them? There’s nothing inherently wrong with money, entertainment, or achievements. But are they worth the totality of our lives? No, of course not.

But what is worth the totality of our lives? Love? Mercy? Service? Compassion? Community? Inclusion? Health? Wholeness? Wellness? Companionship? Family? Friendship? Truth? Knowledge? Kindness? Freedom? Justice? Peace?

Live for the things you would die for. In such a way, we join the kind of procession Jesus was ushering in. We are living in and through the Kingdom of God. That reality is worth our lives. That reality is worth every breath we take, even to the end, whenever that end should come.

And the procession begins for us too. It begins in worship. It begins at the communion table. It isn’t simply a table of wood. It isn’t ultimately PPC’s table. It’s Christ’s table. It’s a beginning point and a returning point in the procession of our lives. Christ invites all to this kind of life. Christ invites us all to share and to go forth as those who join him on the road.

So what are you waiting for?

Renée Roederer, Associate Pastor, Pasadena Presbyterian Church