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Hi everyone! I hope your week is going well. And I especially want to extend greetings and best wishes to our Persian friends as they mark the Persian New Year—Nowruz—this week.

I think most of us are aware of Nowruz, even if it isn’t part of our own personal traditions. At church we sometimes laugh and point out that we have not 1, not 2, but 3 New Years celebrations each year, as we remember the passage of the season in western tradition, in the cultures of Asia, and then among our Persian brothers and sisters. There are plenty of reminders all around us here on the North Shore, as well. Certainly, if you were anywhere near Ambleside Park this past Tuesday you could not help but notice the gathering of people and festivities associated with the Fire Festival, which happens each year on the Tuesday evening before Nowruz. Of course, there will be more events and get-togethers in the next few days, centering around the official passage into the new year, which—based on spring equinox calculations—happens on Friday morning at 7:46 am, pacific time.

Usually, Nowruz is a time of great celebration. Like the New Years events in other traditions, it is a time of hope and anticipation of new things. This year, hope and celebration are mixed with a strong dose of sadness, uncertainty, and worry for our Persian brothers and sisters, as war continues to unfold and threatens to expand and drag on in Iran and the Middle East. I can only imagine what it feels like to be cut off from regular communication with friends and loved ones, to know that their country is torn by internal violence and strife, and subject to unpredictable and potentially deadly attacks. It’s very hard to get daily reminders that one’s homeland and one’s people face such difficult days, and to be unsure what tomorrow holds. This year’s Nowruz brings a mixture of joy and sadness, of hope and worry, instead of the delight that it ought to offer.

Please continue to hold up the land and people of Iran, as well as our own Persian brothers and sisters, in your prayers.

Lord, we are many kilometers away from the conflict in Iran and the Middle East; but You are present there in the midst of it all. You know exactly what is happening. You know the pain and difficulty and fear and harm and hope and longings of the people who are caught in this conflict. You care about each one, more deeply than we can understand. We pray that You would bring a speedy end to the war, and to the other forms of violence and oppression that exist in that land. We pray for Your protection on the people and Your help with the many needs they face. We pray that You would not only protect their bodies and homes, but also their hearts—that this season of difficulty would cause many to search for You and to find You, that it would create hearts of compassion for others, and not lead to hatred and vengefulness. We pray that Your church in Iran would be empowered to care for those around them. We pray that righteousness and peace would come to rule in that land and in the whole surrounding area. We pray that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, would truly have His way. We ask this in His name, for His glory and for the good of those He loves. Amen.

Friends tell me that the Nowruz practice of jumping over a bonfire (from which the “Fire Festival” gets its name) is a sign of leaving behind the old and entering the new year with a fresh and hopeful and healthy start. May this year bring a fresh start, leaving behind what is old and entering a new and better experience, for the people of Iran, and for our Persian friends who now live with us in Canada.

As I think of new days marked by hope, my mind can’t help but turn to the next big event on the calendar: Easter. For followers of Jesus, this coming Easter season reminds us that the greatest passage from old to new, from darkness to light, was made possible on one extraordinary weekend when God’s Son gave His life for us to bring forgiveness, healing, a restored relationship with our Heavenly Father, and a new resurrection life that has no end and no darkness in it. This also calls for prayer: that we will fully appreciate all that Easter means, and that we will live fully in all that Jesus has bought for us each day.

To help us prepare our hearts and minds for Easter, we normally have some kind of lead-up-to-Easter sermon series each year around this time. We’re starting one this Sunday. This year’s will be short, and a bit unusual. I’ve called it “Dinner with Jesus,” and it features a look at the 3 meals Jesus shared with His disciples in the final days before and after His crucifixion and resurrection. These were special, intimate times with the Lord, and I think they have some good things to teach us as we lean into the Easter season.

This week we’ll start with the dinner Jesus and the disciples shared with friends in the village of Bethany, at the house of Simon the Leper. This particular dinner became famous because it was the time when Mary poured incense on Jesus, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. The story appears in 3 of the 4 gospels: in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12. If you want to read ahead in preparation, I recommend reading the version in John and then at least one of the others.

Meanwhile, have a wonderful week. If you’re celebrating Nowruz, may you know the encouragement and peace our Lord gives in the midst of the many feelings of joy and sorrow this week brings. May all of us stand with our Persian brothers and sisters in prayer. And may the peace of Christ be evident in us all.  See you soon!

—Pastor Ken