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The madness of March: Leading from the heart

By: Bishop Laurie Haller, interim bishop

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I trust you are aware of another kind of March Madness taking place simultaneously with the NCAA tournament. St. Paul called it foolishness. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18. NIV) It’s Holy Week, and Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die. It’s not going to be pretty. Jesus will be betrayed by Judas, arrested, tortured, humiliated, denied by Peter, abandoned by his disciples, and crucified on a cross while soldiers madly gamble for his garments.

The disciples don’t understand that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength, so they argue over which one of them is the greatest and who deserves the richest contract. Could it work for us?

We could sell advertising space on our clergy robe and stole to bring in a few more bucks.

How about clergy shoe contracts? After all, when we wear a robe, our shoes are the only item of clothing that stands out. We could start a new trend in dress Nikes, changing color with the liturgical season.

If a church pays 100% of its apportionments, each staff member gets an extra week of vacation.

Anyone who brings in five new members gets their own parking spot.

If a child invites a friend to virtual Vacation Bible School, they can go to the front of the refreshment line at coffee hour for the next three months after in-house worship resumes.

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