We are writing as multi-faith community leaders who are concerned about the growing number of hate crimes that we are seeing in our country. We want to speak up and speak out against any acts of hate directed at a particular group and we hope that parents, teachers and other community leaders will add their voice to ours so that everyone will learn why these actions must not be tolerated in any community and those who commit these crimes should be found and help responsible.
We know from studying history and from each of our own traditions why it is so critical to love your neighbor as yourself, to accept the orphan, widow, and stranger and to demonstrate respect for people of different faiths and backgrounds. We hear the hate speech coming from too many places in our country and we want to counter that speech with language of love and trust and acceptance and honor.
We know of Muslims who feel threatened today by certain policies and statements being made in many public forums and then we witnessed acts of hatred directed at a Jewish cemeteries. This is not only disrespectful to the deceased and their families but it also violates so many of our religious traditions of demonstrating honor to people after they pass away and honoring religious institutions. These actions must stop.
In Princeton, we are proud of the multi-faith voices that come together to celebrate certain national holidays and to unite in support of certain values that are key to our religious traditions and to our country. When the times call for us to speak out against religious discrimination and anti-Semitic acts like we have witnessed this week – we do so as well.
When we gather in our own congregations for communal worship, or when we come together as families and individuals for private reflection and prayer, let’s add a prayer in our own religious tradition for not only peace but also for the end of violence and hatred, a prayer for acceptance and respect and love. Perhaps this prayer from the Jewish prayer book could inspire us all:
May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, when a great peace will embrace the whole world. Then nation will not threaten nation and humanity will not again know war.
For all who live on earth shall realize we have not come into being to hate or to destroy. We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love. Compassionate God bless the leaders of all nations with the power of compassion. Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture: I will bring peace to the land and you shall lie down, and no one shall terrify you.
I will rid the land of vicious beasts and it shall not be ravaged by war. Let love and justice flow like a mighty stream. Let peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. Amen.
Rabbi Adam Feldman The Jewish Center of Princeton
Rev. David A. Davis Nassau Presbyterian Church
Rev. Jana Purkish-Brash Princeton United Methodist Church
Matthew 5:13-20
David A. Davis
March 5, 2017
Lent I
In response to the threats, acts of hatred, and vandalism directed at the Jewish community, my friend and colleague Rabbi Feldman and I wrote a letter to the local media outlets. When discerning whether to respond, we both knew that our members would want, would expect us to say something, to do something. I haven’t seen the letter anywhere yet so perhaps we missed deadlines or used wrong emails or maybe the rabbi and the minister were just too verbose. Allow me to share a portion of what we wrote:
We know from studying history and from each of our own traditions why it is so critical to love your neighbor as yourself, to accept the orphan, widow, and stranger, and to demonstrate respect for people of different faiths and backgrounds. We hear the hate speech coming from too many places in our country and we want to counter that speech with language of love and trust and acceptance and honor.
We know of Muslims who feel threatened today by certain policies and statements being made in many public forums and then this week we witnessed acts of hatred directed at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia. This is not only disrespectful to the deceased and their families but it also violates so many of our religious traditions of demonstrating honor to people after they pass away and honoring religious institutions. These actions must stop.
In Princeton, we are proud of the multi-faith voices that come together to celebrate certain national holidays and to unite in support of certain values that are key to our religious traditions and to our country. When the times call for us to speak out against religious discrimination and anti-Semitic acts like we have witnessed this week – we do so as well.
The letter ends with a prayer from the Jewish Prayer Book which in part prays for the day when “all who live on earth shall realize we have not come into being to hate or to destroy. We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love.” We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love. It doesn’t get any more basic than that. It’s pretty fundamental: to praise, to labor, to love. Sums up the necessities when it comes to being a child of God, a people of God. Almost a kind of stating the obvious, or establishing the baseline, or it’s in the DNA. As the people of God, at the very least, called to praise, to labor, to love.
When you are reading the Gospel of Matthew and you come upon the phrase “the least of these,” one would expect to be in Matthew 25. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “just as you did it to one of the least of these…” “The least of these” you heard this morning in Matthew is also from Jesus but it comes in the early stages of the Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” The least of these… commandments. Matthew’s Jesus affirming his fulfillment of the law and the prophets. A continuity with the establishment of God’s people. Rather than abolishing the hows and the whats and the whys of the covenant relationship between God and God’s people, Jesus comes to fulfill, re-establish, embody, deepen, live out even the least of these commandments. The least, at the least, at the core, the basics, as simple as to praise, to labor, to love. Anyone who does the very least of what it means to be a child of God, to be the people of God, they will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
When I was getting ready to move from elementary to junior high school, it came time for me to pick an instrument to learn. The junior high band director — his name was Mr. Salerro — was scheduled to visit my school and meet with anyone who was interested so they could get started over the summer. I had determined that I wanted to be trumpet player and that’s what I reported to the rather intimidating junior high band director. Mr. Sellaro looked at me and said, “What a beautiful embouchure! You are a trombone player.” Translated, that means your lips are too fat to play trumpet. It wasn’t until much later that I realized it likely had nothing to do with my lips. It was more of a head count. The band director needed trombone players. Fuzzy Graffam’s lips weren’t any fatter than mine. He became the tuba player. I don’t remember anything else from that meeting but I know I went home from school that day carrying that big, blasted trombone case. It was an example of what in the philosophy of communication they call “Speech Act Theory.” With those words, with that declaration, “You are a trombone player”, I was a trombone player.
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” Right there in the Sermon on the Mount, after the blessings of the Beatitudes and before all the instruction yet to come. “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” Before “Let your word be ‘yes, yes,’ or ‘no, no,’” and before turning the other cheek and going the extra mile, “You are the salt… You are the light.” Before love your enemies, and not letting your left hand know what your right is doing when it comes to giving alms, and the Lord’s Prayer, and the lilies of the field. “You are the salt… You are the light.” Before the log in your own eye and ask and knock and do unto others as you would have them to do you, Jesus said, “You are. You are.” Salt. Light.
Preachers like me have the tendency to take the images, the metaphors of salt and light and absolutely squeeze the life out of them until they are just hanging there in a sermon like a dried, smelly dish rag hanging on the faucet the morning after a nice dinner party. So I’m going try not to do that. I’m just going to go with this: when it comes to salt and light, you don’t get any more basic, fundamental, necessary. When it comes to life, to the existence of life, light and salt represent the basics. Jesus and his speech act, establishing the people of God, bringing the people of God to life as salt and light to the world. That the most basic, necessary qualities and characteristics of life in God are in you, part of your DNA, to praise, to labor, to love. At your birth, at your baptism, each day by God’s grace and in God’s Spirit, you are a trombone player! Which is to say, whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not, you are God’s praise, God’s labor, and God’s love in the world! You are! You are the praise, the labor, and the love of God in the world! You are! You are! Salt. Light. You are because Jesus said so.
I was in the grocery store early one morning a week or so ago. I was in line at the registers in the back of the store just inside the rear entrance. It was before 8:00 a.m. and there was only one cashier working. There were maybe four or five of us in line. One person in line just ripped into the cashier about the line, and not enough help, and time wasted waiting there. “I know it’s not your fault and I shouldn’t be yelling at you!” the person yelled at the cashier.
I was getting off a plane in Newark and most of us had gate-checked our carry-on. So the passengers dutifully lined up along the wall up the jet-way, which is the rule and etiquette of the occasion, while we waited for our bags to be brought in the door. One guy, who looked a lot like me expect bigger and taller, he came off the plane and just stood on the other side by the door. Eventually, someone had to say something like “the line is this way.” The man didn’t move, he just huffed and puffed and said, “Yeah, what are you going to do about it!”
I was driving back to the church for a meeting just last Thursday night. It was dark. I stopped in the center of town on Witherspoon Street there at the crosswalk for several groups of people to cross. I inched forward preparing to turn right and come up through Palmer Square. On the sidewalk was a couple with a stroller. I was checking to see if they were coming out and they waved me on. As I turned my head back, and started to move a bit, a young woman was in the crosswalk already. I stopped as soon as I saw her. I guess she wasn’t sure if I would. She stopped in my headlights, looked right at me, and made a vulgar gesture with her hand.
I can’t be the only one who has noticed that the world could use a lot more salt and light lately. Yes, among the nations. Yes, among leaders. Yes, in governments and policies and decisions. Yes, in the public square, and in local disagreements and debates, and certainly on social media, and, yes, on campus and in schools and in faith communities. But also, more salt and light a whole lot closer to home, more salt and light coming from you and me. A whole lot more of the most basic, necessary qualities and characteristics of life in God. You and your praise. You and your labor. You and your love. You are!
Every one of us knows what it is like to get cranky, snippy, irritable because we’re hungry or thirsty. Every parent has watched a child have a meltdown and then felt guilty because the baby was just hungry. The toddler, the teenager, the college kid, the spouse just needed to get some nourishment, needed to eat something. Like that Snickers commercial where the person turns back into themselves, to their own DNA, after a snack. I’m not sure I could argue theologically that the Lord’s Supper works that way. But it is interesting to think about it that way. Feasting on Christ’s promise, coming back to his table of self-emptying love, nourished again by his goodness, his grace, his mercy so that you can once again be salt and light in your slice of the world, in your corner of life, in your house. So that you can be sent out to praise, to labor, to love. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Filled at this table so you can offer to the world, to your world, the most basic, fundamental, necessary, the “at the very least part” of being a child of God, a disciple of Jesus. You are saved by his grace. You are claimed by his love. You are salt and light! God knows the world could use more, that we could all use a bit more salt and light.
That letter, the letter I shared, maybe it will make it out there, maybe it won’t. The Apostle Paul wrote to one of his congregations, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts” (II Corinthians 3:2-3). When you are expecting your church, your pastor, your rabbi to say something, do something, make sure you’re doing it too. Talk to your neighbor, call your co-worker, stop your classmate, have dinner with friend, the folks you know who are Jewish, and tell how you are really sorry for all that’s happened in the news this week. It’s the least we can do.
This is my body broken for you. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
As you read about Nassau’s three mayor partnerships in Trenton, Malawi, and Burma/Myanmar, you will see very different emphases in three very different contexts: In Trenton, a Unity Rally calling for a prophetic and compassionate response to Muslins, immigrants and refugees; at CETANA the preparations to open a new English language center in the village of Kanpetlet, and with Villages in Partnership a focus on digging wells for need irrigation for crop security.
As always, we welcome your questions, suggestions, and support as we seek to deepen our commitments beyond the Nassau Church community.
As the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, the weather conditions during the growing season in Malawi have become more unpredictable. Because of this, Villages in Partnership is investing in irrigation technology. This will allow the villagers we partner with to become less dependent on the weather for the success of their harvests. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, we were able to raise enough money to bring solar irrigation to two of our villages in 2017. Hundreds of villagers will now be on the path to food security!
Boreholes
Clean water is often the number one priority for villagers when VIP first approaches a village to explore a partnership. That is why Villages in Partnership has been focused on the construction of wells almost since our inception. While we have built and repaired countless shallow wells and water holes, we now focus more on the construction of the deeper borehole wells which are generally cleaner and reach deeper into the water table. To date, VIP has drilled 20 borehole wells, and we are drilling 7 more in 2017! These borehole wells will provide safe drinking water for thousands of villagers.
We are looking forward to working with VIP and will keep you updated as to how you may become involved. Any questions please contact Loretta Wells at .
Update from Cetana Educational Foundation
by Sue Jennings & Joyce MacKichan Walker
In January, Joyce MacKichan Walker and Sue Jennings, a member of the mission committee and board member of Cetana Educational Foundation, traveled to Myanmar to see our mission partner Cetana’s work firsthand. A day after arriving in Yangon they joined others from Cetana and a group from Metta Partners on a flight to Bagan and then a long, bumpy ride into the Chin hills to Kanpetlet, a gateway to the Natma Taung National Park, a wildlife conservation area noted for its diverse flora and fauna. In Kanpetlet Cetana and Metta Partners are working to improve the teaching of English in the government school. Joyce spent a morning observing classroom instruction while Sue joined a discussion with the school’s principal regarding long term needs. Janet Powers, a retired Gettysburg College professor and ESL expert who has volunteered her services to Cetana, spent her time in Kanpetlet doing a brief evaluation in preparation for a month-long stay in the spring, when she will conduct teacher training workshops. Nassau Church’s support will make this visit possible and will also fund a fledgling, independent English language learning center to be housed in a local church. Improving English instruction is crucial if the standard of living is to be raised in one of the poorest regions of Myanmar. Young people need English to find employment in the local tourism industry, which, since the opening of the country, is poised to take off. And English language skill will also enable some local children to advance beyond the primary level to secondary and post-secondary education, for which English proficiency is a requirement. The children in Myanmar, even in these remote areas, have the same dreams that our own children have, but they face formidable challenges. It was inspiring for Joyce and Sue to spend time with them.
Returning to civilization, Joyce and Sue visited the new quarters of Cetana’s learning center in Yangon. Joyce also had a chance to speak at a chapel gathering at the Myanmar Institute of Theology, the site of another Cetana-initiated English language program, where she brought greetings from Nassau Church and emphasized our fellowship with the people of Myanmar. Joyce and Sue then joined up with a Cetana-sponsored tour of Myanmar–from the archaeological sites in Bagan, to Mandalay, and to Kyaing Tong in remote Shan state, where Cetana has another regional learning center.
Cetana sponsors a yearly trip to Myanmar and encourages Nassau members to participate. Watch for details this summer about the 2018 tour.
Your ideas for making this a vital partnership are welcome. For more information, contact Sue Jennings,
Update from Westminster Presbyterian Church
by Rev. Karen Hernandez-Granzen
Westminster Presbyterian Church is being called to play a pivotal role during this challenging post-election season. For over 35 years, instead of fleeing the city and its many challenges as many mainline churches did starting in the 60’s, God chose to bless our congregation with the faith, courage, hope and 75-plus partners including Nassau needed to continue seeking shalom of the city through a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). Until recently, most of our resources and programs have been focused on racial reconciliation, becoming a multiracial and multicultural worshiping congregation, improving the low quality of public schools in Trenton, working to dismantle mass incarceration, ministering to reentry / returning citizens and their families, reaching out to young adults who feel disenfranchised by the traditional church through Bethany House of Hospitality, yet still called to serve the city of Trenton, assisting immigrants to acquire English proficiency to support the education of their children and to secure gainful employment, and becoming a welcoming congregation for the LBGTQ-plus community. Now we are also responding to the call of keeping our own Democratic and Republican members united in the midst of our differences in order to talk and walk the Gospel of Jesus Christ for such a time as this!
Most recently, as the Vice-Chair of United Mercer Interfaith Organization (UMIO) and a founding member of Trenton Mayor Eric E. Jackson’s Latino Advisory Council, I was asked to help organize a Trenton Unity Rally in response to all the recent executive orders that are negatively impacting Muslims, immigrants, refugees, and may eventually affect the LBGTQ-plus community. I was deeply encouraged when every colleague and musician that I invited didn’t hesitate to say “¡Si!” / “Yes!” to participating. Over 250 attended even though the Unity Rally was organized in less than a week! Together we represented Muslims, rabbis and grandsons of Holocaust survivors, Sikhs, the LGBTQ-plus community, and Christians of various denominations. I truly must confess that I was very prideful of all the Presbyterian members representing Nassau, Ewing, Lawrenceville, Flemington, Dutch Neck, Slackwood, and Westminster congregations. I believe that this Unity Rally is only the beginning of many ways that the PCUSA can respond to God’s call to a prophetic and compassionate. Ministry.
As a board member of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF), Nassau’s 10-year plus partner, I invited our new Executive Director Adriana Abizadeh to prepare a statement that included immigrants’ stories. Ruling Elder Bill Wakefield is a founding member of the board, and I have been serving on the board for over 3 years. LALDEF adopted its organizational mission to defend the rights of the Latin American community, facilitate its access to health care and education, and advance cross-cultural understanding within the Mercer County region. LALDEF provides legal services, youth mentoring, and adult education among other services to the immigrant community of Mercer County. Nassau provided LALDEF with office space until we moved our offices to the Chambersburg neighborhood of Trenton over two years ago. Please read below Adriana’s statement which she shared at the Trenton Unity Rally.
I want to talk to you for a minute about the national response to Executive Orders that have come from our current administration. Immediately following the issuance of the order creating the Muslim Ban, attorneys and other concerned individuals flocked to the airports to provide legal support to travelers affected by the ban. They advocated jointly and with concerted efforts were able to get a stay for this ban and ultimately they were able to suspend the travel ban. This overwhelming show of support was well covered by the media and it is a testament to our system of checks and balances.
United we must continue to fight battles at the national level, so that organizations like LALDEF can work with families at the local level. Families are coming into our office and calling in everyday with fears and in need of counsel. Many families are full of anxiety and have concerns that their families will be torn apart. We must show them that there are people who care and that are willing to fight their battles with them. At LALDEF we are assisting families in the creation of safety plans and temporary custody agreements. We are referring clients to counseling that have found the political climate of the last few months too much to bear. Children are coming home telling their parents about their encounters with bullying and we are here to advocate on their behalf. What this nation needs now is education about these issues. This nation needs education on the underlying societal framework to realize the effects that the removal of immigrants would have, not only emotionally and physically to these individuals, but to this nation’s economy.
Our media has played a large role in sharing stories of immigrants affected by raids and torn apart by archaic and inadequate immigration policies. The Super Bowl displayed the power of media and it showcased that this great nation will not allow for large-scale hatred and its associated rhetoric. There were at least 4 commercials that I know of that aired during the game that provided pro-immigrant content. This is a testament to the power of media in our country as the Super Bowl was watched by an average of 111 million viewers. With their advertisements, these companies took public stances on a controversial issue in our nation’s history. Immigrants are welcome here. Together we can spread a message of love and we can combat fear.
On February 21, at the Senator Cory Booker and Senator Bob Menendez Rally in Newark New Jersey, I also read and submitted Adriana’s statement for public record. Please visit these links to read articles and see photos of the Trenton Unity Rally on February 6, 2017:
Sunday, March 5, 12:15-1:15 p.m. Niles Chapel – All are welcome!
Come hear about our latest initiative: tutoring at Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (T.A.S.K.). Also, sign up to join our 15 Nassau church prison pen pal letter-writers. Time for sharing & brainstorming new initiatives. Light snack provided.
Mass Incarceration Task Force meets in Niles Chapel the first Sunday of each month Sept- May, 12:15-1:15PM. For more information contact one of our co-chairs: Mary Beth Charters (609-937-6318, ) or Jonathan Shenk (609-314-6953, ) OR visit our web page at Mass Incarceration Task Force
“Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.” Jesus took them up a high mountain. He took them up to the Mount of Transfiguration. You don’t have to be a bible scholar to know that when someone in the bible goes up a mountain, some cool God thing is about to happen. Beginning with Moses and the call of God from the burning bush at Mt. Horeb. And when the Lord summoned Moses up to the mountaintop of Mt. Sinai for the giving of the Law. And when Moses went up into the mountain of God for the tablets and according to the Book of Exodus, the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai for six days and on the seventh day God called to Moses and Moses entered the cloud and stayed up there for forty days. And when Moses went up to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah to see the view of the Promised Land and God told Moses that he could see it but Joshua would be the one to crossover. Mountaintops and God-moments. Really, far too many to name in scripture.
In his gospel Matthew works very hard to portray Jesus as the next Moses, Jesus in the leadership-tree of Moses, Jesus in the tradition of Moses. Jesus as the fulfillment of the law. Jesus as the Great Teacher of the Law. Jesus of the “You have heard it said….but I say unto you” genre of preaching. So mountains are important in Matthew. From the Mount of Beatitudes, to the Mount of Transfiguration, to that mountain at the very end of Matthew’s gospel where the Risen Christ proclaimed the Great Commission and the Great Promise. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations….Remember, I am with you always”, Matthew, Jesus, Moses, and mountaintops.
In the case of the Transfiguration, a high mountain. While it is not possible to know which of the mountains in the region was the actual Mount of Transfiguration, the earliest of Christian traditions anointed Mt. Tabor as the location of this mysterious and miraculous occasion. Jesus, Elijah, and Moses together. Peter wanting to pitch tents, preserve the moment. Jesus taking on the glow. The voice from heaven, “this is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” The disciples falling to the ground in fear. Jesus coming over to touch them and tell them not to be afraid. Peter, James and John looking up and seeing no one but Jesus. Jesus telling them to not say a word…yet.
Mt Tabor is in an area just below the Sea of Galilee. The lower Galilee they call it. It was my colleague Jeff Vamos down at the Lawrenceville Church who pointed out in our bible study a few weeks ago the irony that the earliest Christians built a church at the top of Mt Tabor. How they must not have received the memo from Peter about maybe skipping the construction part. That for Peter, the suggestion to build something didn’t go over very well. Mt. Tabor and the Church of the Transfiguration. My study bible suggests that Mt Hermon might be the spot. Mt Hermon is much further north. The peak of Mt Hermon straddles modern day Syria and Lebanon. And it’s a lot higher than Mt Tabor. It is also much closer to Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi is where Peter made is bold statement of faith in response to the question of Jesus. “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus called Peter the Rock upon which he would build his church. Jesus told Peter he would give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Caesarea Philippi. There with two feet planted squarely on the emperor’s turf, surrounded by all the worship and adoration of everything but the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, Peter made his confession. From that point on, Matthew writes at the end of chapter 16, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem. That we would suffer and be killed and on the third day be raised. All of it there at Caesarea Philippi.
You will remember that Peter tried to put a stop to all the talk about suffering and death. “This must never happen to you!” “Get behind me Satan” is how Jesus responded to Peter, the freshly minted Rock of the church. “If any want to become my followers”, Jesus proclaimed, “let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Jesus on the cross and his suffering and death. Jesus right at Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi in the shadow, in the foothills of Mt Hermon. Jesus standing waist deep in the powerful current of the empire down there and with the beams of his radiance waiting to be revealed up there. With the Mt of Transfiguration looming on the landscape, and with his glory about to be revealed up there in the clouds, Jesus smack in the middle of worldly power teaching his followers about discipleship, and sacrifice, and giving up of self.
Folks writing about the flow and structure of Matthew’s gospel often point out how the story of the Transfiguration here in chapter 17 comes immediately after all that I just described from Caesarea Philippi in 16. The Transfiguration comes immediately after Caesarea Philippi. But notice it doesn’t come immediately. It comes six days later. “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.” Six days. One could argue that the reference is to the Sabbath rhythm of creation. A nice biblical interlude of time. One could illicit from the “six days” a literary illusion to Moses, to his six days up on the mountain waiting to enter the cloud for another forty. It could be a reference to the length of the Jewish festival of booths. A celebration and remembrance of the wilderness wanderings and the tent dwelling, the booth dwelling of God’s people. Six days. On the face of it here in Matthew, the Transfiguration happened six days later.
Six days. Six days between Jesus’ anointing of Peter and his establishment of the church down there and when he took the three to the high mountain up there. Six days between Jesus’ teaching that first introduced his passion down there and when Jesus countenance took on a divine appearance up there. Six days between Jesus issuing a call to discipleship down there and when that voice boomed from heaven declaring God’s pleasure up there. Six days. Six days for his disciples in the northern mountain range. Miles away from seeing him walk on water and feeding the five thousand. Light years away from sitting at his feet and letting that blessing waft over them and the crowd gathered around. (Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek….). Six days with the echoes of a Caesarea Philippi kind of discipleship ringing in their ears. Six days. Six days before glory.
Who knows which mountain it was and who knows what on earth they did for those six days? You can only imagine that they would have wanted stayed close to him. They kept listening to him, letting it all sink in, trying to figure out what it all meant. That they kept trying to live as he taught, and do as he said, and soak up all that he had to offer. That they rose every one of those six days determined to be faithful, to give praise and adoration to God, to care for one another, to share their lives with those they met along the way, and to follow him. That on the front side of glory, they were sort of fumbling around; trying to put others first and deny themselves. And best guess? They probably weren’t very good at it. Trying to point with their lives away from the worldly ways of Caesarea Philippi, away from the world’s way of doing things, away from the powers and principalities, trying to point with the faithfulness of their lives away from all of that, and point to him, and his love, and his way, and his kingdom. It must not have been all that easy on the front side of glory. Six days.
It’s interesting about the fear, the fear that brought the disciples to their knees. Their fear came in response to the voice from heaven. Their fear came on the mountaintop. Their fear was in response to his glory. That’s when Jesus went over to them, touched them, and like pretty much every angel in all of the bible, Jesus said, “do not be afraid”. “Get up and do not be afraid.” If he said it up there, you know he had to have said it down there. There around Caesarea Philippi. Sometime during those six days. He just have said it as the disciples were following, living, trying to be faithful on the front side of glory. Of course they weren’t connecting all the dots of Jesus and his passion. They weren’t able to figure out the “A + B = C” of Jesus and his death on the cross for us and our salvation. But they were trying to be faithful there in one of the epicenters of the empire. With two feet firmly planted on the world’s turf, brought to their knees by the fear of a Caesarea Philippi kind of discipleship where self isn’t first, and saving your life means be willing to lose it, and Jesus tells you to take up your own cross. Six days before glory. Jesus must to have said, he had to have said, I so hope he said to them, “Get up and do not be afraid.” If he said it up there, he had to have said it down there.
For most of us there have been, there are, there will be some mountaintops along the way. This way of faith; God’s call upon our lives, living by grace through faith alone, servants of the kingdom, our life in God. Yes, there are some mountaintops. But most days, if we’re honest, most days, a little bit of every day, these days, it’s more like the front side of glory. Six days before glory. Down here you and I are called to be faithful, to give praise and adoration to God, to care for one another, to share our lives with those we meet along the way, and to follow him. It is a Caesarea Philippi kind of discipleship and we’re not very good at it! Pointing with our lives away from the worldly ways of the empire, away from the world’s way of doing things, away from the powers and principalities, trying to point with the faithfulness of our lives away from all of that, and point to Christ, and Christ’s love, and Christ’s way, and God’s kingdom. Embodying down here the gospel of Jesus Christ; the gospel of loving your neighbor and welcoming strangers and turning the other cheek and forgiving others and serving the victim in the ditch and embracing the lost son and searching for the lost sheep, and caring for the least of these, and taking up the cross, his and yours.
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Like the disciples, we may never put it all together: Christ, his suffering, his death, his being raised on the third day. This side of glory, you and I might never figure it all out. But the rest of his teaching, most of Jesus’ teaching, when you listen to him, it’s pretty clear. It’s not easy, but its clear. Down here, when you’re up to your eyeballs in Caesarea Philippi, most days, most days, these days, it’s not easy, but’s clear.
And that’s right when Jesus comes, reaches out and says, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
Westminster Conservatory Recital
Kevin Willois, flute and Kyu-Jung Rhee, piano
Thursday, March 16
12:15 PM, Niles Chapel
The next recital in the noontime series Westminster Conservatory at Nassau will feature music for flute and piano written by women. The recital will take place on Thursday, March 16 at 12:15 p.m. The performers, Kevin Willois, flute and Kyu-Jung Rhee, piano are members of the Westminster Conservatory faculty. The recital will take place in the Niles Chapel and is open to the public free of charge.
The program on March 16 includes the Nocturne of Lili Boulanger, Cecile Chaminade’s Concertino, two works by Sofia Gubaidulina, Allegro Rustico and Sounds of the Forest, and Rhonda Larsen’s Lugnasa for flute alone.
The next Westminster Conservatory at Nassau recital will take place on April 20, and will feature John Paul Velez, jazz piano and Paul Hofreiter, upright bass.
The Lenten Craft Fair gives children a chance to understand what is happening in this important season.
We invite you to join us as we observe the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
Throughout Lent
Easter Memorials
We remember and honor our loved ones by giving for the Easter brass ensemble and Easter tulips, which decorate the church so beautifully on Easter Sunday.
Lenten Devotional
Don’t miss our church-wide, daily Lenten Devotional. Members and friends of the church have written meditations on Scripture to accompany us through the season of Lent. Read it here.
Small Groups
Offering fellowship and community, Small Groups are working through the six-session study Gospel Portraits of Jesus. Learn more and find a group.
Our artist-in-residence Armando Sosa, master weaver, is creating a set of three tapestries for use in worship during Easter, designed for the delight of our imaginations and the contemplation of the mystery of our salvation. Read about the project and follow his progress by visiting the loom in the church library and watching for photo updates on our Facebook page.
Wednesday, Mar. 1
Ash Wednesday Worship and Lunch 12:00pm, Niles Chapel
1:00pm, Assembly Room
Windrows/Stonebridge bus (note 1)
Lenten Craft Fair 4:00-6:00pm, Assembly Room
Ash Wednesday Potluck and Communion 6:00pm, Assembly Room
See note 2
Sunday, Mar. 5
Lent 1 Communion Worship 9:15 and 11:00am
“The Least of These”
Matthew 5:13-20
Sunday, Mar. 12
Lent 2 Worship 9:15 and 11:00am
“Perfect, Just Perfect”
Matthew 5:38-48
Sunday, Mar. 19
Lent 3 Worship – Youth Sunday 9:15 and 11:00am
“Consider the Lilies of the Field”
Matthew 6:25-34
See note 3
Sunday, Mar. 26
Lent 4 Worship 9:15 and 11:00am
“Following Your Heart”
Matthew 6:19-24
Sunday, Apr. 2
Lent 5 Worship 9:15 and 11:00am
“Pearls”
Matthew 7:1-6
Tuesday, Apr. 4
Nassau at Stonebridge Lenten Worship
1:30pm, Stonebridge
Sunday, Apr. 9
Palm Sunday Worship 9:15 and 11:00am
“Astounding”
Matthew 7:24-29
Special Offering: One Great Hour of Sharing
Tuesday, Apr. 11
Nassau at Windrows Holy Tuesday Worship 3:00pm, The Windrows
Thursday, Apr. 13
Maundy Thursday Noon Communion Worship and Lunch 12:00pm, Niles Chapel
1:00pm, Assembly Room
Windrows/Stonebridge bus (note 1)
Maundy Thursday Evening Communion Worship 7:30pm
Friday, Apr. 14
Good Friday – Noon Worship 12:00pm
See note 2
Sunday, Apr. 16
Easter Sunrise Worship 7:00am, Niles Chapel
Matthew 28:1-10
Easter Worship 9:00 and 11:00 am
Matthew 28:1-10
See note 4
Events are in the Sanctuary, unless otherwise noted.
(1) For Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday noon worship and lunch, senior bus service picks up from the Windrows (11:00am) and Stonebridge (11:20am) and returns after lunch.
(2) For Ash Wednesday potluck and Good Friday worship, childcare is available.
(3) On Youth Sunday, March 19:
No Church School
Nursery provided for children up to age two
Bible story and craft time for children age three to grade one in Room 07
(4) On Easter, April 16, 9:00 and 11:00am:
No Adult Education or Church School
Nursery provided for children up to age two
Bible story and craft time for children age three to grade one in Room 07
This video slideshow gives an in-depth, day-by-day look at the 2014 Guatemala trip. The group visited and served the students and teachers of the learning center in Parramos and also enjoyed seeing breathtaking Lake Atitlán and Mayan sites.
You are invited to join the 2017 Princeton/Parramos Partnership trip to Guatemala from July 14 to 23. The trip offers educational opportunities including visits to beautiful Lake Atitlán with its surrounding Mayan villages and the colonial Spanish city of Antigua. The highlight is five-day stay in the highlands town of Parramos.
In the town of Parramos, the trip provides service opportunities including interaction with children and teachers at New Dawn Trilingual Educational Center as well as work on projects in the community. Participants will also benefit from presentations by local leaders on local history and public health.
The cost of participation will be approximately $2,250; this includes round-trip airfare between the US and Guatemala, travel within Guatemala, lodging, and most meals. This is an annual trip that began in 2002 as a way to learn about the country of our Guatemalan immigrant neighbors and has included participants of all ages and from many parts of the USA.
An initial 2017 trip information and planning meeting will be held in Room 202 at 12:15 pm on Sunday, March 12.
For more information please contact Jonathan Holmquist (, 609-771-3744) or Fredy Estrada, (, 609-466-7458).
Viaje a Guatemala 2017 de la “Colaboración Princeton/Parramos”
El viaje a Guatemala 2017 de la Colaboración Princeton/Parramos está programado para el 14 hasta el 23 de julio. Este es un viaje anual que empezó en 2002 como una manera de aprender sobre el país de nuestros vecinos inmigrantes, guatemaltecos. El viaje ofrece experiencias educativas que incluyen visitas al bello Lago Atitlán con las aldeas mayas que lo rodean y a la ciudad colonial española, Antigua, y una estancia de cinco días en el pueblo Parramos situado en el altiplano. En el pueblo, el viaje provee oportunidades de servicio que incluyen interacción con niños y maestros en el Centro Educativo Trilingüe Nuevo Amanecer y trabajo en proyectos en la comunidad. En Parramos también, participantes beneficiarán de presentaciones por líderes locales sobre historia local y salud pública. El costo de participación es aproximadamente $2,250; esto incluye el precio del viaje ida-y-vuelta entre USA y Guatemala, viajes dentro de Guatemala, alojamiento, y muchas de las comidas. Para más información, por favor, comuníquese con Jonathan Holmquist (, 609-771-3744) o Fredy Estrada (, 609-466-7458). Una reunión inicial de información y planificación para el viaje 2017 tendrá lugar en Room 202 en Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ a las 12:15 el 12 de marzo.
A weaver/historian writes that about 20,000 or 30,000 years ago, early humans twisted some plant fibers together and created… string! Eventually, over many more thousands of years, evolving humans developed more sophisticated methods of spinning yarns and weaving them into cloth on various sorts of looms, all over the world. And in due time, beyond clothing and shelter, these looms became a medium for telling the stories of the weavers’ cultures, their daily lives, and their faith.
One such hand-built loom, created from memory by our artist in residence to replicate those of his Guatemalan childhood, stands in our own library. Here, master weaver Armando Sosa — New Jersey’s 2015 Folk Artist of the Year — has labored in love, sharing his stories and teaching his craft to many of our youth and others.
Currently, Armando is weaving a set of three tapestries for use in worship during Easter week, designed for the delight of our imaginations and the contemplation of the mystery of our salvation .
Until then, as you pass through the library, take a look under the loom’s back beam for a glimpse of the woven story. (The tapestry is backside up…) And pause for a moment to talk with this kindly artist, who has been truly gifted and called by God to his craft.
Watch for updates on Armando’s progress in News from Nassau and on our Facebook page – and anticipate with us more weaving events with Armando in May.
A Program of the Worship and Arts Committee
Nassau Church’s Artist Residency is a program of the Worship and Arts Committee. The Worship and Arts Committee seeks to engage all members of the congregation in every aspect of worship, in order build connections to God and amongst people. The Committee’s work is an ongoing creation of vital links among the arts and places of worship. As the Committee works to serve the renewing work of the Holy Spirit amongst us, the question is asked, “Has everyone been fed?”
Nassau Presbyterian Church Hosts Timely Thought-Provoking Discussion of Rare Diary of a Nazi Concentration Camp Survivor
Long-forgotten masterpiece back in print in English after sixty-five years
Princeton, NJ. – Nassau Presbyterian Church will host a discussion and book signing with Timothy Boyce, editor of the concentration camp diary From Day to Day, on Thursday, February 23, at 7:00PM. Boyce will discuss the story of Norwegian architect and humanitarian Odd Nansen, who was arrested in 1942 by the Nazis. Nansen spent the remaining years of World War II in various concentration camps in Norway and Germany. During that time he kept a secret diary on tissue-paper-thin pages he later smuggled out of the camps.
With an unsparing eye, Nansen described the casual brutality and random terror that was the fate of a camp prisoner. His entries reveal his constantly frustrated hopes for an early end to the war, his longing for his wife and children, his horror at the especially barbaric treatment reserved for Jews, and his disgust at the anti-Semitism of some of his fellow Norwegians.
An English translation of the diaries was first published in 1949. It received rave reviews, but soon fell into obscurity. In 1956, in response to a poll about the “most undeservedly neglected” book of the preceding quarter-century, Carl Sandburg singled out From Day to Day, calling it “an epic narrative,” which took “its place among the great affirmations of the power of the human spirit to rise above terror, torture, and death.” Indeed, Nansen witnessed all the horrors of the camps, yet still saw hope for the future.
This new edition, from Vanderbilt University Press, is the first published in over sixty-five years, and contains extensive annotations from editor Timothy Boyce and new diary selections never before translated into English. Forty sketches of camp life and death by Nansen, an architect and talented draftsman, provide a sense of immediacy and acute observation matched by the diary entries.
Nassau Presbyterian is located at 61 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ. Admission is free. The event is co-sponsored by the Princeton Public Library, the Princeton Clergy Association and The Jewish Center of Princeton.
Odd Nansen (1901–1973) was a Norwegian architect and humanitarian. Son of the famous explorer, statesman, and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, Odd followed in his father’s footsteps when he founded Nansenhjelpen in 1936 to address the plight of Central European refugees fleeing Nazism. Arrested in 1942, Odd Nansen spent the remainder of the war in various concentration camps. Following the war he remained active in humanitarian organizations such as UNESCO, and continued to speak out against injustice, oppression, and violence.
Timothy J. Boyce practiced law for thirty-five years. He retired in 2014 as the Managing Partner of the Charlotte, North Carolina, office of Dechert LLP, an international law firm.
PRAISE FOR From Day to Day: One Man’s Diary of Survival in Nazi Concentration Camps
“A long-forgotten masterpiece. . . . Rarely has the inhumanity of the camps been captured with such humanity.” —Nikolaus Wachsmann, author of KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps
“This is one of the most searing contemporaneous accounts of the Holocaust, but also one of the best written of the great documents of World War II. It is a profound indictment of evil, a daily diary of torment and torture, yet also somehow a deeply moving love letter. It should find a place on the bookshelf of every home, be taught in every school, made into a movie, and feted for what it says about man’s capacity for humanity in the face of satanic loathsomeness.”
—Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War; Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941–1945; and Napoleon: A Life
From reviews of the 1949 edition:
“Writing with no thought of publication, merely to keep a record for his wife and to express his own boiling emotions, Mr. Nansen somehow created a remarkable book. Using stolen paper and stolen time, always in fear of being caught, he described each day’s adventures with stark simplicity and intimate authority. His book, although immensely long, is a continuously engrossing narrative. It is filled with vivid, concrete details, sharp character sketches, unspeakable horrors.”
—Orville Prescott, New York Times
“Most citizens, one hears, are fed up with books about the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps. But this book is different from all the others this reviewer has read. True, it does not slur over the unspeakable barbarities. But it rises above them and reminds us in never-to-be-forgotten pages how noble and generous the human spirit can be in the face of terrible adversity.”
