When Easter Interrupts

"Easter provides the basis for us to make a bold assertion of hope when there is no reason to hope. Religion provides us with the purpose for living when life itself is painful. Faith enables us to give up what we desire most desperately, trusting that God already knows and provides for our deepest and truest needs." This book is a collection of sermons culled from a preaching career that spans four decades, five states and four continents. Moving easily between history, theology and personal experience, the author brings a compassionate outlook, an unconventional spirituality, a probing mind and a gentle sense of humor to his reflections on Lent and Easter. These sermons begin where pain and hope intermingle, and myth and history intersect. Always the pastor, Dr. Friend-Jones looks for the contemporary relevance of Lent and Easter to crises of faith experienced by ordinary people. His preaching moves between ancient landscapes, Biblical texts and modern sensibilities. He brings a post-modern consciousness to pre-modern narratives. Calling Easter "the central koan of Christian spirituality," he situates the primary Christian affirmations of life, hope and joy within a world confounded by urban violence, terror, divorce, cancer, political oppression and more.