The newest video from The Follow.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gYZO0jn7h0U#
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sunday's coming!
So what does one do on Saturday, the quiet period between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection? We wait…expectantly.
Following is a message popularized by Tony Campolo in the 1970’s. However, the original message was created and delivered by S.M. Lockridge.
Enjoy!
It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a coming.
It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them." It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a coming.
And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.
Now it's Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn't the only thing that was shaking because now it's Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. Yes, it's Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it's Sunday, and the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.
It's Sunday, and the crucified/resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It's Sunday. And now everything has changed. It's the age of grace, God's grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it's Sunday.
It's Friday! But Sunday's a Coming!
Following is a message popularized by Tony Campolo in the 1970’s. However, the original message was created and delivered by S.M. Lockridge.
Enjoy!
It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a coming.
It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them." It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming.
It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a coming.
And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.
Now it's Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn't the only thing that was shaking because now it's Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. Yes, it's Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it's Sunday, and the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.
It's Sunday, and the crucified/resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It's Sunday. And now everything has changed. It's the age of grace, God's grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it's Sunday.
It's Friday! But Sunday's a Coming!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Good Friday
For today’s devotion, I would like to share some of the sections of a small Good Friday service that was offered in 2004 by Karen Laughter, Tina Busick and me. I hope that you find much to reflect on in these elements.
"We do not gather at Easter to celebrate a doctrine, the doctrine of the Resurrection. We come here to rejoice in the presence of one we love; in Jesus who was lost to us and has been found. Our Easter faith is that we really do encounter Jesus himself; not a message from him, or a doctrine inspired by him, or an ethics of ove, or a new idea of human destiny, or a picture of him, but Jesus himself." - Herbert McCabe
Calling Together
One: God has given us faith and sight, but often we miss things.
Many: God has given us hearing and touch, but often we miss things.
One: We're gifted with senses to help us interpret all that happen around us, but sometimes what's happening around us surpasses our abilities to see, hear, touch, and believe.
Many: We ask, O God, for a better sense of seeing and hearing what occurs in front of us. We don't want to miss out on anymore. We want to be a part of the world around us and all that can unexpectedly happen in an instant.
ALL: Give to us, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, the gift of awareness so that we might experience anew the mind-boggling, life-giving event of the Resurrection. In the name of the Risen One, we pray. Amen.
Affirmation of Faith
We come this day of all days to acknowledge that you are more than we can ever say or know. You are
Companion of the lonely,
Binder of wounds,
Seeker of lost souls,
Friend of the poor,
Source of all that is,
Forgiver of sins,
Voice of the voiceless,
Counselor of the confused,
Shelter from the storm,
Creator of heaven and earth,
Defeater of death,
Provider of life and hope,
and we enter today to worship and adore you.
Amen and Amen.
An Exposition of Luke 23:33–46 and John 19:25–30
(from a sermon in The Collected Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon)
We have often read the story of our Savior’s sufferings; but we cannot read it too often. We will read, first, Luke’s account of our Lord’s crucifixion and death.
Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
They gave Jesus the place of dishonor. Reckoning him to be the worst criminal of the three, they put him between the other two. They heaped on him the utmost scorn which they could give to a malefactor, and in so doing they unconsciously honored him. Jesus always deserves the chief place wherever he is. In all things he must have the preeminence. He is King of sufferers as well as King of saints.
34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
How startled they must have been to hear such words from one who was about to be put to death for a supposed crime! The men who drove the nails, the men who lifted up the tree, must have been started back with amazement when they heard Jesus talk to God as his Father and pray for them: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Did Roman legionary ever hear such words before? I should say not. They were so distinctly and diametrically opposed to the whole spirit of Rome. There it was blow for blow; only in the case of Jesus they gave blows where none had been received. The crushing cruelty of the Romans must have been startled indeed at such words as these, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
34b And they divided up his clothes by casting lots
The gambling soldiers little dreamed that they were fulfilling Scriptures while they were raffling for the clothing of the illustrious Sufferer on the cross; yet so it was. In the twenty–second Psalm, which so fully sets forth our Savior’s sufferings and which he probably repeated while he hung on the tree, David wrote, “They parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” “And the people stood beholding,” gazing, looking on the cruel spectacle. You and I would not have done that; there is a public sentiment which has trained us to hate the sight of cruelty, especially of deadly cruelty to one of our own race; but these people thought that they did no harm when they “stood beholding.” They also were thus fulfilling the Scriptures; for the seventeenth verse of the twenty–second Psalm says, “They look and stare upon me.”
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
In mockery, not giving it to him, as they did later in mercy; but in mockery, pretending to present him with weak wine, such as they drank.
37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
I fancy the scorn that they threw into their taunt: “If you are the king of the Jews”; that was a bit of their own. “Save yourself;” that they borrowed from the rulers. Sometimes a scoffer or a mocker cannot exhibit all the bitterness that is in his heart except by using borrowed terms, as these soldiers did.
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
John tells us that Pilate wrote this title and that the chief priests tried in vain to get him to alter it. It was written in the three current languages of the time so that the Greek, the Roman, and the Jew alike might understand who he was who was thus put to death. Pilate did not know as much about Christ as we do, or he might have written, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS, AND OF THE GENTILES, TOO.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
He, too, borrows this speech from the rulers who derided Christ, only putting the words “and us” as a bit of originality. “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
A fine testimony to Christ: “this man has done nothing wrong,” nothing unbecoming, nothing out of order, nothing criminal, certainly; but nothing even “amiss.” This testimony was well spoken by this dying thief.
42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
He yielded his life. He did not die, as we have to do, because our appointed time has come, but willingly the great Sacrifice parted with his life: “He gave up the ghost.” He was a willing sacrifice for guilty men.
Now let us see what John says concerning these hours of agony, these hours of triumph.
John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished."
What “it” was it that was finished? I will not attempt to expound it. It is the biggest “it” that ever was! Turn it over and you will see that it will grow, and grow, and grow, and grow, till it fills the whole earth: “It is finished.”
30b With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
He did not give up the ghost and then bow his head because he was dead; but he bowed his head as though in the act of worship or as leaning it down on his Father’s bosom and then gave up his spirit.
Thus have we had two gospel pictures of our dying Lord. May we remember them and learn the lessons they are intended to teach!
(to echo Spurgeon’s implied question, what is Jesus teaching you about the events of this week?)
"We do not gather at Easter to celebrate a doctrine, the doctrine of the Resurrection. We come here to rejoice in the presence of one we love; in Jesus who was lost to us and has been found. Our Easter faith is that we really do encounter Jesus himself; not a message from him, or a doctrine inspired by him, or an ethics of ove, or a new idea of human destiny, or a picture of him, but Jesus himself." - Herbert McCabe
Calling Together
One: God has given us faith and sight, but often we miss things.
Many: God has given us hearing and touch, but often we miss things.
One: We're gifted with senses to help us interpret all that happen around us, but sometimes what's happening around us surpasses our abilities to see, hear, touch, and believe.
Many: We ask, O God, for a better sense of seeing and hearing what occurs in front of us. We don't want to miss out on anymore. We want to be a part of the world around us and all that can unexpectedly happen in an instant.
ALL: Give to us, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, the gift of awareness so that we might experience anew the mind-boggling, life-giving event of the Resurrection. In the name of the Risen One, we pray. Amen.
Affirmation of Faith
We come this day of all days to acknowledge that you are more than we can ever say or know. You are
Companion of the lonely,
Binder of wounds,
Seeker of lost souls,
Friend of the poor,
Source of all that is,
Forgiver of sins,
Voice of the voiceless,
Counselor of the confused,
Shelter from the storm,
Creator of heaven and earth,
Defeater of death,
Provider of life and hope,
and we enter today to worship and adore you.
Amen and Amen.
An Exposition of Luke 23:33–46 and John 19:25–30
(from a sermon in The Collected Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon)
We have often read the story of our Savior’s sufferings; but we cannot read it too often. We will read, first, Luke’s account of our Lord’s crucifixion and death.
Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
They gave Jesus the place of dishonor. Reckoning him to be the worst criminal of the three, they put him between the other two. They heaped on him the utmost scorn which they could give to a malefactor, and in so doing they unconsciously honored him. Jesus always deserves the chief place wherever he is. In all things he must have the preeminence. He is King of sufferers as well as King of saints.
34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
How startled they must have been to hear such words from one who was about to be put to death for a supposed crime! The men who drove the nails, the men who lifted up the tree, must have been started back with amazement when they heard Jesus talk to God as his Father and pray for them: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Did Roman legionary ever hear such words before? I should say not. They were so distinctly and diametrically opposed to the whole spirit of Rome. There it was blow for blow; only in the case of Jesus they gave blows where none had been received. The crushing cruelty of the Romans must have been startled indeed at such words as these, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
34b And they divided up his clothes by casting lots
The gambling soldiers little dreamed that they were fulfilling Scriptures while they were raffling for the clothing of the illustrious Sufferer on the cross; yet so it was. In the twenty–second Psalm, which so fully sets forth our Savior’s sufferings and which he probably repeated while he hung on the tree, David wrote, “They parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” “And the people stood beholding,” gazing, looking on the cruel spectacle. You and I would not have done that; there is a public sentiment which has trained us to hate the sight of cruelty, especially of deadly cruelty to one of our own race; but these people thought that they did no harm when they “stood beholding.” They also were thus fulfilling the Scriptures; for the seventeenth verse of the twenty–second Psalm says, “They look and stare upon me.”
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
In mockery, not giving it to him, as they did later in mercy; but in mockery, pretending to present him with weak wine, such as they drank.
37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
I fancy the scorn that they threw into their taunt: “If you are the king of the Jews”; that was a bit of their own. “Save yourself;” that they borrowed from the rulers. Sometimes a scoffer or a mocker cannot exhibit all the bitterness that is in his heart except by using borrowed terms, as these soldiers did.
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
John tells us that Pilate wrote this title and that the chief priests tried in vain to get him to alter it. It was written in the three current languages of the time so that the Greek, the Roman, and the Jew alike might understand who he was who was thus put to death. Pilate did not know as much about Christ as we do, or he might have written, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS, AND OF THE GENTILES, TOO.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
He, too, borrows this speech from the rulers who derided Christ, only putting the words “and us” as a bit of originality. “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
A fine testimony to Christ: “this man has done nothing wrong,” nothing unbecoming, nothing out of order, nothing criminal, certainly; but nothing even “amiss.” This testimony was well spoken by this dying thief.
42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
He yielded his life. He did not die, as we have to do, because our appointed time has come, but willingly the great Sacrifice parted with his life: “He gave up the ghost.” He was a willing sacrifice for guilty men.
Now let us see what John says concerning these hours of agony, these hours of triumph.
John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished."
What “it” was it that was finished? I will not attempt to expound it. It is the biggest “it” that ever was! Turn it over and you will see that it will grow, and grow, and grow, and grow, till it fills the whole earth: “It is finished.”
30b With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
He did not give up the ghost and then bow his head because he was dead; but he bowed his head as though in the act of worship or as leaning it down on his Father’s bosom and then gave up his spirit.
Thus have we had two gospel pictures of our dying Lord. May we remember them and learn the lessons they are intended to teach!
(to echo Spurgeon’s implied question, what is Jesus teaching you about the events of this week?)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday is the Thursday of Holy Week (the Thursday before Easter). It was the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, sharing a meal with them which we call the Last Supper.
The name Maundy Thursday is derived from the Latin word mandatum which means commandment and it refers to the "new commandment" of John 13:34.
Jesus tells us to “love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).
Why? Why would he command us to love each other? Is he simply a naïve romantic, a surfer messiah seeking only “peace, man?” Does He have an inescapable obligation to push for love, even when love doesn’t work, or even causes more pain?
Henri Nouwen was a Catholic priest who taught at several theological institutes and universities in his home country of the Netherlands and in the United States. He shared the final years of his life with people with mental disabilities at a home community in Toronto. In his teaching, he often shared the following story about “The Old Man and the Scorpion.”
“Once there was a very old man who used to meditate early every morning under a large tree on the bank of the Ganges River in India. One morning, having finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the strong current of the river. As the scorpion was pulled close to the tree, it got caught in the long tree roots that branched out far into the river. The scorpion struggled frantically to free itself but got more and more entangled in the complex network of the tree roots.
“When the old man saw this, he immediately stretched himself onto the extended roots and reached out to rescue the drowning scorpion. But as soon as he touched it, the animal jerked and stung him wildly. Instinctively, the man withdrew his hand, but then, after having regained his balance, he once again stretched himself out along the roots to save the agonized scorpion. But every time the old man came within reach, the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hands became swollen and bloody and his face distorted with pain.
“At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: ‘Hey, stupid old man. What’s wrong with you? Only a fool risks his life for the sake of an ugly, useless creature. Don’t you know that you may kill yourself to save that ungrateful animal?’
“Slowly the old man turned his head, and looking calmly in the stranger’s eyes, he said: ‘Friend, because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting, why should I give up my own nature to save?’
“Well,” Nouwen says, “that’s the question: Why should we give up our nature to be compassionate even when we get stung in a biting, stinging world?” He goes on to say that the story “challenges us to show that to embrace is more human than to reject, that to kiss is more human than to bite, to behold more human than to stare, to be friends more human than to be rivals, to make peace more human than to make war – in short, that compassion is more human than strife.”
Jesus tells us to “love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).
By Friday of this week (if you don't know the way the story ends) it looks like the wrath of God has eclipsed the love of God. But it isn't so. Mercy triumphs over Judgment at Easter: love triumphs over wrath. Love is the new commandment given on this night by Jesus after he has washed the disciples' feet.... "Love one another as I have loved you." This is the "mandatum novum" from which the name "Maundy Thursday" comes.
In those days it was usual for a servant to wash the guests’ feet on arrival. On this occasion there was no servant present and none of the disciples volunteered to do the menial task. Instead, Jesus got up and washed his disciples’ feet, giving them an object lesson in humility and service.
But the disciples didn't fully comprehend how deeply Jesus has loved them. After all they had been through, it took a king on his knees with a towel around his waist to prove to them the loving, servant heart of God (what if our President, or a king, were to wash the feet of a bunch of fishermen today? What if it were your feet?). But even so, Peter the disciple doesn't understand why Jesus would defile himself in this way.
If Peter finds it hard to accept that Jesus his king would humiliate himself by washing his followers' feet, he will be even more confounded tomorrow. For there will be another demonstration of how God loves on Good Friday, when the perfect love of God in Jesus faces the wrath of God against evil, and love triumphs in the end. All for the love of us.
But there is at least one more level still. To meet the living Christ here, now. Another phrase that John records Jesus saying in this story is spoken when Peter objects to having his feet washed. Jesus says, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Another translator offers, "If I do not wash you, you will have no heritage with me." Jesus spoke to Peter then. Jesus speaks to us today. This is about Jesus expressing love for us. This is about Jesus serving us. This is about our recognition and acceptance of the gift that is offered. Jesus offers to cleanse away the grime of life’s journeying. With a basin and towel, with his death upon the cross. To put a few more words in Jesus’ mouth, what he says to Peter and to us is: "If you do not let me do this for you… If you do not accept my death upon the cross as my gift to you, then you will not truly receive the heritage that is yours… the inheritance of new and eternal life lived in joy in the very presence of God."
We are challenged right now, right in this moment. Will we accept Christ’s service, the gift of his death?
Each of us undoubtedly has many reasons not to. Pride. I do not need anyone’s service. False humility. I am not worthy of such a sacrifice. A profound discomfort with being beholden. Very beholden. No thank you, Jesus. Just imagine that the person who washes your feet this night in this room offers to die for your sins tomorrow. Would you accept such a sacrifice? Such action is not a part of our relationships with one another as individuals within the Body of Christ, but it is a part of our relationship with the living Christ. It is what brings us into relationship with the living Christ. Here. Now.
There was a lot going on in the upper room the evening of the Last Supper. It is good to remember those events and reflect upon their meaning for us. But the living Christ is present in this room this day. Will you let Jesus be your servant? Will you let him give his life for yours?
The name Maundy Thursday is derived from the Latin word mandatum which means commandment and it refers to the "new commandment" of John 13:34.
Jesus tells us to “love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).
Why? Why would he command us to love each other? Is he simply a naïve romantic, a surfer messiah seeking only “peace, man?” Does He have an inescapable obligation to push for love, even when love doesn’t work, or even causes more pain?
Henri Nouwen was a Catholic priest who taught at several theological institutes and universities in his home country of the Netherlands and in the United States. He shared the final years of his life with people with mental disabilities at a home community in Toronto. In his teaching, he often shared the following story about “The Old Man and the Scorpion.”
“Once there was a very old man who used to meditate early every morning under a large tree on the bank of the Ganges River in India. One morning, having finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the strong current of the river. As the scorpion was pulled close to the tree, it got caught in the long tree roots that branched out far into the river. The scorpion struggled frantically to free itself but got more and more entangled in the complex network of the tree roots.
“When the old man saw this, he immediately stretched himself onto the extended roots and reached out to rescue the drowning scorpion. But as soon as he touched it, the animal jerked and stung him wildly. Instinctively, the man withdrew his hand, but then, after having regained his balance, he once again stretched himself out along the roots to save the agonized scorpion. But every time the old man came within reach, the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hands became swollen and bloody and his face distorted with pain.
“At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: ‘Hey, stupid old man. What’s wrong with you? Only a fool risks his life for the sake of an ugly, useless creature. Don’t you know that you may kill yourself to save that ungrateful animal?’
“Slowly the old man turned his head, and looking calmly in the stranger’s eyes, he said: ‘Friend, because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting, why should I give up my own nature to save?’
“Well,” Nouwen says, “that’s the question: Why should we give up our nature to be compassionate even when we get stung in a biting, stinging world?” He goes on to say that the story “challenges us to show that to embrace is more human than to reject, that to kiss is more human than to bite, to behold more human than to stare, to be friends more human than to be rivals, to make peace more human than to make war – in short, that compassion is more human than strife.”
Jesus tells us to “love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).
By Friday of this week (if you don't know the way the story ends) it looks like the wrath of God has eclipsed the love of God. But it isn't so. Mercy triumphs over Judgment at Easter: love triumphs over wrath. Love is the new commandment given on this night by Jesus after he has washed the disciples' feet.... "Love one another as I have loved you." This is the "mandatum novum" from which the name "Maundy Thursday" comes.
In those days it was usual for a servant to wash the guests’ feet on arrival. On this occasion there was no servant present and none of the disciples volunteered to do the menial task. Instead, Jesus got up and washed his disciples’ feet, giving them an object lesson in humility and service.
But the disciples didn't fully comprehend how deeply Jesus has loved them. After all they had been through, it took a king on his knees with a towel around his waist to prove to them the loving, servant heart of God (what if our President, or a king, were to wash the feet of a bunch of fishermen today? What if it were your feet?). But even so, Peter the disciple doesn't understand why Jesus would defile himself in this way.
If Peter finds it hard to accept that Jesus his king would humiliate himself by washing his followers' feet, he will be even more confounded tomorrow. For there will be another demonstration of how God loves on Good Friday, when the perfect love of God in Jesus faces the wrath of God against evil, and love triumphs in the end. All for the love of us.
But there is at least one more level still. To meet the living Christ here, now. Another phrase that John records Jesus saying in this story is spoken when Peter objects to having his feet washed. Jesus says, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Another translator offers, "If I do not wash you, you will have no heritage with me." Jesus spoke to Peter then. Jesus speaks to us today. This is about Jesus expressing love for us. This is about Jesus serving us. This is about our recognition and acceptance of the gift that is offered. Jesus offers to cleanse away the grime of life’s journeying. With a basin and towel, with his death upon the cross. To put a few more words in Jesus’ mouth, what he says to Peter and to us is: "If you do not let me do this for you… If you do not accept my death upon the cross as my gift to you, then you will not truly receive the heritage that is yours… the inheritance of new and eternal life lived in joy in the very presence of God."
We are challenged right now, right in this moment. Will we accept Christ’s service, the gift of his death?
Each of us undoubtedly has many reasons not to. Pride. I do not need anyone’s service. False humility. I am not worthy of such a sacrifice. A profound discomfort with being beholden. Very beholden. No thank you, Jesus. Just imagine that the person who washes your feet this night in this room offers to die for your sins tomorrow. Would you accept such a sacrifice? Such action is not a part of our relationships with one another as individuals within the Body of Christ, but it is a part of our relationship with the living Christ. It is what brings us into relationship with the living Christ. Here. Now.
There was a lot going on in the upper room the evening of the Last Supper. It is good to remember those events and reflect upon their meaning for us. But the living Christ is present in this room this day. Will you let Jesus be your servant? Will you let him give his life for yours?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Who is the Messiah?
Who is Jesus? Who is the Messiah? For Christians this is one of the basic questions of faith. This following passage in Luke’s gospel deals with that question by noting a short controversy between Jesus and the leadership. Previous attempts to stump him had failed, but now Jesus will silence his opponents with a question about the most important figure in Jewish promise, the Son of David, Messiah. It is Jesus' turn to ask a question and seek answers. How will the leadership fare in the hot seat?
Jesus raises a rabbinic antinomy (A contradiction between principles or conclusions that seem equally necessary and reasonable; a paradox.) The question is asked both before and after a quotation of Psalm 110:1. "How is it that they say the Christ is the Son of David? David himself declares in the Book of Psalms, `The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." ' David calls him `Lord.' How then can he be his son?" Jesus' goal is not to deny either premise but to show a relationship between two concepts that otherwise might appear to be in tension. In effect, Jesus is saying, more important than Jesus being David's son is that he is David's Lord.
In fact, Jesus does not answer the question, nor does his audience. Instead the audience and Luke's reader are left to ponder it. (Excerpt from the IVP New Testament Commentaries series.)
It occurs to me that I might benefit as well from considering Jesus (non) answer to the question. Jesus speaks to us in many ways: nature, people, and events… In listening to Jesus in prayer, I can focus on Scripture as God’s word to me here and now. What the text meant to the original writers/ hearers, to others throughout history, may be helpful - but it can also distract from what God is saying to me now.
In any relationship, there is a great difference between hearing the words and really listening. So being attentive as I pray becomes essential.
Scripture is comparable to food. It needs to be taken in, chewed over, tasted, to be nourishing.
So today, as part of our Holy Week observance, let’s try something novel. Let’s let Jesus teach us through His Spirit.
Find a place that you can hide away, so that you don’t have to be inhibited in your response.
Let yourself relax. Take your tongue off of the roof of your mouth, and let your shoulders drop down and away from you ears.
Trust that Jesus is with you through His Spirit. It’s one of the things that He promises us in the Bible.
Simply begins to read Psalm 110 (below) as an act of prayer. Assume on His grace to listen, to hear His word to you now…
Use imagination, PICTURE the scene, become involved, with whom or what do I identify?
Read very slowly. PONDER. If you feel safe, you can even read aloud.
Repeat./Read/Ruminate/ Reflect/ Respond/ Rest.
If a word or phrase touches your heart, savor it, repeat it, rest in it, return to it in a later prayer period, carry it in your heart for the rest of the day – maybe even for the rest of your life.
Don’t hurry. Don’t try to look for lessons or profound thoughts.
(and if you find yourself in a sharing mood, let me know how it goes.)
Psalm 110
A David Prayer
1-3 The word of God to my Lord: "Sit alongside me here on my throne
until I make your enemies a stool for your feet."
You were forged a strong scepter by God of Zion;
now rule, though surrounded by enemies!
Your people will freely join you, resplendent in holy armor
on the great day of your conquest,
Join you at the fresh break of day,
join you with all the vigor of youth.
4-7 God gave his word and he won't take it back:
you're the permanent priest, the Melchizedek priest.
The Lord stands true at your side,
crushing kings in his terrible wrath,
Bringing judgment on the nations,
handing out convictions wholesale,
crushing opposition across the wide earth.
The King-Maker put his King on the throne;
the True King rules with head held high!
The Message
Jesus raises a rabbinic antinomy (A contradiction between principles or conclusions that seem equally necessary and reasonable; a paradox.) The question is asked both before and after a quotation of Psalm 110:1. "How is it that they say the Christ is the Son of David? David himself declares in the Book of Psalms, `The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." ' David calls him `Lord.' How then can he be his son?" Jesus' goal is not to deny either premise but to show a relationship between two concepts that otherwise might appear to be in tension. In effect, Jesus is saying, more important than Jesus being David's son is that he is David's Lord.
In fact, Jesus does not answer the question, nor does his audience. Instead the audience and Luke's reader are left to ponder it. (Excerpt from the IVP New Testament Commentaries series.)
It occurs to me that I might benefit as well from considering Jesus (non) answer to the question. Jesus speaks to us in many ways: nature, people, and events… In listening to Jesus in prayer, I can focus on Scripture as God’s word to me here and now. What the text meant to the original writers/ hearers, to others throughout history, may be helpful - but it can also distract from what God is saying to me now.
In any relationship, there is a great difference between hearing the words and really listening. So being attentive as I pray becomes essential.
Scripture is comparable to food. It needs to be taken in, chewed over, tasted, to be nourishing.
So today, as part of our Holy Week observance, let’s try something novel. Let’s let Jesus teach us through His Spirit.
Find a place that you can hide away, so that you don’t have to be inhibited in your response.
Let yourself relax. Take your tongue off of the roof of your mouth, and let your shoulders drop down and away from you ears.
Trust that Jesus is with you through His Spirit. It’s one of the things that He promises us in the Bible.
Simply begins to read Psalm 110 (below) as an act of prayer. Assume on His grace to listen, to hear His word to you now…
Use imagination, PICTURE the scene, become involved, with whom or what do I identify?
Read very slowly. PONDER. If you feel safe, you can even read aloud.
Repeat./Read/Ruminate/ Reflect/ Respond/ Rest.
If a word or phrase touches your heart, savor it, repeat it, rest in it, return to it in a later prayer period, carry it in your heart for the rest of the day – maybe even for the rest of your life.
Don’t hurry. Don’t try to look for lessons or profound thoughts.
(and if you find yourself in a sharing mood, let me know how it goes.)
Psalm 110
A David Prayer
1-3 The word of God to my Lord: "Sit alongside me here on my throne
until I make your enemies a stool for your feet."
You were forged a strong scepter by God of Zion;
now rule, though surrounded by enemies!
Your people will freely join you, resplendent in holy armor
on the great day of your conquest,
Join you at the fresh break of day,
join you with all the vigor of youth.
4-7 God gave his word and he won't take it back:
you're the permanent priest, the Melchizedek priest.
The Lord stands true at your side,
crushing kings in his terrible wrath,
Bringing judgment on the nations,
handing out convictions wholesale,
crushing opposition across the wide earth.
The King-Maker put his King on the throne;
the True King rules with head held high!
The Message
a long Tuesday
The Tuesday following Jesus entry into Jerusalem was a long day of controversy.
The entry into Jerusalem was followed by the confrontation and cleansing of the temple.
And now Jesus was being accosted by at least three different groups driven by three distinct agendas.
In Luke 20, Jesus was being criticized by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Physical violence wasn’t an option to get rid of Jesus, because of the adoring crowds (19:47-48). So they challenged Jesus with trick questions - first about His authority (1-8), then about seditious political ideas (19-26) and finally theology (27-39). By 20:40, each group has asked a question and every possibility has been explored. Their efforts to “expose” Jesus have been unsuccessful. Instead, the hardness of their hearts, and the truth of their motives have become apparent. And in the process, Jesus’ ascendancy stands in stark contrast. His wisdom is infallible, and His insight is piercing.
It is easy at this point to turn these religious leaders into mere caricatures, and to ridicule their inability or unwillingness to see the rightness of Jesus’ words and presence.
And this is the point where the Holy Spirit says, “Wait a minute…”
Do I really think that these men were dumb? Were they utterly insensitive to the world around them? Did they think that their motives were wrong? They expressed the true posture of their souls by directly challenging Jesus, and rejecting His authority.
I don’t have the guts to do that. I challenge Jesus by being flippant about His authority. I challenge Jesus by insisting on going my own way (in an acceptable and sophisticated way, of course.)
My pastor Pieter Van Waarde said it well in the message this weekend;
“I just want to do things my way. I want to make my own choices and I want to be my own person. I may like God, in fact I might even want to be like God (in the sense that I want to do good things), I just want to do it my way. I want to be in control. It all sounds so innocent when we say it that way. But, in reality that orientation sets us at odds with God and his ways – and the longer we live that way the further off track we get. In fact, the more we all live like that the messier the world becomes.
When you boil it all down, it is really a matter of “unintended consequences”. We say that we are just trying to do our own thing, never seeing what that mindset does to the way life is supposed to be lived…Or to put it another way, God has all this goodness available to us, but we can’t see it because we have become too absorbed in our own way of doing things. We don’t see what we have done, and I think (by and large) people really never see the significance of this decision until they start feeling consequences of their own foolish choices.”
Whether through direct challenge or through indirect methods likes flippancy or apathy, it all boils down to questioning Jesus authority. And this questioning is motivated by a desire to control what should be his – control of our own lives.
“Jesus, you have experienced my ungratefulness many days. You have been patient, and right, every time that I have challenged you with my withdrawal. I add my voice to that of the Psalmist, and pray, “Do not forsake the (life) you have planted.” After processing through this day of controversy, and examining my own role in creating days of controversy for You, I am reminded again – I need your mercy. Thank you for this truth - as long as there is any desire in my heart to know you, you continue to hold open the way of reconciliation and redemption. Amen.”
The entry into Jerusalem was followed by the confrontation and cleansing of the temple.
And now Jesus was being accosted by at least three different groups driven by three distinct agendas.
In Luke 20, Jesus was being criticized by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Physical violence wasn’t an option to get rid of Jesus, because of the adoring crowds (19:47-48). So they challenged Jesus with trick questions - first about His authority (1-8), then about seditious political ideas (19-26) and finally theology (27-39). By 20:40, each group has asked a question and every possibility has been explored. Their efforts to “expose” Jesus have been unsuccessful. Instead, the hardness of their hearts, and the truth of their motives have become apparent. And in the process, Jesus’ ascendancy stands in stark contrast. His wisdom is infallible, and His insight is piercing.
It is easy at this point to turn these religious leaders into mere caricatures, and to ridicule their inability or unwillingness to see the rightness of Jesus’ words and presence.
And this is the point where the Holy Spirit says, “Wait a minute…”
Do I really think that these men were dumb? Were they utterly insensitive to the world around them? Did they think that their motives were wrong? They expressed the true posture of their souls by directly challenging Jesus, and rejecting His authority.
I don’t have the guts to do that. I challenge Jesus by being flippant about His authority. I challenge Jesus by insisting on going my own way (in an acceptable and sophisticated way, of course.)
My pastor Pieter Van Waarde said it well in the message this weekend;
“I just want to do things my way. I want to make my own choices and I want to be my own person. I may like God, in fact I might even want to be like God (in the sense that I want to do good things), I just want to do it my way. I want to be in control. It all sounds so innocent when we say it that way. But, in reality that orientation sets us at odds with God and his ways – and the longer we live that way the further off track we get. In fact, the more we all live like that the messier the world becomes.
When you boil it all down, it is really a matter of “unintended consequences”. We say that we are just trying to do our own thing, never seeing what that mindset does to the way life is supposed to be lived…Or to put it another way, God has all this goodness available to us, but we can’t see it because we have become too absorbed in our own way of doing things. We don’t see what we have done, and I think (by and large) people really never see the significance of this decision until they start feeling consequences of their own foolish choices.”
Whether through direct challenge or through indirect methods likes flippancy or apathy, it all boils down to questioning Jesus authority. And this questioning is motivated by a desire to control what should be his – control of our own lives.
“Jesus, you have experienced my ungratefulness many days. You have been patient, and right, every time that I have challenged you with my withdrawal. I add my voice to that of the Psalmist, and pray, “Do not forsake the (life) you have planted.” After processing through this day of controversy, and examining my own role in creating days of controversy for You, I am reminded again – I need your mercy. Thank you for this truth - as long as there is any desire in my heart to know you, you continue to hold open the way of reconciliation and redemption. Amen.”
another post in the move toward Easter
What follows is an thoughtful reflection on the act of prayer. The letters that the excerpt comes from are still viewed as required reading for many Benedictine sisters and brothers. I think that it is appropriate not only for this week. The first sentence will tell you why.
CT
The Struggle of Prayer
by Dom John Chapman
Prayer, in the sense of union with God, is the most crucifying thing there is. One must do it for God's sake; but one will not get any satisfaction out of it, in the sense of feeling "I am good at prayer. I have an infallible method."
That would be disastrous, since what we want to learn is precisely our own weakness, powerlessness, unworthiness. Nor ought one to expect "a sense of the reality of the supernatural" of which I speak. And one should wish for no prayer, except precisely the prayer that God gives us -- probably very distracted and unsatisfactory in every way.
On the other hand, the only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much. If one has no time for this, then one must at least pray regularly. But the less one prays, the worse it goes. And if circumstances do not permit even regularity, then one must put up with the fact that when one does try to pray, one can't pray -- and our prayer will probably consist of telling this to God.
As to beginning afresh, or where you left off, I don't think you have any choice. You simply have to begin wherever you find yourself. Make any acts you want to make and feel you ought to make, but do not force yourself into feelings of any kind.
You say very naturally that you do not know what to do if you have a quarter of an hour alone in church. Yes, I suspect the only thing to do is to shut out the church and everything else, and just give yourself to God and beg Him to have mercy on you, and offer Him all your distractions.
Taken from The Spiritual Letters of Dom John Chapman, osb.
© Copyright 1938 Sheed and Ward, London, England.
CT
The Struggle of Prayer
by Dom John Chapman
Prayer, in the sense of union with God, is the most crucifying thing there is. One must do it for God's sake; but one will not get any satisfaction out of it, in the sense of feeling "I am good at prayer. I have an infallible method."
That would be disastrous, since what we want to learn is precisely our own weakness, powerlessness, unworthiness. Nor ought one to expect "a sense of the reality of the supernatural" of which I speak. And one should wish for no prayer, except precisely the prayer that God gives us -- probably very distracted and unsatisfactory in every way.
On the other hand, the only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much. If one has no time for this, then one must at least pray regularly. But the less one prays, the worse it goes. And if circumstances do not permit even regularity, then one must put up with the fact that when one does try to pray, one can't pray -- and our prayer will probably consist of telling this to God.
As to beginning afresh, or where you left off, I don't think you have any choice. You simply have to begin wherever you find yourself. Make any acts you want to make and feel you ought to make, but do not force yourself into feelings of any kind.
You say very naturally that you do not know what to do if you have a quarter of an hour alone in church. Yes, I suspect the only thing to do is to shut out the church and everything else, and just give yourself to God and beg Him to have mercy on you, and offer Him all your distractions.
Taken from The Spiritual Letters of Dom John Chapman, osb.
© Copyright 1938 Sheed and Ward, London, England.
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