It seems odd to have to say it, but every year it seems I must. For there are people - good Christian folk - who somehow have become so familiar with the story that they have forgotten why we need to repeat it each year. They have become so accustomed to it's details that they don't want to make the trek.
Early on that Friday morning, there was a great deal of turmoil in many peoples' minds and hearts. There were Scribes and Pharisees who were attempting to gather together to make the case before the Sanhedrin that this rabble-rowser had stirred up enough trouble, and now needed to be dealt with swiftly. Earlier that week, he had the audacity to upset the sacred customs of the Temple Treasury in a fit of rage, turning over tables, screaming in the courtyard like a madman, and chasing away the livestock that had been assembled for the holy sacrifices.
There were ordinary citizens of Judea who had taken the trouble and the time to make an arduous journey to Jerusalem to make that pilgrimage a reality - already dealing with the difficulties of long-distance travelling by foot, and dealing with the unpleasantries of the Roman guards and centurions who would harrass them along the way. Only to find as they arrived that the whole city was in turmoil, and the coming trial of a criminal who had disrupted the order of the day.
Then there were the followers. Men and women who had been travelling - some as long as three years - with this man, only to scratch their heads in wonder at why he was doing what he was doing, why he was saying what he was saying.
Last of all there were the disciples - that close-knit band of brothers who had been with him from the beginning. They were confused by the late night feast the evening before, confused by the changing of the centuries-old customs of the seder. Then, there was the arrest, the surrender without a fight, and the disgrace of that mock trial. Had they backed the wrong horse? Had they followed the wrong Messiah? Had these last three years been a waste of time?
The events of that Friday made it difficult for a lot of people. It is no wonder that there are so many folks who live in the moment of Palm Sunday's parade, and exist for an entire week, hoping to land safely on the other side of the Resurrection without having to traverse that dark hillside shadowed by a cross, and then watch as the stone sealed up the last remaining hope for a new order, a new way of life, coming to a halt in the silence of that evening. It is easier, and much less painful to move from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the Alleluias of Easter without having to make that trek through Good Friday.
As tempting as it may seem, please do not allow yourself to skip over the darkness of that day. We truly do need the darkness in order to appreciate the brightness of Easter morning. If there is no cross or tomb, there can be no resurrection. Experience it, reflect upon it. Allow God's Spirit to walk with you - even through the darkest valley - the valley of the shadow of death. For the other side of that valley is life everlasting.
See you in Church!
Grace and peace,
Brad
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Offensive...
"One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling. "This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!" (Luke 15:1-2, GNT)
This was the passage of scripture today for my morning devotions. As I read it, I began to wonder about Jesus' reputation. That was surely the question the teachers and Pharisees were raising. They were amazed that he would dare to associate with "the wrong kind of people." Didn't Jesus know the law? Didn't he understand the rituals concerning clean and unclean? Didn't he understand that those people weren't politically correct to associate with? There is a decorum that must be maintained. There are certainly standards that have to be upheld. And there are laws! "Jesus! How could you possibly eat with those folks?!"
The harshness of their criticism stung in my mind. How dare they challenge Jesus! How dare they distinguish between who Jesus can associate with and who he may not! How dare they raise their noses in the air in superiority! Don't they know who Jesus is?
Then I began to wonder about their comments. Who were these "tax collectors and other outcasts"? Tax collectors in those days were people of unscrupulous greed, willing to sell out a relative for a larger cut of the take. They were unconcerned about who they were taxing - as long as they managed to get their part from Caesar. "Other outcasts" is a sanitized way of saying "just about everyone else who doesn't deserve to be included in community." Sinners, to be sure, but of such a voracity of sinfulness that this translation chose not to itemize. Immorality, self-centeredness, greed, those suffering from disease and dis-ease, and so many more that the list was virtually endless. "Other outcasts" pretty much says it all.
My reflections meandered their way down to where I am in my ministry, in my own discipleship, and even to my own soul. I began to wonder, "what do others think of me? Do others care if I associate and even eat with the "wrong kind of people?" And then the conviction hit. Am I more concerned with my reputation with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law than I am with those who desperately need to hear a word of hope? Am I more concerned about what the "right crowd" thinks of me, that I am afraid of being bold enough to associate with the ones who need to hear the word of grace the most?
Ultimately, how I behave in the world - who I associate with, what and how I share what I have and who I am, and how available I make myself to others - comes down to being the visible result of who I am in my inmost being. If I have aligned myself with the world, I will value what the world values - possessions, power, prestige. If, however, I have aligned myself with Christ, I will value what Christ values - people, relationships, the soul. Christ's values are simple - they are directed toward bringing people back into a right relationship with God. In Christ, the sin is outcast, not the sinner. In Christ, the value is in the person and the relationship between her/him and God, others, and the self. To be aligned with Christ is offensive to the world's values. To be aligned with the world's values is offensive to Christ.
I pray that God will have mercy on me when I forget these values, because it directly affects how I behave in the world. I pray that God will grant me the boldness and courage to share a meal with those who are desperately in need of being "cast back into the fold". I pray you will find that same grace in strength also, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
This was the passage of scripture today for my morning devotions. As I read it, I began to wonder about Jesus' reputation. That was surely the question the teachers and Pharisees were raising. They were amazed that he would dare to associate with "the wrong kind of people." Didn't Jesus know the law? Didn't he understand the rituals concerning clean and unclean? Didn't he understand that those people weren't politically correct to associate with? There is a decorum that must be maintained. There are certainly standards that have to be upheld. And there are laws! "Jesus! How could you possibly eat with those folks?!"
The harshness of their criticism stung in my mind. How dare they challenge Jesus! How dare they distinguish between who Jesus can associate with and who he may not! How dare they raise their noses in the air in superiority! Don't they know who Jesus is?
Then I began to wonder about their comments. Who were these "tax collectors and other outcasts"? Tax collectors in those days were people of unscrupulous greed, willing to sell out a relative for a larger cut of the take. They were unconcerned about who they were taxing - as long as they managed to get their part from Caesar. "Other outcasts" is a sanitized way of saying "just about everyone else who doesn't deserve to be included in community." Sinners, to be sure, but of such a voracity of sinfulness that this translation chose not to itemize. Immorality, self-centeredness, greed, those suffering from disease and dis-ease, and so many more that the list was virtually endless. "Other outcasts" pretty much says it all.
My reflections meandered their way down to where I am in my ministry, in my own discipleship, and even to my own soul. I began to wonder, "what do others think of me? Do others care if I associate and even eat with the "wrong kind of people?" And then the conviction hit. Am I more concerned with my reputation with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law than I am with those who desperately need to hear a word of hope? Am I more concerned about what the "right crowd" thinks of me, that I am afraid of being bold enough to associate with the ones who need to hear the word of grace the most?
Ultimately, how I behave in the world - who I associate with, what and how I share what I have and who I am, and how available I make myself to others - comes down to being the visible result of who I am in my inmost being. If I have aligned myself with the world, I will value what the world values - possessions, power, prestige. If, however, I have aligned myself with Christ, I will value what Christ values - people, relationships, the soul. Christ's values are simple - they are directed toward bringing people back into a right relationship with God. In Christ, the sin is outcast, not the sinner. In Christ, the value is in the person and the relationship between her/him and God, others, and the self. To be aligned with Christ is offensive to the world's values. To be aligned with the world's values is offensive to Christ.
I pray that God will have mercy on me when I forget these values, because it directly affects how I behave in the world. I pray that God will grant me the boldness and courage to share a meal with those who are desperately in need of being "cast back into the fold". I pray you will find that same grace in strength also, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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