"You who stalk the earth with new life" - Walter Brueggemann

Christ is Risen... He is risen indeed!

You Easter one

you who stalk the earth with new life,

you who soar the heavens with fresh governance,

you who traipse the seas with odd authority,

You life-giver,

You a strange anomaly among us,

for everywhere are signs of death:

...Benjamin taken in his youth,

our tax dollars at work in Serbia,

endless diagnoses among our friends,

people made redundant in all our euphemisms of "down-sizing,"

too much money and too little health care,

your church here and there nearly consumed with anxiety for itself.

And yet you appear here and there,

now and then:

You say "Fear not," and we are comforted,

You say "Peace I give you," and we are less restless,

You say "Go and sin no more," and we glimpse a new innocence,

you say and we listen,

you act and we are healed,

you... and us,

you and life,

you and newness,

you for us,

you with us,

you,

you,

you... and we are dazzled in our gratitude. Amen.

Not the kingdom of death - Walter Brueggemann

Christ is risen!
We give thanks for the gift of Easter
that runs beyond our explanations,
beyond our categories of reason,
even more, beyond the sinking sense of our own lives.
We know about the powers of death,
powers that persist among us,
powers that drive us from you, and
from our neighbor, and
from our best selves.
We know about the powers of fear and greed and anxiety,
and brutality and certitude.
powers before which we are helpless.
And then you... you at dawn, unquenched,
you in the darkness,
you on Saturday,
you who breaks the world to joy.
Yours is the kingdom... not the kingdom of death,
Yours is the power... not the power of death,
Yours is the glory... not the glory of death.
Yours... You... and we give thanks
for the newness beyond our achieving.
Amen.

Well Rested On Good Friday?

(Photo taken in the Garden of Gethsemane)


I woke up today well rested and with a strange feeling.

A strange feeling because I got 8 hours of sleep last night, a luxury Jesus was not afforded from Maundy Thursday on to Good Friday 2000 years ago. Last night, Jesus had the Passover meal with his disciples, sent Judas on his way, then headed to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray around 11:30pm. It's no coincidence that Gethsemane means "oil press". I was reading an article by Jurgen Moltmann in "Bread and Wine", and he pointed out that it was in the Garden that for the first time Jesus does not want to be alone with God. He seeks to be with his closest friends, and they keep falling asleep. They obviously don't understand the depth of struggle Jesus was going through.

Then he is betrayed with a kiss. Not just someone pointing him out and identifying him. Rather, an intimate kiss of one who knew him and his life well. This was the kiss of death, both for Judas and Jesus. I wonder if Judas could forget the look in Jesus' eyes as he approached him. Based off of Judas' suicide that followed, most likely he didn't. As they arrested Jesus, Peter fought back with a sword but Jesus would have no part in the violence. His closest companions ran off, leaving Jesus completely alone (like they had when he prayed). Jesus was led off by the soldiers, feeling the separation from his Father, as well as the betrayal of his friends.

By around 1:30am, He was led to Annas the former high priest as he began receive his intial beatings. He was then taken to Caiaphas, the current high priest and the Sanhedrin court, bloodied by more abuse. He was held prisoner for a couple hours at Caiaphas' palace, and I wonder if he got any sleep or if they had him hung up. They had another trial for Jesus, and decided to hand him over to the Roman government to be executed. The Roman governor Pilate found no guilt in Jesus, who handed him over to Herod Antipas, who quickly handed him back to Pilate because Jesus refused to answer questions. Pilate, in a hard place because he wanted to please the Jews, had Jesus beaten beyond recognition hoping that would appease the angry crowd. The Jews would settle for no less than death, and finally Pilate conceded and gave the orders to execute Jesus.

At this point around 8:30am, the mockery and torture grew in its scale. Fueled by the crowds, and endorsed by the government, Jesus had a crown of thorns beaten into his skull. By 9am, they had Jesus take up his cross (recognize that term?) and walk the road that led outside the city walls. By noon, he was naked and crucified between 2 thieves where all coming in and out of the city could see him. For 3 hours he endured some of the most intense agony man has ever felt. Between the nails hammered through his wrists and dislocated limbs, he couldn't even properly pull himself up on the cross to breathe full breaths. Finally, his lungs and body gave way and Life himself surrendered to death. The death that was mine. The death that was yours. The death that was ours.

That's why I have a strange feeling. I hope today I remember this violent day.

I'm not sure what else I can say, but thank you. We do not deserve such kindness and love.

I Need Resurrection

In the season of Lent, we confront the sin in our own hearts. From the heinous to the subtle, and the colorful to the plain. Regardless of how we dress and decorate it, at the end of the day it's all sin that took Jesus to the cross. The sin and our lack to overcome it is a symptom of a deeper condition. We find death where we were intended for life. There is a corpse within all of us, yet we know that corpse was intended for greater things.

I identify with Jon Foreman's lyrics in his song, "Resurrect Me":

I’ve become the empty shell, of a man I don’t like so well
I am a living, breathing hell, come on and resurrect me!

I tried to drown the pain with a friend of mine
It didn’t seem to help
She’s got a pretty face with her wedding lace
But I’m still waking up with myself

I’ve become the shell of a man, I can’t begin to even understand
Have I forgotten who I am? Come on and resurrect me!

I read Jesus' words in John 11:25-27 earlier today that connect with this:

"Jesus said to Martha, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.'"

The first interesting thing is that Jesus said this to Martha, the "busy" one. The one who could get things done, accomplished, and checked off her list. Jesus slows her down and says, "You need me. Despite all your outward workings and signs of life, I see the Lazarus inside of you, and I want to call him from his grave and free him to dance again." This is so hard for a prideful generation to hear, but just because it's hard doesn't mean it's wrong. I heard a song once say, "the truth is a hard sell, cause it burns out the lies."

Jesus says that He is the resurrection and the life. He knows well our condition, but also has the power to do something about it. So many people can diagnose our shortcomings, even offering short-term solutions, but Jesus knows that the solution is far beyond just a couple tweaks and a change in mindset. We each need resurrection, our corpses need a second birth.

What was Martha's reply? "I believe that you are the Messiah." Today, what would my response be? Do I believe? Do I trust that the resurrection I need is not only found in Jesus, but is Jesus? Is our belief and trust not just in a nice principle, but rather in a Person who wants us to trust him as he leads us from our cold dark graves into green fields bursting with life? Give us eyes to see how dead we are apart from you.

I need resurrection. We need resurrection.

Dorothy Sayers Quote

"To make the Easter story into something that neither startles, shocks, terrifies, nor excites is ‘to crucify the Son of God afresh.’"

Quote from D. Maddalena

(In response to David’s question in Psalm 79:5, “How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?”)

"Easter was the once-for-all-time answer to this question. Jesus took our place on the cross to appease God’s righteous anger. He went alone to be punished: separated from God and deserted by his friends. The drama of how this happened is the story of Lent… Before the Resurrection comes crucifixion; before crucifixion comes prosecution; before prosecution comes betrayal, doubt, fear, rebellion, and sin. Lent helps us experience our part in the Passion (suffering) of Jesus. We face our humanity during Lent: we learn that sin still dwells in us, that we still carry darkness. We learn that we would likely have fallen asleep as Jesus prayed for deliverance in the garden, and we would likely have denied knowing him as he silently accepted his death sentence."