Category: the Gospel

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Hands

This is something I wrote a little over a year ago. I thought of starting a “Best of” series like some other bloggers have, but I realized that “best of” would be a bit if an oxymoron for what I write. And anyway, imonk doesn’t read my blog so… 🙂

Nickel Creek has a song titled “The Hand Song”. The words are challenging.

The boy only wanted to give Mother something
And all of her roses had bloomed
Looking at her as he came rushing in with them
Knowing her roses were doomed
All she could see were some thorns buried deep
And the tears that he cried as she tended his wounds

And she knew it was love
It was one she could understand
He as showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

He still remembers that night as a child
On his mother’s knee
She held him close and she opened her Bible
And quietly started to read
And seeing a picture of Jesus he cried out
“Momma, he’s got some scars just like me.”

And he knew it was love
It was one he could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

Now the boy’s grown and moved out on his own
When Uncle Sam comes along
A foreign affair, but our young men were there
And luck had his number drawn
It wasn’t that long till our hero was gone
He gave to a friend what he learned at the cross

But they knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

How willing are we to do whatever it takes to show our love? We who have learned at the cross – do we give to others what we have learned?

Are we even willing to get our hands dirty, let alone hurt them to show the same love that Jesus showed us on the cross?

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Good Weekend

This has been a very good weekend for my family and me. On Friday, we went to an interaith Stations of the Cross service. Saturday was the night for the Easter vigil at an Episcopal church our son attends. This morning found us at a sunrise service at the Associated Reformed Presbyterian church my father-in-law goes to. Later, we went to a PCA church for their Easter service. It is good to see how different traditions celebrate our Lord’s resurrection, and it gives me an appreciation of the diversity of the Body.

A common theme through all the celebrations, especially Sunday’s was that the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. No longer do we have to live in fear. Christ has conquered death and hell. He has given us life. We no longer have to live for self. Christ has broken the bonds of sin, the pride that says I am better than others and can earn my favor with God. We are free and able to love others as Jesus has loved us, and we now live through the endless grace of God.

Because Christ is risen, he tells us to go and tell others that the King has come. He has established and is establishing his Kingdom. It is a Kingdom built on love and sacrifice, not power and oppression, a Kingdom built on peace, not conflict.

Christ is risen! Go and tell the story.

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Good Friday

This evening, we went downtown for a Stations of the Cross service. I was privileged to help carry the cross to one of the stations. It gave me just a minuscule taste of what my Savior went through.

While we were at one of the stations, a transit bus pulled away from a stop and drowned out part of what was being said. I thought how for most people in our town, life was going on as usual tonight. I imagine that on the day that Jesus was crucified, life went on as usual for many of the people in Jerusalem. The religious leaders had a day that was out of the ordinary, as did the followers of Jesus. I would guess that most of the folks in the city went about the usual preparations for the Sabbath. The darkness and earthquake threw a bit of a scare into them, but it may have been a minor inconvenience.

How many of us are like that? Sure, we believe that Jesus died to save us, that his blood cleanses us from sin. We are thankful for that, we sing songs about how much we love him and we “Amen” sermons about the cross. But we go on and live our lives as if nothing significant happened, and life goes on as usual. What difference has the cross made? Is it really important, or is it just something that defines our religious system as different from others?

Jesus didn’t die on the cross just to buy us a ticket to heaven. His sacrifice was not so we could use the cross to prove that we are better than others. Jesus suffered and died so that we who were dead could live. He died to make us children of God. His death takes away all our sin and our guilt so we no longer have to live in fear. We are free because of the cross.

Jesus’ death also serves as the example of the way we should love others. He said that the greatest love was to lay down your life for your friends, and then he laid his life down for us. Jesus also gave a command that we love others in the same way that he loved us. He said that our love would prove to others that we belong to him.

Do we live in a manner that puts others first? Are we known for our love and sacrifice, or are we known for the things we are against? Is our life characterized by simplicity and generosity or are we wrapped up in the pursuit of the American Dream?

Has the cross made a difference in our lives? Is it continuing to make a difference?

Or is life going on as usual?

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Encouragement

This year, as we are in the middle of Holy Week, I see some very encouraging signs in the Church. During Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, he gave them the commandment that would define his followers, the command to love each other as he loved them. He washed their feet, giving them an example of the self-sacrifice that this love would require.

What is encouraging to me is the number in the Church who are realizing that we are to be about showing God’s love and grace to those around us, and that spreading the Gospel and making disciples goes beyond a ticket to heaven, that it affects our day to day lives. The Church is beginning to break out of the small box it has been in for the past century or so, and is recognizing that our Father is so much bigger and more powerful than anything we can imagine. There is a movement of the Spirit going on. I would liken it to a new Reformation. Yes, it is messy at times, but I have hope that God will form his Church into something that will again “turn the world upside down”.

Check out the sites I have listed to get a sense of what I’m talking about

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Thoughts on the culture war

There’s a great article on the culture war here . It’s the article by S. Michael Craven on Feb. 14.

I agree with his assesment. The splintering of the “Religous Right” and the willingness of younger Christians to consider voting for more liberal candidates shows that the war is over.

Now maybe we can stop fighting and get back to doing what we are called to do in the first place – make disciples.