Tag Archives: Good Friday

Love Unswerving

Good Friday

April 19, 2019

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
–1 Corinthians 15:22-26

I am a strong believer in the separation of church and state. I am a stronger believer in the day that is coming when our faith fully aliened with God’s love is reflected in all governments. I think that is what Paul is trying to say in the above scripture, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. We humans are the ones desirous of controlling or overthrowing governments by the force of our personal and national powers. We lean on bigger armies, more cunning political skills, and money lots and lots of money. What we fail to comprehend is that there is no power greater than God’s abiding love. As we are made in God’s image, fully capable of loving like God, and as we diligently strive to love like God that image will pass through us to are governance.

This is the day set aside to remember the greatest illustration of God’s love, the day Jesus was crucified. It is a good day for self-examination regarding our loving like God. It is a good day for us to renew our commitment to take on the very fiber of God’s love in our being and to live it in all aspects of our lives as individuals and as members of the Body of Christ charged with carrying forward the work of Jesus.

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
not my deserving.*

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of you love, empower us to grow into loving like you. Amen.

*Verses 4 and 5 of Ah, Holy Jesus by Johann Heermann see at https://hymnary.org/text/ah_holy_jesus_how_hast_thou_offended All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Messengers of Christ

Lent
Good Friday
April 14, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 20:1-18

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. –John 20:11-18

Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John as having been present at the cross when Jesus was crucified. What better first witness to his resurrection could there be? Some most likely thought she was overwhelmed by grief, seeing things perhaps. Besides being a woman, an automatic downgrade in authority, she owned a sketchy past of possible mental illness. Both characteristics are appropriate for a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus’ vision development continued through his chosen messenger. He was a respecter of women and an advocate as well as a healer for the mentally ill, a guardian of all oppressed people.

Today, we stand at the foot of the cross along with Mary Magdalene. We each have our own frailties and strengths. We are each called by God to be his messengers of love and grace. In my church there is a large, plane wooden cross hanging above the baptistery, and a more ornate smaller brass cross centered on the communion table, displayed as reminders of the events of this day in our faith history. Meditating on either of them is meaningful to me, but the most important reminder of the cross in my church is the sanctuary itself, crafted in the shape of a cross with a long center aisle stretching from back to front and the crossbeam at the head of the pews reaching from side to side. It illustrates for me that the followers of Jesus Christ are his Body engaged in fulfilling his mission throughout the world. We are each individually and all together called to be his messengers.

Prayer:
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me. Amen*

*From An Irish prayer by St. Patrick see at http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/413139-christ-with-me-christ-before-me-christ-behind-me-christ

All scriptures are quoted from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

The Irony of the Death Penalty

CrucifiedLent
Good Friday
April 3, 2015

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43

…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; — Acts 10:38-39

How ironic on this Good Friday, I think, as I write this. I am distracted by preparation for the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. We still execute people in Oklahoma.

There are no good rational reasons to continue the use of death penalty. Studies done by other states clearly document the much higher cost of executing the death penalty than sentencing someone to life in prison.  Social scientists have long noted that the use of the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to crime, one of the reasons often given for supporting it. Perhaps the more chilling fact is that since 1973 when the use of the death penalty was reinstated by a Supreme Court ruling, 150 persons have been exonerated as not being guilty of the crime for which they received the death sentence, ten of those in Oklahoma.  We do not know how many innocent persons have been executed. If the death penalty has no impact on crime and if there is lack of certainty in whether a person is actually guilty of a crime, why is it so important that we spend our limited dollars on maintaining the use of the death penalty?

We humans, as much as we feel we are enlightened with reason and logic, are not. We are afraid—afraid of the evil that surrounds us and afraid of change. We also tend to believe that there is a hierarchy of sin. Surely, if we identify people who have sinned more than us that means something about us. Not true, sin is sin and must be confessed and forgiven.

It is ironic that our salvation came through an innocent man who was executed and because of him we have no reason to fear evil or change for he has conquered the world (John 16:33). We have every reason to trust that if we repent and confess our sins we will be forgiven. We have every reason to work toward every human, even the criminal, knowing the love of God through Christ.

Prayer: Lord, you commanded us to care about prisoners. Help us open our hearts to them and to restore them to wholeness. Amen.

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved