Holy Week Daily Reflections 2014 - Easter Sunday

John 20:1-18

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 20:18 (NRSV)

What will they see?

If you are a parent, imagine for a moment the panic when your child comes running from the other room looking like something awful is wrong. They are out of breath, possibly trying to speak through the whimpering of either angry or hurtful tears. You can barely understand what they are saying. If you have more than one child, you also know that as soon as you can make sense of one report of what happened, there will be another report that will offer a different perspective.

Witnesses after auto accidents report what they saw, but often their reports don’t match up. The officer working the scene will be taking statements from everyone. The truth will be put together later, possibly in order to write a citation for the accident, or, in the worst case scenario, to settle the sometimes inevitable lawsuit. But regardless of the eyewitness details, there are things that are obvious to everyone. Metal is bent. Tire rubber lines the road. Clearly an accident happened. The details may not all match, but there will never be doubt that cars impacted one another and damage was done.

The resurrection of Jesus is sort of like this. Each gospel writer shares the story from a bit of a different perspective. For Biblical literalists, this is a bit of a problem. For those of us who are Biblical “realists,” we find no reason to doubt the resurrection because the accounts differ a bit. The details are a little different, but in every account, one thing is certain. The tomb is empty and Jesus is alive!

Today will be one of the highest attended days of the year for churches everywhere. People still come to church looking for evidence of the risen Christ at work in the world. They are looking to see the living Christ in the hearts and lives of the people who call themselves his followers. I can’t imagine anybody will come to church today looking to actually see Jesus in the flesh. But many will come, secretly hoping to see somebody who is living like him.

I hope there will be lots of eyewitness accounts of Jesus alive and at work in the world through His glorious church. I hope there will be thousands of witnesses to the living Christ serving and loving the world. I hope that the churches I serve will welcome and love those who might be seeking evidence of the risen Lord.

What will they see?

Holy Week Daily Reflections 2014 - Friday

John 18:1-19:42

 

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. –John 19:1 (NRSV)
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. –John 19:16 (NRSV)

I think I’ll pass.

I think most people have enjoyed at least some television game show in the past. Maybe we don’t make a nightly appointment with Alex Trebec, but we still love the idea that you can go on a TV show, answer a few questions right or solve the puzzle, and win big. Some of these shows have the pressure of time in answering the questions. Occasionally, there will be a format in which there are multiple questions or challenges that come in a row quickly. The rules sometimes allow the contestant the opportunity to “pass” and move on to the next question. The question might come back up later on or it might not, but either way, because of the timed format, they are given the chance to move on to something that they know.

I can think of a number of times in my life where the problems I was facing of the challenges before me were so difficult, if life had given the me the opportunity to “pass” I would have done it. In this scripture today, we see the usual result of power on display. Pilate will not touch a whip, but he passes the sentence for him to be flogged. Other gospel writers portray Pilate’s attempt to symbolically wash his hands of the whole thing, but no matter how many ceremonious hand-washings he does, Pilate ultimately passes judgment on Jesus to have him crucified. He does it because he is under pressure from the crowds. The time crunch is on. Only this is not a game. The question is going to come back up for another chance. Pilate’s name is recorded throughout the ages as the great appeaser of the crowds. Pilate tries his best to claim “PASS.” Ultimately, he just comes out looking weak and manipulated by his circumstances.

The one in all of this story who had the greatest right of all to ask for a life “pass” is Jesus. He has done no wrong. He has simply proclaimed the truth of God. Yet, as has happened before, God’s word has been rejected. The word made flesh is handed off for crucifixion. Because Jesus is entirely submissive and courageously loving, he doesn’t ask for a “pass.” He suffers death for you and me. Jesus said to us that no one has greater love than to lay down their life for a friend. Jesus puts this perfect love into divine action, and lays down his life for the world.

This great sacrifice is the beautiful work of a loving God who desires to forgive us of our sin and give us new life. When we meet God at the throne of judgment at the last day, we stand condemned because of our sin. But, when the time comes for us to be judged, if we know Christ, we will experience the greatest “pass” of all time as we are welcomed into an eternity in God’s presence. The question of our guilt will never come up again.

So do I want to receive the justice of God and punishment for my sins? No way! I know Jesus!

I think I’ll pass.

Holy Week Daily Reflections 2014 - Thursday

John 13:1–17, 31b-35

So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. –John 13:12 (NRSV)

It’s bath time.

I am excited and nervous because I am participating in (and leading) my first ever footwashing service tonight at church. I recently read a book called Pentecostal Sacraments by Dr. Dan Tomberlin, a Church of God pastor in Vidallia, Georgia. He calls footwashing a sacrament. We only recognize two sacraments in the United Methodist Church, and we interestingly defend that position because these were directly commanded by Jesus.

But what about footwashing? This statement in John couldn’t be any clearer. Jesus, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, stoops to the role of the lowly servant and washes feet. Even in our highly civilized world, our feet are still among the smelliest and nastiest parts of us after an even average day’s activities. Short of asking us to clean each other’s armpits, I would say presenting our dirty, smelly feet to one another for washing is about the grossest thing we can think of.

But then again, Jesus died so that the grossest and nastiest parts of our lives could be cleaned up. It also seems from this expression that he wants us to use this sign to aid in our efforts to help one another along the path to clean living. As we Methodists have become more wealthy and more educated through the years, such practices as footwashing have diminished. It’s just not “done” in polite company. I think Jesus is saddened by these sorts of things and desires us to have far more meaningful experiences in worship than we often have. Footwashing, even if not a sacrament, can surely be a means of grace through which Christ can strengthen our relationship to him and to one another.

Even if you don’t feel so comfortable with participating in the footwashing service at church tonight, consider having a private footwashing in your household. Maybe it would be a way of bringing your family closer together as we all realize we should be servants of all.

 

It’s bath time.

Holy Week Daily Reflections 2014 - Wednesday

John 13:21-32

 

Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. –John 13:28 (NRSV)

 

I think I’m pretty smart.

 

Most of you who know me can think of a thousand ways to laugh in the face of such a statement. But here’s the thing… you think you’re pretty smart, too, don’t you? Most of us think we largely have the world figured out. Some of the most humble people I know will, in the course of private conversation, share the ways they think people in government, church, or in their own workplace ought to be doing things differently in order to get better results. In one way or another, must of us think we have a lot of right answers.

 

This scripture passage today tells the moment at which one of the most well-known plans of conspiracy and betrayal was set into motion. We know the story well. Most pastors and teachers try to help us understand how we are Judas in some way or another. They remind us that we have all betrayed Jesus in some way.

How about putting ourselves in the perspective of all the other disciples that night. The scripture tells us that not a single one of them knew why Jesus had singled Judas out to do “what [he] was going to do.” In fact, even though other places in the scripture affirm that the disciples suspected Judas and believed him to be a thief, John has the rest of the room recorded as being completely clueless to one of the most significant acts in all of humanity. These men were the closest to Jesus of anyone, and yet they had no idea what was going on.

 

The truth is that no matter how informed we think we are, much of the time, we find we are not aware of the whole story. We don’t know the motives that drive our best friends and closest family to much of their behavior. Only God knows the depths of our heart. We misunderstand and accuse people when they mean well and we sometimes believe the best in people when they are being motivated by the greatest of evil. This is probably one of the best reasons in the world why Jesus advises us not to judge people. The best reason of all is probably that we will be wrong most of the time.

 

These disciples will learn about this night in the coming years. But tonight, confusion reigns. Yes, I think I’m really smart. But it is in my sharpest moments that I realize how much I really don’t know. It is in these moments of clarity that we are driven not to judgment, but to humility.