San Diego First United
Methodist Church’s Daily Devotion for Monday, 2 June 2014 – Sunday, 8 June 2014
Week 6 & 7 - The
Way - Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus by Adam Hamilton
All-church Study (May
4-June 8, 2014)
Pentecost – Week 7 - Your
Defining Story
“When therefore it was
evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked
where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood
in the middle, and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ When he had said this, he
showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they
saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be to you. As the
Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on
them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive anyone’s sins,
they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been
retained.’”(John 20:19-23)
Week 6 - The Final Week
- Jerusalem
Your story, may not
seem exciting or extraordinary to you, and you may feel that it is not worth
telling. However it is your story which is important to you and God. It is
unique to you and may be exactly what someone else needs to hear. Take time to
know your story. Sharing one minute with someone is the process of planting
toward an eternal harvest.
Read by Sunday, June 8:
Pages 159-167 and
134-158 (optional) - The Way - Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus (Book)
Monday - Read today:
Which King Will You Choose?
Pages 145-147 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
“On the next day a
great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him,
and cried out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the
King of Israel!’ Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is
written, ‘Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting
on a donkey’s colt.’”(John 12:12-15)
Last election season, I
received political phone calls in thirty minutes, hoping to persuade me to vote
this way or that. Signs were in the yards of my neighbors. The airwaves were
filled with commercials for each of the candidates. The presidential candidates
and their supporters spent over two billion dollars trying to get elected. In
the end, each voter had to make a choice as to which candidate should be
leading our country going forward.
On the first Palm
Sunday, those in Jerusalem were offered a choice as well. Three “candidates”
marched into Jerusalem that week, perhaps on the same day: There was Pilate,
accompanied by centurions riding on their magnificent steeds, planning to keep
the peace by intimidation, planning to crucify a handful of Jews who dared rebel
against Rome’s authority. There was Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, who had
taken his brother’s wife as his own—an incident that shortly thereafter led to
Herod’s beheading of John the Baptist for speaking against their act.
There was also a third
candidate. He entered Jerusalem not on a stallion, but a donkey. He came not
adorned in gold and silver and silks, but in the clothes of a carpenter. His
followers were a raging band of misfits, tax collectors, prostitutes, common
folk, and children who hailed him as a king on that Sunday as he entered
Jerusalem. He spoke of loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute
you, and turning the other cheek when mistreated.
Which person would you
have chosen among these three? The powerful and wealthy who ruled by might? Or
the peasant king who called his followers to conquer by the power of
sacrificial love? As I awaken each morning, I always take a moment in prayer to
hail Jesus once again as Savior and King.
Lord, help me to choose you each day and to follow in
the path you’ve laid out of me. You are my King and my Lord. Teach me to
demonstrate kindness in the face of unkindness and to overcome evil by the
power of love. Amen.
Read today:
Pages 171-174 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
The Gardener
“But Mary was standing
outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the
tomb,
When she had said this,
she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus. Jesus
said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ She,
supposing him to be the gardener, 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, ‘Rabboni!’ which is to say,
‘Teacher!’”(John 20:11,14-16)
John’s Easter story is
moving and profound. In his gospel, he intends to do more than tell us what
happened. His stories and their details are meant to show us what the story
means.
Mary stood weeping
outside the tomb. The stone had been rolled away. Jesus’ body was not there.
She did not yet understand. To her grief had been added the painful thought
that someone had taken Jesus’ body from the tomb to further humiliate him!
Composer C. Austin
Miles penned his well-loved hymn “In the Garden” after reading John’s account
of the Resurrection. It is sung in Mary’s voice: “I come to the garden alone,
while the dew is still on the roses.” Suddenly Jesus appears next to Mary, but
she doesn’t recognize him. Since the tomb was located in the garden, Mary
thought at first that Jesus was the gardener.
This mention of the
garden, with Jesus seeming to be the gardener, only appears in John’s gospel.
John wants the reader to connect the dots between this garden and the Garden of
Eden. Remember, John begins his gospel pointing back to the Garden of Eden by
echoing the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning…” (John 1:1). John
wants us to see what happened in Eden—the loss of paradise—was being reversed
in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In Genesis, God had said, “In the day you eat
of the forbidden fruit you will die.” The archetypal story of Adam and Eve in
the first garden point to the pain and death that come when we turn from God’s
way! But in this garden—where Jesus is crucified, is buried, and then emerges
from the tomb—he takes away the sting of our sin, and he conquers human
mortality.
When I wrote the
companion book to this devotional, I described a woman named Joyce and her
cancer diagnosis. In the month between the writing of that book and this one,
Joyce died. A day or so before her passing, I stood by her bedside at the
Hospice House. Her family was there. One of our worship leaders sang some of
her favorite songs. Joyce faced her death with confidence and hope, and she
instilled these in her husband, children, and grandchildren. She found her hope
in the story of Christ’s resurrection. And with C. Austin Miles she would sing,
“And He walks with me, and He talks with me,/And He tells me I am His own;/And
the joy we share as we tarry there,/None other has ever know.”[C. Austin
Miles, “In the Garden,” The United
Methodist Hymnal (Nashville, the United Methodist Publishing House, 1989),
314]
Lord, help me to trust in the hope of Easter—that
you live and walk with me, and that you have conquered death. I believe that
because you live, I shall live also. I entrust my life to you. Amen.
Tuesday - Read today:
Pages 148-151 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
Who do You Belong To?
“They watched him, and
sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in
something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the
governor. They asked him, ‘Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is
right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it
lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But he perceived their
craftiness, and said to them, ‘Why do you test me? Show me a denarius. Whose image
and inscription are on it?’ They answered, ‘Caesar’s.’ He said to them, ‘Then
give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are
God’s.’”(Luke 20:20-25)
Shortly after entering
Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and found that the merchants and
moneychangers had been filling their own pockets by forcing worshipers to
exchange coins or purchase animals for sacrifice at prices well above market,
Jesus drove them out, enraging both the merchants and the religious
authorities, who also made money off the arrangement.
After that, Jesus
taught in the Temple courts each day, and hundreds came to hear him. But the
religious leaders were determined to trap him in his words, by leading him
either to say something they could claim was blasphemous, or to say something
against Rome that would allow them to turn Jesus over to Pilate as a
revolutionary. In today’s Scripture, the trap they set was a clever one. If
suggested that it was lawful to pay taxes, then he would alienate those who
resented the annual tribute owed to the emperor. If he said people should not
pay taxes, then he would be turned over to the Romans as a dissident.
In response to their
query, Jesus asked for a denarius, the common coin of the day. The coin
represented a day’s wages for a common laborer and the annual tribute due the
Emperor from every adult male in Palestine. Jesus asked whose image was on the
coin. The Greek word for “image” is eikon—icon.
This was also the word that was used in the Greek translation of Genesis 1:27,
where God made human beings in His Image—His Icon.
The head on the coin
was likely that of the reigning emperor, Tiberius, and the inscription probably
read, “Tiberius Caesar, the son of the
divine Augustus.” So the leaders replied, “the emperor’s” (Luke 20:24). Then
came the brilliant response by Jesus: “Give to the emperor the things that are
the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25).
Who would argue with
his logic? The coin was struck in Caesar’s image; render unto Caesar. But you
are another matter. Your heart, your mind, your soul were made in the image of
God. Render unto God’s the things that are God’s
The Covenant Prayer of
the early Methodists is an example of a prayer aimed at helping the one praying
it to “give to God the things are God’s.” I invite you to make this your prayer
today:
I am no longer my own but Thine. Put me to what you
will. Rank me with whom you will. Put me to doing or put me to suffering. Let
me be exalted by Thee or brought low for Thee. Let me be full or let me be
empty. I freely and heartedly yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, most glorious and blessed God, thou art mine and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant that I have made on earth let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Read today:
Pages 175-179 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
Some Doubted
“But Thomas, one of the
twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I
see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will
not believe.’”(John 20:24-25)
Michael was a guide on
my first trip to Israel. He was Jewish, but it was obvious that he knew more
about Jesus than the average Christian. As Michael described the various places
we went, he assume more New Testament knowledge than some of our people had,
and I would have to stop and explain what he had just said. Michael was more
like a professor of New Testament than a Holy Land guide.
At one point, away from
the rest of the group, I asked him, “Michael, you genuinely seem to love Jesus,
yet you are not a Christian. Tell me about this.” He said, “I do love him. I
love what he taught, I love what he did, I love the way he cared for the sick
and the broken. I grieve the tragedy of his death and believe he gave his life
to demonstrate the path of love, and to show God’s love.” I said, “Michael, it
sounds like you are a Christ-follower.” He responded, “ My only problem is that
I can’t find the faith to believe in the Resurrection.”
Michael was not the
first to struggle with the concept of Jesus’ resurrection. In Luke’s gospel, the
women were the first to meet the risen Christ, but when they told the disciples
that he was risen, “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not
believe them” (Luke 24:11). When Jesus finally appeared to the disciples,
Thomas was not with them, so he did not believe. In fact, ten disciples told him they had seen Christ risen, and still he
refused to believe. His skepticism earned him the nickname “Doubting Thomas.”
Matthew, in his account, depicts the disciples seeing the resurrected Christ
for the first time in Galilee when he gave the great commission. Matthew notes,
“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17).
I think Jesus had great
empathy for doubters. He knew the Resurrection would be hard to believe, which
is why, after appearing to Thomas he said, “Because you have seen me, you have
believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed”(John 20:29).
The first time I read
Matthew and Mark’s Gospels I was not yet Christian. I, too, found the
Resurrection difficult to believe. Finally, as I read Luke’s account, it began
to make sense. I asked myself, “ What would be different if the Resurrection on
not occurred?” Jesus would have died on the cross, just the same. But this
death would be a defeat, not the prelude to a victory. Evil would have won.
Hate, fear, and bigotry would have been the victors. The apostles would have
returned to fishing. Paul would never have met the risen Christ. The Great
Commission would never have been given. The message of redemption, forgiveness,
and hope would not be known throughout the world.
It finally hit me that
the story had to end with the Resurrection if in fact it was God’s story. Evil
would not have the last word. Death could not have the final say. I came to
trust that God, who called forth the universe through his creative power, also
had the power to bring about Christ’s resurrection from the grave. Realizing
this, I came to trust that the tomb was empty and that the women, the
disciples, and Paul had in fact seen the risen Christ.
God raised his son from
the dead. I not only believe this, I’m counting on it. But I still have empathy
for those, such as Michael, who struggle with doubt. I assured Michael that he
was in good company—that the earliest disciples of Jesus struggled with the
Resurrection, too. I invited him to keep following Jesus’ way and to continue
pondering the Resurrection. I suggested that one day he, too, might come to see
the logic, and power, of the Resurrection.
“Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.” Thank you
for your patience with doubters such as Thomas. Help me to trust in the Easter
story and to know that because you live, I will live also. Amen.
Wednesday - Read today:
Pages 152-155 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
A Recovering Pharisee?
“Then Jesus spoke to
the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sat
on Moses’ seat. All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe
and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. But all their
works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge
the fringes of their garments, But he who is greatest among you will be your
servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself
will be exalted.’”(Matthew 23:1-3,5,11-12)
Each day of the final
week of his life, Jesus was more blunt in his criticism of the religious
leaders. His parables were just thinly veiled indictments of their hypocrisy.
In Matthew 23, Jesus spoke in the Temple courts to a crowd of hundreds, perhaps
thousands. He began with a warning to do as the Scribes and Pharisees said, but
not as they did. One has the impression that there were religious leaders
standing in the crowd, wearing flowing robes and frowns.
Jesus eventually turned
to speak directly to them: “Woe to you, Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!” His
words may seem unduly harsh and designed to provoke, until we remember that he
knew already that these leaders would put him to death. He saw these leaders as
betraying the very God they claimed to serve.
What were the religious
leaders doing wrong? They were filled with pride. They performed acts of piety
in order to be noticed by others. They loved affirmation and being seen as
important. They demanded that the people practice one thing, while they
themselves privately lived by another standard. They developed binding rules
that contradicted the spirit and intent of the Law they claimed to uphold. They
tithed on every herb in their garden, but failed to practice justice, mercy,
and faithfulness.
In the most graphic of
images, Jesus noted that the religious leaders were like “whitewashed
tombs”—beautiful outside but full of decay inside (Matthew 23:27). The leaders
appeared righteous but were full of hypocrisy and wickedness. They were like
blind guides. They strained gnats but swallowed camels. You get the idea. It
wasn’t a flattering picture. Having said that, I now have a confession to make:
I am a recovering Pharisee, and sometimes I “fall off the wagon;” I find that
nearly every part of Jesus’ indictment of the Pharisees has, at one time or
another, applied to me. How easy it is to pose as something you are not, to
love being called “Pastor” or “Reverend,” to stand in front of a congregation
asking people to do something that you yourself are not doing.
The Greek word for hypocrite meant an actor on stage. Are
you play-acting your faith, or does it permeate your entire life? Are you like
a whitewashed tomb filled with unclean things? Jesus indictment of the
Pharisees is an invitation of self-examination and repentance.
Looking back at today’s
reading from Matthew, I am reminded of the call to practice what I preach, to
live my life “for an audience of One,” and to humble myself before God and
others.
Lord, forgive me for those moments when I have
become a Pharisee. Help me to live what I claim to believe. I long for my
motives to be pure—Please forgive me when they are not. And help me to humble
myself before you, while seeking always to serve you. Amen.
Read today:
Pages 180-183 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
On the Road to Emmaus
“Behold, two of them
were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from
Jerusalem. They talked with each other about all of these things which had
happened. While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near,
and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”(Luke
24:13-16)
It was Easter
afternoon. The disciples were still reeling, having learned that Jesus’ tomb
had apparently been desecrated and his body taken. There were women who had
reported he had been raised from the dead, but as yet the disciples did not
believe them. Two disciples, a man named Cleopas and another unnamed disciple,
left Jerusalem for Emmaus, about a two-hour walk from the Holy City. William
Barclay’s translation of Luke 24:17b notes that “their faces were twisted with
grief.”[From William Barclay, The
Gospel of Luke (The Daily Study Bible; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956);
307] They were on a journey filled with sorrow.
We’re walked on the
road to Emmaus. Our road may have led to the unemployment line or the hospital,
to the courtroom or the cemetery. One way or another, we’re all walked on a
journey where our hopes and dreams have been crushed, and sorrow seems to be
our only friend.
Jesus came as a
stranger to Cleopas and his friend. He listened as they told him, not realizing
who he was, about the events surrounding the Crucifixion. When he began to
speak, he offered them a different perspective on the events that had occurred.
Then that evening, as he gave thanks for their meal and broke the bread, they
saw that his stranger was Jesus.
Today, Jesus routinely
sends us to be his representatives, as strangers on someone else's road to
Emmaus. And sometimes he sends others to us on our road to Emmaus. Whatever our
role, the key is to pay attention!
A man I know was
checking into a hotel when a woman entered the lobby, upset and clearly
struggling. She need a place to stay for the night but had no way of paying and
could only promise that she was being wired money the next day. She ran out to
her car to get proof for the manager that she would be to repay him the next
day. While she was gone, my friend for the woman’s room and quickly scratched
out a note to her: “I felt God wanted me to pay for your lodging tonight. I
believe he wants you to know that he hasn’t forgotten you.” My friend became
the stranger on the road to Emmaus.
A woman I know stopped
in a church restroom during worship, only to find another woman there in tears.
The two of them had never met before, but the other woman’s face was “twisted
with grief.” My friend could tell that the woman needed someone to care for
her, and she paused to minister to the woman. This was the road to Emmaus, and
she would be the presence of Christ for this sorrowful woman.
As a follower of
Christ, you have the opportunity to represent him. Pay attention to the
strangers you meet. It may be that the Lord wants to use you to offer comfort
and hope to those in need as they travel along the road to Emmaus.
Lord, teach me to pay attention to the strangers
around me. Use me to encourage, comfort, and care for the stranger in need.
Amen.
Thursday - Read today:
Pages 156-159 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
Maundy Thursday
“A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love
one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
“arose from supper, and
laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his
waist. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’
feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”(John
13:4-5)
“He took bread, and
when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, ‘This is my
body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.’ 20 Likewise, he took the
cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is
poured out for you.’” (Luke 22:19-20)
On Thursday of Holy
Week, Christians around the world gather to remember Jesus’ Last Supper with
his disciples. The day is called Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday. It is
likely that Maundy comes from the
Latin mandatum, which, as you might
guess, can be translated as mandate or commandment. On this night, just before
his arrest, Jesus would give his disciples three mandates: love one another,
serve one another, and remember him in the breaking of the bread.
Love and serve one another: Sitting at the table, Jesus said to his gathered
disciples, “I give you a new commandment. Just as I have loved you, you also
should love one another.” What does it mean to love as Jesus loved? While Jesus
undoubtedly felt a brotherly love for his disciples that was not the love he
demanded of his disciples here. He demanded agape—not
feelings, but selfless acts done to help, benefit, or care for another. Earlier
in John 13 we read, “He now showed them the full extent of his love” (John
13:1). Then he proceeded to assume the role of the lowest household servant by
washing his disciples’ feet.
After washing their
feet, Jesus said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done
to you.” Loving by serving is meant to define the Christian life. Jesus said
this would be a sign to the world that we are his followers. We live selflessly
and sacrificially towards others. In this we become leaven and salt. We let our
light shine so that, through us, the world glimpses God’s kingdom and what we
were meant to be as human beings.
Sunday a physician told
me how a man had come to her office the previous week. He said he was not a
patient, but his friend was. His friend needed a $1,700 procedure that was not
covered by insurance, and the man knew his friend could not afford it. The man
said, “I’m here to pay for the procedure, but you cannot tell him who did this.
Please simply say that the expenses have been covered.” The physician told me,
“In all my years of practice I’ve never had anyone do something like this.” In
this one act, the benefactor had demonstrated both what it means to love and
what it means to serve.
The final command Jesus
gave was to remember him in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the
cup. While we do this in Holy Communion, I’ve always felt Jesus intended
something more. Every meal in every Jewish home included bread and wine. I
wonder if he did not intend that every time his followers gave thanks at
mealtime, they would remember him. This is what we do when we pause to say
grace at meals. In this simple act, we remember him who gave his live for us.
Lord, help me to remember your love and sacrifice
every day of my life. Give the grace to love and serve others without a desire
for recognition or repayment. Amen.
Read today:
Pages 184-188 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
The Great Commission
“But the eleven
disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. 17 When
they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came to them
and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on
earth. 19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of
the age.’ Amen”(Matthew 28:16-20)
Anglican scholar,
pastor, and writer R. T. France, in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew,
notes that its final verses, often called the Great Commission, are the climax
and fulfillment of the entire Gospel.[Discussed in R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (the New
International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007)]
At the beginning of the
Gospel Jesus is referred to as “Immanuel,” God with us; at the end of the
Gospel Jesus promises to be with us always, to the end of the age. At Jesus’
birth the wise men, Gentiles, Come to pay homage; after his resurrection Jesus
sends his disciples into all the nations. During Jesus’ temptation the devil
offers him the kingdoms of the world—not just their wealth, but by implication
their power; at the end he declares that all authority has been given to him on
earth and in heaven (Matthew 28:18). At the beginning of his ministry he
invites twelve disciples to follow him; now he sends them out to the whole
world to invite others to follow him. Throughout the Gospels Jesus has taught
his followers about the kingdom, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount; now
they must teach others to obey everything he has told them.
Jesus’ Great Commission
calls all who follow Jesus to invite others to do the same. But we are honest,
most of us are a little nervous about talking to others about Jesus. We love
the quote, often attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, that we should preach
the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words. [Although scholars
disagree whether Saint Francis actually said these words, the concept of living
out the Gospel in one’s daily life was certainly central to his message.]
We’re happy to show the gospel to others, but often we pray that we won’t have
to “use words.”
Yet the Kingdom of God
on earth only expands as people who are Christ followers—people like you and
me—share their story with others.
I became a Christ
follower at age fourteen because a man named Harold Thorson was going door to
door inviting people to church. I became a Christ follower because a girl named
LaVon invited me youth group and Sunday school. I became a Christ follower
because a pastor and a youth pastor told me what Jesus had taught his disciples
and invited me to obey. All these people showed me the gospel, and they knew
they also had to use words.
There are people in
your life who are not yet Christ followers. Some would consider the Christian
faith if you were to tell them what your faith in Jesus means to you. Make a
list of people God may be calling you to share your faith with. Pray for them.
Invite them to worship with you. Over a cup of coffee, tell them the story of
how you came to faith, or the difference Christ has made in your daily life.
Last week a woman came
to me after worship, saying it was her first Sunday at our church. She had felt
lost for some time. Some good friends had loved her, and listened to her, and
gently shared with her the difference Christ had made in their lives. The
friends had described how they had found him at our church. And they had
encouraged her, not just once but multiple times, to visit the church.
The woman looked at me
and said, “Today I feel that I finally found what I’ve been looking for. I’m so
grateful to my friends who encouraged me to visit the church!” Her friends were
fulfilling the Great Commission, and in the process they were being used by God
to change this woman’s life.
Who are the people God
wants you to reach out to in his name?
Lord, I wish to be your disciple. Help me to follow
you faithfully. Use me, I pray, to share with my friends your story, and to
invite and encourage him/her to join me as I follow you. Amen.
Friday - Read today:
Pages 160-163 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
A Mirror and A Self-Portrait
“The soldiers led him
away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the
whole cohort. They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they
put it on him. They began to salute him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They struck
his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to
him. When they had mocked him, they took the purple off of him, and put his own
garments on him. They led him out to crucify him.
It was the third hour,
and they crucified him.
Those who passed by
blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying ‘Ha!’ You who destroy the temple,
and build it in three days,’ Likewise, also the chief priests mocking among
themselves with the scribes said, ‘He saved others. He can’t save himself. Let
the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see
and believe him.’ Those who were crucified with him also insulted him.”(Mark
15:16-20, 25, 29, 31, 32)
Mark’s account of the
crucifixion makes clear the inhumanity of those who surrounded Jesus on that
first “Good” Friday. They were anything but good. An entire cohort of soldiers
came together to humiliate Jesus, beating him, mocking him, spitting on him. Jesus
was crucified outside the city walls, and those who passed by hurled insults at
him. (Crucifixion occurred on main roadways to act as a deterrent for others.)
The religious leaders showed him no mercy, mocking him as he suffered. Mark
tells us that Jesus was taunted even by those who were crucified alongside him.
For all these people, it was not enough that they had successfully sentenced
Jesus to die. They wanted to dehumanize him as well.
If we could step back
and take a cosmic view of this scene, we would see God the Son beaten, abused,
spat upon, cified, then mocked and taunted as he hung dying. And his abusers?
The fancied themselves the champions of justice. The chief priests and experts
in Scripture believed they were the champions of God’s Law. The common Jews saw
themselves as God’s chosen people. The irony of the Crucifixion is
overwhelming: God came to humanity, even to his own people, and they crucified
him, seeking to crush his spirit as he suffered.
The Crucifixion is at
one and the same time a mirror held up to humanity, making plain our
inhumanity; and a self-portrait of the God who willingly suffered at our hands
to redeem us, change us, and save us from ourselves. We are meant to see
ourselves in the crowd at Calvary. Alexander Solzhenitsyn has rightly noted,
“The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”[From
Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag
Archipelago 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, (Translated
Thomas P. Whitney; New York: Harper and Row, 1956);307] But we’re also
meant to see a God who suffers as a result of our sin, and who is willing to
die in order to save us from ourselves.
Like the crowd at
Calvary, we have the capacity and propensity to rationalize the hurtful things
we say and do to one another. We are experts in justifying what cannot be
justified. We, too, have turned from God’s way in order to hold on to power, to
pursue wealth, or to protect our wounded pride. We’ve made thousands of small
turns away from God’s path, and few really big ones. Which is why, on Good
Friday, we pause to remember that the Crucifixion was for us. We see the Lord
hanging there. We hear him cry out, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know
what they do.” We see in the cross our need and God’s gift. We kneel before our
crucified Lord and pray:
Forgive me, Lord! Heal me, Lord! Help me, Lord, that
I might, from this day on, follow in your way! Amen.
Saturday - Read today:
Pages 164-168 - The Way
- 40 Days of Reflection (Daily Devotion Guide)
What If Judas Had Waited?
“Then Judas, who
betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought
back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I
have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to
us? You see to it.’ He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and
departed. He went away and hanged himself.”(Matthew 27:3-5)
Several years ago I had
the chance to visit the place tradition says Judas hung himself. The field, known
as Potter’s Field or Field of Blood, overlooks the Valley of Hinnom—Gehenna.
Gehenna served as the city’s trash dump in the time of Christ and, owing to the
constant fires that burned the rubbish there, came to be synonymous with hell.
On the site of this field are the ruins of a twelfth-century Crusader church
and a host of discarded tombs in the side of the rock outcropping. And there,
in the middle of the field, is lone tree, a reminder that when Judas came to
this place, overwhelmed with guilt over having betrayed Christ, he hanged
himself.
As I stood at the tree,
a thought came to me: “What if Judas would have waited for three days?”
Many people, at some
point, think of ending their lives. For most, the thought is momentary and
fleeting. For others, who are overwhelmed by guilt, depression, or pain, the
thought lingers. Tragically, a few will conclude that life offers the only way
out.
Judas was one of these
few. He had betrayed Christ. His friend would die for his betrayal. He felt
there was no other way out. Yet I could not stop thinking, “If only he had
waited three days.” Had he waited, he would have seen Christ risen from the
grave. He would have known that even his betrayal was not the final word. He
could have fallen at Jesus’ feet and cried out, “Lord, forgive me!” And what do
you think Jesus would have said to Judas? Can there be any doubt that Jesus
would have shown mercy to him?
Imagine what would have
become of Judas had he waited. His witness might have been the most powerful of
all the disciples’. Can you imagine him telling his story throughout the
empire? “I betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. I watched him die on
the cross. But on the third day, he rose. And he forgave even me! If he forgave
me, what can he do for you?”
In our lives, we have
moments that seem overwhelming bleak. We make a mess of things and see no way
out. Judas felt that way. But the message of the cross and Resurrection is that
God is the Lord of second chances. In even the most dire circumstances, there is
always hope. After are most egregious sins, there is the offer of grace. In the
darkest of times, there is an Easter yet to come.
Listen carefully: there
is always hope. God is able to take the pain and despair of the present and
bring from it something remarkable. You can’t imagine it now, but look for
someone or something that can help you find hope: a pastor, a family member, a
friend, a suicide hot-line. Remember Judas’ story. Think about what could have
been, if only he had waited three days.
Lord, help me to trust you in my darkest hour. Help
me to remember that you can take something as ugly as a cross and turn it into
an instrument of salvation. Grant me courage to keep walking when I feel like
giving up. Amen.
* * *
If you or someone you
know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact a suicide hotline in your
area and contact the pastor of your local church.
-------
First United Methodist
Church
2111 Camino del Rio
South
San Diego, CA 92108
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment