Dear Thursday Welcoming Church,
Today is such an intimate day in the journey to the cross. Having a meal with friends in a home and engaging in foot washing is about as connected as you can be. I’ve learned that this is a key piece of the Christian story – intimacy and connection.
When we are not engaged in intimate relationships; when we don’t nurture deep and abiding connections and community, we are not living a cruciform life.
We see the ordinary elements of bread, wine, and water being used to nourish and cleanse. But we can’t miss the significance of this happening in community. This isn’t a time to be isolated. It’s a time to be with.
Who are you being invited into intimate relationship with this week?
What stands in the way of this intimacy?
Dear ComplicitFriday Church,
There’s nothing good about today.
Today is the day when my Lord is killed – executed – on a tree by the dominant powers.
Today is the day when a mother watched her son be tortured and dehumanized.
Today is the day when friends became enemies and turned their backs on the one they said they loved.
Today is the day when God wept and begged and breathed a last breath that carried the weight of despair, fear, disappointment, and loneliness.
There is nothing good about today.
I am not one who glorifies the death and suffering of Jesus. Truth be told, I don’t believe Jesus had to die. I believe that humanity – WE – killed Jesus because we couldn’t fathom the depth and breadth of love and grace being offered to us despite every shortcoming. We couldn’t believe that we were worthy enough to be loved so extravagantly. We couldn’t believe that we were worth it.
And isn’t this what happens when we refuse to accept the best? We end up self sabotaging and causing unnecessary pain and suffering. My Lord didn’t deserve to die. My Lord didn’t want to die. My Lord prayed for and loved us even as we despised ourselves.
There is nothing good about today.
Dear Grieving Saturday Church,
God. Is. Dead.
Today, the one who came so that we might have abundant life, is dead. He was tortured, mocked, and executed. The one who is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present, is no more.
I have so many feelings on this day. How could a God who created all allow death to happen? Why would God willingly choose death over life? How did Jesus’ mother get through the night after watching the complete dehumanization of her child? How did the disciples look themselves in the mirror the next day? What is happening???
Holy Saturday reminds me that all feelings are valid. You couldn’t have told anyone who witnessed the crucifixion that there was more to the story. What they witnessed was final. It was finished.
There is no easy way of getting through today. You just have to feel it all and be present to the pain.
God is dead.
#1 Photo by Ingrid Hofstra on Unsplash
#2 Photo by Tess Nebula on Unsplash
#3 Photo by Aaron Mello on Unsplash
