Alleluia!

Once upon a time there was a peasant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a single good deed behind. The devils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell God; 'she once pulled up an onion in her garden,' said he, 'and gave it to a beggar woman.' And God answered: 'You take that onion then, hold it out to her in the lake, and let her take hold and be pulled out. And if you can pull her out of the lake, let her come to Paradise, but if the onion breaks, then the woman must stay where she is.' The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her; 'Come,' said he, 'catch hold and I'll pull you out.' And he began cautiously pulling her out. He just pulled her right out, when the other sinners in the lake, seeing how she was being drawn out, began catching hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman and she began kicking them. 'I'm to be pulled out, not you. It's my onion, not yours.' As soon as she said that, the onion broke. And the woman fell into the lake and she is burning there to this day. So the angel wept and went away. (The brothers Karamazov: a novel in four parts and an epilogue, Fyodor Dostoyevski)

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!

What would life be like for those other sinners in the lake, if the woman hadn't kicked them off? What would her life be like today?

What would life be like if Jesus hadn't died for our sins?

God's peace...

No Condemnation

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:1-11)
 

I don't know about you, but I know many people who say, "God hates me!" or "God has it in for me!" In Paul's letter to the Romans, you can see that this is immediately untrue. Verse 1 in today's reading explicitly tells us that those who believe in Jesus are not condemned. For some of you, this fact may take a while to sink in, and that's all you'll get out of today's reading. That would be fine for me. Let me say it again. Anyone who believes in Christ Jesus is not condemned; God doesn't have it in for you! You may be a sinner, but there is a way out - belief in Jesus. God became flesh in Christ Jesus to end the power of sin.

Because God has set us free from sin, we need to make sure that we continue to live God's way. If we do, we are heirs of God's glory. Being united with Jesus overcomes all fear of judgment by God. He will not condemn us because He has already forgiven us.

In a time in which anxiety and worry seem to multiply each waking minute, it seems refreshing and relaxing to know who is really in charge of our lives, who calls the shots, and what really should be important to us. Praise God for the privilege of belonging to His family!

A Confession of Sin

For many people, being absolved of sins goes hand in hand with Lent. As an Episcopalian, this doesn't seem like such a weighty task as it did when I was a practicing Roman Catholic and had to make a special trip to church for a reconciliation service where I had to speak one-on-one with a priest. The absolution of sin is often part of our weekly church service; while this is a good thing, I think it sometimes causes people to lose sight of how important it is that we can be absolved of all of our sins.

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Today, of all days, let us be cognizant of the commitment that Jesus made for us, so that we could have eternal life.

Choosing Love

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38-42)

Joseph and Nicodemus were secretly following Jesus. Now, at the moment of Jesus' death, when it made the least sense for them to come forward as followers, they made their faith public by receiving Jesus' body, preparing it for burial, and placing it into a tomb. In a sense, there was no reason to show support for Jesus now - He had died. Jesus had been murdered by the very system He had challenged. And yet, Joseph and Nicodemus chose to make their faiths known now. Jesus' death had not removed their faith; in fact, His death had strengthened their faith.

Perhaps Joseph and Nicodemus had seen something that we all need to see. Perhaps they had realized that believing in Jesus and his message was about how we choose to live our lives. Jesus had submitted to crucifixion because He allowed nothing to take away his commitment to absolute love for one another. This is what Jesus taught, and how He lived. It was the kind of world that Jesus had invited those who followed Him into. Whether Jesus was dead or alive, Joseph and Nicodemus could choose to live in the world into which He called them, rather than the world of power, hate, conflict, and self-interest.

Today, we face the same choice. We can live according to the world that has been given to us by those who came before us - filled with power struggles, love of money, and our wants - or we can live according to the world that Jesus gave to us when he died upon the cross - as lovers of God and our neighbors, no matter what the cost.

Today, we remember Christ's death upon the cross. Today, we have the choice to live our lives anew. Which way will you choose today?

God's peace...

[Today, especially, I encourage you to share God's word with others. If you are reading this on my blog, simply click the appropriate link under "Share It" above and to the right.]

Denial

Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterwards.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times. (John 13:36-38)

Those of us who go to church or read the Bible - or even grew up going to church - know the story. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times. Peter denied Jesus twice and thought nothing of it. But as Peter denied knowing Jesus for the third time, the rooster crowed.

Can you imagine the look that Jesus gave Peter? As Peter was vehemently denying knowing Jesus, the bird crowed and Jesus looked directly at Peter. The gospels go on to tell us that Peter "went outside and wept bitterly."

I wonder if it was the disappointment that Peter felt from Jesus' look or the inner disappointment in himself that hurt more. I wonder if Jesus gives me that look from heaven when I do some of the stupid stuff I do. I wonder if, when I lose it and weep, Jesus takes pity on me, or if he just takes it in stride.

Jesus is always waiting to welcome us back with open arms if we just confess our sins and put our trust in Him. Isn't today a great day to start?

God's peace...

The High-Priestly Prayer

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ (John 17:1-26)

This passage is often referred to as the Farewell Prayer or the High-Priestly Prayer of Jesus. Some scholars speculate that this prayer takes place in the Upper Room following the Last Supper. Most likely, the prayer was offered while the disciples sat listening in silence.

What's interesting is that this prayer is easily broken into three major sections (concerns related to Jesus, concerns related to the disciples, and concerns related to the future), and there are seven different requests prayed for by Jesus. The requests are:

• joy (v. 13)
• protection (v. 15)
• holiness (vv. 16-17, 19)
• truth (vv. 14, 17)
• evangelism (v. 18)
• unity (vv. 21-23)
• love (v. 26)

Read back through the prayer, and see if you can figure out how these themes interrelate. Personally, I find three major themes that run throughout this whole passage. Because the next three days are supposed to be spent thinking about Jesus and his sacrifice for us, I will leave you with the themes that I found, and I will let you reflect on them.

1. Christ is our faithful intercessor and High Priest. How does Christ praying unceasingly for us affect us in our daily lives?
2. The glory of God is constantly referenced in the Prayer. Why is glory so important for our daily living?
3. This prayer is timeless - that is, it is as relevant to us today as it was when Jesus was sitting with the disciples in the Upper Room. What is it that makes THIS prayer so timeless -- why is it still relevant? And so what?

God's peace...

Risk and Failure

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. (John 12:27-36)

Jesus' message was radical - especially for his time - and is somewhat troubling.  Jesus' disciples expected a king who would ride into Jerusalem like a general before his army, wiping out his enemies. Instead, what they got was a Messiah who says that glory will come from death - out of failure.

"Should I ask the Father to save me? No!" The rhetorical question really drives to a point the kind of message that Jesus shared. The way of Jesus is risky - and in this risk, we feel fear and insecurity. For with risk, we throw away cares and possibly begin to ignore our instincts to survive. The way of risk - perhaps even failure - is (through Jesus) the way to victory.

As we approach the end of Lent, are we willing to walk the road with Jesus?

God's peace...