Presby-Musings

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," 27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. 28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is accomplished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Today is Good Friday--the day Christians commemorate the suffering and "passion" of Jesus.  On this day of Holy Week, according to the Gospels, Jesus suffered on the Cross between noon and three o'clock...

It is Good Friday---the day that Christians commemorate the death of Jesus on the Cross.  I read years ago that it was once called "God's Friday," but that "God's" eventually morphed into "Good" over the centuries.  Regardless, Christian now call this Friday "Good" because through the death of Christ we believe that our old self with all of its baggage is crucified, put to death and buried with Him, which is definitely good news.   Last night at the powerful Maundy Thursday service we held at my church, we stripped the sanctuary of all of its decorations as we concluded worship.  One of the other pastors and I took the large cross that hangs on the wall of the sanctuary down and carried it out. When I looked back at the bare wall, I felt my emotions well up inside of me.  It was a helpless kind of feeling that I felt.  The loss of that familiar symbol hit me harder than I thought it would.     Kathleen Morris once wrote, ...

I read a story recently about a performance artist in the 1970's who engaged in a controversial performance piece.  She stood in a gallery, and the crowd gathered were given instructions to do whatever they wanted to her.   The artist (the crowd was told) would be completely silent and passive for six hours, no matter what.  At first, people did pretty benign things. But it turned sinister about midway through the performance.  The performance artist ended up being assaulted, abused, stripped, sliced with a razor blade, forced to hold a gun to her head and a number of other humiliating and horrific things.   When the six hours was up, she began to move and speak to the crowd, and immediately they all fled the room out of guilt.  She eventually collapsed, emotionally and physically exhausted, and in shock at how quickly people had turned to darkness.   The story of that performance artist made me reflect on Jesus' passion, and it also made me...

22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. - Psalm 22:1-2 There are few words in the Bible that are more poignant than the first few words of the first verses of Psalm 22.  Most of us probably know these words from Matthew's account of the Passion of Jesus:   About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). (Matt 27:46) In the throes of agony, in the worst moment of his life, at the very brink of death--what comes to Jesus' mind is a psalm, one that he had memorized as a child.  And the first words of this psalm reveal the intense feelings of abandonment that Jesus felt in that moment.  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"   Christians believe that Jesus was fully human and fully ...

Today is Palm Sunday --the Sunday before Easter, the day when we celebrate the beginning of Holy Week with the waving of palms, singing of songs, and other assorted awesomeness. This is the Sunday--before the  Sunday.  The moment before the moment. Did you know that the moment before the moment is the most important moment? When I say the moment before the moment, I mean the moment before the great moment --the moment of decision, the moment of destiny, the moment that always seems to get all the attention But it's the moment before the moment that's actually the most important---moment. Think about it. Remember the first time you went on the high dive at the pool?  You climbed up that ladder that seemed like it went to heaven.  Then you stood there at the end of that diving board, barely able to walk.  But you did--you stepped forward and then stood there at the end of it looking down.  And then you took a breath. That moment--the moment...

This is a copy of the devotional I sent my church members this morning.   John 19:25-28 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas , and Mary Magdalene . 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman,here is your son," 27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. 28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. I have on many occasions stood at the bedside of loved ones who breathed their last, and put my arms around their family me...