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Sunday is here

3/31/2013

'It is Finished!" This is the powerful phrase uttered from the lips of Christ as he hung on a cross. On this day we celebrate the event behind the power of those last words of Jesus. When Jesus burst forth from the tomb His victory over the powers of sin and death was complete. No longer would sin and death hold the world in their dark shadow. When the stone was rolled away the blinding light of hope, redemption and salvation spilled out into the world and the world would never be the same.

There is power living in light of Sunday. We live knowing the cross was not the end, but just the beginning. The resurrection on Sunday gave us all a new hope, new purpose, and a complete victory over sin and death. On Friday, we took time to remember the darkness of Jesus' death. On that first Good Friday the words 'it is finished' brought grief, uncertainty and despair. But not on this day...

I would love to be able to go back to the day Jesus was hanging on a cross and put my arm around Mary. She was experiencing deep and powerful grief. Her world was crashing in around her as she saw her son suffering and ultimately dying on an execution tool reserved for the foulest of criminals. I wish I could whisper in her ear, "I know your grieving and hurting, I know it's a painful Friday, but Sunday is coming."

I would love to be able to stand before the Disciples as they huddled in fear and questioned everything that had happened over the last three years. They were searching for meaning and trying to make sense out of a senseless situation. Their future was in shambles and they were broken men. I wish I could say to them, "I know you are mourning and confused, I know that this is a Friday that has caused you nothing but uncertainty, but Sunday is coming."

I certainly would love to casually stroll up to the religious leaders as they mocked and laughed at this man hanging on a cross who had taken up so much of their time and energy. They were experiencing the adrenaline high of a victory won and a difficult plan accomplished. They were ready for life to get back to normal: a life where they had the religious power and dictated what the Kingdom of God looked like. I wish I could say to them, "I know you are enjoying your victory today and you better relish in the fact that it is Friday, but....Sunday is coming."

Let us all be reminded that Sunday is HERE. We all will have days and periods of our lives when we feel like it is still Friday, but remember Sunday is here. The man from Galilee has proven Himself to be the promised redeemer of Israel and the world. We live in His victory each and every day. We have a message to proclaim to the world around us; a world filled with those who are grieving, uncertain, confused, hopeless and yes, even some who revel in the belief that God is dead. We have a message for the world: It is no longer Friday, Sunday is Here!

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It Is finished

3/28/2013

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Jesus' final words spoken on the cross were possibly His most powerful: "It is Finished." I have always seen these words as powerful and victorious, but as we enter into Good Friday we should take time to think about what those words meant to people who heard them on the day Jesus died.

Think about Mary as she is looking up at her son hanging on the cross. When she heard the words 'it is finished' her heart was breaking. Her mind must have been flooded with the memories of the extraordinary night when she gave birth to this special child. On that night she could never have imagined the scene before her now. How could the child the angel promised Mary so many years ago be hanging on a cross. When Mary heard the last words of Jesus her grief must have been near unbearable. 'It is finished' meant 'it is over,' she was just another mother grieving the brutal execution of her son at the hands of the Romans.

Think about the Disciples hiding throughout the region in fear, uncertainty and grief. When the description of Jesus' last words on the cross came to them, what must they have felt? They had given up three years of their life following the one they believed to be the promised Messiah. Had they been wrong? Jesus, the one they gave up everything for, was now hanging on a cross much like previous men who had come proclaiming to be the promised one. In their hearts they still wanted to believe they had not wasted away the last three years of their life, but the hope in their hearts was being replaced by the image of the one they loved hanging on a cross. 'It is finished' meant the Disciples had to start their life over with the stigma of being men who put their trust in a man from Galilee; and they were wrong.

Think about the religious leaders jeering and mocking Jesus as he hung on the cross. As Jesus' popularity had been growing they felt their power weakening. The message Jesus preached of the coming Kingdom of God was a threat to the existing religious system and therefore a threat to the leaders themselves. No doubt, countless hours of planning and scheming were used to determine how to rid the world of this so called Messiah. The crowds of people following Jesus were growing and the religious leaders could not afford to have the crowds turn against them. The Romans were a constant antagonist to the religious leaders, but they were a needed commodity in order to see Jesus executed. Finally, their political maneuvering came to fruition and Jesus was hanging on a cross. 'It is finished' meant their plan had succeeded, their power was secure, life could go back to normal; and they were victorious.

But, Sunday was coming....

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Patrick of Ireland

3/18/2013

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Talking with the youth Sunday Morning, I realized that we have allowed Saint Patrick's Day to become a day that is synonymous with the color green, pinching each other, and dyeing the San Antonio River Green. Saint Patrick's Day is more than three leaf clovers and leprechauns, Saint Patrick's Day is a day to remember a man who lived out the Christian life in such a way that it changed a country...no, it saved a country. March 17 is a day to draw encouragement from an example of what living out one's Christian life can do for the lost world around us.
Patrick's story begins in 385 in Scotland, traditionally in Kilpatrick. Around the age of 14, Patrick was captured in a raiding party and taken in slavery to Ireland to herd and tend sheep. Ireland was a land of barbarians, and pagan religions that focused on nature. For six years, Patrick was sustained by his faith in God as he lived among his captors and learned their language and practices. At the age of twenty, Patrick was told in a dream by God to flee to the coast, where he found some sailors who took him back to Britain and he was reunited with his parents.
The story would be fine ending there: a story of perseverance reliance on God, and even some secret agent spy stuff, but Patrick's story does not end with his escape to freedom. After returning to Britain, Patrick had another dream in which the people of Ireland were yearning for him to return with the Gospel. He began to study and train for the Priesthood, and was ordained a Bishop in the church. He was commissioned to take the Gospel to Ireland...the home of those who took him away from his family and put him into slavery.
According to one account, "Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message. Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461" (www.catholic.org/saints).

The story of Saint Patrick is an example for every Christian. He took the words of Christ literally, to love your enemies. Because of Patrick, a country was changed as other missionaries followed Patrick and spread the Good News of Christ. Are we living out the Good News where God has called us? That might be the question that Saint Patrick's Day is a

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Elementary, My Dear Watson

3/5/2013

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I am a mystery/detective/scientific book/TV show kind of person. I love walking with the detective/explorer/shadow through the mystery that the author has put together and try to see the same clues that they see. I rarely solve the crime without the help of the main character, but the journey is the best part. The beauty of each story is in the details. I am stretched by characters like Juan Cabrillo, Dirk Pitt, Jack Reacher and Sherlock Holmes. They make it look so easy, but they cheat because they have read the script...the author tells them ahead of time how the story will end.
Our lives in Christ are much the same as the beauty is in the details. We know how the story ends, but the joy and love comes in the journey we take to get to the end. The joy is in the people we meet and share our lives with, the stories we hear and become a part of, and the lives that we impact as they impact us at some level.
Every detective has flaws; every hero has a weakness. The result is that the detective or hero needs someone to walk beside them, to partner with them as they do what they are called to do. Jesus had the disciples (Not saying Jesus had flaws, but he knew he needed someone to carry out his mission on earth after he went to be with God), Paul had Barnabas, Timothy had Paul, David had Jonathan, Barack had Deborah, Adam had Eve, Eve had Adam, the list goes on and on. We need someone to share the journey with, someone to walk alongside and share in the joy of the journey.
When life begins to go too fast and you find yourself wondering where the time is going, stop. Intentionally slow down and find someone to share the journey with, someone to share your story with, someone who will share their story with you. Take time to enjoy the details of life, the loved ones who God has given you, the creation around you, the Body of Christ that you are a part of. Life will not slow down unless you make it. Sometimes we have to tell the world that the phone and computer are being turned off and we are spending time enjoying the journey of life with those that are around us and the rest of the stuff that busies our lives will just have to wait.

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Sunday is here

It Is finished

Patrick of Ireland

Elementary, My Dear Watson

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