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Tweeting Good Friday
Most of you dwellers know this, but I am fond of Twitter.
Really fond of it.
[Subliminal message: Get an account now.]
I much prefer it over Facebook, which is fast becoming Mombook and is a cluttered mess of irrlelevant information much of the time; Twitter, on the other hand, is lightning-fast, highly relevant and taggable, and generally super informative. It's proclamation aggregation instead of (oft-inane) conversation.
Don't worry, not writing off Facebook, just yet - just stating the preference. To put it simply, I have never been yelled at on Twitter - on Facebook, happens kinda frequently.
I'm writing this on Holy Saturday as I work on the sermon for tomorrow. This whole week has been an awesome time of reflection and contemplation; in fact, I've felt strongly that this week has been an important one for the future of our community (of communities) - and there's been all of the intensity, and even difficulty, associated with something important.
To put it simply, Holy Week is huge, and it has been both a beautiful and serious time for me thus far.
Last night, though, was the first taste of the fruit of this week's labors: the Good Friday gathering. I cannot express how profoundly impacted I was by that hour, by Trevor's poetic account of the Passion, by Josh's ongoing musical genius, by Grant's unbelievable contemplation mix, by all of our wonderful readers, and, all told, by this fresh experience of the death of our King.
By the way, you can grab the audio from last night on the Sermon page, or just subscribe to the feed.
So, Twitter. I found myself tweeting (and sometimes 'booking) Good Friday thoughts all week; and others were doing the same thing. So here are some Good Friday tweets to meditate on this Holy Saturday as we await celebration tomorrow:
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And one from Facebook (cuz it exceeded 140 characters):
And finally...
Resurrection Week
One of my families' favorite traditions is to extend holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions into week-long celebrations. As a kid this was amazing - my birthday meant not just one day of fun, it meant a week long time to be with family and pretty much do whatever you wanted - like I said, amazing. As we get closer to Resurrection Sunday I propose that we do the very same thing with the celebration of our King. Every single day this week we should all join together as a community in focusing our thoughts and lives on the incredible fact that Our Savior, who died for us, is not dead but alive and calling us all into lives of restorative resurrection mission, community, and justice in Burlington.
Here's a little piece from Palm Sunday that I expanded on a bit. I hope it sends you into this week with a hope that enables you to face anything this life has to offer.
"When we look at life and ultimately death – the fact that all of this is going to come to an end for every single person on this earth – our outlook on life starts to change. The reality of death is the primary cause for just about every 45 year-old you see driving a red Miata (and really? A Miata? Wow). Holy self-help books, batman.
Here's a quote from Rick Mckinley of Imago Dei that really resonated with me,
We all, at some point, come to face the reality that life has NO MEANING if resurrection isn't true.
And Jesus came and was raised from the dead to once and for all show us the true purpose of life. Jesus is the point of our lives (whether you believe or not) – and his kingly position does not mean that He's to be a supplement or an add-on (He's not the protein shake you drink between meals – He's the meal). His resurrection changes everything – it means that my outlook on life no longer has to keep ignoring the ending (because that's what we do, we ignore it). We can embrace the fact that in the end, death will not win because Jesus has conquered it for us.
Our God is the God of the living, and His love is stronger than the power of death. This invitation to believe is an invitation to finally live for the purpose you were meant for – The king invites with expectancy, ready to lead you and desirous that you believe and follow. When we put the whole weight of our trust in the resurrection (and we stop holding some of it back for if we get the raise, or if we get the A on the paper, of if we get the girl) we are free from being constantly swayed by our circumstances. We can rest in His finished and completed work, and finally begin to live."
I leave you with, quite possibly, the best "resurrection" scene from any movie.. ever.
And BE WARNED, it starts a bit violent and completely ruins the movie if you've never seen it!
Skeleton Bones
So there's this song called 'Skeleton Bones' and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it pretty much all week. While the music and the melodies are amazing, that's not why I can't stop thinking about it. The final line of the chorus is the real reason. It simply says, "Crown Him, Stand Him up". Those 5 words have been getting my attention because when it comes down to it, our lives have one single purpose.. To crown our Savior, and STAND HIM UP.
But more on that in a minute..
Before I had totally put my faith and trust in Jesus I was always searching, searching for the thing that would make me happy, that would fill the void and "fix my brokenness" (though I wouldn't have put it that way). Like Jack from 'Lost' says, "I'm broken and I was stupid enough to think this place (the island) could fix me". This is how we all are isn't it? We think the summer-time or the new video game or the car or the girl or the boy or the degree or the career or the house or the money are going to once and for all make us happy, satisfied, and fix us. Even if we don't go around saying that or admitting it, when we're honest with ourselves it's how we live... and all of those things are incapable of making it happen.
This is why Jesus had to come. He came to breathe His resurrection life into our skeleton bones; He came drenched in love, for no other reason than to see us truly alive and reconciled with Him... and His love is stronger than the power of death. In His death and, most importantly resurrection, He has purchased new life for us, true life that surpasses anything this world can offer. Even our unworthiness, though it seems insurmountable at times, pales in comparison to the strength of His resurrection love. It is no match.
Because of who He is and what He's done, because He died and was raised for us, our lives have one purpose - Crown Him, Stand Him Up. Adore Him, love Him, and worship the God-Man who was raised to conquer death for you. His love is specific, it's tangible, it's real, and it was fully realized in His resurrection. When the weight of your trust has been fixed on the resurrecting power of what Jesus has done for you, you can finally embrace the mission and purpose and meaning your life was meant for, even in the here and now, in the daily routine. We aren't here to simply bide our time until we get to heaven - our actions in this life hold much greater worth than we often realize. To 'crown Him' and to 'stand him up' is to join in with creation, the 'everything that breathes', giving our lives to the one who has given us life. Check out this quote from NT Wright:
The point of the resurrection is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die...What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it...What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it...). They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom.
Jesus came drenched in love for us. He came to see us go from broken, searching and lost, to found. To see us go from dead and depressed and un-fulfilled to ALIVE, at peace, and one with your creator. Our job is so simple (and yet, so difficult thanks to our pride). All we must do is once and for all put down our walls, open up the gates to our heart, and let Him in. His invitation is always there, His hand out-stretched always.
But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." - Romans 10:21
Even when all we have done with our lives is lived contrary to the way we know we are supposed to and to the way God intended, His hand is still held out, drenched in love, ready and waiting to bring life to our skeleton bones.
Race for the Crown
I love the Olympics. I love gymnastics in the Summer and figure skating in the Winter. Kind of cliché for a girl to say, I know, but it is true! This year was no exception, as my husband and I would sit down for dinner, we would watch them slide around the ice in glitter and sometimes to bad music. But this year, my attitude was a bit cynical. I never really noticed how many times these talented people would fall. We noticed that after the first fall, they would have trouble nailing the consecutive jumps. And I found myself being disappointed and uncomfortable. Are we demanding too much perfection? Do we demand reality be perfect, and when it fails to be so, can't move on? But the beauty was that those athletes did move on. Failed jump after failed jump they continued. One girl broke my heart as I watched her fall three times, but continue with a smile and determined energy. She finished with a smile but after the music ended her head fell into her hands and she mourned.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians that we as Christians are to run a race. His analogy was perfect, because in his time, that culture had the exact same Olympic games were it ended with an endurance race. The one champion would walk away wearing a crown of pine. The Christian walks away from life with an imperishable crown. Paul says "I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air." How many gold medalist do we watch beat the air when they finish? We are asked by Paul to live our lives with the same focus and determination as these athletes we watch, only our goal is not selfish, but selfless. It is training and it is a daily. But we are not alone, if we look to our right and to our left, we should be surrounding ourselves with others who are running the same race. Support and encouragement come from our Christian community. We can all relate to the doubts that fill our head, fatigue from work and victories in the name of our Lord. We are all to be looking to the same finish line. When we fall down or feel like a failure, God still loves us. It is inevitable that we will fall, but it is the getting back up that counts.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
Another favorite moment of the Olympics is the winners ceremony, where the gold medalist sings their national anthem and their flag is raised highest. What song will be playing when we meet our Lord face to face? My guess is Amazing Grace.
When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.