******CAUTION!!!!!!DANGER!!!!!PELIGROSO!!!!!****** THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS RELIGIOUS AND RELIGIOUS LIKE SUBSTANCES. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!I felt the need to add that (not) funny disclaimer. But as the title implies. Death is the topic today. (Appropriate on Good Friday......Right....?)
Have you ever started reading a book and been so involved in the story that you had to skip to the last page to find out the end? What happens when you go back to reading the book? Its kind of spoiled right? You totally miss out on the mystery and discovery of an unfolding story.
As people living 2000 years later we have a blessing that, in my opinion, is the greatest blessing we have. We know how the story ends. The tomb is empty, the gates are flung wide open, and Jesus is alive. Death is conquered and the New Covenant is upon us. Let Love and Freedom reign.
But.....What if this isn't a blessing at all? What if its a curse? What if in our understanding of the "whole picture" we have missed out on something important in between because we have "skipped to the end"?
Does "Let Down" even begin to describe the experience of Jesus's execution? After following this man for three years he made promises. He raised expectations. He was going to liberate Israel and kick the Romans out. He was going to make things "Right".
I think about what it would like like and feel like to be there. To have had Jesus teach you that it is okay to be brave enough to hope. To hope for a better world. To hope for better relationships. To hope that things don't have to look the way they do. And then to look at that hope in the lifeless eyes of your teacher, your best friend, your son. What do you feel?
Sorrow?
Anger?
Regret?
If you are Peter what is going through your mind?! Do you feel betrayed yet guilty because you know that you too have betrayed? Do wonder, "Why him?" or "It should have been me."?
What would it have been like in those days between the crucifixion and resurrection? How heavy would your shoulders be? How often would you wonder if everything you believed in was a lie?
Was untrue?
Would you give up? or Carry on?
Why did I follow in the first place?
Story Time:
It has been said that on the day Christ was crucified a group of followers packed their few belongings and set off to find a new home. They were so distraught that they could not bear to stay in the place where Jesus had been executed. So they left, never to return, and after travelling thousands of miles, they set up an isolated village far from civilization. Once settled, they each took an oath to protect the memory of Jesus and live by his teaching.
Then one day, after 300 years of solitude, a small band of Christian missionaries reached the isolated settlement and were amazed to find a community of people living the sacrificial way that Christ had taught, yet who possessed no knowledge of his subsequent resurrection and ascension. Without hesitation the missionaries called the entire community together and taught them what had occurred after the crucifixion.
That evening, there was a great celebration in the camp. Yet, as the night progressed, one of the missionaries noticed that the leader of the community was absent. This bothered the young man and so he set out to look for the community elder, whom he eventually found in a small hut on the fringe of the village, praying and weeping.
‘Why are you in such sorrow?’ asked the missionary in amazement. ‘Today is a day for great celebration!’
‘A day for great celebration and great sorrow,’ replied the elder, who was all the while crouching on the floor. ‘For over 300 years we have followed the ways taught to us by Christ. We followed his ways faithfully, even though it cost us deeply, and we remained resolute despite the fear that death defeated him and would one day defeat us also.’
The elder slowly got to his feet and looked the missionary compassionately in the face.
‘Each day we have forsaken our very lives for him because we judge him wholly worthy of the sacrifice, wholly worthy of our being. But now I am concerned that my children and my children’s children may follow him not because of the implicit value he has, but because of the value that he possesses for them.’
With this the elder left the hut and made his way to the celebration, leaving the missionary to his thoughts. (Peter Rollins)
Then one day, after 300 years of solitude, a small band of Christian missionaries reached the isolated settlement and were amazed to find a community of people living the sacrificial way that Christ had taught, yet who possessed no knowledge of his subsequent resurrection and ascension. Without hesitation the missionaries called the entire community together and taught them what had occurred after the crucifixion.
That evening, there was a great celebration in the camp. Yet, as the night progressed, one of the missionaries noticed that the leader of the community was absent. This bothered the young man and so he set out to look for the community elder, whom he eventually found in a small hut on the fringe of the village, praying and weeping.
‘Why are you in such sorrow?’ asked the missionary in amazement. ‘Today is a day for great celebration!’
‘A day for great celebration and great sorrow,’ replied the elder, who was all the while crouching on the floor. ‘For over 300 years we have followed the ways taught to us by Christ. We followed his ways faithfully, even though it cost us deeply, and we remained resolute despite the fear that death defeated him and would one day defeat us also.’
The elder slowly got to his feet and looked the missionary compassionately in the face.
‘Each day we have forsaken our very lives for him because we judge him wholly worthy of the sacrifice, wholly worthy of our being. But now I am concerned that my children and my children’s children may follow him not because of the implicit value he has, but because of the value that he possesses for them.’
With this the elder left the hut and made his way to the celebration, leaving the missionary to his thoughts. (Peter Rollins)
I admit that I write this entry through the very narrow lens of my own current experiences. And so I find myself asking the question, "Why do I follow Jesus?" Do I follow because of the promises? Because of what I think I may gain through this. Peace of Mind. Heaven. Friends. A place to belong. What happens when those promises shatter? Is it still worth following? Devoting? Dying?
Or, do I follow because....
I close my "spiritual writings" with this verse because I want to remind myself and other people that I don't write things like this because I have "answers" or have things "figured out".
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Word, man. Good stuff.
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