The Lenten Journey Day 46
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Mark 27:50-54
“The tombs were opened and bodies were raised when one man in whom God was present without limit committed His spirit into His Father’s hands. Since this moment the universe is no longer what it was; nature has received another meaning; history is transformed and you and I are no more, and should not be anymore, what we were before.”- Paul Tillich
In this final essay before the resurrection, Tillich talks about nature’s reaction and submission to the death of Christ. We often think of how the Psalmist paints the earth as a picture of God’s glory. But the cross calls us to see the darkened sun and feel the trembling earth. May we join creation in its groaning, in its tired yet hopeful cry for renewal and restoration. As Tillich talks of the rooted foundation of the cross compared to the shaky foundations of earth I am reminded of a song by one of my favorite songwriters Rich Mullins, “If I stand let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through, but if I can’t let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you.
The Lenten Journey Day 45
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit..” When he had said this, He breathed his last. Luke 23:46
“The last act of our Lord in thus commending his spirit at the close of his life, was only a summing up of what he had been doing all His life.” - George MacDonald
MacDonald was an author, poet, and minister. In this essay he paints a whole picture of Jesus’ last words that translate into a life call of worship. For MacDonald Jesus was stating at the end what He had been doing since the beginning, giving His life to God. With all the debates and strong feelings about worship, specifically worship styles, this is a bulls-eye center reminder. Worship is giving back to God what He has given us, not just material offering, but a total offering.
MacDonald beckons the reader to consider Christ’s life of worship and replicate it. By the power of His Spirit may we worship in all we say and do today.
The Lenten Journey Day 44
“The secret of deliverance from sin is not to do something but to rest in what God has already done.” -Watchman Nee
Nee is expressing the totality of what Christ accomplished on the cross. Not only for us but in us. There have been centuries of debate over how salvation happens and what role human decision plays in conversion. Part of the problem with the debate is that it often demands that God’s work and human freedom have to be exclusive. In God’s purposes those two things do go together.
My believe in Christ’s total and full power to save does not require my belief to be true, it is true because God has proclaimed it true. But my salvation does require that I believe in what Christ has done. Nee’s point is simply that we need to believe Christ has done the saving and trust Him. To “rest” in that truth is in fact doing something thought that runs contrary to our human reasoning.
There are great books and helpful strategies for changing bad habits. But only Christ can change sinful hearts and there is not a program for that. We must yield ourselves to God, trust and follow. Following Him might lead to some of those good books, but then those change of habits come for a heartfelt source. Once we surrender to Christ changing us from the the inside out, the outside becomes much more clear.
The Lenten Journey Day 43
Today’s reading comes from Alexander Stuart Baillie and is an excerpt from his work The Seven Last Words. In this portion Baillie centers in on Jesus’ cry of thirst from the cross. He demonstrates how humanity desires earthly status, wealth, and thrill while often the neglecting our greatest thirst.
He simply states that we need God. Baillie then pivots to say that when the individual begins to seek satisfaction of this greatest need that our lives are open and become less about us and more about others. This is the transformation that happens when we give ourselves over to the one who gave up Himself for us. Still our thirst is not for others our ultimate thirst is for Christ to be fully formed in us this is real life. From Baillie:
Humanity needs to get away from the world of “things as they are” into the world of “things as they ought to be.” This means that men and women must learn to live for others. It is only when we can live a life of self-forgetfulness that we get our truest joy out of life…. He cannot be satisfied until he attains unto the stature of Jesus, unto a perfect man, and ever thirsts for God.
I confess that sometimes I am satisfied with fleeting joy and temporary happiness. Yet that satisfaction is temporary and I thirst again and again. Christ’s thirst was quenched by the soldiers, for a moment. His truest satisfaction came with fulfillment of purpose and oneness with the Father. Giving of ourselves over to the giver of life who gave His life that all might truly live is where we find “our truest joy.”