Waiting

After Jesus died and was buried, the disciples had to be confused. They had followed this man for three years, and their whole lives were wrapped up in his ministry. He was such a young man, they surely expected to keep following his ministry for years.

But now he was gone. He had tried to prepare his followers for this moment, but they didn't get it. 

It was the Sabbath, so they could not travel far. They just waited. And they didn't really know what they were waiting for. Their lives had just been turned upside down.

Holy Saturday gives us the time to reflect on all the evil of this world. 

And Jesus can handle all the evil of this world. Just wait.

Friday

It is Good Friday.

Jesus refused to fight back. He let evil come at him with all its force. He was accused of crimes he never committed. He was betrayed by one of his best students. He was deserted by all his other followers. His mom looked on, powerless to help. People of his faith accused him of betraying the faith, or anything else that would stick. They took him to the occupying enemy, now accusing him of treason. In that court he was condemned by a judge who knew he was innocent. He was beaten and mocked.

He was given the death penalty.

Good Friday is the day of his defeat. 

Jesus absorbed all the evil this world could muster. And he turned it all around for good.

You washin' my feet???

In John 13 Jesus washes his disciples' feet. He shows that humble service is what the Father is looking for. He demonstrates that he came to serve, not to be served.

One by one the Lord washes his disciples' feet. When he comes to Peter, Peter protests that Jesus would never wash his feet. What was Peter thinking?

He might have been ashamed that the foot washing had not been done. This ritual was very common and part of normal hygiene. Typically a servant would handle this task. Since Peter had helped prepare the room for the meal, he might have felt embarrassed that he forgot to arrange for a foot washer.

He might have thought that he himself should have handled the washing, at least for his Master. He didn't want Jesus picking up his slack.

He may have been rejecting Jesus's style of leadership. All along Peter pushes against Jesus's plan to be mistreated and executed. Maybe Peter saw this menial task as something that a true leader would never stoop to do.

It's hard to say why Peter turned Jesus away. But when Jesus says, "Unless you let me wash your feet, you have no part with me," Peter quickly changes his mind, asking for a virtual bath. 

Our motives can be complex.

Silent Wednesday

The events of Holy Week are most clearly described in the Gospel According to Mark. And Mark doesn't have anything to say about Wednesday of the week. 

So on this silent day, we can take the time to reflect quietly on the whole barrage of activity on the other days. We do well to sit in the uncomfortable feeling of the impending doom for Jesus. We can reflect on our own failure to trust him and live in his power.

I realized just today that I need extra time these days just to sit and soak in the presence of Jesus. He helps me to be present and to listen to truth.

Real Authority

When Jesus arrived in the Temple courts on Tuesday of Holy Week, he ran into the religious authorities. The chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came up to Jesus and began to question him. 

They ganged up on him to put him in his place. They had all the authority in the Temple, or so they thought. The chief priests ran the show. The teachers of the law knew the Bible inside and out. The elders were leaders among their people. Together they could expose this rogue preacher.

They demanded to know where Jesus got his authority. As for them, they could quickly show their own credentials. They had followed the protocol for being religious leaders, being selected as high priests, having studied at Jewish schools, and having taught in synagogues all around. The source of their authority was clear: their connections, education, and followers.

So where did Jesus get his authority? Jesus responded with a curveball. He asked them where John the Baptist got his authority. They could find no satisfactory answer to that question. Rather than acknowledging the truth, that John's baptism was from God, they considered the optics of the possible responses. If they said John was legit, then Jesus would call them out for not believing him. If they said he was not legit, they knew the crowds would be upset. 

It looks like the religious posse had no clue about the source of authority for John, Jesus, or themselves. All they could do was read the polls.

Real authority comes from God. Jesus had it, and didn't need to prove it.

Misusing Religion

On Monday of Holy Week, Jesus cleansed the Temple. He drove out the sacrificial animals for sale and turned over the tables of the money changers, who exchanged Roman coins for Jewish coins. 

Jesus declared that his Father's house should be a "house of prayer," but these people had turned it into a "den of robbers." 

It looks like the Passover Feast was prime time for cashing in on the religious faithful. People were using religion for unfair personal gain. Jesus did not like that.

He still doesn't like it. We can all point to some of "those people" who take advantage of religion as a way to line their pockets. But there are other ways to misuse religion. And it's not just those people.

Some use faith as a weapon to manipulate others.

Some hide from real life and stay too busy with church activities. 

Some let their politics rule their faith.

Some pay for ministers and missionaries to do faith for them. Then they don't have to feel guilty when their own faith is empty.

There are so many ways to misuse religion. Jesus comes to rescue us from our own hypocrisy. We all need some temple cleansing.

Palm Sunday

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday on the Christian calendar. It commemorates Jesus's entry in the city of Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Every year it was a big deal, and Jews from all over the world would come for the occasion. In fact, Jesus and his family regularly came to celebrate when he was growing up.

This time the energy was building for a big celebration. The Jewish people felt like this feast helped them maintain their cultural identity, in spite of the heavy hand of the Roman occupiers. It was the perfect time for Israel to announce its independence with a new, powerful leader. Jesus seemed to be rising to the occasion. He had spent some weeks ahead of Passover, canvassing the towns of Galilee, winning popular support.

There was so much anticipation that the crowds cheered wildly for the new Messiah as he rode into town on a donkey. Some even cut palm branches, waving them in excitement or laying them out on the road ahead of the Lord. Yes, it was all about to go down.

No wonder people were so excited. 

But in true Jesus fashion, Jesus had some serious twists in store.

I'm working to trust Jesus as he allows the twists in my life. It's not easy to trust him when things catch me so off guard.

Zacchaeus

Just before Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus reaches out to a most unlikely observer. You probably have heard of Zacchaeus the tax collector. We know of him as the "wee little man." He had a lot of strikes against him. As a tax collector he was viewed as a collaborator with the enemy, Rome. Not only was he working with the enemy and selling out his own people, he was getting rich in the process. He had to look pretty selfish to his fellow Jews.

We don't know what led him to a career in tax collecting, but he may have had a struggle with rejection in his life. Perhaps he was rejected because of his stature or unfortunate family connections. Maybe he was just abrasive. If he was going to be rejected anyway, he might as well get rich. He certainly did not have any friends who would clear the way for him to see the visiting celebrity. 

So he climbed a tree to get a better look. He probably wanted to blend into the scenery. But Jesus took special notice of him. He called to Zacchaeus in front of the whole crowd and asked to be Zacchaeus's guest.

Just before the last week of Jesus's earthly life he took time to reach out to a reject. 

To Jesus, no one is a reject.

Do you see it?

In Luke 13 Jesus expresses sadness over Jerusalem because the people don't recognize prophets, and they never have. 

As he enters Jerusalem (Luke 19), Jesus openly weeps for the city. "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes."

Do you know what will bring you peace? So often we do not. We think we know, and we pursue those things, and so often end up disappointed. 

The truth is often hidden from our eyes. This is why we need our eyes to be opened. 

Where do your eyes need opening?

• a relationship
• a job
• an attitude
• a decision
• a regret
• a promise
• a challenge
• faith
• trust

Let's ask God to open our eyes. There is so much we need to see!

Why so sad?

Jesus had set his sights for Jerusalem just before his death. He declared that he would encounter opposition, be arrested, be tried and executed, and rise on the third day. Huh? His disciples could not get his meaning, especially about the dying part.

On his way to the Passover showdown in Jerusalem, Jesus expressed his sorrow for the city (Luke 13:34f). He lamented the state of the city: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 

Jesus is frustrated that the people of Jerusalem were so blind and deceived. He is sad that his people would not listen to him, and that they did not recognize him. He offered them such hope and redemption, but they rejected him. 

The religious establishment of Jerusalem had a long track record of missing the message of prophets. This day would be no different. The authorities rejected and even persecuted those who spoke truth. And even Jesus's closest disciples weren't tracking. 

No wonder Jesus was sad. Their rejection would mean pain for Jesus and hardship for his people. Nobody likes rejection, but Jesus knew that it was the only way for redemption. He walked intentionally into this hardship, so that he could take on the powers of evil in all their intensity. And he knew he would overcome for us.

Losses

Life is full of losses. You can lose your keys, your shirt, or your life savings. You can lose your health, lose a relationship, lose a loved one. Some losses can be recouped. Some are permanent.

There is no way to live without losses. We work to minimize losses, of course. There are good strategies for avoiding loss in every sphere. 

Because loss is inevitable, we do well to learn ways to cope with loss. Here are some suggestions.

• Anticipate loss. Don't be surprised when it happens.
• Have a plan in place for the event of loss. You might call it a Plan B, or contingency, but what would you do if you lost your health or your spouse or your savings?
• Decide now that you will be OK, even in loss. If you learn to trust in God now, you will be better off when you have to trust him in hardship.
• Build relationships now, so that in loss you will not be alone.
• Hold onto things lightly. When you lose your looks or your health, which is almost inevitable, you can still find meaning in life.

A Better You

Some famous football coach described his job as leading his players to do what they don't want to do, so they can achieve what they want to achieve. 

Seems like this applies to life. There are lots of things we really want to do, all the time. But you can't do what you want to do all the time. You can't drive through a red light just because you want to. You can't take items from a store without paying for them. The immediate consequences might not be pleasant, and most people consider the risks to be greater than the possible benefits.

Doing hard things can lead to good things. It's a truism that nothing worthwhile is easy. Some will hear an outstanding piano performance and say, "I'd give anything to play piano like that!" No they wouldn't. They are not giving music the attention and energy required. The pianist has surely given so much to achieve that level of proficiency: time, study, practice, money, effort. 

That's what spiritual disciplines are all about. They are are an outlay of effort toward the end of spiritual development. Some disciplines may be enjoyable for some people. The discipline of fellowship can be most enjoyable, and so can the discipline of solitude. I guess there are those who enjoy fasting and scripture memory. But whether you like them or not, spiritual disciplines are effort aimed at greater goal.

Another truism is that everybody wants to be better, but nobody wants to change.

We can change our habits so that, over time, we can become a better version of ourselves. We can do what we don't want to do, to achieve what we want to achieve.

Self Denial

Why would people want to deny themselves? We don't want to. Self denial is willingly forgoing something desirable. It's choosing a course of action that goes against your normal inclinations.

Self denial goes against our (typically) selfish human nature. It's just like Jesus to instruct us to go against our selfishness. He said, "If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." That sounds like a path to a lousy life, but Jesus insisted that it's the way to real life. Christians are called to live like this, and it's challenging for all of us.

There are lots of ways to practice self denial. Here are a few suggestions.

• Choose the longest, slowest line at the grocery store.
• Let the other person be right.
• Stop insisting that people understand or see your point of view.
• Give away a prized possession.
• Forego a favorite food (for a season).
• Get up early for some unselfish purpose.
• Donate money to a worthy cause.
• Offer sincere compliments, when you are in a foul mood.
• Acknowledge your short comings to God and ask for forgiveness.

The more we deny ourselves, the more our mental wiring is reconfigured, making us less self-centered and more others-centered. That's a good thing.

Wisteria

The wisteria is in full bloom here in North Carolina. Traveling across the state today, we could see the flowering vine all along the highway. 

Wisteria is one of those vines that I never notice until it blooms. It shows up on trees and fences, draping across forests. During other times of the year I don't even see the vine. 

There are a couple of life lessons. Some of life's encumbrances, like vines, seem to be a big burden. But sometimes those burdens can be beautiful. In the proper season, we can enjoy the beauty and the fragrance. 

Another way to see the lesson of the vine is that some things are beautiful in life, but only for a moment. They are really choking us out with their tentacles and foliage. But every so often these burdens look nice. The occasional beauty of the burden keeps us from freeing ourselves. And so we let the vine keep growing, even though some day it may choke us out.

Two lessons to choose from. Maybe one applies to you.

Adaptogens

I had never heard of adaptogens until I read the label of an elderberry beverage. It boasted a bodacious 6 adaptogens per serving. Well OK. Who could turn that down? So I chose that beverage with my lunch last Saturday at LOT 2540, and it was good. I have heard about elderberries having some healthy properties, boosting the immune system, and all that. 

But I had to look up "adaptogens" to see if it was really a thing. According to Google, adaptogens have benefits including: 

Reducing stress and anxiety, Improving mood and cognitive function, Boosting energy levels, Enhancing immune function, and Protecting against aging. 

Adaptogens usually come from plants, and must be natural.

I hope that knowing Christ will reduce my anxiety and maybe improve my mood. I would like him to improve my cognitive function and give me energy. He can keep me from getting sick, and I want to cooperate with that. I don't expect the Lord to protect me from aging, but maybe he can make me more mature as I age. I try to stay tuned-in to the Spirit and hope he helps me to become a better human.

But I think I will also gladly consume some adaptogens when I have the chance.

The Dogflower Legend

This week my neighbor excitedly told me that her dogwood tree is blooming. As we walked across her yard to have a look, I asked if she had heard of the dogwood legend. She had not heard of it, possibly because she is from out of state. I did my best to give her the story.

Dogwood trees always bloom right around Easter. I have noticed that even when Easter is very early or very late, the trees seem to find a way to be right on time. Of course their blooms last for a few weeks, but it's always right around Resurrection Day.

We looked closely at a blossom, and I asked her to notice the edge of the four petals. On each petal there is a dimple that resembles a nail hole. I did not elaborate further. She was taken aback at the profound testimony of nature to the death of Jesus on the cross for us.

Maybe when you see a dogwood tree in bloom this spring you will think of Jesus.

Wait for it

Lent is a time to let self denial open us up to deeper spiritual truths. We can see the ruts we are stuck in. We can see how our perspective is limited. We can discover freedom from something that took so much of our attention.

Lent practices bring us back repeatedly to the Lord. The desire to do the thing we give up serves as a reminder to pray. It's a season of intentional, high maintenance connection with the Lord.

Just like high intensity interval training puts the body through periods of intense work and relative rest, Lent serves as period of high intensity spiritual seeking. And that leads us to Easter, a high intensity time of celebration. 

For now, we are just building the suspense.