So Near and Yet So Far

So Near and Yet So Far

Luke 10:1-11

July 7, 2013[1]

When you see flashing blue lights, what is the first thing that you think of?

I remember a Sunday evening when I was in about the second or third grade.  It was shortly after Christmas, so it was dark.  I was riding in the back seat of the car with my best friend—I had spent the afternoon with Keith and his family, and now we were returning to church for the Sunday evening service.  Keith had received a flashlight as one of his Christmas presents that year.  This was a special flashlight—a solid white beam on the one end, and a flashing red light on the other end.  This was in the days in which police cars still used flashing red lights.  At some point along the way, Keith started the red light flashing to see if he could make his dad think that he was being pulled over by the police.  We were so proud when Keith’s grandmother, also sitting in the front seat, gave her son that cold sounding rebuke, saying that she kept telling him to slow down.

It is an odd thing to me how the presence of police can be threatening to some and assuring to others.

I often have heard about how a child who grew up in peaceful surroundings will look upon a police officer as a friend.  Take a child who has grown up in an atmosphere in which the police are “out to get them,” and they will respond to the same police officer in fear.  I saw this first hand when I visited South Africa.  To this day, some people see the police as instruments of apartheid—of terrible segregation.  Others see the police as care givers, helpers.  You don’t have to go too far back in the history of the United States to see the same thing.

I see signs of this in our Gospel Lesson this morning.  Two times, Jesus reminds his listeners that “the Kingdom of God has come near.”  This takes place at a time when Jesus is sending out a large group of followers to preach the Good News (some translations say 70; others say 72, depending on which manuscripts they used for their sources).  This lesson takes place soon after Jesus and his disciples were rejected by a village in Samaria; the villagers knew that Jesus was on his way towards Jerusalem, and the old prejudices were deep rooted.  Jesus is commissioning the group of 70 or 72 to go out in advance to the communities through which he will be passing.  Jesus tells them that if they are received well in a community, they should spend some time there, gratefully receive the hospitality of the people, heal the sick, and tell the people that “the Kingdom of God has come near to you” (v. 9). 

But if they are not received well in a community, they should leave town, and on their way out, they should shake the dust off of their feet in protest, and tell the people that “the Kingdom of God has come near”  (v. 11).  Two messages with almost identical words, yet with two very different meanings.  The first time, it is a promise, a sign of hope and healing.  In the second, the message is a warning.  The context makes all the difference.

But there is something else that jumps out at me from those words.  The Kingdom of God has come near now—in the present tense.  The Kingdom has come here to stay.  It didn’t just pop up for a while 2,000 years ago and then disappear.  It isn’t just a promise for some time in the future that we can’t pinpoint.  The Kingdom of God is here today, if we can simply open our eyes to see it.  That may be good news to us.  That may be threatening news to us.  But just the same, it is here, all around us.

I keep coming back to the words of Psalm 139.  Do you remember these words?  We just read them a few weeks ago:

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:7-12, NIV).

This is not only a description of things present.  It is a reminder of things to come.  There is a word of judgment here; it can feel threatening to those who have not experienced the Kingdom.  However, instead of feeling threatened, we can take this as a promise—a promise that:

If we are lonely, God is here.

If we are frightened, God is here.

If we are sad, God is here.

If we are happy, God is here.

If we are feeling great, God is here.

If we are suffering, God is here.

And when the day comes for us to end our earthly journey, God will be with us too, for he promised, “I will be with you always—even to the end of the age.

So if this is good news, why would people reject this news?  For some, it may have something to do with past experiences.  A lot of damage has been done to people in the name of faith.  For others, it has something to do with their overall world-view.  They just aren’t capable of seeing what we see.  They are like the fish swimming around, looking for the ocean, without being able to see that the ocean is all around them.

Naaman almost missed the Kingdom.  In our Old Testament Lesson, the healing work of God was offered to him in a way that was outside his frame of reference.  At first, Naaman rejected it.  He hadn’t traveled all the way from Damascus simply to take a bath in the muddy Jordan River.  There were plenty of much nice spas much closer to the comforts of home.  And to think that Elisha the prophet didn’t even have the courtesy to come out of his house to seen him.  Naaman was able to receive God’s healing only when he humbled himself and put aside his preconceived notions about how healing should take place.  And to think, he almost missed it.

Missing the Kingdom.  Think of it as lost opportunities.  To be so close to the Kingdom of God and not even recognize it. 

This is part of the reason that I think Vacation Bible School is so important.  It’s not as though I think we will connect fully with every child.  Sadly, the law of averages tells us probably not.  It’s not as though every child will come here willingly, without a fuss.  It’s not likely that every child will encounter a spiritual mountaintop experience.  Some may be focused more on the music, the crafts, the science journeys, what’s next for snacks.  But in between all of those activities, they will hear the Good News.

It’s a start in the journey—their faith journey.  Every time we can expose our children to the love of God shown in Jesus Christ, that’s a good thing. 

At the close of our Hymn of Response, I am going to ask all who are participating in Vacation Bible School to come forward so that we as a church can offer you a blessing.  Just as when Jesus sent out the seventy (or seventy-two) people, you have been sent by God to this place to share God’s love with the children of Fluvanna County.  Some may accept you; some may reject you (although I truly hope we won’t see our teachers shaking the dust off of their feet, even though they may feel like it at times!).  I hope that as you enter this week, you won’t feel as though we are sending you as “lambs in the midst of wolves” (v. 3).  I hope you won’t do it with the feeling of “it’s another VBS.  I can’t wait until this week is over.”  Rather, I hope that you will be able to recognize the mission field and the Kingdom.

Have you experienced the Kingdom this morning?  It has come very near to you.  Right here in Cunningham.  May God open our eyes to see it this day!

Copyright © 2013 by Thomas E. Frost.

All rights reserved.

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[1] Preached at Cunningham United Methodist Church in Palmyra, Virginia.  A version of this sermon also was preached on July 6, 2013 at Dogwood Village in Orange, Virginia.

Passing the Mantle

Passing the Mantle

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

June 30, 2013[1]

I didn’t mean to raise a ruckus with my sermon title.  But the very morning that David Onimus posted the title for this morning’s sermon on the sign in front, I received a text message from Steve Nichols, who saw the sign on his way to work.  His text message asked me, “”I hope your Sunday sermon title does not reflect any impending change…”  Sorry if I alarmed you.  Last Sunday, my appointment to Cunningham was confirmed for another year!

But there was a “passing of the mantle” of sorts that I witnessed while at Annual Conference.  We had five of the sixteen district superintendents within the Virginia Conference took the stole they were wearing and place it over the shoulders of new district superintendents.  Our own Brenda Biler was one of them.  She removed the stole that she was wearing and placed it on the shoulders of The Rev. Danny Kesner.  With that act, responsibility for supervising the seventy-four churches in Charlottesville was transferred.  Dr. Biler literally “passed the mantle.” 

We see a passing of the mantle in our Old Testament Lesson this morning. 

It is hard for us to understand how significant Elijah was to the Nation of Israel.  He was a man of God who stood up to a King and Queen who were sinful.  Elijah was known, of course, for his miraculous works, such as calling forth the drought that struck Israel, raising the son of the widow of Nain, the famous show-down on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal.  But these external acts were possible only because Elijah was a man of extraordinary spiritual awareness.  Elijah talked with God. 

Elijah had many followers, many disciples.  In an age and place surrounded by polytheism, these disciples were radical followers of the one true God, following the teachings of His prophet.  We read about a “company of prophets” living in Bethʹel.  But despite this community, none of them seemed to have the devotion and the dedication of Elisha.  The Lord already had given orders to Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor.  This part of the story predates this morning’s reading—the process is described in 1 Kings 19:19-21.  The process of anointing was very short and sweet—Elijah threw his mantle across Elisha’s shoulders, and Elisha was expected to follow Elijah from that time forward as Elijah’s understudy.

A “mantle” can be a cloak, a large, sleeveless tunic, cloak or cape.  It also can mean a symbol of authority—sort of like the stole that I wear (although the origins of the stole are quite different).  In this case, Elijah’s mantle was probably a cloak of some sort.  And we see that cloak or mantle taking a central part in today’s reading.

It’s clear that Elijah’s days on earth are at an end.  Elijah’s life has a whirlwind finish—although his means of transportation are not so important to our theme today.  What is important is that he asked Elisha, his understudy, what he could do for him.  Elisha responded, “Please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit” (2 King 2:9).  Elijah responded that Elisha’s request was a hard one; but it all boiled down to one thing—if Elisha stayed with Elijah to the very end, his request would be granted.  If not, it would not (2 Kings 2:10).

“A double portion of your Spirit.”These days, we interpret Elisha’s request somewhat casually, just as we would ask for a double serving of mashed potatoes.  But a “double portion” was a big deal in Ancient Israel.  The “double portion” literally meant the portion of an estate that would go to the first born son—two thirds of the estate.  Elisha was saying, “I want to be your heir,” --- in other words, “I want to step into your shoes, I want to take on your role and responsibilities.  In some respects, it might be loosely equivalent to going to the Bishop and saying “I want your job when you are done.”

Something else interesting is taking place.  Elijah literally tries to discourage Elisha.  This is even more challenging than anything the Board of Ordained Ministry put before me during my candidacy process.  Elijah tests him.  Three times in chapter 2, Elijah tries to leave Elisha behind, but Elisha refuses.  Each time, Elisha replies, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (vs. 2, 4 and 6). 

Elijah is taken away in a chariot of fire, and he drops his mantle on the ground.  The mantle—a garment, but also a symbol of authority.  Elisha picks it up.  Elisha passed Elijah’s test, but the question remains—did it work?  Did Elisha merely pick up a piece of cloth, a garment?  Or has Elisha in some way been filled with the same Spirit that filled Elijah? 

There is only one way to find out.  He has to test it.  So Elisha takes that mantle that he had picked up from the ground, rolled it up.  I can see and hear Elisha, crying out at the top of his voice, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”  What a gutsy question!  Elisha then used that rolled-up mantle to strike the Jordan River, just as he had seen Elijah do.  And lo and behold, the waters parted.  Elisha crossed on dry ground.

One lesson that jumps out at me from this story is that the mantle is not something that we receive passively.  It takes active effort on our part.  It takes persistence.  It takes a certain amount of hanging-on.  It requires us to remain faithful.  It requires us to surrender.  It requires us to reach out and pick it up off the ground.  It requires us to be gutsy enough to ask, “Where is the Lord?  And it requires us to trust enough to strike out, to move forward in faith.

We do not have a change in clergy for Cunningham this year; but with the beginning of a new Conference Year, we still are due for some inventory.  Are we as a church prepared to ask the challenging question, “Where is the Lord, the God of Cunningham?”  Am I prepared to ask that question as your pastor?  Are we strong enough, trusting enough to reach down for the mantle on the ground, pick it up, roll it up and strike it on the water?  And do we have enough trust to march forward, walking on the dry ground of the riverbed?

We have come so far as a church.  Think about it.

It seems like it was a long time in coming, but we have at last formed a Committee to think about Building for our Future, about our opportunities for ministry and the resources and facilities that we have available to us.  Are we ready to step forward with recommendations for our Church Facility within the next year? 

Cunningham has made a tremendous investment in our Youth.  This year, we are sending 18 children and youth to Summer Camp.  We have developed a wonderful fellowship of a dozen our so Middle School and High School Age youth, in addition to our strong children’s program.  Through the faithfulness of one of our members, we were able to add The Potter’s Wheel, giving us much needed space.  But that is just a starting point for the ministry opportunities.  We are exploring some exciting new ministry opportunities for the youth, but these take time, supervision, and funding.  Where will we go from here in sharing God’s love with the youth of Fluvanna County?

We have been tremendously blessed by God this year in our Worship Attendance and membership.  Attendance has been strong, we have received sixteen new members so far this year, five by profession of faith.  What are going to do to help form these people in the Christian faith?  This means Adult Christian Education.  Our job is not to build attendance; it is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  How will we go about this most important task?

Buildings and programs are important, but they are not the most important dimension to this story.  At their best, they can be reflections of the ways the spirit is moving in us and among us.  But that is the ultimate test.  The most important question I see facing us as a church is this:  Are we as a church, are we as individuals, am I as your pastor, ready to reach out and claim a double portion of the Spirit?  Are we ready to let our lives be transformed by God—not just on Sundays but on every day of the week?  Are we ready to let the Spirit of God forgive our sin, relieve our guilt, reconcile our broken relationships, change our values, increase our vision?  This is our ministry.  This is our vision—to be the spirit-filled, spirit-led people of God.  And our God promises to us that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

The mantle is there.  We can let it lie on the ground.  Or we can pick it up.  We can ask “Where is the Lord, the God of Cunningham?”  We can strike the water.  And we can walk on dry ground as we seek first the Kingdom of God. 

May it be so!

Copyright © 2013 by Thomas E. Frost.  All rights reserved.

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[1] Preached at Cunningham United Methodist Church in Palmyra, Virginia.

Amazed at Easter

Luke 24:1-12

March 31, 2013[i]

Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.  (Luke 24:12).

Peter was amazed on that first Easter morning.  He had run to the tomb to check out what the disciples thought to be an “idle tale” told by the group of woman (Luke 24:11).  That word “idle” is deceiving in translation.  We think of an “idle tale” as talk that simply fills in the time, talk that goes nowhere.  In the Greek, it meant something far stronger.  It suggested that the women were “out of their minds.”

Peter, the denier, had to see for himself.  Peter was the one who early on had recognized something so special about Jesus that Peter referred to him as the “anointed one of God” (Luke 9:20).  Peter, the one who couldn’t figure out how to respond to the Transfiguration—he wanted to build a monument and stay there.  Peter was the one who bragged that he would follow Jesus to his death, but when the time came, would follow only at a distance, and would deny that he ever knew Jesus.

This same Peter had to check out this “idle tale” for himself.  He carried the baggage of his past with him; maybe that is why Peter ran to the tomb.  He peeked inside the tomb, saw that it was empty—just as the women had said.  Peter saw the neatly folded linen cloths, and was amazed.

He didn’t understand it.  He didn’t explain it.  He didn’t talk about it—at least not yet.  For once, he just took it all in.  He was amazed.

Should he have been so surprised?  After all, Jesus had told them many times that this would take place.  Mark tells us that on one of those occasions, Peter took Jesus aside and actually “rebuked” Jesus for saying such things.  It was bad for his image.  Bad PR.  The response that Jesus gave Peter still must have been echoing in Peter’s mind:  “Get behind me, Satan!  For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mark 8:33).

Are you amazed by Easter this morning? 

Amazement means more than happy.  More than jubilant.  It means overwhelming surprise and astonishment.

I fear that in our world, we have become so sophisticated, so calloused, so intellectual, that we have lost our capacity to be amazed, especially on Easter morning. 

Or maybe we have told the story so often that we have lost awareness of its message.  Or maybe we have grown so accustomed to looking down that we forget to look up.  Why do we continue to look for the living among the dead?

Let me repeat the message that we proclaim this morning.  Christ is risen.  Christ has overcome the power of death—but not only His own death.  He has overcome the power of death for us all.  He tells us that “because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19).

We, too, may be tempted to dismiss this as an idle tale.  But just like Peter, we are   setting our minds on human things.  But our human minds can only understand just so much.  It is true that “There are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” (William Shakespear, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5).

My invitation to you this morning is to let go of human things.  For this moment, accept the truth that is larger than we are.  Let your mind be filled with divine things:  with divine love that formed you in your mother’s womb, love that gave you birth, love that gave you life.  Love that showed all of us how to live.  Love that is so powerful that, even when we rejected it, that same love keeps calling us back, offering to us forgiveness and reconciliation.  Love that was so amazing that Jesus loved—not only until it hurt but until love killed him.  Love that demonstrated on that first Easter morning that not even death itself can overcome the power of death. 

Charles Wesley wrote about this amazing love using these words:

And can it be that I should gain

an interest in the Savior’s blood!

Died he for me who caused his pain?

for me? who him to death pursued?

Amazing love, how can it be

that Christ my God should die for me.[ii]

I invite you to spend a couple moments with me.  Let go of everything else that is going on around you.  Let go of the concerns about breakfast and flowers and music and visitors.  Let the amazement of God’s love overwhelm you. 

Copyright © 2013 by Thomas E. Frost.  All rights reserved.

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[i] Preached at the Sunrise Service at Cunningham United Methodist Church in Palmyra, Virginia on Easter Sunday.

[ii] Charles Wesley, “And Can It Be that I Should Gain,” in The United Methodist Hymnal, (Nashville:  The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 363.

Remembering the Story:

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week-2013

Easter Sunday:  Resurrection

Sing:    Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! 

Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia! 

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” words by Charles Wesley.  Hymn No. 302 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:   Luke 24:1-12

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

It was the most significant event in the history of the world, but there were no witnesses.  Luke gives us no details about the resurrection itself.  Luke doesn’t tell us when it happened.  Matthew speaks of an earthquake, of angels descending, guards shaking and becoming “like dead men” (Matthew 28:2-4).  Luke gives us none of those details.  Some events are just too sacred, just too intimate, and just too holy to be seen by others.

What we see in Luke are the reactions—reactions to the stone having been moved away from the doorway, the empty tomb, the two men in dazzling clothes.  We hear that the women were perplexed (v. 4) and terrified (v. 5).  Not until they were prompted by the men in the tomb could they remember Jesus’ own words about his death and resurrection.  Even with this explanation, they still could not process what had taken place.  They must have been extremely animated when they told their story to the other disciples.  The apostles viewed their story as “an idle tale” (24:11).

Peter has a different reaction—something must have stirred within him.  Was it just his impetuous personality that made him run to the tomb?  Was it guilt from falling asleep in the Garden?  Did the words he spoke to another woman echo in his brain “I do not know him” (Luke 22:57)?  We do not know what he was thinking our how he felt when he ran to the tomb.  We do know, however, that after he looked inside the tomb and saw the linen clothes by themselves, he went home “amazed” (Luke 24:12).  Even for Peter, this event was just too big for words.

Easter still confounds us today.  Two thousand years of sermons later, we still remember—just as the men in white instructed the women to do, and we still are amazed.  The women responded by leaving the tomb to tell the other followers what had happened.  They told their story.  How will we respond?

Reflect on Your Story:

1.      Think of a time when what you expected to see was dramatically different from what you saw before your eyes.  What emotions did you experience?  What did you do in response?

2.      Have you told a story about your experience, only to find out that no one believed you?  How did you respond?

3.      So often, people struggle to understand resurrection.  They try to make resurrection conform to their own scientific view of the world.  Others seek instead to experience resurrection, to permit the promise of new life create a new view of what it means to be alive.  How do you respond to resurrection?

4.      The men in white asked the women, “why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:5).  In what ways do you look for the living among the dead?  Where, then, can you look for the Resurrected Christ?  How do you respond to the Resurrected Christ? 

Sing:    Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,

wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been: 

Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green. 

“Now the Green Blade Riseth,” words by J. M. C. Crum.  Hymn No. 311 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Pray:    “My Lord and my God!”  (John 20:28).

Remembering the Story:

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week--2013

Saturday:  Burial and Sabbath

Sing:    Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? 

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? 

Oh! sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. 

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

“Were You There,”—verse 5, Afro-American Spiritual.  Hymn No. 288 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:  Luke 23:50-56

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

Someone had to do it.  The mandates of the Torah were clear:  “the corpse of one who is executed and hung on a tree must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you for possession” (Deuteronomy 21:22).  Was Joseph was acting out of reverence for the crucified Jesus?  Was he acting to remove an unpleasant sight during the Passover Festival?  Was he simply doing his job to satisfy the mandates of the law?  To be sure, the whole process bothered him.  He had not agreed with the Council’s plan to get rid of Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel states even more explicitly that Joseph was a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 27:57), and John’s Gospel adds the detail that Joseph was a disciple “in secret” (John 19:38).  But what was done was done.  Joseph had to act quickly before sundown and the observance of Sabbath.  He placed the lifeless body in a tomb, carved from the soft rock.

The women from Galilee followed Joseph and watched where he placed the body.  They too had plans—they gathered spices to use, after the Sabbath was over, in anointing the body.  They would do what they could to give Jesus a proper burial.

But as the sun left the sky, they rested.  It was the Sabbath.  Part of what defined them as the children of God was their observance of Sabbath.  The Lord established this precedent on the seventh day of creation; on that day, God rested from the work of creation and blessed the seventh day (Genesis 2:3).  The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was not simply a law; it was “a perpetual covenant” (Exodus 31:16).  In the topsy-turvy world they lived in, they still remembered who they were.  So they rested.  And they waited.

Reflect on Your Story:

1.      Think of times of great tragedy in your life.  How do you respond to traumatic events?  Do you disrupt your normal patterns of living, or do you find comfort in the familiar?

2.      How do you spend the Sabbaths in your life?  What does the way you spend your Sabbath say about who you are as a person?

3.      For some people, times of grief are times of waiting—waiting for the rituals of funerals, waiting for grief to fade away.  For others, times of grief are times of action—receiving friends, cleaning out closets, probating estates.  For yet other people, times of grief are times of forgetting—trying to block the pain out of our memories.  How do you respond to grief?

Pray:    “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (Psalm 130:5).

Remembering the Story:

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week--2013

Friday:  Crucifixion; Place and Time

Sing:    Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

            Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

            Oh!—sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

            Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

“Were You There,” verse 2.  Afro-American Spiritual.  Hymn No. 288 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:   Luke 23:26-49

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

He was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.  We don’t know much about Simon; Luke tells us only that Simon of Cyrene was coming from the country (Cyrene was a Roman colony in Northern Africa).  It is possible that Simon was visiting Jerusalem for the Passover.  For whatever reason, his path intersected the march from Pilate’s Court to the place of execution, and Simon was pressed into service.  There is no indication that Simon had a choice in the matter.  He was chosen, and he complied, thus becoming the first one to embody in a literal sense the words that Jesus had spoken earlier, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  We hear nothing more of Simon.  Did he continue to take up his cross daily?

The two thieves were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, as well.  They were criminals and they got caught.  There seems to be no question of due process, no dispute over their guilt or innocence.  In fact, one of the thieves confesses that they had been “condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds” (Luke 23:41).  Jesus replied to this second thief that he would end up in the right place—“today you will be with me in Paradise.”

The centurion seems to be out of place, for he seems to be to be far too spiritual for his job.  He was a Roman soldier; he simply was following orders.  Undoubtedly, he had carried out executions before; undoubtedly, he would carry them out again in the future.  How ironic it is that this hardened soldier would be the one, upon seeing Jesus breathe his last, to “praise God” and proclaim that “certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47).

All Jesus’ acquaintances—his disciples and friends, and all the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee—they seemed to be in the wrong place, as well.  Those whom Jesus had urged the night before to “pray that [they] may not come into the time of trial” (Luke 22:46) stood watch safely, from a distance (Luke 23:49).

All of these witnesses to God’s greatest act of love were at the wrong place and at the wrong time.  Where were you?  Where are you now?

Reflect on Your Story:

1.      When have you been caught in the wrong place and at the wrong time?  What led you to be there?  How did you respond?  Did the event lead to punishment or paradise?

2.      Simon did not voluntarily pick up the cross; he could have resisted, but it might have cost him his life.  There may be some irony in that by carrying the instrument of death, Simon saved his own life—a twist on the word of Jesus, who said, “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24).  Can you remember a time when have you taken up a cross and followed Jesus?  Did that event help you to save or to lose your life?  In what way?

3.      Jesus’ friends watched from a distance.  Can you recall times when God seemed distant?  Can you recall times when God seemed close at hand? 

4.      Mark’s Gospel recalls the words spoken by the centurion slightly differently:  “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Mark 15:39).  Have you had experiences in your life that brought you to the same conclusion?  What difference has this made in your life?

Sing:    What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,

what wondrous love is this, O my soul! 

What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss

to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

to bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

“What Wondrous Love Is This”, verse 1—USA Folk Hymn.  Hymn No. 292 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Pray:    “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).  Amen. 

Remembering the Story:

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week--2013

Thursday:  Trial before Pilate; Avoiding Responsibility

Sing:    See him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;

O the wormwood and the gall!  O the pangs his soul sustained! 

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.

“Go to Dark Gethsemane,” verse 2—Words by James Montgomery.  Hymn No. 290 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:  Luke 23:1-25

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

One word that I have never heard used to describe Pontius Pilate is “principled;” but Pilate tried here to do the right thing.  Time and time again, he tried to let Jesus go.  “I find no basis for an accusation against this man” (23:4).  He tried, unsuccessfully, to escape from the dilemma by putting the matter in Herod’s hands, but Herod was as adept at avoidance as Pilate.  Once again, Pilate told the accusers ‘I have examined him [Jesus] in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges” (23:14).  Then Pilate tried to appease the accusers by giving them the choice between releasing a known murderer, Barabbas, or Jesus, as part of their Passover custom (23:18), but the accusers called his bluff and called for Barabbas.  “I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death,” Pilate pronounced (23:22).  Still, the crowd of accusers demanded that Jesus be condemned.  Pilate’s ultimate verdict was not that Jesus was guilty; rather, his verdict was that the accuser’s “demand should be granted” (23:24).

This theme is as old as the Garden of Eden.  It’s not my fault—“the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12).  “The serpent tricked me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13).  In Matthew’s account of the trial, Pilate asserts his innocence by symbolically washing his hands and proclaiming “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves” (Matthew 27:24).  Pilate could wash Jesus’ blood from his hands; but he could not wash his own guilt from his soul. 

I find another interesting detail in this story.  Pilate and Herod each tried to pass responsibility for Jesus’ trial to the other.  Neither of them would accept responsibility for Jesus guilt or innocence; but in their efforts to avoid responsibility, they became “friends with each other” (Luke 23:12).  Birds of a feather sometimes really do flock together.

There is irony in the crime for which Jesus was accused.  “We found this man perverting our nation” (Luke 23:2)—a charge that does not appear to warrant a penalty of death.  “I have found no in him no ground for the sentence of death,” Pilate asserted (Luke 23:22); but the accusers would not accept this result.  Ultimately, Pilate gave into their demands.  What was the ultimate finding of guilt?  The inscription above the cross read simply, “This is the King of the Jews” (Matthew 23:38).

Reflect on Your Story:

1.       When in your life have you tried to avoid responsibility for difficult or unpopular decisions?  What did you do to try to avoid the situation?  Were you conscious of your actions at the time?  Did someone else bring it to your attention?

2.       How do you deal with guilt?  Pilate tried to wash away his guilt; how do you deal with feelings of guilt?

Pray:    “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”   Amen.  (Psalm 51:2-3, 10).