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Category: Death (Page 4 of 10)

What About Saturday?

June 22, 2016 / / 0 Comments

DeadDisciples

Why is there a day between the death and resurrection of Jesus? Why does God spread these two salvation events over three days? What’s with this horrible day in the middle?

This just seems to be the way our God works. I have no idea why. But this seems to be his divine pattern. The Scriptures are full of three-day stories. On the first day there’s trouble, on the second day there’s nothing — just continuing trouble. Salvation comes on the third day. Always.

The problem with three-day stories, though, is that you don’t know it’s a three-day story until that third day. When it’s Saturday, you don’t know God’s deliverance is going to come. It doesn’t feel like it. It probably feels like a two-day story and this Saturday is going to last the rest of my life.

Yesterday I wrote that nothing happens on Saturday. That’s not true. Silence happens on Saturday. After the trouble hits, after the awful thing happens, you cry out to God, “Save me, Father! Help me, Lord! Listen to me, God! Do something! Say something! God, help me!”

Nothing. Silence. Absence. You run to God in your despair, you cry out to God in your pain and desperation, and you get the door slammed in your face. The sound of a deadbolt locking on the inside. And then silence.

Let’s stop acting like this never happens. Let’s stop pretending that every day’s a Sunday. If our churches are going to be safe places to talk about sex, we also need to be safe places to talk openly about the realities a whole bunch of us experience with the silence of God during times of despair. Half the psalms in our Bible deal openly, publicly, with the troubling fact of God’s silence. But we never sing them. Or read them. Or pray them.

“O Lord, day and night I cry out before you. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength. I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.” ~Psalm 88:1-5

DeadManA husband, a father, wants more than anything else in the world to save his marriage. But his wife won’t listen and she won’t help. He’s not perfect — not even close— and he knows it. But he wants to do what’s right. He doesn’t know why his wife won’t respond to him, why she won’t try, and he can’t stand what this is doing to their kids. And God is silent. Nothing. Dead.

“You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?” ~Psalm 88:6-9a, 14

A mom and dad find out their child has a terminal illness. They pray like crazy. They pray all the time. Nothing. She’s getting worse. And they pray more and they pray harder. Nothing. Again, the Scriptures acknowledge this reality.

“I say to God, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning?'” ~Psalm 42:9

“You are God, my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning?” ~Psalm 43:2

“Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject me forever! Why do you hide your face and forget my misery and oppression?” ~Psalm 44:23-24

DeadWomanYou lose a friend. You lose your health. Your financial situation changes. Your church has let you down. Your spouse betrays you. A very horrible and particular thing has happened to you and it’s not getting better. It just happened in the past few weeks and you can’t see past it. Maybe it happened 20 years ago and it still feels like every single day is the “day after.” Maybe you can’t point to one terrible tragedy, you just know that you’re living in darkness, you’re dying on the inside, and you feel totally abandoned by the people all around you and by our God.

“I cry to you for help, O Lord. Why, O Lord do you reject me and hide your face from me? I have suffered your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.” ~Psalm 88:13-18

What do you do on Saturday? How should you behave when you feel like even God isn’t with you?

Come back tomorrow. I promise, I’ll give you an idea from Scripture tomorrow. You might not like it; but I really do believe it’s the answer.

Peace,

Allan

Crucified, Dead, and Buried

June 21, 2016 / / 2 Comments

Central’s middle school kids are doing service projects all over the city with three other CofCs this week during the annual “Mission in Amarillo.” Channel 10 did a local piece on yesterday’s projects and featured our very own Tanner Albright. You can click here to see the video.

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DeadJesus

The crucifixion of Jesus happened on a Friday. He was raised from the tomb on Sunday. And in between there was… what?

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are probably the two most studied and most celebrated dates in the history of the world. And the Saturday in between is maybe the most ignored. Even in the Bible, we only get one detail from Matthew telling us that guards were posted on that Saturday to watch the tomb. And that’s it. This Saturday in between is a nothing day. It’s the day with no name, the day when nothing happened. Jesus is crucified, dead, and buried. And… for a full day… nothing.

What does it mean for Jesus to be dead? What does it mean for God incarnate to be in a tomb? What was going on that Saturday? What were the disciples thinking? What were the angels doing? What was that Saturday like?

Doubt. Despair. Hopelessness. Anger. Loneliness. Abandoned. Silence. Fear.

Jesus felt all of that while he was hanging on the cross. He felt abandoned by God. He felt the despair and the loneliness. He felt the silence in his soul, like God had withdrawn his presence, like his Father had turned his back on him. The gospels tell us that our Lord cried out near the moment of his death, “My God! My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus is obeying the will of his Father. He’s extending mercy in the middle of being tortured, he’s forgiving his executioners even while they’re killing him, he’s comforting a man who’s also being killed, he’s making arrangements for his mother — Jesus is faithfully doing every single thing his Father has asked him to do. And now when he needs our God the most, right now at the most unbearable moment of suffering and death, Jesus feels what no person is ever supposed to feel: “My God, why have you forsaken me?!?”

Jesus is praying from Psalm 22.

“My God! My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out but you do not answer.”

That’s what Friday was like for Jesus. The day he died. The day they wrapped his body in a burial cloth and laid him inside a tomb in a cemetery.

And then, Saturday.

We know from Scripture that, after his death, the followers of Jesus lost all hope. Those two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “We thought Jesus was the one, but he’s not.” Those women who went to the tomb Sunday morning did not go to worship a risen king, they went to anoint a dead body. There’s no hope on Saturday.

Friday’s a little different. A very horrible thing is happening, the disciples are living a nightmare, but they’re running on adrenaline. You know what that’s like. When the awful tragedy strikes, when the rug is suddenly pulled out from under you, when your whole world gets turned upside down in an instant, it’s all adrenaline. You’re taking care of the crisis, you’re doing what has to be done to get through the event.

And then the next day. The day after the funeral. The day after the Bible class delivers the last meal on the sign-up sheet. When things slow down and it gets quiet. That’s Saturday. Everybody knows Saturday.

Saturday is the day after your dream dies. The day after your husband died. The day after the divorce was finalized. The day after the diagnosis. The day after you lose your job. The day after your child does something you never thought she’d do. The day after your soul gets crushed. You wake up and you’re still alive, it’s the next day and you have to keep on living. But you don’t know how. Maybe you don’t know why.

“My God! My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out but you do not answer.

I am a worm, not a person. scorned by men and women and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.

My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”

Why is there a Saturday? Why is there a day between the death and resurrection of Jesus? It doesn’t further the plot. It doesn’t move the story line at all. If Jesus was going to be crucified and then raised for the salvation of the world, it seems like God would hurry up with it. I would. Why does God spread these two salvation events over three days? What’s with this horrible day in the middle?

Come back tomorrow. I’ve got a couple of ideas.

Peace,

Allan

A Promise From the Future

April 13, 2016 / / 0 Comments

HardWorkAnt

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.'” ~Revelation 14:13

It’s a promise from the future that impacts our every moment in the present: Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Not at all.

You know, salvation is not a private thing. God saves us in order to work through us to save others. And everything we contribute to the cause — everything! — is used by God toward that great and ultimate end. Just like the parable of the talents, what we use to his glory, whatever it is, will be multiplied and used. Like the cup of cold water given in his name, it will be rewarded. Our deeds will follow us into eternity. Our efforts for the Lord are going to last forever.

We are building for the Kingdom. All of our work matters. Every minute of your day is packed with heavenly potential. Every action is loaded with eternal consequences.

To his enduring praise and glory!

Peace,

Allan

Seeing God’s Plan at the Cross

February 12, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“When the Centurion who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!'” ~Mark 15:39

JesusCrossShadowsWhen we see how Jesus dies, we see very clearly the way God is going to save the world. We see how God is going to transform the world and win the victory.

Politicians are not going to save the world. Platforms and promises are not going to change your country. This country and this world are not going to be won by votes or armies or power or partisanship. Only our God in Christ can save the world — God alone!

And his way is the way of death. His way is the way of suffering and sacrifice and service. His will is to change people and save people, not by force or through threats, not out of anger or with an attitude, but with humility and love and forgiveness and grace. And peace.

This world will change, not when more Christians vote, but when more Christians serve. This country will change, not when Christians get their man or woman in the White House, but when Christian men and women get suffering and sacrifice in their hearts. This world will change, not when the Church is in power, but when the Church is persecuted for righteousness’ sake and suffers for doing good. This country will be changed, not when our enemies are shot and bombed and destroyed, but when our enemies are forgiven and prayed for and loved.

We see clearly only through the lens of the cross.

Jesus blessed those who cursed him; he taught those who ridiculed him; he did not resist those who told lies about him and beat him; he loved those who spit on him; he forgave those who killed him. That’s the “way.” That’s what’s going to save the world.

Peace,

Allan

Seeing Suffering at the Cross

February 11, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“When the Centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God.'” ~Mark 15:3

JesusCrossCloudsIf we concentrate on the cross, if we pay attention to how Jesus died, then we will really see the whole thing clearly. The Gospel of Mark makes that point in the way it tells the story. The Centurion proclaims at the end of the story what had been declared by the author in the opening line: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This Roman soldier recognized it, the life-changing truth was revealed to him, when he saw how Jesus died.

And I think this is helpful.

When you are suffering, it may not always be clear to you why you’re suffering. You may not know the reason you’re suffering. Just like Jesus’ suffering didn’t make sense to his disciples, maybe you can’t figure out why you’re in so much pain.

When you see Jesus on the cross, you can at least know what the reason for your suffering isn’t. When you see how Jesus died, you can at least know what are not reasons for your suffering.

It’s not that God doesn’t love you. He does. Very much. Jesus hung on that cross in agony, but the Father’s love for his Son wasn’t diminished or compromised one bit.

It’s not that God doesn’t have a plan for you. He does. It’s not that God has abandoned you. He hasn’t.

The cross actually shows us God’s presence in suffering and that God is at work and doing marvelous things — eternally significant things! — even in your suffering. Even in the middle of your pain and darkness. Even when your suffering doesn’t make sense.

God is present. He loves you. And he is at work.

Peace,

Allan

Seeing Christ at the Cross

February 9, 2016 / / 0 Comments

We’re just beginning an adult Bible class study of the Gospel of Mark here at Central and I’m helping tie all of those short little stories together by preaching through some of the big picture themes in the second gospel. Because the book is so short and Mark appears to be so intentional about it, these big themes are really easy to spot and a lot of fun to follow.

One of those themes is the idea of truly “seeing” Jesus.

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, nobody really “sees” Jesus. They don’t understand what’s going on. They don’t get it. They ask dumb questions, they make poor decisions. Jesus seems to be perplexed as to why they’re so slow to “see.”EyeChartBlurry

“Do you still not see or understand?” (8:17)
“Do you have eyes but fail to see?” (8:18)
“Do you still not understand? (8:21)
“Do you see anything?” (8:23)
“You will see the Kingdom of God come with power.” (9:1)
“What do you want me to do for you?” “I want to see.” (10:51)
“Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see.” (15:32)
“Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” (15:36)

“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last… And the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God.'” (15:37-39)

Everything becomes clear at Calvary. It’s not blurry at the cross. This centurion — of all people! — this pagan, Roman, idol-worshiping, bacon-loving, Gentile sees the Son when he sees how he dies. Seeing the Kingdom of God come with power is about what happens at the cross.

It’s about pain and suffering, sacrifice and service. It’s about the ultimate giving of one’s life for the sake of others. At the cross, God in Christ turns everything completely upside down. The “way” does not lead to a throne of gold in the middle of the temple in the middle of the holy city. The “way” leads to a wooden cross in a rock quarry outside the city gates. That’s where Jesus is really seen.

We need to pay attention to how we project our own vision onto Jesus. A lot of the times we want to ignore or even change Jesus to fit our own ideas and preferences, especially when it comes to suffering and sacrifice. I can’t look at Jesus and say I like his healings and his love, but I don’t want the ridicule and rejection. I’ll take his wisdom and his compassion, but I don’t want his pain and suffering. I’ll take a large helping of his resurrection, but hold the death. I’d like to participate in Jesus’ power, but not his cross.

If Jesus really is the Christ, then he demands to be followed and obeyed. He’s not asking for us to make little adjustments to our lives or minor changes to our world. He expects a complete overhaul!

Jesus is not offering self-fulfillment or self-improvement or even uplifting spiritual experiences. He offers a cross. He doesn’t tell you to try the cross on for size to see if it fits. He doesn’t ask for volunteers to carry a cross to earn extra credit. The cross is for all of us. We can survey the wondrous cross, we can kneel at the cross, we can love the old rugged cross ’til the cows come home, but the call is to carry the cross. To live the cross.

I’ve heard most of my life that Jesus died so I don’t have to. That’s wrong. I’m learning that Jesus died to show me how to. Jesus shows me how to embrace suffering and rejection, how to understand sacrifice and death as God’s holy will for all of us. But we have to look at the cross. If we concentrate on the cross, we’ll be able to see everything clearly.

Peace,

Allan

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