Sunday 20 April 2014
Friday 18 April 2014
Thirsty
Adam and Eve thirsted for knowledge
Noah, ironically, for dry land
Abram and Sarai thirsted for the laughter of a child
Moses thirsted for the Promised Land
David thirsted for forgiveness
Solomon for wisdom
The prophets for judgement
The Magi thirsted for a sight of the new born king
John the Baptist thirsted for repentance
James and John for importance, Peter for understanding
Judas thirsted for a proper Messiah
The Romans and Jews authorities thirsted for blood; and peace and quiet
He thirsted on a cross
He thirsted from blood loss from flogging and scourging
He thirsted from carrying the horizontal beam of the cross on his ragged back
He thirsted from hypovolemic shock, heart racing, kidneys refusing to process.
And the soldier gave him vinegar on a sponge and he said 'it is finished'.
Yet he really thirsted for:
Justice - to roll like streams
Love - to be offered without distinction
Peace - that is given and received
Salvation - for all of God's children
Mercy- that is selfless
Forgiveness - that goes beyond numbering
And for these at least the thirst goes on.
John 19:28-30
Noah, ironically, for dry land
Abram and Sarai thirsted for the laughter of a child
Moses thirsted for the Promised Land
David thirsted for forgiveness
Solomon for wisdom
The prophets for judgement
The Magi thirsted for a sight of the new born king
John the Baptist thirsted for repentance
James and John for importance, Peter for understanding
Judas thirsted for a proper Messiah
The Romans and Jews authorities thirsted for blood; and peace and quiet
He thirsted on a cross
He thirsted from blood loss from flogging and scourging
He thirsted from carrying the horizontal beam of the cross on his ragged back
He thirsted from hypovolemic shock, heart racing, kidneys refusing to process.
And the soldier gave him vinegar on a sponge and he said 'it is finished'.
Yet he really thirsted for:
Justice - to roll like streams
Love - to be offered without distinction
Peace - that is given and received
Salvation - for all of God's children
Mercy- that is selfless
Forgiveness - that goes beyond numbering
And for these at least the thirst goes on.
John 19:28-30
Thursday 17 April 2014
Washed
It is not the dirt on the outside that causes me to think, it comes off easy enough.
Shower daily (twice when I run)
Hair shampooed (until hair 'squeaks')
Teeth cleaned (morning and evening)
Clothes - frequently (necessary)
Car - less so (pointless)
House - enough (boring)
It seems there is a pattern to dirt removal, a systematic regular removal of external detritus.
Mud (Cranbrook)
Grease (un-squeaky)
Dust (dead skin)
Grime (to cover a multitude)
Belly button fluff (blue)
An array of cleaning materials: scrub, rub, scour and cleanse... cleanse? Outside at least. Enough?
Jesus called the Pharisees 'whitewashed sepulchres' - gleaming outside but rancid and rotten within.
On the night they call the 'Last Supper' he knelt and washed the feet of those who would soon betray him, he washed their feet.
The blackness inside, the guilt, the sin that had sullied from within, was as lacking in permanence as the dust on their feet.
This was a new teaching,
a new way,
a new covenant,
the death that was within could be brought to life.
The whitewashed sepulchres had life within!
Because?
They were...
washed.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Shower daily (twice when I run)
Hair shampooed (until hair 'squeaks')
Teeth cleaned (morning and evening)
Clothes - frequently (necessary)
Car - less so (pointless)
House - enough (boring)
It seems there is a pattern to dirt removal, a systematic regular removal of external detritus.
Mud (Cranbrook)
Grease (un-squeaky)
Dust (dead skin)
Grime (to cover a multitude)
Belly button fluff (blue)
An array of cleaning materials: scrub, rub, scour and cleanse... cleanse? Outside at least. Enough?
Jesus called the Pharisees 'whitewashed sepulchres' - gleaming outside but rancid and rotten within.
On the night they call the 'Last Supper' he knelt and washed the feet of those who would soon betray him, he washed their feet.
The blackness inside, the guilt, the sin that had sullied from within, was as lacking in permanence as the dust on their feet.
This was a new teaching,
a new way,
a new covenant,
the death that was within could be brought to life.
The whitewashed sepulchres had life within!
Because?
They were...
washed.
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Wednesday 16 April 2014
Betrayal
I would not have betrayed him, if I was there
I would not have been scared of the mocking
I would not have been scared of the falsifying
I would have stood strong
I would have spoken up
I would have risked my life for his as he was about to give his for mine
Wouldn't I?
I would not have abandoned him at his reckoning
I would not have denied him in the courtyard like Peter
I would not have sold him, and sold myself so cheaply - thirty pieces of silver - why?
I wouldn't, would I?
For I have...
always stayed strong
always stood up for what is right
always stuck to my convictions
always been steadfast
always been loyal
always been willing to give regardless of the cost
always been willing to sacrifice regardless of the loss
Haven't I?
Can I forgive those who betray those whom I love and can I forgive myself? Even though I know what it is I do?
I would, wouldn't I?
John 12:20-36
I would not have been scared of the mocking
I would not have been scared of the falsifying
I would have stood strong
I would have spoken up
I would have risked my life for his as he was about to give his for mine
Wouldn't I?
I would not have abandoned him at his reckoning
I would not have denied him in the courtyard like Peter
I would not have sold him, and sold myself so cheaply - thirty pieces of silver - why?
I wouldn't, would I?
For I have...
always stayed strong
always stood up for what is right
always stuck to my convictions
always been steadfast
always been loyal
always been willing to give regardless of the cost
always been willing to sacrifice regardless of the loss
Haven't I?
Can I forgive those who betray those whom I love and can I forgive myself? Even though I know what it is I do?
I would, wouldn't I?
John 12:20-36
Tuesday 15 April 2014
Darkness
Darkness is not a thing - it is an absence of a thing.
Yet during those darkest moments, in the blackest hour it seems as if it is all that there this
tangible
present
overwhelming
screaming, bleak oblivion, suffocating, crushing and inescapable.
But blackness is not a (final) state - is it like a waiting room, anticipatory, expectant
The presence of light, dimmed, filtered or shadowed brings an outline recognition of reality.
The presence of light, diminished, reduced or lessened brings an understanding, a revelation.
Jesus said he was to be 'lifted up' - the bleakest, blackest of deaths.
Jesus was to depart hidden in the shadows between life and death.
The light would soon go out, diminished first by hatred and scourging and the shadow of the cross and (finally) in the bleakest blackness of a tomb.
And in utter darkness it might be remembered that darkness is not a thing other that it is a thing waiting to be pin-pricked, vanquished and shown up for what it truly is (or isn't).
Darkness is not a thing
John 12:20-36
Yet during those darkest moments, in the blackest hour it seems as if it is all that there this
tangible
present
overwhelming
screaming, bleak oblivion, suffocating, crushing and inescapable.
But blackness is not a (final) state - is it like a waiting room, anticipatory, expectant
The presence of light, dimmed, filtered or shadowed brings an outline recognition of reality.
The presence of light, diminished, reduced or lessened brings an understanding, a revelation.
Jesus said he was to be 'lifted up' - the bleakest, blackest of deaths.
Jesus was to depart hidden in the shadows between life and death.
The light would soon go out, diminished first by hatred and scourging and the shadow of the cross and (finally) in the bleakest blackness of a tomb.
And in utter darkness it might be remembered that darkness is not a thing other that it is a thing waiting to be pin-pricked, vanquished and shown up for what it truly is (or isn't).
Darkness is not a thing
John 12:20-36
Monday 14 April 2014
Stolen
So Mary, Jesus' friend, poured pure, costly nard on his feet as an act of:
service
sacrifice
love
...and Judas complained.
Mealy mouthed and inwardly incensed he told her what she should have done, could have done, what he would have done.
This world is full of 'I was gonna', 'if it was up to me..', 'do what I say not what I do.'
An imposition of will, an explosion, an outburst from an inward disposition
self-service
self-preservation
selfish...
...the very opposite of Mary's intention, the very opposite - diametrically, poles apart
Mary stole a moment in time and did what every ounce of her will demanded from her inward depths in an outward expression. Mary saw, in a stolen moment, beyond herself, her reason and understanding who Jesus really was. How else could she respond?
Judas? He responded differently
a stolen moment.
John 12:1-11
service
sacrifice
love
...and Judas complained.
Mealy mouthed and inwardly incensed he told her what she should have done, could have done, what he would have done.
This world is full of 'I was gonna', 'if it was up to me..', 'do what I say not what I do.'
An imposition of will, an explosion, an outburst from an inward disposition
self-service
self-preservation
selfish...
...the very opposite of Mary's intention, the very opposite - diametrically, poles apart
Mary stole a moment in time and did what every ounce of her will demanded from her inward depths in an outward expression. Mary saw, in a stolen moment, beyond herself, her reason and understanding who Jesus really was. How else could she respond?
Judas? He responded differently
a stolen moment.
John 12:1-11
Sunday 13 April 2014
Borrowed
On Palm Sunday we read in the gospels that Jesus is carried into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey: a borrowed colt.
On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem to the sounds of 'Hosanna' - "Save us NOW!", impatient, pressing, anticipating from the future, for implementation now: borrowed hope.
On Palm Sunday Jesus travelled with his followers, they would soon desert him, disown him deny him, transient: borrowed friendship.
On Palm Sunday the people came and shouted, raved and waved with their undying support, except it wasn't undying, it soon changed - 'Hosanna to... ' in the time it takes to say 'Barabbas': borrowed support.
On Palm Sunday his cards were up, a final journey, no turning back or u-turns: borrowed time.
A borrowed manger
A borrowed colt
A borrowed cross
A borrowed tomb
But like everything borrowed there comes a time for reckoning, at some stage a price must be paid.
Mark 1:1-11
On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem to the sounds of 'Hosanna' - "Save us NOW!", impatient, pressing, anticipating from the future, for implementation now: borrowed hope.
On Palm Sunday Jesus travelled with his followers, they would soon desert him, disown him deny him, transient: borrowed friendship.
On Palm Sunday the people came and shouted, raved and waved with their undying support, except it wasn't undying, it soon changed - 'Hosanna to... ' in the time it takes to say 'Barabbas': borrowed support.
On Palm Sunday his cards were up, a final journey, no turning back or u-turns: borrowed time.
A borrowed manger
A borrowed colt
A borrowed cross
A borrowed tomb
But like everything borrowed there comes a time for reckoning, at some stage a price must be paid.
Mark 1:1-11
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