tuesday of holy week 2009

greetings...

our journey is so exciting as holy week unfolds before us...

immediately after Jesus washes his disciples' feet [at the beginning of john 13], we read...

"Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, 'very truly, i tell you, one of you will betray me...'" [john 13.21]

a better translation in the original greek would be: "one of you will hand me over..."

the word means "to give over, to hand over, to give into the hands of..."

i love nouwen's insight: "this moment when Jesus is handed over to those who do with him as they please is a turning point in Jesus' ministry. it is a turning point from action to passion. after years of teaching, preaching, healing, and moving to wherever he wanted to go, Jesus is handed over to the caprices of his enemies. things are now no longer done BY him, but TO him. he is flagellated, crowned with thorns, spat at, laughed at, stripped, and nailed naked to a cross. he is a passive victim, subject to other people's actions. from the moment Jesus is handed over, his passion begins, and through his passion he fulfills his vocation...it is good news to know that Jesus is handed over to passion, and through his passion accomplishes his divine task on earth. it is good news for a world passionately searching for wholeness...i, too, have to let myself be 'handed over' and thus [embrace my passion to] fulfill my vocation..."

will we sign up to embrace our passion and hence fulfill our calling?

will we relinquish the control that enables us to call the shots?

will we become a bondslave of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us AS HE WILLS?

what about our "passion"...

first thing this morning, i went by to visit mr williams...

his broken and declining body still imprisoned in his 8 x 10 hovel...

his body is showing the wear of the disease process...

as we sat huddled on his single bed, the Spirit motivated a question...

next i went to see ricky, my native american friend -- he had just been admitted to the hospice house...

when i first walked in, i was sure he had died -- he looked like an emaciated corpse...

i touched his arm and he stirred and we talked -- though at times he made almost no sense...

then the Spirit motivated a question...

later in the day, i was off to tampa general hospital...

mr coard was grimacing in pain as i walked into his room...

his body has literally shrivelled up -- only a faint shadow of what it used to be...

he tried to talk, but his slurs were almost undiscernable...

the Spirit motivated a question...

i finished my day in myra's room at TGH...

all her hair is gone, but she has a stylish and colorful 'do rag on her bald head...

she tries to smile, but the enemy, cancer, twists her beautiful brown face in an uneasy and haunting grimace...

we hold hands and i hear the Spirit's question again...

i didn't plan the question...

not sure i'm that bright!

but the Spirit did -- the same question with each patient -- four times...

reminding each that it was holy week, i asked: "what does Jesus' resurrection mean to you today?"

there was some consensus about three things...

[1] there was the agony and suffering of good friday before the glory and joy of resurrection sunday...

so maybe there is "something" good on the other side of their passion...

[2] easter means hope -- death is never the final word for a child of God -- LIFE ALWAYS IS -- there is heaven...

a forever place of serenity after the suffering...

two great insights, but these two paled in comparison to the final one...

[3] Jesus resurrection means a BRAND NEW BODY -- not a COPD body, not a CANCER body, not a PAINFUL body, not a BROKEN body, not an INCONTINENT body, not a BED-BOUND body, not a YELLOWISH body, not a MISHAPEN body -- you get the idea...

these four broken children of ABBA reminded me of easter's greatest joy -- we receive a brand new "spiritual" body just like Jesus -- one that will never decay, decline or die...

more than just heaven -- heaven with a glorious new body!

THANK YOU Holy Spirit for an illustrated sermon in remarkable power through abject weakness!

i encountered your revelation as i walked out my passion today...

shalom...

guy

reflect on the promise of YOUR new body tomorrow...