I want to keep Easter going. I want to stay focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want to keep having the Lord’s Supper every night so we can remember Christ’s death until He comes back. I want to hang around the empty tomb for as long as possible, and remember the new covenant in His blood that has not only forgiven us, but empowers us daily with His Holy Spirit.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. (Matthew 28:2)
I’m unwilling to leave the Easter theme just yet. Think about that stone. The authorities were worried about the disciples stealing the body of Jesus and spreading rumors about His resurrection, so they had the stone over the mouth of the tomb sealed to make it even harder — virtually impossible — to move, and gave a couple of soldiers weekend duty to stand guard. It already was way too heavy for one person or even the group of women who made their way to the tomb Sunday morning to move; but once it was sealed … forget it.
We dare not judge anyone that Jesus gave His life to forgive. And today is the day Jesus gave His life to forgive us all. Today is Friday. Good Friday.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
The worst exchange of all was thirty pieces of silver for the life of Christ.
Thirty pieces of silver for the creator of the universe. Thirty pieces of silver for the savior of the world. Thirty pieces of silver for the only begotten Son of God. It was a bargain to say the least. Thirty pieces of silver bought freedom for us, but total devastation for the man who did the deal.
I’m thinking of another type of exchange today — it’s the exchange of my right to self-serving thoughts and actions for the privilege of thinking about and serving others.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor …
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 63:1-3
On a bench just inside our front door is a small basket with a piece of paper lying on it upon which Marti has written in her beautiful flowing cursive, “A Friendly Reminder.” It’s hard to believe that this basket, and its accompanying sign, has been there for a full year now. The friendly reminder has to do with what is in the basket — two or three masks, sanitizer wipes and a bottle of hand sanitizer. It’s a reminder that we are in a pandemic, and there are things we have to take care of. Hand washing, sanitizing, wearing a mask whenever we go out — these are the things we have to remember.
I had a little tea party
this afternoon at three.
‘Twas very small, three guests in all,
just I, myself and me.
Myself ate up the sandwiches,
and I drank up the tea.
‘Twas also I who ate the pie,
and passed the cake to me.
This little ditty makes light of what has been, for many, a central issue of this pandemic — a debilitating sense of loneliness and isolation. Maybe for a while it seemed like an opportunity for quietness and solitude, but that wore off pretty quickly, and a sense of abandonment set in. Being isolated from loved ones and family members, unable to visit the sick in the hospital or be by the side of the dying has been the worst part of this yearlong experience. And we’re not over it yet.
As if we needed one more reason to be divided. On top of huge chasms in politics, conservative and liberal philosophies, racial divides, and the ever-widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots, we now have a generational divide fueled by a movement started on social media a couple of years ago and still resounding in some circles.
At the end of our interview last night, I asked Peter Herschend, former Chairman of our Catch Ministry Board of Directors and guest on last night’s BlogTalkRadio show, to tell us what Grace Turned Outward meant to him. I knew he would have a thoughtful answer because he was instrumental in deciding on Grace Turned Outward as our primary emphasis. “Grace Turned Outward is exactly what we are called to do by our Lord,” he said, “because the reverse, grace kept inward, is invisible — it can’t be seen, tasted, touched — the senses of the body can’t reach it. But grace turned outward is ‘sensual’; it can be heard, it can be seen, it can be tasted, it can be felt. Not sensing anything from you, the point is lost.”
John Fischer The Catch 