Calvary Sounds So Romantic

Text for this Sunday's Sermon/Discussion: John 19



"They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read: 

   'jesus the nazarene
   the king of the jews.'"

Golgotha - it's an ugly word, isn't it? One of those words that sounds exactly like what it describes... a power word that feels like fingernails screeching along a chalkboard... you know, a graphic word like blood, or pus, or diarrhea, or crucifixion, or schmuck. There are many other examples of course... but some of them aren't fit for print in a devotional blog.  :-)


But nobody ever talks about Golgotha. The hymns refer to Calvary, the Latin translation... but I think that sucks (hey, there's another ugly word)! Calvary sounds so beautiful to me... a magical, joyful place like heaven, or Hawaii, or Disneyland - not a dirty, ugly place to be led to your torturous death. John 19 tells us that Golgotha means "Skull Hill," or "Place of the Skull."


As they so often do (in an attempt to help us interpret the mysteries of God's Word)... biblical scholars debate why all four gospel accounts of the crucifixion refer to Golgotha. Some believe it was a hill where people were executed, and their skulls were left there. Others believe the side of the hill actually resembled a skull. Another thought is that a cemetery was nearby, and "Place of the skull" is a reference to the bones buried there.


Either way, one thing is clear. Jesus was forced to carry his cross to "Skull Hill" (though he did all this willingly)... where he was nailed to a cross made of rough-hewn lumber... suffering an agonizingly slow and painful death. The only reason he died before the others was because he was severely beaten beforehand... almost to the point of death before ever being compelled to take up his cross. 


I don't know if this is important to everyone else... but I actually find the term Calvary quite offensive. I love the old hymns, but I really, really hate how they relate such an ugly place with such a beautiful sounding word. The English translations of the Bible consistently use the word Golgotha... and I think it's far more descriptive of the evil and dark place where Jesus was executed, mocked, and humiliated. It may not rhyme with many things... and it may not roll of the tongue very easily, but to me, that's the point. Death and darkness define that horrible hill... and anytime we seek to soften or romanticize it, we are making it about us rather than about him.


But damn we're good at that... aren't we?

Ballroom Dancing

Text for this Sunday's sermon/conversation at The River: John 15

"'Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.'"


Live in me. Wow. Somehow, I've missed that phrase before. I mean, we're all taught that God lives in us, right? We accept Jesus into our life and the Holy Spirit mysteriously comes to dwell inside our heart. Very cut and dried... a bit confusing perhaps, but nevertheless a clear pathway to becoming a Christian.


Okay, in truth I don't really understand how God could truly "live" inside of me... but hey, it's a statement of faith, right? However, when I read this passage about grapes and vines, it kind of changes my presuppositions about how God chooses to "live" in me... because I'm also informed that I need to "live" in Him. That kind of revelation will either cause a complete metaphor meltdown for followers of Jesus... or possibly guide us to better understanding the thoroughly and completely relational nature of our God.


"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you..." Have you ever thought of that before... I mean really thought of it? Jesus isn't giving us some kind of metaphysical formula for salvation here. No, he's inviting us into a partnership of relationship with the Triune God - Father, Spirit and Son. Entering into this partnership is like stepping on the dance floor of a great ballroom, expecting Jesus to lead us... and being willing to go where he guides us. His part is to lead and guide... whereas our part is to trust in his leadership and submit to his breathtakingly beautiful style and grace.


Living in Jesus is far more organic than woodenly mechanical . Faith is not merely blind obedience to someone we cannot see or hear. Heck no! Living in Jesus is a response of our spirit to the One who formed us... who knows our name... who understands our pain... who knows what we've done and failed to do... who continually offers us the opportunity to stop living according to our flesh, and instead place ourselves in His arms and simply dance with Him. To live  in Jesus is to become perfectly in sync with the gorgeous melody of God's will, and His mysterious plan of salvation in and through Christ.


I'm on the dance floor most of the time. In fact, there have been times that the dance has been so awesome I have forgotten where I am for awhile. However, much of my life in Christ, I have been a rather poor dancing partner. Either I step on his toes, or try to choreograph moves of my own (which feel awkward and off time with the music). Heck, sometimes I stop dancing with him altogether. But that's what I love about Jesus... He patiently waits there for me as I thrash about in my paranoid schizophrenic state of mind trying to decide whether or not he's really a good enough dancer to entrust myself to him that much... that thoroughly... that completely.


Of course the answer is yes... I mean, really - who makes a better dance partner than the One who created rhythm itself? The One who inspired the Waltz and the Tango and the Foxtrot? The One who formed us together in our mother's womb? Who better to "make our home in" than the One who came to us... and laid down his life for our sake? Duh!

Easter is Coming...

Text for the upcoming sermon/discussion: John 11

"I am, right now, Resurrection and Life."

That Jesus, he's such a good guy, isn't he? I mean, he walks around the Judean countryside healing folks, saying nice things to them, offering peace to all people, singing Kumbaya with his disciples...

No wait... re-wind. He did heal people... he did come (ultimately) to bring peace... he did give those without hope something real and lasting to cling to... but Jesus was no dope-smoking hippie seeking free-love and world peace. He was a radical, extremely outspoken, in-your-face opponent of the religious status-quo. He knew that real love is costly. The Jewish religion had evolved into a human institution with God as nothing more than an excuse to beat people down... and an institutional puppet to establish power and control over the masses. But Jesus was passionately, stubbornly... even violently committed to revealing the truth of God's grace, and power, and compassion, and agape love to the world He created - a world so long stained by the ugly pervasiveness of sin. Only God could fix this... and it was time... whatever the cost.

But how do you convince such a paranoid creature that they are eternally loved and forgiveness is possible? If healing the sick wasn't enough to reveal the Father through the Son... and if power over the weather and nature itself wasn't enough of a "sign" to make people believe... and if his amazing arguments against the Pharisees and teachers of the law (even as an "unlearned" peasant from Nazareth) weren't enough to blow them away... then perhaps this little episode would reveal those who seek to align themselves with God (and those who don't). He raised his friend, Lazarus from the dead. Not someone who died an hour ago... not someone who died yesterday or the day before... no, Lazarus was truly dead. A rotting corpse. After four lifeless days in Israel's desert heat, his physical body was well into the process of deterioration. He wasn't gonna be getting up anytime soon... that is, until Jesus came along and emphatically demonstrated that he and he alone is the "Resurrection and Life." 

"Lazarus, come out!" Do you believe Jesus did that? Do you want to believe he still can do that to our spiritually lifeless bodies? If you are seeking to know the Truth about God (and life), have you decided to put your faith in Jesus yet? or are you still looking for signs that He really is the Most High God? Dude, I'm thinking it doesn't get much clearer than power over death itself.

What do you think?

Smart... yet dumb!

Text: John 10


"I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me."


Well, I finally did it. After carrying around a certified antique for several years now, I stepped into the 21st century. My trusty Motorola that did nothing but make and receive calls (and text at ridiculously slow speeds) has given way to a shiny new smart phone. No, it's not an iPhone, the true techie geek tool of choice... but it is nevertheless a nice phone. So far so good... but geez, what a long learning curve! Anyway... as I'm reading this passage in John's gospel account, I thought about how many ways there are to contact someone these days. Email used to be the "cool" way to communicate, but not so much anymore. Texting isn't bad, but it certainly has space limitations (and thumb keyboards aren't that easy to navigate for us rookies!). These days, many of my friends are Facebookers... now THAT seems to be a popular communication device... cause it networks us together and helps us live life together in a cyber sort of way. Nevertheless, to us old-fashioned types... by far the best way to be comforted than by a friend is - not by reading what they've typed, but - by hearing their actual voice.


As he was apparently talking with his good friends, Jesus told them something strange, and yet something wonderful. He called himself a shepherd... the GOOD shepherd... and referred to them as sheep. Now he was a great rabbi at this point, but I'm sure they wondered why their friend was calling them stupid animals (at least I would have been). But we know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus' voice would be a vitally important thing to the eleven men whose lives were turned upside down after Jesus ascended back to the Father. Now, they may never have "heard" the voice of the good shepherd with their ears, but you can bet they heard him loud and clear with their spiritual ears. Why else would they have subjected themselves to poverty, starvation, and numerous forms of persecution as followers of "The Way" - that ragtag cult of Jesus followers who refused to hail Caesar as Lord. Jesus left them in physical form, but nevertheless, he continued to breathe his grace upon them by his Spirit. One of the names for the Holy Spirit is "Spirit of Revelation..." as in, the very voice of God... the very presence of God... the very power of God, being revealed to His followers, and through them.


Oh, God... reveal Yourself to us as we struggle through this life....


And, oh, God... reveal Yourself to the world THROUGH us, so that your name would be glorified, and lost sheep would find their way home and experience your resurrection. Amen.