Rejoice!

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 

(John 20:26-28 NRSV)

It was a rough week.

Thomas missed out.

Imagine - a whole week

in despair,

when the rest of your friends

had all been celebrating

seeing the risen Lord!

On that day,

to touch the wounds

and truly believe

would be a day of great rejoicing.

My Lord and My God!


Lord of Life, Thank you for showing up even when we're not sure what to think. I believe! Help my unbelief, and show me the many ways you are present in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.

Keepin' It Real.

A friend of mine passed a coin onto me this week.

It’s a Flowing Hair Dollar – the first dollar minted by the U.S. government. Interesting to me, since this Holy Week we recall the story of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for the sum of 30 pieces of silver (read Matthew 26:14-16). The coin is a work of art. It’s beautiful to look at. It’s heavy, and is inscribed on the edges. It represents Liberty, a national identity, the economy, self-rule, and prosperity.

But it’s not real.

The coin is a replica. It’s not worth the amount printed on it, except as a paperweight, or a conversation piece, or a keepsake. It’s not legal tender.

In Christian churches, around our necks, and on our T-shirts we see replicas – reminders of something real – symbols of the suffering savior that came into our existence to suffer with us, and suffer for us. This week,  I’ve been thinking about the reality of Jesus’ suffering, and trying not to envision it according to the movie portrayals of blood and violence, but as the defining act of salvation for the whole world.

That moment, Jesus’ death for all on the cross, is the moment of our real liberty, the source of our real identity as redeemed children of God. How can it be real to us? Many have suffered, but we haven’t had to suffer in that manner. Many have lost everything, been victimized, felt despair, loss, addiction, and fear. yet, we can't understand persecution at the hands of a ruling empire the way early followers of Jesus did. Most of us wake up in comfortable beds, take hot showers, and cook meals in cozy kitchens, in an existence of relative wealth and safety.

We have to be reminded of the story. We have to live in the darkness. We have to wait and be silent.

We cannot understand fully. We do not have the experience. We only have faith.

Have faith that you have been united with Christ in this violent death. Have faith that God became incarnate in Jesus, and that He suffered and died so that you might be forgiven, redeemed, re-imagined and rewarded with a resurrection like His. Have faith that God is with you in your kind of suffering, knows your loneliness and isolation, your fear and loss, your grief and despair, your sin and brokenness.

“He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe” -John 19:35

A Star is Born.

     Wise men from a far away land signal that the new king is born. This is not a king only for the people of Israel, but for the whole world. This is a new kind of king. Not an earthly king; not one like we’ve had in the past. This is the One who ushers in God’s kingdom of love and righteousness for the world, no matter where you come from.

            When I was in the seventh grade, the kids chose sides. It was expected, and sometimes necessary for survival. You could be either a surfer or a skater. You were either a metal-head or a rapper. You might be a redneck or a jock. These were labels, yes, but also identities. These groups provided an identity, and to belong to a group meant protection. There were days that I kept my head low and walked quickly to the bus to avoid possible fights that would break out. There were wars and rumors of wars. It could be a rough place, at least it seemed that way. By the time I got to high-school, the lines were a bit more blurry, but similarly drawn. These artificial borders separated groups of kids that sometimes mixed in class or on the gym floor or the football field, at the mall, or elsewhere in the community.

           We draw lines.  

That Jesus was born in a manger, attended to by shepherds, and visited by foreign priests, signals an event that crosses lines that we draw for ourselves. To call myself a follower of Christ is NOT to say, “I’m on this side, and unless you declare your allegiance, then we cannot be on the same team.” In Christ all people are united. In Christ, the Holy One in which God is revealed in flesh and blood, we find that we are one people. We are united by the love that God shows for the world in sending the Son to be human just like us. We are united by this Jesus that is the incarnate One, fully divine and powerful to save us from sin.

Not everyone saw the star. The wise men came from the East, and returned to their home country. The promise of Immanuel was not just for them, though they saw the sign. The visited the newborn king of the Jews, though not Jews themselves. Did they tell the story? Did they speak about what they had witnessed? The travels of the wise men tell us that this was the event for which the universe was waiting and that the change in the world was for the world, through the world did not know it. The people had yet to see what God was doing.

It’s a matter of perspective. We cannot see all that God is doing, and we don’t know everything that encompasses what Paul calls the “mystery of Christ”[1]. Paul says that we are all sharers in the promise of Christ through the gospel. The good news of God is to be shared among all people, and the rest is up to the Spirit. We are one people. We are kings and shepherds, magi and innkeepers, carpenters and scribes, metal-heads and gangsta rappers, surfers and skaters, members of one body of Christ, united in the gospel, the Word made flesh. 

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[1] Eph. 3.4