Reflection: God gives….
On Maundy Thursday I spoke about embarrassment and the fact that God was willing to bear what we would find so embarrassing. To die on the cross was a shameful thing for within Jewish scripture God himself said it was shameful death. God was willing to embarrass himself – to show to the world what looked like ultimate weakness, that he had lost control and everything was spiralling downhill.
For God, for humanity there is no bleaker moment in history – to hang God upon the cross and think we have won some battle…
And yet very few truly knew it was God upon the cross – Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
And in the lowest moment of all – even Jesus felt abandoned – my God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
And yet Jesus also said – in your hands I commit my Spirit – because Jesus knew, deep down, in the part of us that this world cannot touch that God was there, with him, waiting for him.
If there is anything I truly love and believe in is the wonderful honesty and humanity of Christ.
At Christmas we say, we sing, God Immanuel – God with us.
Jesus is God – of that I have no doubt. His presence though, his earthly presence gives us permission to be human. So often we place unfair expectations on ourselves…
There was a woman who I loved and who was an angel in her own right but I swear she had the biggest guilt complex. She worried constantly that God would judge her or strike her down if she had a bad thought about another, and regularly confessed them to me. I pray that when she reached those pearly gates God just hugged her.
Did Jesus get frustrated at people? Yes
Did Jesus cry at the graveside of a dear friend? Yes
Did Jesus party and enjoy himself? Absolutely. How many water into wine jokes have you heard?
Did Jesus feel close to God, loved and appreciated? Yes
Did he feel scared, frightened, wanting to run away from his responsibility? So much so he sweated drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane.
Did Jesus have close friends and did he know the ups and downs of family life? Yes – at times his family thought he was mad and wanted to hide him away. A close friend betrayed him for money, another denied he knew him, and they all legged it.
This Jesus is the Jesus we celebrate today who sits at the right hand of God, speaking on our behalf, walking with us through the ups and downs of our lives. He isn’t looking for polished perfect human beings who when they call themselves Christians stop being bitter, hurt, disappointed, heartbroken. Yes he calls us to live faithfully, to live with more love, more patience, more self-control, more joy, live in peace, with goodness and kindness and humility, just as he did. But he knows, he knows folks what it is to be human and that is what God gives us this Easter.
The permission to be human.
However God is more than that and so he wants to remind you this Easter that just as the cross was the not final scene, nor is what we see now the grand finale.
The resurrection of Jesus gives us a glimpse of what is yet to be for us. In the story as recorded in John Jesus doesn’t let Mary touch him because he hasn’t yet seen his Father. The resurrection restores and heals the body though the scars remain – we are who we are, scars an’ all.
We celebrate not a continuation of this broken world, but a new heaven and a new earth, where we will walk with God and there will be no more tears nor suffering nor death for all the old ways are gone.
Through Jesus we are given permission to be human and the opportunity to grasp the divine. And like Jesus, through prayer, through friendship, through time with God as individuals and corporately in worship, we will overcome all things with faith, hope and love.
I pray this Easter you will know the presence of God with you.
Happy Easter.
