It's All About Easter - Yancey/M Scott Peck

Over time, it was the cross on the hill that changed the moral landscape of the world.

M. Scott Peck writes:

"I cannot be any more specific about the methodology of love than to quote these words of an old priest: "There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered in a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one's heart, it loses its power and goes no further.

The healing of evil -- scientifically or otherwise -- can be accomplished only by the love of individuals. A willing sacrifice is required...I do not know how this occurs. But I know that it does...Whenever this happens there is a slight shift in the balance of power in the world."



The balance of power shifted more than slightly that day at Calvary because of who it was that absorbed the evil.

"If Jesus of Nazareth had been one more innocent victim, like King, Mandela, Havel, and Solzhenitsyn, he would have made his mark in history and faded from the scene.

No religion would have sprung up around him.

What changed history was the disciples' dawning awareness (it took the Resurrection to convince them) that God Himself had chosen the way of weakness. The cross redefined God as One who was willing to relinquish power for the sake of love.

Power, no matter how well-intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it.

In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary, God renounced one for the sake of the other."

--From The Jesus I Never Knew, by Philip Yancey

As long as we are not alone.....

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... you are with me. (Psalm 23)

Remembering the horrifying pictures of 9/11.

Hundreds, trapped high above ground, as the heat grew more intense, felt they had no choice but to jump to their deaths.

Remember those pictures? Many were holding hands.
Most cases, with complete strangers.

Why? Jumping to their deaths, they chose to attach themselves to another human being.

We are made for community. We were not meant to live this life alone.

In that sense we imitate the Holy Trinity. The Holy Community.

In Mark 3:13-14 we read:

     Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to
     him those he wanted, and they came to him.

     He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--
     that they might be with him....


He called those he wanted....that they might be with him.

Jesus at Gethsemane, just before his arrest, to his disciples: My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. (Matthew 26:38)

Jesus, the God-man.

Fully divine  -  Fully human.

He did not want to be alone.

"And surely I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)

                 ....and so we are never alone!

Pondering the meaning of Easter -- Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar.

It is occurs 46 days before Easter Sunday, making it a moveable feast, and can occur as early as February 4 and as late as March 10. (Easter Sunday comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox). 

Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness, fasting, enduring the temptations of Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the observance of this time in Christ's life, and is marked by Christians with prayer and fasting.

Why is it called Ash Wednesday?

It gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of its adherents (in the shape of a cross) as a reminder and celebration of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God.

At most services, the Penitential Psalms are read, especially Psalm 51.

Traditionally, ashes used are gathered from the burning of the palms used in the celebration of Palm Sunday the year before.

Ashes were used in biblical times to express mourning, as we see often in the Bible, especially in regard to repentance for one's own sins. 

JOB - "...I...repent in dust and ashes.." (Job 42:6)

JEREMIAH - calls for repentance, "gird in sackcloth and roll in ashes" (Jeremiah 6:26)

DANIEL - "I turned to the LORD God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes"
(Daniel 9:3)

And there are many other examples.


When did the observance of Ash Wednesday begin?

We have clear evidence that it was celebrated around 960 AD. And by the 12th century we have evidence that people began burning the palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday for the ashes.

However you observe the day, it marks the period when we turn our hearts to the cross and the when we earnestly confess our sins and turn to Him for salvation, and receive the gift of freedom that God, in His grace, has offered us.

What is Lent?

Lent begins Ash Wednesday. Christians repent of their sins, pray and fast. They purposefully make changes in their lives.

The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and we focus on those last days Christ was on earth before He was arrested and crucified.

The word Lent comes from an old Latin word meaning lengthen, referring to the longer hours of daylight indicating the coming of spring.

What about the days?

There are more than 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter and yet we refer to the 40 days of Lent ?-- here's the deal about that: We don't count Sundays, because each Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, so in getting the total of 40 days, we count only Monday through Saturdays.

   Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

   according to your great compassion

   blot out my transgressions...

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are proved right

when you speak

and justified when you judge...

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence...

Restore to me the joy of your salvation...

--Psalm 51

Approaching Easter - That Historic Morning

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "who is it you are looking for?

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means 'Teacher').

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, "I am returned to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
                      -- John 20

Approaching Easter - His last Days - Philip Yancey

How Christ spent His last weeks on earth:

Holy Week - Crucifixion - Resurrection - 40 days - His ascension back to eternal glory


This excerpt is from Philip Yancey's message at the memorial service for victims of the Virginia Tech shootings -- April, 2007


We gather here as Christians, and as such aspire to follow One who came from God two thousand years ago.

Read through the Gospels and you'll find only one scene in which someone addresses Jesus directly as God: "My Lord and my God."

It was 'doubting Thomas,' the disciple stuck in sadness, the last holdout against believing the incredible news of the resurrection.

Jesus appeared to Thomas in His newly transformed body, obliterating Thomas' doubts.

What prompted that outburst of belief, however -- "My Lord and my God" -- was the presence of scars. Feel my hands, Jesus told him. Touch my side. Finger my scars.

In a flash of revelation Thomas saw the wonder of Almighty God, the Lord of the universe, stooping to take on our pain, to complete the union with humanity.

Not even God remained exempt from pain. God joined us and fully shared our human condition, including its distress. Thomas recognized in that pattern the most foundational truth of the universe: that God is love.

To love means to hurt, to grieve.

Pain manifests life.