Wednesday, April 26, 2017

April 26, 2017

Sacrifice, Suffering, and Easter

Next Thursday, May 4 (May is next week … wow), I will be at a clergy gathering with Bp. Sutton at All Saints, Frederick. The overall topic of the day will be a book the bishop has us reading called, Cross Talk: Preaching Redemption Here and Now.

In essence, the author, Sally Brown, examines various atonement theories and how they are or are not helpful when discussing the suffering Jesus endured on the cross. It's a good book with too much depth to go into here, but suffice it to say that she comes down squarely against any interpretation of the crucifixion that picture the event as divine child abuse, a glorification of suffering, or as a systemic example of keeping vulnerable people in a perpetual state of vulnerability.

Two questions we must ask ourselves as Christians are these: What was the point of the crucifixion? and, What effect does the cross have on our lives?

It was through the cross that Jesus redeemed the world. Jesus didn't take our place on the cross to satisfy the penal requirements of a vengeful God; what Jesus did on the cross was much bigger than that. What Jesus did on the cross was to break down the walls that divide us – walls that divide us from each other and from God. The crucifixion was a sentence carried out by the powers of the world that were, and are, opposed to the system of God. This is why Jesus was silent before Pilate, because there was nothing for him to say that could be understood by this world.

Jesus' actions on the cross have broken down the barriers and walls that divide us. As we move through our lives as Christians it is important for us to recognize that. It's important for us to recognize that we do not need to spend our time breaking down walls, because Jesus and the cross already broke those walls down. What we are called to do, says Brown, is to structure our lives in such a way that we live like we believe the walls have already come down.

This is not an easy task. Because while Jesus and the cross broke down those walls and barriers, the world is busy working to build them back up. The suffering of Jesus on the cross showed us how the world treats people more interested in restoration than in division. And when we follow Jesus, when we work towards living in a kingdom of God that has no barriers, the world will make us suffer. But our suffering, and the suffering of Jesus, must never be undertaken for the simple sake of suffering. If that were the case, suffering would never be holy, it would only be pitiful.

The suffering of Jesus on the cross, the suffering of minorities at the hands of powerful elite, the suffering of women and children at the hands of their husbands and fathers, must always be taken in the context of suffering against evil. The cross is the ultimate symbol of resistance. When we stand up against evil, injustice, and abuses of power, we are standing with Christ saying, “This is not the way.”

The way of the cross sees barriers already broken down. The way of the cross allows us to resist injustices and oppression. The way of the cross may lead to our own suffering. But the way of the cross also leads to life.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! How will the cross allow you to see new life?

Blessings,


Todd+

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

April 19, 2017

Holy Week Reflections

Today is Easter Wednesday. Today is the fourth day of Easter. And today is the second day back in the office after taking a much needed day off following Holy Week.

But today is also a day I want to reflect on my first Holy Week at St. John's. There are probably not enough words for me to describe last week, so I'll settle on, “Wonderful.” It was a wonderful week.

The weather for Palm Sunday cooperated as both the 8 and 10:15 services began outside with the blessing of the palms and the procession up Antietam St. to the tower doors; and it was nice to hear “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” being sung vigorously at both services. The reading of the Passion was, as always, a powerful experience.

Maundy Thursday was the official start of the Triduum as we gathered in Trimble Hall for a simple meal, the hearing of Scripture, and participated in the foot washing ceremony. From there we moved into the church proper for the final Communion of the week and either watched or participated in the stripping of the altar – that moment when we, like the disciples before us, betray, deny, and remove Jesus from our lives.

Two Good Friday services followed with the Stations of the Cross, another Passion reading, and the reading of the Solemn Collects with space provided for Veneration of the Cross.

Holy Saturday featured the Holy Lamentations, chants reflective of coming to terms with Jesus dead and buried in a tomb.

And then early on the first day of week, while it was still dark, we gathered for the Great Vigil of Easter. The weather again cooperated and those gathered experienced the new fire, the blessing of the Paschal candle, a beautiful rendition of the Exsultet, traditional readings, a baptism, and the flood of lights and joy as we shouted, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen! – The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

That service was followed by a wonderful breakfast in Trimble Hall and then a jam-packed 10:15 service with the full choir, joyful music and singing, the revelation of the empty tomb, and the recognition that Jesus lives and is calling us by name. The whole thing was followed by an Easter egg hunt for the children.

All of the above are my basic recollections of the Holy Week services. It was wonderful to participate in them with you all in this place. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and the level of participation. Holy Week tells a story – from triumphal entry to triumphal resurrection. Easter is best experienced when you experience the whole story. For those who missed any part of the experience, I hope you will plan to experience it all next year. For those who experienced all of Holy Week, I hope you found it transformative.

For my part, thank you for allowing me to share it with you.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, who defeated sin and death and rose victorious from the grave, grant you the courage and strength to passionately follow him faithfully, and the wisdom and revelation to see things in new ways.

Blessings,


Todd+

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

April 12, 2017

The Veneration of the Cross

This is Holy Week. This is the time when the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ takes center stage. This is when we remember that God's “most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified.”

This is when we pray that “we walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace.”

This week offers many opportunities for prayer and worship as we are drawn into the Holy Triduum and Passion of Jesus. The most common form of prayer and worship this week is the Stations of the Cross, offered Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 12:15, and again on Good Friday at 12:15 and 7 p.m. The Stations (or, Way) of the Cross is a 14-step path commemorating Jesus' last human day on earth. Christians use them as a mini-pilgrimage, recalling not only his suffering and death, but our complicity in those events. And on Good Friday, the Veneration of the Cross, is added at the end of the Stations.

In the 4th Century, the Spanish nun Egeria made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She recorded the various worship services she experienced, and the Good Friday ceremony of the Veneration of the Cross was one of them. She described how fragments of (what she believed) the true Cross were brought out, placed on a table in front of the bishop, and people came forward to bow and kiss the relics. This liturgy eventually spread throughout Christendom. People today will often genuflect and/or kneel before the cross as they offer prayers and respect. On a side note, the 1979 BCP is the first prayer book to restore this ancient liturgy.

During Holy Week we are called to contemplate those mighty acts whereby we have been given life and immortality. And at the center of our prayer and contemplation is the Cross.

The Cross is a complicated symbol of our faith. On the one hand, it is a symbol of unimaginable horror and pain. It was designed to torture and extend the death process for as painfully long as possible, sometimes lasting days. It is the place where Jesus spent his last hours of humanity, clinging to life, eventually succumbing to either cardiac arrest or asphyxiation. It is the place where Jesus willingly and humbly went. And crucifixion is the symbol of ultimate power of the strong over the weak.

Used incorrectly, the cross can be a symbol of sanctioned abuse. It can be used to keep battered women in their place, abused children cowering in their rooms, or for subjugated, enslaved, or marginalized minorities to remain passive. At its worst, the cross can be used to tell people, “Jesus sanctified suffering, therefore you must also take up a cross of suffering.”

Used correctly, however, the Cross can be a symbol of unity, defiance, and victory. It is a symbol of unity when we recognize that God does not visit pain and suffering upon us, but that God is with us in our pain and suffering at the hands of others. It is a symbol of defiance when we recognize that fidelity to the mission of God will bring us up against what the world demands, and nothing the world puts in our way will sway us from that mission; even if what the world presents to us is a cross. And it is a symbol of victory when we recognize that through death Christ has defeated death, delivering us from the dominion of sin, and bringing us to life everlasting. Used correctly, the Cross allows us to sing, “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”

All this, and more, is what we venerate and what we submit to as Christians. This Good Friday you have the opportunity to venerate and contemplate that which both takes and gives life. This Good Friday, you have the opportunity to seriously think and pray on what the Cross means to you.