More Than Bread

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From the earliest days of our movement, a greeting arose that was so meaningful. The early Christians greeted each other with the constant reminder that their story was not over and the best was yet to come. The one to initiate the greeting would say, "Christ is risen." The one responding would say, "He is risen indeed." From the very beginning, true Christianity has been a movement of the indeed. 

He has risen indeed. 

To those who say that the resurrection is just a metaphor; to those who imagine that after Jesus died, his disciples found  themselves still moved by his life and his teaching and at some point said, "Let's honor his memory by talking about him like he's still alive.  

We say, "No he is risen indeed." Resurrection Sunday is an indeed day.

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As the story unfolds, it's Saturday. The disciples are in this in-between time; the  time in between hopeless and hopeful.  They don't know what's available so they aren't living like what's available is really available. It's life in the in-between.  Can you relate to that?  As a follower of Jesus do you ever feel like you are living life in the in-between? You're not quite hopeless, but not quite hopeful.  You believe in God, but a vital relationship?  Sometimes you put forth quite a bit of effort to be a good Christian, but it seems like duty and you're not sure God cares.

You don't consider your life broken, but on the other hand, you hear these promises about abundant life and you wonder if you're missing something.  Sometimes we wake up to find ourselves in the in-between life and we don't even know how we got there but more than anything else we want to know how to move on. Are you living life in the in-between? 

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The cross is the ultimate, blow-out love-burst of God. Think about it. From the eyes of heaven, the resurrection was no big deal. Do you think the angels of heaven  waited with bated breath to see if God could raise Jesus from the dead? Were they surprised that the creator of life could give life to the bringer of life? In heaven's  eyes the resurrection might have been a bit ho-hum. But the cross? "O my God,"
they must have whispered in the halls of heaven, will he really do it? Does he love them...all of them so much that he'll climb up on that tree and take all the sin and shame of the world upon himself and experience their loneliness and brokenness. Does he love them that much?

And the answer was yes.

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Thursday of the last week was the very first communion in the history of the world! So in this episode we have a very simple focus on communion. This mini-drama set in the context of the Passover (a great celebration of deliverance) remembers, celebrates, even revels in the death of Jesus. That's what communion is all about; we proclaim the Lord's death. We celebrate Christ Crucified.  

I'll be honest, part of me cringes when I put those three words together. Celebrate  -- Christ -- Crucified.  It is a mysterious wonder that they could be put together and still have meaning. But they do, such a deep meaning that transformed the foundations of reality. Are we ready to celebrate Christ crucified?

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Who was Judas? Well he was chosen by Jesus. When Jesus was putting together his inner circle, when he stayed up all night praying, asking the Father who should the twelve be, Judas was in his mind. He must have been trusted at least to some degree by Jesus. I mean he was the treasurer; he was in charge of the team’s money.And I believe that Jesus loved Judas. He washed his feet. He showed Judas the full extent of his love. Yet, despite being chosen and trusted and loved by Jesus, Judas betrayed him. 

How is that possible? How do you hang out with Jesus for three years? See what he did and meet how he healed and listen to the voice that calmed the storm, and heard him teach? How do you meet with face-to-face, sit next to Jesus at the table…and then after all of that turn around and betray Jesus? All I can say is that I don't want to be Judas!

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When Jesus died on the cross, the viel in the temple, which kept everyone away from the very holy presence of God, that curtain was torn in two. We've all thought that the message in that moment was "Come. You're invited. Come into God's presence." But what if God tore the curtain in two as a way of saying, "I will not be put in a box. Walls cannot contain me."  That could change everything.

Do you understand? Since the resurrection, any place can be a sacred space, because Christ is let loose and His presence brings the sacred to every space He touches. There is no box that can keep God in!

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The four gospels are basically biographies  of Jesus, but unlike most biographies you've ever read, the gospels pretty much ignore the first 30 years of Jesus' life. They dive into his last three years, but of his last three years, about 1/3 of the pages of the gospels are dedicated to his last week. Sunday to Sunday. 8 days. Apparently the people who knew him best felt we could not get Jesus if we don't get this week in his life. What happens in these eight days is the hot burning  center of his life. 

So here is what we are going to do for the last episodes of this Lent-series. Each episode will land on a story, an event, a truth from that day of that week. Which means that maybe, I’ll even do In-between Saturday and Resurrection Sunday. If you want Palm Sunday go to our youtube page youtube.com/calvarycwow. That was my message for this weekend. But for Holy Monday...we're talking about the problem with sacred places!

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Spread throughout John 14-17 (which begins with the words, "you will have trouble") are these amazing prayer promises that center around the word, "whatever" -- like "Whatever you ask for in my name, God will give it to you." Whatever. Whatever you ask. You’re probably thinking, "Wait a minute Dan, we've got to be careful how people take a verse like this. It's like we want to protect God's fragile reputation. We don't want people to have unreasonably high hopes in God. And I know, it's not like life was easy with Jesus. Not every ending was happy. There was trouble, hardship. But let me simply tell you, prayer matters to God. 

If it didn't matter to God, Jesus wouldn't say, "Whatever you ask." 

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You will have trouble! Jesus made it clear that this is normal. You will have trouble  in the world. All kinds of trouble. You're going to go through circumstances that will cause doubt and fear. You will lose friends. The world will hate you and people will persecute you. The enemy of your souls, the prince of this world is coming and there may be opportunities for you to lay down your life for your friends. There's going to be trouble, but listen... We often find trouble just before we get to a breakthrough. Right? It's always darkest before the dawn. Difficult times are a catalyst for spiritual growth. 

You will have trouble, but...breakthrough is coming! 

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We live in neighborhoods filled with people in need of hope. And I believe that somewhere within us is a desire, a stirring to make a hope-filled difference in our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces, all throughout our communities. At least in part, I hope that’s why you are listening, and I hope that along with that stirring in your heart to make a difference, you have at least a suspicion that you can't do it on your own. That perhaps like the early church we are better together. 

That's what this episode is all about. I have a deep conviction that not only are we better together, but that actually we cannot accomplish all the dreams on our hearts, if we do not constantly and consistently aim our lives and our churches toward the dream of Christ's heart. What is His dream? Well the dream on Christ's heart is the prayer on his lips!