Good Friday

I've always wondered why we call this day “Good Friday.” It never made sense to me. Why would we call a day that the greatest person to ever walk this earth was killed for the crimes of others “good.” In my book, that’s pretty bad. But as I’m doing my homework for this week (Matthew week), it hit me. We call it Good Friday because something good came out of this bad. Yes, Jesus died. But he was willing to die. There could have been another way, but he knew that this was the way that it had to be. He knew what was going to happen to him. He knew that he was doing to be rejected, mocked, tortured, killed for crimes that he did not commit. But he came to earth anyway.

He didn't come to take away the law that says we have to die for our sins. He came to take our sins away, because he wants us to be with him forever. The only way that was possible was for there to be an ultimate sacrifice. The reason he wanted us to be with him forever was love. The very same love that God created the universe with. The same love that he had when he freed the Israelites from Egypt, when he allowed them to be sent out of exile in Babylon. They very same love that he offers us today.

Jesus knew that people would reject him, that they would reject what he did, what he taught, even his sacrifice. But he did it anyway. He did it because his love outweighs what he knew. He knew that the people who accepted him would want those who rejected him to see that what he did was good, and that there was no reason to reject him. Sure, he got under people’s skin. He still does, but isn't that how every revolutionary person is. They get under people’s skin. Some people choose to listen and follow what they see as the truth, while others choose to reject it and hate it.

Good Friday. It’s good because Jesus knew, and he still chose to do it. He willingly went to the cross. He did it because he wants you. He did it because he loves you.  It’s good because he cared so much that he worry about all the pain he was going to go through, because he knew that it was worth it.

Jesus and Poverty

Walking down the street

Homeless guy

Sitting on the street

Only wants a meal

Someone to talk to

But we ignore him

We walk faster past him

We keep our eyes averted away from him.

A different street

A different day

A different person

Same situation

They’re sitting on the street

We ignore them

We don’t have the time

We don’t know what they’re situation is

“What would they do with my money?”

Is what we think

They’re there

We can’t ignore them

The homeless are people too

Maybe they once had a job

And a home

A family who cared

You don’t know their story

Maybe we should take the time to listen

There are plenty of times that

We have nothing to do

Go out

Show the same kindness that

Jesus showed

Listen

Give hope.

When you listen

You give hope

When you give hope

You are fighting

The injustice of poverty

I wrote this in class this morning. Our speaker, Barry, was talking about Jesus and poverty. It occurred to me that we have it all wrong. We don’t always have to do great things to fight poverty. People who have fallen into poverty just need someone to give them a hand. That hand is hope. If we have Jesus, then we have an abundance of hope. Why not share it with someone?

We always want to be more like Jesus, so we try to be “good people.” We avoid certain types of people, but if we look at the life of Jesus, he was hanging out with the exact same people that we try to avoid. So if we want to be more like Jesus, hang out with the “bad crowd,” with the homeless, with the people that have a not-so-good reputation.

The Man in the Alley

A pastor

A wealthy businesswoman, donating to charity

A junkie

Walking down the same street

Passing an alley

A homeless man

Laying in the shadows

Injured, maybe dying

The pastor hears the moaning

Quickly strides past

“I’m busy.”

He thinks to justify not helping

The businesswoman hears

She quickens her pace

Her heels clicking rapidly on the pavement

“I give to charity

He should go to a shelter”

Cold, hard, but justified she thinks.

Hours pass

Night falls

The man in the alley

Falls unconscious

A young man

Addicted to drugs

Wanders past

Thinking only of his next fix

The money in his pocket heavy

A street light flickers on

Something in the corner of his eye catches his attention.

He stops

Looking closer he sees

The man in the alley

He knows that he’s not a good person

He’s done some things that he’s not proud of

But his mother raised him right

 Help those who need help

He looks at the wad of cash in his hand.

Enough for his next fix

Enough for a hospital

He wants his next fix so bad

But something makes him go into the alley

Into the shadows

He pulls the homeless man out of the shadows

His phone was dead

But his car was down the road

He hoisted the man

Over his shoulder

In the hospital

Nurses and orderlies shocked

This young junkie

Bringing a homeless man

Who was going to die

Into this place for help

Willingly using money

That was going to go to keeping

Him comfortable

Why would such a thing cross his mind?

Even leaving extra money

So that the man could buy himself a meal

He knew that even though didn’t want to

His selfishness wanting to take over

That he did the right thing

By helping the man in the alley.

God Wants Us

We have it all wrong. We think that God is just some mysterious being in the sky who laughs at us. But he's not. He wants relationship with us. He doesn't care about our messiness, our screw ups. As long as we have our hearts in following him and loving him back, we have relationship. The only thing that separates us is our sin and guilt. That shouldn’t keep us from accepting God's forgiveness and love, but it does. We get so worries about 'getting it right' that we forget that there is no way that we can always get it right. We are human. We are not perfect. He sent his son, Jesus to free us from our sin, and he forgives us so that we don't have guilt. 

He doesn't want what we can do. He just wants us. It's as simple as this: He loves us and wants us. No hidden charges, no catches, no tricks. Only pure and simple love.

God is Waiting for You

God is waiting. We all see it coming, but we get scared of something so amazing. After all, we are so horrible, right? Why should we deserve something so great as God's love. But he doesn't care about that. He gives us his love freely. Without question. He knows that you might throw it back in his face, reject it. But that's ok. Everyone does it at some point. God knows that whenever that happens, it means that you wanted it, but you were to afraid. You didn't know how to handle it. You thought that if you took his love you would explode, or get hurt. You can't risk getting hurt again. So you run away. You hide. Or so you think. God knows where you are, what you're doing. But he doesn't judge you. He doesn't reject you. He's waiting for you to return with open arms. He pursues you with open arms. He doesn't want you to feel like you don't deserve his love. He wants you to accept it.