Tag Archives: Jesus

UCCDM Lenten Devotional- Silence, Emptiness and Hope

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This is the tenth in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional Series. This reflection comes to us from Rev. Alan Johnson, Chair of the UCC Mental Health Network, Ex-Officio Member of UCCDM, and Former UCCDM Board Member. His bio cam be found on the Board of Directors page.

Silence, emptiness and hope are the themes for Holy Saturday

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24.

The heart of the Christian story is of the three days, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Good Friday is the suffering and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Holy Saturday is the time of emptiness and silence. Easter Sunday is when God raised Jesus from the dead to new life. The three days make a compendium, a trilogy of the whole Christian story. The death, the silence, and the resurrection, as a totality, make us sing our praise, offer us ways to see the new creation coming into being, and lead the believer to a new way to living in the world.

What is the point of Holy Saturday? Why not just go from the death to the resurrection? Because it reveals the truth of life itself. When I was sunk in depression, when I could not sleep, could not focus, was in a daze, could barely communicate and did not have an appetite for many days, it seemed like life had ended. I felt hopeless. It was an empty time; a void of pleasure; a wasteland. Thank goodness for a good therapist, medication, a supportive partner, my Christian faith and a faith community to which I belonged.

That is why Holy Saturday speaks to my soul. While as post-Easter people, we can barely surmise what it must have been when Jesus’ followers knew that he was dead. Really dead, as the Apostle’s creed says, he was crucified, dead and buried. That was it. It was over. Really was. What was the hope then?

In Lamentations, we read of the experience of being bereft.  “…driven and brought me into darkness without any light…has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago…though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.” This must have something of what those early disciples experienced on that day after Jesus’ crucifixion. The bleakness was real. Scripture tells it like it is. Lost, consumed with darkness, not a spark of light or hope. This has been real for many people, as it had been for me.

The emptiness, the silence, our spirits crushed. Holy Saturday, the day after Jesus’ death, allows meaninglessness and hopelessness to seep into our bones. It confirms this common, universal human experience. Although hope comes in our own hopelessness, for the God in Jesus ultimately will not abandon Jesus into a final death, our faith does not deny the bleakness and the profound loss, emptiness and silence on Holy Saturday. There was nothing more humanity could do. We came to the end of the line, to the end of the rope. It is in Holy Saturday that we live in silence.

Susan Palo Cherwein has written this prose poem, “God is in Silence.”

In the emptiness, God is.

In the darkness, God is.

In the silence, God is.

When the psalmist cried out form the pit,

God was already there.

When we cry out from the deep night,

God is already there.

When the silence is roaring in our minds,

God is there.

For when we are emptied of our paltry projects and goals,

When our grandiose and prideful accomplishments run aground in darkness,

When even our incessant mental chatter ceases in despair,

God is revealed in silence

Whither can we flee from God’s presence?

God is.

In the silence and the emptiness in this second day of the Christian Story, the Holy still resides.  The writer of Lamentations writes, “But this I call to mind.” There is that “Divine BUT.”  “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in him.”

Even on Holy Saturday when we spiritually journey into that place of gloom and doom, where, if it is not our lot at this time, it is the lot of many people in the world this day, we can remember. We can call to mind that it is with God that there is hope. And even if a person does not have hope, when in the pits, it is still God who shows up in unexpected ways and with surprising people to keep rekindling the fires of faith and hope. We know that God is the One who keeps us, holds us, lifts us up, and always provides hope in our hopelessness. Enter into the experience of Holy Saturday acknowledging that the emptiness and the silence are part of our human experience, but it is never the last word. That last word comes tomorrow.

“God is in Silence” from Crossing: Meditations for Worship by Susan Palo Cherwien–Copyright © 2003 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP) A division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc., St. Louis, MO. Used by permission.

UCCDM Lenten Devotional-Who Do You Say That I Am?

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This is the eighth in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional 2014 series. This devotional reflection comes from Rev. Kelli Parrish Lucas, UCCDM Secretary. Her bio cam be found on the Board of Directors page.

Maundy Thursday

Genesis 12 ; Gospel of John 13, 18

It occurs to me that Sarai, the wife of the patriarch Abram, has something in common with Jesus. Both had their identities betrayed by someone they loved and trusted.

Earlier in this Lenten season we found ourselves confronted by the call of God to Abram to leave Ur, when we follow that narrative to Genesis 12 we find Abram and Sarai called again to leave for a new land. This time they are traveling from Haran into Egypt. Verses 10-20 are often left out of the lectionary which stops at verse 14. It’s almost as if the lectionary is trying to avoid the issue of true identity as it is fully raised in the text. You see, in the narrative Abram asks Sarai to pretend to be his sister rather than his wife. Thus, Sarai briefly becomes one of the wives of Pharaoh. When Pharaoh discovers this he returns Sarai to Abram and sends them on their way.

We don’t hear Sarai’s thoughts on these events. We can imagine what a wife might say to a spouse who asked her to pretend to be a sibling rather than a spouse. But that is not in the text. What is in the text is that Sarai’s husband had to the power to change her identity, to say who she was. Furthermore, we see that Abram’s redefinition of Sarai’s identity leads her to yet another identity completely.

It is Maundy Thursday, Jesus has gathered with the disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover feast, to wash their feet, to proclaim that his body and life are given for them (and us), and to proclaim his coming betrayal. The text tells us that it is as Jesus does these things that the decision is made in Judas’ heart to betray the Master. Jesus even tells Judas to go and do what must be done. Judas, one of the twelve disciples, one of Jesus’ trusted friends is the one who betrays him. It is Judas who must decide who he thinks Jesus is, and then based on that decision Judas will collude with the powers that be. It is Judas who will signal Jesus’ identity with a kiss in the garden.

In both these texts the issue of personal identity are the key issues. In both of these texts someone else decides whom the other is and takes action that will radically alter the both the life of the other, the life of one deciding who the other is, and the unfolding of history.

As a woman with disabilities, many of which are hidden, I know what it is like to have others decide who I am. I know what it is like to be “in the closet” of disability, to have relationships in which there is little knowledge of my disability, and the emotions others show when I let my full identity be known. I know what it is to be vulnerable with others to let them know the depths of my experience and have to trust that they will know with whom and when to share that knowledge. I know what it is like to feel that trust betrayed. To watch at the annual school-house parent night as your parent outs you sharing with the teachers about your disabilities in front of classmates and other teachers. I know what it is like in the workplace when co-workers sense there is something different about you, but not knowing what it is decide they will name it–and name it wrongly. I know what it is like when others redefine your identity such that it disrupts and utterly re-routes your own sense of self. With disability it is not so much identity politics as it is identity of individuality/self that is intertwined with the experience of living in a body so different from the norm that the very world around you is rife with barriers that disable. Life with disability is asking each individual you encounter, in some way–who do you say that I am?

Loving God, You who know me better than I know myself. You who created me to be fearlessly and wonderfully made. Help me to know myself, to share myself, and delight in the friends I break bread with. Empower me to raise my face even when others define me in ways that threaten my identity or life. Grant me Your strength and love, to always know myself, and to do Your will. Amen.

 

UCCDM Lenten Devotional–Cornerstone

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This is the seventh in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional for 2014. It is written by Rev. Jeanne Tyler, Vice Chair of UCCDM. Her bio is on the Board of Directors page.

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.-Psalm 118:22

I like to play with images and words. They help place me in my experience of the world.  In Psalm 118, we hear or read, verse 22, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”  Now, this is interesting. A cornerstone is a foundational stone marking the corner of a building.  It is one significant stone. Being the chief cornerstone makes it even more of a significant stone.  But, the builders rejected it. And yet, someone dragged it back and placed it well so it became the chief cornerstone. Is not this interesting and intriguing, particularly on Palm Sunday?  We know the story of Palm Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and the people greet his entry with palms and shouts of Hosanna!

Who among us has not experienced rejection because of a perceived flaw? Most builders want to build an enduring building and they look for stones that match their ideals of “significant” stones. So, how is it possible for a rejected stone to become the cornerstone? How is it possible for people with disabilities to place ourselves at the cornerstone? We are often rejected. We are not good enough, we are not smart enough, we are not political enough, or we are not significant enough to become a cornerstone. What value do we offer in centering the walls of an enduring building?

We offer our humanity; judged as perhaps insignificant, yet created in the complexity and mysterious Image of God. We who cannot hide nor deny our full humanity offer our very bodies as testament to the love of God. In language of covenant, we are grateful to the creation and to Jesus who becomes the cornerstone of our faith; unexpected yet acclaimed.

Prayer  Holy One,  give us hope and grace in ourselves as we are.  It is a great paradox that the stone rejected by builders becomes the chief cornerstone.  Thank you for the diversity of creation and for times of being the chief cornerstone.  Amen.

UCCDM Lenten Devotional–Man Born Blind

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This is fifth in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional 2014 Series. This reflection for the fourth Sunday in Lent comes from Rev. Jeanne Tyler, Vice Chair of UCCDM. Her bio is available on the Board of Director’s page.

John 9:1-41

It is a tense time for Jesus and his followers. Jesus has enemies who seek his death. They are on his trail; waiting for him to make a mistake, say an inappropriate remark, or act badly.

Jesus is known as a healer. He has the power of healing and offers healing. As Jesus is escaping a murderous plot, he is presented with a man born blind. Jesus is asked a question we ask even today. Who messed up, this man or his parents? Who can we blame because somebody is responsible? Somebody is always responsible for perfection made human; which is to say not perfect. Blemished by whom and why we seek to find the culprit.

Jesus healed the man by making clay out of his spit and the dirt on the ground and placed the clay on the man’s eyes. He then told the man to go and wash his eyes in a pool of water away from Jesus. The man gained his sight and came back but did not recognize the healer.

This is in some way guerrilla theatre with sighted men not recognizing a healer and a man who gained sight also not recognizing the healer. Is this about our compulsive need to make judgments about human form and what passes judgment and what does not? Are we willing to accept one another as we are?

O Holy One, we come to You with our judgments about who is human and why l he/she matters in the universe. You help us name ourselves as human as the one born blind. Amen

 

UCCDM Lenten Devotional-Willing

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This is devotional is for the Second Sunday in Lent. It is the third in the UCCDM Lenten Series 2014. This reflection is provided by Rev. Kelli Parrish Lucas, UCCDM Secretary.

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’* So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” Genesis 12:1-4

 

“ — We have completed a building and program audit. [Several different audits are mentioned in this packet. Your score is less important than your willingness to survey and assess places where improvement is needed.]

–We have identified __ things to change this year.

–We have identified __ things to change in 2 years.

–We have Identified  __ things to change in 5 years.” ~from the A2A checklist in “Anybody, Every Body, Christ’s Body”

Ah, Lent. It sometimes seems that Lent can be a season of magnifying our imperfections, second only to the resolution season of New Year. (In all honesty, Lent is not a pleasant time.) We often talk about what we are giving up or taking on as new spiritual practice for the season of Lent.

We often talk about Lent as an individual journey, and that is fitting if we are just to mirror Jesus’ journey in the wilderness. The lectionary this week focuses on Abram’s journey out of Ur (Genesis 12:1-4). Abram, however, did not journey alone he went with God and his family. Abram had his community with him on the journey. Is the lectionary nudging us to consider the journey of our community as well as ourselves?

What if the Body of Christ started a journey of community reflection? I wonder what we would reflect on..dogma, creeds, ecumenical relations? In the UCC, there is little doubt we would focus on issues of justice. But the Christian practice of Lent has traditionally been an internal journey, like Jesus in the wilderness. Is there something internal to the Body of Christ that we might bring forward for reflection and discussion? Surely we are not perfect as a church–as a community of believers–even as the Body of Christ. We celebrate Communion with the broken Body of Christ, surely we don’t expect the body is perfect for we celebrate the brokenness and the new covenant that comes from the brokenness and bringing back together!

Even when we work for justice and ‘walk the talk’ of the gospel to the best of our ability, there is always something more that God is calling us to set out towards. We are not a people destined to settle in Ur.

In the UCC when we reflect on how we live in covenant and community as the Body of Christ, we often reflect on how ‘inclusive’ and diverse our community is~we are multi-racial, multi-lingual, anti-racist, open and affirming, immigrant welcoming. . .. Are we “Accessible to All” as well? If the Body of Christ is always breaking open and coming back together to welcome the stranger from margins…then perhaps the journey is one which continues each time God calls us to move forward. Do we continue to respond as Abram did? Do we simply go or do we say ‘enough of your speaking God, we are staying in Ur where we know who we are and who we include’?

The UCC asserted at the 2005 Synod, that is called to be a church that is “Accessible to All”. This does not mean that the church, or the Body of Christ, is or will be perfect–just that it is faithfully continuing the journey. This is the season of Lent, the time to reflect on or to practice a new understanding of our response to God’s call. To paraphrase the A2A checklist: Our score is less important than our willingness to survey and assess places where improvement is needed.

UCCDM Lenten Devotional-Ash Wednesday

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The A2A Subcommittee of the UCCDM Board has invited persons associated with UCCDM to write devotional entries for the major days and Sundays of Lent 2014. We hope you enjoy this journey of looking at Lent through the lens of disability.~Rev. Kelli Parrish Lucas

Our first Lenten Devotional for this Ash Wednesday comes from Dr. Kevin Pettit, UCCDM Board Member.

~~~

What is this period in the church calendar called Lent and what is its significance?

I know that Lent is a traditional time of fasting meant to promote a person’s reflections of the time of Jesus in the wilderness; but I have a strong feeling that the time of Lent can have a much greater significance than simply a commemoration of the forty days which Jesus spent fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptations by the Devil.  Is not the time of Lent also a commemoration of a time of atonement for our God and humanity?  Are we all not, like Jesus in the wilderness, tempted to fall short of what God has intended for us?

I believe that it was only through his hunger and temptation in the wilderness that Jesus came to learn of the struggles that we each feel.  Of course, none of us struggle against the specific temptation to exert divine powers to turn stones into bread, the temptation to idly test our God’s concern and power, or the temptation of world domination; but, during the 40 days in the wilderness that we commemorate during Lent, Jesus was being tempted to drop the heavy mantle of his own humanity and separate himself from us in fundamental ways.  He was, however, not dissuaded from his mission by these temptations.  Indeed, it is in his decision not to give into these temptations that we first see Jesus choosing to live as the human who would become our Messiah.

Though we might be tempted to commemorate this decision of Jesus by feasting Mardi Gras weekly, we are called by Christian tradition to follow Jesus and his travels in the wilderness by actively rejecting copious consumption.  Mirroring in a veiled way Jesus’ rejection of the temptation to be more than human, in this time of Lent we are asked to reflect on the ways in which we each fall short of reaching the human potential given to us by our creator.  We are also called at all times to struggle to reach this potential by giving of ourselves and attempting to improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.  After all, this was also the response of Jesus to this time as well!