Take Some Time To Weep

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus began to weep. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (John 11:32-36)

I was a bit hesitant to blog about the recent celebrity passings…I thought that perhaps some would think that it wasn’t appropriate to what this site is about. But come on people…two great American icons have passed away. These situations deserve reflection. I don’t think anyone woke up this morning and had any idea that we’d be getting such disheartening news. I was very sad when I heard about Farah Fawcett’s passing this morning even in spite of the fact that it was an “expected death.” I was equally, if not even more sad this evening when I heard about Michael’s death even in spite of the fact that it was an “unexpected death." Death is an unsettling occurrence. We still don’t quite know what to do with it. Why do people die? Where do they go? Those are the questions that philosophers and scientists and religions have been trying to answer from the beginning of time. As Christians, we of course have a hope and an expectation that gives us some sense of resolve through Jesus, but that still doesn’t make it any easier. I can very easily find dozens of traditional scriptures in the Bible that talk about death and how to deal with it, but the scripture above, I feel goes unnoticed far too often.

Lazarus is dead and his sisters and the people around him are devastated. Jesus arrives on the scene after his death took place and walks right into all of the mourning. What a sad scene this probably looked like. When Jesus looks upon Lazarus with His own eyes, Jesus begins to weep too. There are many different reasons and speculations as to why Jesus wept. The Jews saw how much Jesus loved Lazarus. Jesus loved Lazarus, not because Lazarus was so popular with Jesus, but I gather that He wept because Lazarus was one of His own. The community was mourning the death of one of their beloved and Jesus joined in with them. Who knows what background Lazarus had; if he was righteous a sinner, perfect not perfect. I’m sure we can look it up and come up with a bunch of reasons why Lazarus would be one deserving of Jesus’ tears. But I believe that Jesus mourns and weeps for the deserving and the undeserving. This is the same Jesus that said that God causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. So I can come up with no other reason why Jesus mourns other than the fact that this was a human being lying dead before Jesus’ eyes and it was a sad occasion.

In this scripture, Jesus gives us permission to mourn. I'm not sure how perfect or unperfect Farah or Michael were, but I do know one thing...they were human beings whom many of us loved. Just as Jesus walked into the community of the people who loved Lazarus as they were grieving and mourning, we as a community are grieving and mourning the loss of our own. It’s okay to cry and reflect and grieve death. Jesus loved and Jesus continues to love all of us! You have permission to sit around and listen to Michael Jackson songs all week. You have permission to watch old clips of Farah Fawcett on TV.. If it makes you feel better to watch CNN and MTV and BET and MSNBC and ABC all day, then do so! Call your friends, call your family and talk about it. Don’t be so quick to search for a lesson right now. Someone once asked the question, “Do we search for lessons to lessen the pain?” Well perhaps. And yes, there will be lessons that come up. But right now take a minute to reflect on life and how precious it is….to appreciate those closest to you and those who are still with us that we take for granted everyday. Enjoy their company for a moment. Take a minute to pray for the families of Michael and Farah. Take some time to weep.

Out With the Old!

“He (Jesus) told them this parable: ‘No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.’ “ (Luke 5:33-39)

Ugggh! My stomach is really bothering me. I was in the car on the way to work this afternoon and grabbed a sandwich and some fries. Too hungry to wait to eat when I got at work, I grabbed a few fries in the bag to hold me off until I got to work. By the time I got to work my stomach was hurting sooooooo bad! As a matter of fact it still hurts. I kept thinking to myself, “Why did 3 or 4…okay maybe 5 fries hurt my stomach so bad?” And then I remembered…I’ve been eating healthy all week and on top of that I took a shot of wheatgrass detox last night at Jamba Juice. For those of you who don’t know, wheat grass is one of the most effective foods at alkalizing the body and providing nutritional support while colon cleansing or detoxing. French fries on the other hand, are probably the most non-nutritional, unhealthy, greasy foods to take into ones system. Mix the two up and it’ll make for one serious stomach ache. So here you have one very healthy food, mixed with one very unhealthy food and the two of them should have never been eaten one behind the other.

Jesus was telling his disciples a parable, using language that really isn’t that familiar to us in 2009….garments and patches and wineskins. But, we can gather the meaning of the scripture anyway because He explains it. Look at this part: “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.” If new wine is poured into old wineskins, the new wine will burst the skins. Yikes. That’s exactly how my stomach feels right now. Those are physical examples, but what about spiritual? What does it look like when we as new beings in Christ try to mix our old way of living into what is supposed to be a new life? I’ve got news for many of you; when you accepted Jesus Christ into your life the Bible says that you became a new being in Him. You may not look different and some of you may not even feel really different, but the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life through Christ makes you a child of God….you’re made new! So all of those old things that were apart of your life that are not things that would be characteristic of the things of God won’t mix well with your new life in Christ. I encourage you to evaluate those old and new things in your life that may be mixing; it could be causing unnecessary problems. Remember, you’re new now…out with the old!

Looking for Something...Cross Movement Discusses their Beginnings...

Waiting May Not Be Fun...But It's Necessary

Acts Ch. 1:4-11 (The Message Bible)
After his death, He (Jesus) presented Himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but "must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon." When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?" He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world." These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, "You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left."

A few weeks ago on a Saturday evening when I really didn’t have anything to do, I called up my friend and asked her if she wanted to hit up the movies. She said, “Yeah”, but she had to get her hair done first at 4:30 and said we could catch the 7 o’clock. When 5:30 came around she sent me a text message to let me know that she wasn’t in the chair yet, but she’d still be there by 7. At 6:45 when I was in the car on the way to the theatre she texted me to let me know that she was under the dryer and that all they had to do was take the rollers out, she’d be there at 7:30 and to save her a seat. At this point I started getting frustrated. I did not want to sit in there waiting for her by myself. I drove past that movie theater and headed to Lowes to see if there was a later show there. When I called her back I told her that I decided to go to another theatre and she said she was on her way. When I got to the theatre, she wasn’t there so I waited for 5 minutes…15 minutes…20 minutes…30 minutes! I was standing in the lobby mad all by myself. When she finally walked through those glass doors, her first words to me were “Whew. Sorry Girl.” Sorry Girl?! Unfortunately, it was at that moment that I realized something about myself…I’m impatient. Waiting is never fun.

The scripture above takes place after Jesus’ death and resurrection. He came back to spend some time talking and training the disciples for 40 days. Jesus tells them to wait for everything God promised. They kept asking Jesus, “But when?” Jesus would again say “wait” or “it is not yet time.” And then Jesus is suddenly taken up into the sky and disappears before their very eyes. Can you imagine what they were feeling? Perhaps worry…anxiety…and of course a bit of impatience. They wanted their questions answered and they wanted them answered right then. Like, “When is the Holy Spirit coming,” “When is the kingdom going to be restored,” and by the way “When exactly are you coming back?” The disciples had no other choice but to wait. And here we are thousands of years later…still waiting.

We don’t have to wait on much in the society we live in now. Everything is microwavable. We have Tivo so we don’t have to wait for TV shows. We have Netflix so we can order movies online. We even have dating services online so we don’t have to wait much to date either. So when it comes to waiting on the Lord….of course it’s hard! The worst part about waiting is that many times we don’t even know what we’re waiting for…we’re just waiting. Perhaps to many of us we think it’d be much easier if we knew what we were waiting for. If we knew how the relationship was going to turn out. If we knew what college we were getting into. If we knew about that job we’ve been waiting for. Or what those test results are going to be. And unfortunately I can’t give you any answers because I still don’t know why I’m waiting on some of the things I’m waiting for. But what I do know is what Jesus said to His disciples: it’s not for you to know, BUT you will receive power. This is good news. God has given us power through the Holy Spirit to be able to move forward in the midst of the waiting. God has given us the power to remain strong and sturdy even when things seem at a stand still.

God hasn’t left you hanging! God’s always working on your situation even when you can’t see what’s ahead. Sometimes when I’m anxious or unsure about the things I’m waiting for, I remind myself that God loves me and that I’m God’s child and God always has my best interests at heart. So whatever you’re waiting for, just remember that God has seen the end and the beginning and everything is working together for your good!

Niyoki - Joy (RAWsession Original)