The Lent Cross Experiment

 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me."

Have you decided to wear a nail cross during Lent this season?  There is both an internal and external component to wearing a cross intentionally.  Wear it well!  Pray as you put it on.  Pray to live up to the high calling of carrying a cross like our Founder.  Pray for opportunities to share why you're wearing it (my pastor made me!)  a worthiness to carry it.  And then share your thoughts, emotions, experiences, conversations in the comment section below (even if nothing profound happens - share your thoughts)  . . .

Friday's SOAP - Mark 10:41-45

⁴¹ When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. ⁴² So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. ⁴³ But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

S(cripture) - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

O(bservation) - What kind of God is this? A God who comes to serve and give his life? How can this be? God is power. God is authority. God is control. These are the things humans are after. These are the things promised when the serpent promised Adam and Eve that they could be like God with a few bites of forbidden fruit. Even Jesus' disciples - james and John. A request to sit on Jesus right and left - the picture is one of authority, prestige, power in a royal court. And Jesus says, this isn't what God is like. We run around like little gods attaining to the opposite of what Jesus calls us to be about. Want to lead? Serve. Want to be first? Be a slave. Be like God - the Son of Man - who came to serve others and give his life as a ransom of many.

A(pplication) - Think life isn't treating you fair? Think you aren't getting your due? Want to be recognized and applauded? Slaves don't get a curtain call. Jesus is trying to tell the world, tell us, something. The ways of God are not power, prestige, popularity. The ways of God are love, service, and sharing. Love. Serve. Share.

P(rayer) - Abba, the little god in me cried out for control, to be served. The Spirit whispers serve. Oh Spirit, win in me. Amen.

Thursday's SOAP - Philippians 2:5-11

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

 ⁶ Though he was God,
      he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
 ⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
      he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
   When he appeared in human form,
 ⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God
      and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

 ⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
      and gave him the name above all other names,
 ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

S(cripture) - Though he [Jesus] was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

O(bservation) - This is absolutely one of my favorite texts. It centers me by pointing to the magnificent nature of Jesus and Paul's call to emulate him. And it rises in crescendo to Christ being worshiped by all creation.

The verse that goes with this week's readings makes it clear that Jesus was "divine stuff." To be honest, translators have difficulty with this text. The same word "morphe" is used in the phrase "morphe of God" and "morphe of a slave." It literally translates as "form," but this doesn't carry the depth that the context carries. (What is the form of God who is invisible?) In most commentaries, the language shifts to "essence" or "nature" - a state of being. Jesus is more than the outward form of God or a slave. He embodied both God and man. Fully God and fully man.

The awe and mystery in this should not be glossed over here. I just keep hearing over and over - "O Holy Night . . . fall on your knees."

A(pplication) - These are words that need to savored slowly. You may be drawn to another word or phrase. Rest there and revere. The reality of who Jesus was and is and will be is essential to our faith walk. But be warned, an encounter with Christ will change you.

P(rayer) - Abba, the gift of your Son is a great wrestling for our finite minds. We wrestle with how You could put on flesh. We wrestle with how one God can be in three persons. On the surface, these seem impossible, but in experiencing you and knowing Your story we hear its TRUTH. This reality is beyond us and yet you invite us in to believe and trust. There is no other way through the story except the witness of those who saw you and touched you and heard you. We join them in their unending hymn to You. And in this Christmas season, we fall on our knees. And worship. Amen.