Write this on your heart

letter from exile 10

God’s Word: John 3:16-17

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

 Reflection: 

It used to be the case that the endzone of every college football game had some fan/evangelist holding up a poster reading: JOHN 3:16.  The idea was that some unsuspecting person would see the sign, google it, and by stumbling upon this verse would give his/her life to Christ.  I am quite pessimistic that this approach worked, although I am quite confident that the non-Christian in the row behind the fan/evangelist grew annoyed if the poster board blocked his view for too long.  

Our uber advanced hospitals have been our functional saviors and they would keep us alive forever... until they couldn’t.  

But I suppose there is a deeper reason why this technique was minimally successful.  I wonder if it is because Jesus’ longing that none would “perish” feels outright silly to a modern audience.  Who is perishing? Modern science, it seems, can keep us alive forever.  We have face creams and jeans that make us look forever 21.  Our uber advanced hospitals have been our functional saviors and they would keep us alive forever... until they couldn’t.  

By and large, many of us have insulated ourselves from the stark and inevitable reality of death.  It is not a popular subject to talk about. But you need to hear it.  You are going to die.  I pray fervently that you and your loved ones are not numbered among the ~.2% of deaths for having contracted COVID-19.  But it could happen.  Even if you escape this crisis unscathed, your fate is still sealed.  All of us will die.

We are not immune to death.  But guess what?  God wasn’t either.  Jesus speaking about himself in the 3rd person, says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…”  Do you know what Jesus is referencing when he says that God “gave” his only Son?  He gave him over to die.  

See, Jesus stepped out of heaven and robed himself with humanity.  He lived a perfect life (one that you and I should have lived) and then he died.  The sentence of death (that will happen to you and everyone you love) is nothing that God himself did not endure first.  See God died on a Friday afternoon 2000 years ago.  He didn’t accidentally contract COVID-19.  Jesus marched valiantly toward the cross to die.  

Why? So that your eventual death would not be the end of the story.  So that upon death, eternal life would begin.  You and I will suffer the pain of death.  But we do not have to suffer the penalty of death.  Jesus entered into the pain of death, and took our penalty.  He was innocent, but he died in our place.  

Every year, I read a small book called, Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff.  Wolterstorff is a theologian whose son died suddenly in a tragic accident.  The book is really his journal that captures the anguish, sadness, and hope amid tragedy.  I read it regularly so that my heart never becomes numb to the stark possibility of my worst nightmare happening--losing a child.  By God’s grace, it hasn't happened to me.  But it did happen to God.  He lost a child to death.  

The death of the Son of God means that you will not perish eternally, but rather have eternal life.  Do you believe this?

Thankfully, not all deaths are equal.  The death of the Son of God means that you will not perish eternally, but rather have eternal life.  Do you believe this?  No, I am not asking you to raise up some obnoxious sign.  I am asking you to write this onto your heart.  

Postscript:  I realize that this post is a little ominous. I didn’t set out to make it so.  But we need to allow this conversation to enter back into our homes and dinner tables.  It is not comfortable, but it would be a far worse fate to confront death without having first explored it at Jesus’ side.  

 Prayer:  

Father, thank you for giving me your Son.  His death is the death which makes ultimate death untrue for me and my children.  I am sorry if I have been lazy and careless with my thankfulness to you. It is not a small thing to give me your Son so that I could live.  Spirit, would you help me to singularly organize my hope around the truth of this gospel message?  I need help desperately.  I don’t like to think about these things, but you are graciously forcing the issue.  Teach me to receive your instruction.  I am prone to bombard my life with petty things so that I don’t have to dwell on hard realities.  Lord, I don’t want to be macabre, but I do want to be urgent and hopeful.  Help me today, I ask in your Son’s name, Amen.  

 Praying outside of ourselves:

• Pray that all people everywhere would have a sincere heart-check with regard to death, and to receive the One who died for the whole world.  

• Pray for those with symptoms of COVID-19 who are quarantined alone to fight the sickness. 

• Pray for peace and grace for those who are experiencing anxiety because a loved one must still continue at work where contracting the virus is a risk.  

• Pray for those who have lost their jobs due to a stalled economy.

You were made for this

Letter from Exile 8

God’s Word: John 1:14-17

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Reflection: 

For two thousand years, the minds of theologians have exploded in wonder trying to understand the implications of the “Word” becoming “flesh” and dwelling among us.  How does the infinite God become finite and creaturely? And why would he subject himself to our misery, our sickness, our contagions? What precisely was he hoping to accomplish? 

Perhaps it is not too much of an oversimplification to say that Jesus was born to die.  His death on the cross would be his finest hour.  

Death.  Yup. Jesus condescended (that is the fancy theological term). He did it so that he could die.  You can’t die at the right hand of the Father. But if you forgo the riches and perfections of heaven, and take a body and a reasonable soul, you most certainly can end up dead on a cross.  Jesus knows. He did it. And that was the whole point.  

Perhaps it is not too much of an oversimplification to say that Jesus was born to die.  His death on the cross would be his finest hour.  

Recently I watched the movie, “The Darkest Hour.”  The plot follows the rise of Winston Churchill in parliament during WWII.  Early in the war, the Nazi army quickly took control of France and even trapped the British Expeditionary Forces in Dunkirk in the north against the English channel.  The string of Nazi successes seamed too easy. Stopping them seemed impossible. And worse, it appeared that 300,000 Allied soldiers would be annihilated. This was their darkest hour. 

It is in this precise moment that Churchill feels most alive as if he was made for it.  He is unbreakably confident. He ordered Operation Dynamo which was the largest evacuation of soldiers to date.  The military could not do it alone. Literally, thousands and thousands of civilians sailed their small boats alongside the British Navy to pick up soldiers in Dunkirk.  What was otherwise an awful military defeat in France, lit the resolve of the English people to fight (with everything they had) against the Nazis.  

Ironically, it was their defeat and rescue that turned their darkest hour into their finest hour.  This moment was seared into the imagination of the British people. It gave them resolve to fight at any cost.  Not only was Churchill made for that moment. The British people were too. And you and I know how WWII ends.  

Guess what?  We have the privilege of knowing how Jesus’ life and death ends too.  Death is conquered.  

It was his darkest hour.  It was his finest hour.  Jesus was born to die.  He came for that precise moment.

Jesus sees our defeat. He leaves his health and perfection with the Father in heaven. He runs towards a losing war.  He dwells among us. And Jesus is defeated on the cross. It was his darkest hour. It was his finest hour. Jesus was born to die.  He came for that precise moment.  

What about us?  Listen, Christian, look at the cross! Is it seared into your imagination?  Let it set your resolve on fire! This is our moment! Christians, we were made for this moment in history! The curfew and quarantine are stripping all of our culture’s false gods away.  No more sports. Our portfolios are hurting. Our jobs are unstable. Our vacations are ruined. Our educational goals are derailed. Listen, good health and financial stability are nice things--but they make lousy saviors. 

Everyone is viscerally learning what Christians have always known.  Christians don’t serve those gods; therefore we are more free than ever before.  This can be our finest hour!  It is time to turn back to your first love.  Was your faith lukewarm, casual, or convenient?  Let the Crucified One do business with you and then watch how revival begins.   You were made for this.  

Prayer:  

Father, our Great Rescuer--Forgive me for looking upon the cross merely as a sentimental and generic symbol of love.  Most certainly it is a symbol of love--but it is so much more! You have purchased me by hanging on the cross. Lord, would you enchant my soul with this truth?  I have been seduced by false gods, but you are starting a new day for me. Set me free to truly love you with my whole heart. I have been so half-hearted, I know, but Spirit, set my heart on fire. Do something new.  Don’t let me return to my comfortable religion. I need you. Make this dark hour in our world a bright one with the flames of your gospel. I pray in the name of the Crucified One, Amen.  

 Praying outside of ourselves:

• Pray for protection of all people, young and old, to not become addicted to social media.

• Pray for scientists to quickly find a way to quickly mitigate the symptoms of COVID-19. 

• Pray for churches to find new ways to disciple and care for their people. 

• Pray for families to be surprised by intimacy with one another and with the Lord.