March 21, 2016

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” [Isaiah 25:6-9]

“And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. Mark 14:66-72

Few things are more negative or more final than “death.” Death is seen as the end. Death is to be avoided at all costs. But the Bible, at times, tells a different story: “You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Cor. 15:36). “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

We see this every year, all around us as the season of autumn approaches. The leaves change and the flowers fade as the cold grip of death takes hold of them yet again. Old things are dying to bring about new life. It is a strange cycle of mourning and rejoicing that makes up our days. Death brings life, or it at least has that potential. In many ways, this is the very journey of Lent: death to life. Just as the food we eat must first die in order to sustain our life, so the old self (apart from Christ) must die daily to give birth to the new self. We put to death our self-centeredness and we are raised to life in Jesus. We deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Death brings life. It is not the way things are supposed to work, but who ever said G-d works always in ways we understand.

So, the love of G-d toward us and for us, through Christ, compels us to face death without fear. G-d held nothing back for us, but rather, gave up his own Son for us. Surely G-d will also return to us life abundantly. And that abundant life involves being a follower of Jesus. The process of dying to ourselves and dying to our own agenda helps us to locate our treasure (life, joy, purpose) in Jesus. Lent then reminds us that true life is found in Jesus. As we die to ourselves we begin to truly grasp the death of Jesus, and find it easier to joyfully give up all we have and follow him.

Pastor Dave