Trusting with Our Lives

Throughout the season of Lent, we’ve been hearing Jesus’ seven last words from the cross. The last word that Jesus spoke, before he died, was “Father, into thy hands I entrust my spirit.” 

Jesus’ work on earth had been done.  He had taught and healed and preached, and finally, gave his very life, the fulfillment of God’s plan, the perfection and completion of all Jesus’ work, the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.  And despite the fact that to all appearances it was the end, that those gathered at the foot of the cross that day thought that it was all over—many of his followers had fled, the family and friends who remained were stricken with grief, the soldiers and authorities thought it was all finished—Jesus knew that it was not the end, that resurrection was to come.  And so he entrusted his death and his life into the hands of God.  “Into YOUR hands, I entrust my spirit.”

And on that glorious Easter morning, when the disciples found the tomb empty, the angel said, “Why do you look for him here?  He has risen, just as he said.” Jesus knew what was to come, knew that he would have to suffer and die, but that in that act he would win victory over sin and death forever.  Jesus knew that resurrection was at hand, and that he would ascend to the right hand of God the Father almighty, where he welcomes even us to his kingdom.

We too are called to trust God with our lives, and yet despite the witness of Easter that God is indeed trustworthy, it is hard for us to do.

Recently attention was riveted on the Mega Millions lottery, which had accumulated the largest jackpot in history.  Drawn by the lure of huge money, more people were playing than ever before.  There were a number of news stories interviewing people about why they were playing.  So many of them said they hoped life would get better, that winning millions of dollars would be the answer to all their problems and make all their dreams come true. 

I will tell you that Joseph and I did not buy a ticket, because we agreed that we would not want the disruption of our lives that would come with winning that kind of money! So many times, those lottery winners have more problems than solutions, and they end up being miserable, lives and relationships changed in ways they never imagined.  Sometimes the things we think we want, the things we think we can trust for our happiness, are not what we need at all.  As the country song says, “Thank God for unanswered prayers.”

If we could only learn to trust God, rather than trying to keep control in our own hands. We trust our own plans more than we do God’s.  We trust our money, our possessions, our positions; we trust our diets, our exercise, our self-help books, to give us the lives we want, when God may have a better plan than we could ever imagine. 

So often in our quest to control our lives, we place our trust in the wrong things, and then we wonder why we are not happy, why our lives lack joy and fulfillment. A seminary classmate of mine had been a successful dentist.  He, his wife, and three children, enjoyed “the good life,” before God called him into ministry. He gave up his practice, they sold their beautiful home, and moved into a tiny seminary apartment, and they said they had never been happier.  The joy of trusting one’s life to God is greater than any other satisfaction.

Does that mean that everything will always work out beautifully, that we’ll never have any hardships or sorrows?  No, the reality of life is that Christians are not insulated from the effects of the world.   

But the good news of Easter is that we can trust the God of the resurrection, the one whom Jesus himself trusted, with our very lives.  I have learned this in a powerful way since I was diagnosed with cancer and have been going through chemotherapy. There’s something about getting a cancer diagnosis that puts things in a different perspective.  My diagnosis has made me realize how little control I have over my life.  I learned that very powerfully last Sunday, when the effects of chemo made it impossible for me to preach on Palm Sunday, one of the most special days of the church year.  And yet, there is something good about being stripped of the illusion that I am in control.  I trust my life and the life of my church to a good and trustworthy God, and I know that I can leave all things in His hands. 

When you were a child, did you ever play that wonderful game with your dad, where you jump off the edge of the pool into his waiting arms?  When I was a child, it didn’t matter to me one bit that the water at the deep end was well over my head.  It never entered my mind that my dad would not catch me.  I had perfect trust in him.

And so it is with our lives in Christ.  The one who raised Jesus from the dead, just as he said, is the one who has the power to keep us from falling, the one who watches over us every moment and never leaves us alone.

So let us give thanks that just as did our Lord himself, we can entrust our lives to God.  He has already won the victory over every evil power.  There is nothing that can bind us, nothing that can hold us in the tomb, for Christ has risen, just as he said, and because he lives, we shall live also.  So let us live now in gladness and joy that have no end, for he has risen, just as he said.

It Is Finished

(I apologize for being behind on the blog.  The last chemo set me back a bit.)

“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’  Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”  --John 19: 30

I’m sure that many of you watched the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards last month.  Watching the Oscars has become as much about watching the grand entrance of the stars as it is seeing who wins the awards.  We’ve all watched on TV as the stars arrive for their walk up the red carpet. They step out of gleaming limousines, dressed in stupendously expensive evening gowns and tuxedoes.   There is glamour, jewelry, diamonds, red carpet, paparazzi, cameras, flashing lights. Everything about the night is designed to dazzle.

If it had been up to the disciples, that’s probably the way they would have had Jesus enter Jerusalem on that long ago day.  They had high hopes for Jesus, as did many other people in Israel.  Jesus had performed amazing miracles, and word about him had spread.  For hundreds of years, the people of Israel had been living under foreign rule, oppressed by strangers who had taken over the land.  The Romans were the occupiers at this point in history; the people of Israel lived under Roman law, paid taxes to Rome, saw the invaders prospering and enjoying the fruits of their labors.  The Roman army was an ever-present force, but the Israelites had no army, no military officers, no commanders, no king.  They longed for a king like the great king David, to come, to rally the people behind him, to gather a great army and drive the Romans from the land. 

And now, the one they were waiting for had arrived.  He taught with authority, he performed signs and wonders, and the masses of his followers were growing.  They wanted to get in on his parade.  Two million people were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  What better time could there be for the new leader to make his entrance into the Holy City and be acclaimed by the people who were ready to follow him to victory?

There were throngs of people everywhere.  There were huge crowds ahead of him, leading the way into the city.  There were more crowds behind him, following in great celebration.  And all along the way, the road was lined with people, pressing as close as they could, lifting children on their shoulders, trying to get a good look at this new leader, this Jesus, the one who would change everything for them.  They threw their cloaks into the road and waved palm branches, signs of their acclaim for this famous man.  And they shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

But not long after, these same people would be crying, “Crucify him!” and the journey that began with such promise, such triumph, such hope, would end with Jesus hanging on a cross, and with the word we hear this morning:  “It is finished.” 

Did Jesus word here mean defeat?  Was he saying, “It’s all over?”  After the going through the agony of the trial, the beatings, the mocking, the excruciating pain of the crucifixion, was Jesus ready to give up, to surrender, ready to succumb so that the pain would be over?

That is what we might think, when we read these words in our Bibles; because the English translation, “It is finished,” is rather ambiguous.  It is open to interpretation.  It might mean defeat, but it might mean something else.  How can we know for sure?

This is where it is so important to look at the original language, because while in English it is ambigious, it is not in Greek!  In Greek, the word is tetelestai, which means “accomplished,” “fulfilled,” “perfected.”

When a servant returned from completing the work of his master, he would say, “Tetelestai--It is finished.”

When a debt had been paid in full, it was stamped, “Tetelestai—It is finished.”

Our spiritual debt is great, so great that it would be burden too heavy for us to bear.  We could work and sweat and struggle and never pay it off.  But the good news is that we do not have to, because Jesus paid the debt for us.

Jesus’ word on the cross, “It is finished,” means it is finished for us.  In his sacrifice on the cross, he paid the price we could not pay.  Yet we human beings get stuck in thinking that we have to DO something to earn our salvation.  We are used to accomplishing things, aren’t we?  We want to be the ones to fix things for ourselves.

It takes a great deal of humility to let all that go and say, there is nothing that I can do.  I cannot save myself.  I simply have to rest in the promise of God, that “by grace we have been saved through faith, and this not of our own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2: 8-9).

In many ways, this is an unusual message, because preachers usually tell you to DO something. And yet to be true to this word from Jesus on the cross, I must say that when we hear this word, we should DO nothing.  We should simply open ourselves to receive this gift.

The good news in this passage is that Jesus did it all!  As the old hymn says, “Jesus paid it all!  All to him I owe.  Sin had a left a crimson stain; he washed it white as snow.”