Monday Musings: Words from the Cross: “I Thirst”
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the season of Lent St. Paul is pondering the “Seven Last Words” Jesus spoke from the cross. Each week one of the sayings serves as text for both Deacon Emily’s message for children and Pastor Rob’s sermon. On Thursday evenings we continue our Lenten meditation with a simple meal offered in the social hall followed by a prayer service in the sanctuary. Then during Holy Week St. Paul will open the sanctuary for your personal prayer and meditation. A guide will be available to help you ponder the “Seven Last Words.”
“Monday Musing” is another offering to help intersect the words spoken by Jesus with your life. This blog post began with the declaration Jesus made at the start of his public ministry, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news. (Mark 1:15, NRSV).
Another translation/paraphrase expresses what Jesus said this way,
“The time has come. The holy nation of God is near. Be sorry for your sins, turn from them, and believe the Good News” (NLV)
The final blog post will recall the post-resurrection appearances and Jesus telling his apprentices, Thus, it has been written that the Anointed will suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day, and in his name transformation of the heart and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to the nations… (Luke 24:46-47, Hart).
Jesus’ opening declaration and his concluding commission serve as the context from which my musings on the Seven Last Words arise. They continue to address us and invite us into God’s good work of spiritual reformation.
LAST WEEK – IMPORTANT REVIEW
Last week Monday Musing recalled the horrible scene outside the Jerusalem city wall at a small hill called Calvary. Three men were adjudicated as deserving crucifixion. One of them was impaled with metal spikes instead of the usual rope lashing. This was Jesus. After the soldiers raised and secured the cross, Jesus looked down upon executioners, mockers, followers, and the strangely curious. He said,
Father, forgive them… (Luke 23:34, NRSV).
I pointed out how this saying likewise addressed all humanity over the past two millennia. Particular mention was given to what St. Paul stated,
And he (Christ) died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised (2 Cor. 5:15, NRSV).
What Jesus accomplished from the cross made possible what he declared at the start of his public ministry and what he petitioned at its conclusion. Jesus, by suffering the violence of the crucifixion and receiving the mercy of the resurrection, achieved God’s victory over sin, death, and evil. The Kingdom of God is at hand, the turning from sin can take place, and the fear induced by threats to well-being get replaced by trust that God’s love ultimately prevails.
Last week I emphasized two truths:
The first truth stated, Repentance is an act born from sorrow that opens one’s life to the divine love that already surrounds us. The contrast was made between repentance taking place because one fears divine retribution, and repentance occurring because one discovers the reality that divine love already awaits. Jesus made this distinction to the rabbi Nicodemus:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17, NRSV).
The second truth stated, Repentance is the opening act of God’s good work to “renovate the human heart.” Unless a person seeks the way of spiritual reformation that renovates or transforms our hearts, those desires that prompted thoughts, words, and behaviors which go against God’s will and hurt our neighbor continue to affect us. Yes, God continually honors our sorrow and forgive our sin. Yet, God would also have us seek what the psalmist (probably King David) implored:
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit (Psalm 51:10-12, NRSV).
That is why we practice certain spiritual disciplines during Lent, or at other times. The disciplines help us direct our attention to the cross and resurrection, to the love that surrounds us, and to the heart work the Holy Spirit undertakes.
THIS WEEK – FURTHER THOUGHTS
A second word from the cross Jesus spoke arose from a bodily need he felt. Jesus said, I am thirsty (John 19:38, NRSV).
In his message last week, Pastor Rob stressed this appeal by Jesus brought out his full humanity. Our tendency is to over emphasize the divinity of Jesus. Thus, we negate the truth that he experienced the feelings, bodily needs, and temptations that you and I have:
It is true that we share the same Father with Jesus. And it is true that we share the same kind of flesh and blood because Jesus became a man like us. He died as we must die (Hebr. 2:14, NLV).
Christ was tempted in every way we are tempted, but He did not sin (Hebr. 4:15, NLV).
Pastor Rob then went on to explain how in being fully human Jesus both gave witness and made possible our becoming fully human just as God intended.
- As Jesus forgives, so can we forgive, even those we might call our enemy or tormentor.
- As Jesus showed compassion, so can we be caregivers and companions.
- As Jesus received and welcomed persons others sent away, so we can be present and attentive when our path and that of the outcast cross and God directs us to befriend.
- As Jesus offered a healing word, so can we pray for the sick, dying, grief stricken, or lost, knowing only God determines the cure.
Of course, as long as we live our ego-driven attitudes will persist. Although we endeavor to live as apprentices of Jesus, we know that we cannot fully emulate him. But we grasp tightly to the promise Paul gave:
I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phillip. 1:6, NIV).
This good work God continues requires our participation. Yes, God gives the growth, but we are involved in the “planting and watering” (I Cor. 3:6-7). Traditional Christian thought calls our involvement in “planting and watering” sanctification. Our receiving salvation is God’s act of justification. God alone makes it possible for us to enter a right relationship with God. But likewise, God makes it possible for us to engage in good works that are both aspects of spiritual reformation and human compassion. Again, turning to the apostle Paul we hear:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:8-10, NIV).
For this blog and our Lenten reflections, I cite three of the desires Jesus held for humanity and about which he often spoke:
metanoia Repentance Intentionally turning towards God’s love and acknowledging sin
metamorphoo Transformation Intentionally opening our lives to Spirit-induced change
euangelion Gospeling Intentionally revealing God’s love through words and deeds
We believe, trust, and act upon the two truths addressed last week and highlighted in the opening of this essay. Our actions involve daily setting aside the time to present ourselves before God. After a period of becoming still and being attentive to promptings/words from the Lord, you engage in repentance. You might use the liturgy printed in the Sunday bulletin, or one you have in a devotional book, or give expression with your own words. And yes, you also speak a word of absolution. I would recommend the one given in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he (God) who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Next, we ask God to proceed with the work of transformation. Now, I would like to say we do this without equivocation. The truth of the matter, however, is God tends to surface aspects of how we go about life that you and I have trouble letting go. That’s when we honestly tell the Lord, I’m continuing to grip this desire/attitude tightly, please help me to loosen my grasp and then let it go.
The last aspect of this daily time we spend with the Lord, is the request to reveal how we are to go about gospeling – maybe with a friend with whom we connect because “they” are going through a really “tough time”, or maybe a situation where God would have you volunteer, or maybe there is a person (colleague, neighbor, acquaintance) the Lord would have you share your faith story and invite to attend Sunday worship with you.
THIRSTING
Among the desires Jesus had for the well-being of those he invited to follow him three stand out for me. Just as Jesus bodily thirsted for water from the cross, Jesus’ heart thirsted for you, me, and every person:
- To turn in repentance towards God’s love,
- To open our lives in trust to God’s life transforming work,
- To give witness to his gospel in our everyday lives through what we say and the care we show.
Finally, the apostle Paul in his grand epistle to the Romans outlined for them God’s good work of justification through cross and resurrection. He also told the believers how through cross and resurrection Jesus prepared the way for transformation. Paul addressed repentance, the surety of God’s love for those whose lives bear the sign of the cross and seal of the Spirit. Paul also depicted the place or role followers of Jesus have in the world. At a key transition in his presentation, Paul instructed believers residing in Rome, with words now directed to us, to daily present themselves before the Lord:
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
May you thirst for God’s good work in and through your life.