Good Friday - Evening of Shadows

I had the pleasure to serve the Our Savior's and West Prairie congregations this evening as a lay preacher. We gathered for worship at West Prairie, and as the name depicts, it's a beautiful little church sitting on the "prairie" just a bit east of Thompson, Ia. The message I brought to them was a Tenebrae service. Tenebrae is Latin for "shadows" ... a service of light. Through the seven last words of Jesus on the cross, we extinguished a candle and turned out the lights of the church. Serving as the lay preacher it was my honor to read the Gospel lessons, the words that our Savior, Jesus Christ, spoke from the cross. Following each reading, I gave a bit of a meditation. With each meditation it was my hope that those gathered could feel, could remember, could find a deep meaning to these words, to this day. Warning ... this is a LONG post ... but here is a little synopsis of my message this evening. If you didn't make it to church, I hope these words bring you just a bit of reflection.

The most touching words for me personally, "Father, forgive them, for thy know not what they do." This tortured man prayed for our forgiveness, the Son of God, asks for his Father to forgive us ...

"Today you will be with me in paradise." Looking through tears, reaching out to the theif, this man of God continued to teach and heal from the cross. Those words brought comfort and peace to a criminal, truly he could have saved his energy, saved his breath.

"'Woman here is your son.' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.'" In those simple words I think he was saying, "Momma, here's my friend, you can love him, he will love you. He knows me momma, he walked with me, he understands what I must do, he will hold you and comfort you when I am gone and momma, he shares your grief." And likewise I think that to his friend, to the disciple whom he loved, I think he was saying, "My friend, here's my momma, I love her, and I want you to love her, and she will love you. She is the one who taught me, she raised me, she wiped my tears, she fed me, she held me, and she will hold you." I think that's what those 9 or 10 words meant from the cross.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The cross, the torture, the pain, the agony ... can we even imagine the pain? The cuts and tears of his skin from the lashing, the dry blood on his face from his "crown" of thorns, and the agony of his body hanging there in the heat of the day. He found his strength in God, he found purpose in his Father, but in this moment I think he found himself to be alone, utterly, entirely, completely, absolutely, downright alone. He found himself walking in the steps we all walk, the footsteps of despair, the point when we wonder, "My God, my God .... why have you forsaken me?" And I think at this moment that God himself had to have wept as he heard His Son cry out , "Why."

"I thirst." ... "It is finished" ... I think that not only did this man thirst for water for his swollen tongue, his raspy throat, his dehydrated body, but I think he also had a thirst for the living water of baptism. The promise of those waters seems so far from him right now, and Jesus is clinging to the hope ... to that hope of eternal life. And again he is mocked, they take a wine vinegar, and put to his parched lips ... and Jesus says, "It is finished."  Now I know this is getting long ... but I want to share a little bit out of my most favorite Max Lucado book, God Came Near.  
And I quote, "The voice that screamed at God, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,' now says, 'Father.' The two are again one. The abandoned is now found. 'Father,' he smiles weakly. 'It's over.' Satan's vultures have been scattered. Hell's demons have been jailed. Death has been damned. The sun is out. The SON is out. It's over. An angel sighs. A star wipes away a tear. Take me home. Yes, take him home. Take the prince to see his king. Take this Son to his Father. Farewell manger's infant, bless you holy ambassador, go home death slayer, rest well sweet soldier the battle is over."
Not only was it over, fulfilled, or complete ... It is finished.

And then he spoke clearly, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."  then he breathed his last. Why? Why did he take the energy to speak ... why those words? Well ... I think he prayed, he proclaimed his faith in God. Into the darkness, as the light of the world goes out, he spoke. And he breathed his last.

God bless each of you ... ... ... until soon

Making a House a Home

I know it's been a long time since I've shared some ponderings and wit ... but as you all know we moved Brandon and Blair to Lincoln. The "kids" were so organized, we got there on Tuesday night, we enjoyed a meal with them, went to bed early so we'd all be well rested for the early morning joy of packing the truck.

We packed the truck, we got on the road as planned around 1:15 or so, and we headed south. Blair went ahead of us to get her mom, Cindy; her dad, Brad, would head down after work at 5. We got to the new house and the view of the lake was beautiful, the house is so cute, and we were amazed at how smooth it had all gone. Brandon went in, met the owner, started signing the lease and we were all excited.

WELL ... after the owner left, we started looking around, found some stains in the carpet, the microwave was dirty on the inside, the place was not "move in ready" to say the least. Blair and Cindy arrived, all of us ready to unpack and get the kids settled. We women all started looking around, and it was very clear that the cleaning had not been done, it was just plain dirty. Brandon took a DEEP breath, made a phone call, stayed calm and let the owner know this wasn't acceptable. The friends and family arrived to move in, only we weren't able to 'move' in ... so we unloaded the truck and put their belongings in places that didn't need more work.

Thursday the cleaner arrives at 10, did a so so job, another one arrived at noon to clean some bathrooms, and the carpet layers arrived at 1 and things were starting to look up. Meanwhile, we were all putting away things that could be put away. Nolan made $20 cleaning the kitchen light fixture. We were able to put the furniture in it's proper place by 5ish.

About 6 p.m. Cindy and her friend Kathy arrived, I don't think Cindy's vacuum shut off for almost 2 hours, she brought all the attachments and put that Dyson to work. Kathy cleaned windows, wiped off every sill, and the place started to sparkle. Nolan was on his way by 6:30, back to school, and by 8:30 we were able to open up the boxes with all of Blair and Brandon's pretty things (ok, Blairs). I unwrapped and she put the beginning touches of her and Brandon on the place they will now call home.

Friday, Blair went off to work for 9 hours at AE, and I began the laundry, baked some cookies, and kept cleaning and unpacking, preparing for the party which would start at 7 p.m. The party was amazing, filled with friends, fun and laughter. April and Lena arrived about 5:30 and Ms. Wiggles was so excited to see her grammie and grampa (Ms. Wiggles = Lena ... not April, guess the name would fit both). Nolan arrived again on Friday after going back to Indianola for class and work. What an amazing family filled weekend.

Saturday we shopped a tiny bit for a few things, enjoyed a relaxing lunch on the deck, for dinner we had steaks and peppers grilled to perfection by Brandon, and mashed potatoes by Blair (they were amazing made with Buttermilk and cheese) ... and then at 9:30 PM believe it or not, we rallied and headed off to Kevin and Michelles to celebrate Kristen's birthday ... and JUST DANCE was a hit. We headed for home about 1:30 a.m.

Sunday Doug and I headed for home ... exhausted, but filled with joy at the family time we got to have with everyone. Brandon and Blair's HOUSE is beautiful, but when the decorating is finished and they have their touch on it, their HOME will be perfect. What a great time we had ... worked hard and played even harder :)

Until soon!