GOOD Friday

 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. 'Get behind me, Satan!"'He said.  'You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns'" - John 12:23-25

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and

follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. -  Mark 8:31-33

           Today is “good” Friday.  GOOD.  I wonder if the disciples would have called it good.  I wonder if they would have called it something different, like “unjust” Friday, or “disillusioned” Friday.  Maybe “Dark” Friday would have seemed fitting.  Yet it has come to be known as “Good Friday”, and while on the surface it does not make a whole lot of sense, upon a deeper look it does.

            It is a day that proclaims God's purpose of loving and redeeming the world through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is a day that is good because God was drawing the world to himself in Christ. As seen in John's gospel, particularly, God was in control. He was not making the best of a bad situation.  He was actually working out HIS intention for the world — winning salvation for all people.  He was making a way for you and I to be with him, and not just in Heaven when we die. He was also making a way for us to be in close proximity (abide) with him now!  Right here on this dusty place called earth, God drew near through Jesus and he still draws near because of the cross and resurrection of Christ. 

            But has Good Friday become lost in the clamor of Easter?  Sometimes a chocolate egg sounds a whole lot better than a Lenten fast.  And 350,000 watts of sacred cantata vibration is much more alluring than the clash of hammer and nail upon that which we hold sacred.  Oh how often I want the resurrection without the cross.  I don’t want to suffer, and often don’t want to be reminded of it.  I don’t think I am alone.  Over the past few days many Easter ads from well-meaning churches have been smattered on Facebook and websites.  “Come to our church on Easter Sunday!  We will entertain you with flashy music, our pastor will wow you with his inspirational sermon, and our members will blow you away with their hospitality.”  …somewhere in there is a story about the crucified, resurrected Jesus. 

            I’ve sang in a fair share of Easter programs where melodically I sang resurrection words externally, all the while internally I was asking God, “Why don’t I feel resurrected?  Where’s the life-abundant you promised?”   I comforted my personal inquisition with a quick, “Oh well, maybe next year.”  But next year would come with the same empty promises.  I desperately wanted something more than I was experiencing.  I felt like a big, fat fake...and I desperately wanted real life.   

            This morning I over heard a television news story talking about life after death. (I have no idea of its contents because I’ve been typing this.) The only phrase I heard was “two people, grateful for death, now living.”  How perfect for this post!

          All those Easters  I longed for life but skipped the cross.  I was compelled to protect what felt sacred – they were good things!  Health, financial security, relationships, ....  But resurrected life comes after death.  We must move through the surrender - into the unchosen sacrifices of hopes, dreams and aspirations - in order to live free.  We are not alone when we cry out in naked forsaken-ness.  The One who hung on a cross shares the sorrow and can be trusted with our pain.  We “suffer for a while but joy comes in the morning.”  A kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die before it can serve its intended purpose and birth more life.  And it was not until I embraced the difficult pieces of my story, and laid to rest my ‘sacred-somethings’ that life started to showed up.  It has been through a path that includes disillusionment, frustration, and dark nights of the soul that has lead to a resurrection.  It often felt unjust.  Like Peter, I wanted (and sometimes still do) to rebuke Jesus for suggesting the path to real life means letting mine go.  And while I cannot drink the cup from which Christ drank (Matt 20:22), if I want to encounter his life, there is a cross involved - Jesus’ and mine.   Jesus unjustly hung on a cross for the sake of a restored relationship between God and us..   He rose again, to shatter the power of death and make right-now, real, eternal life possible.  Good Friday reminds me that life is found in “taking up my cross daily to follow him” …. Jesus’ resurrected life will lift a dead soul from the grave.  In the news caster’s words, we can be grateful for death because through it, we can now live.