Who will care for me?

“Dear Woman, here is your son!” and “Here is your mother!” – John 19:26-27

There is a tendency to dehumanize Jesus. We struggle thinking of Jesus a person like us with feelings, concerns, and thoughts. We sanitize Jesus so that we do not really have to take him too seriously. We want to make him more perfect than us so that we do not have to deal with him and his message. In this, Jesus becomes some distant figure who lives and dies long ago in a world strange to us. Jesus is represented by a pretty cross around our neck instead of a robust, masculine man whose life and death  condemns us for our pious religiosity.

Jesus, looking down from his execution, sees two people who are dearest to him, his mother, Mary, and his beloved disciple, John. He declares his last will and testament to them: “Mary, here is your son; John, here is your mother.” John records in his gospel that from that moment Mary spent the rest of her life with him.

In this Holy Week, see Jesus say to you, “I care about you. I will give you those who will care for you.” – Ron Friesen

Feeling abandoned by God?

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46

Have you ever felt abandoned by God?

Over the years I have heard some very painful stories of abandonment: faithful spouses who woke up one day to find their spouse had abandoned their marriage vows of fidelity and loyalty, children who saw their parents lost in their addictions of work, drugs, greed, abuse, and power, pastors who were ejected from their churches because their theology no longer perfectly matched the beliefs of some folks.

Alone

Deserted

Jettisoned

Cast off

Left

Jilted

Forsaken

The worst abandonment to experience is that God has deserted you, abandoned you, left you alone.

Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that following hard after God will save us from feeling we are all alone in the battle of life.

Abandoned? Jesus knows the feeling. Into the darkness he cried: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Ron Friesen

Father, forgive them

"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."  Luke 23: 34

When we face false accusations it is difficult to think of anything but revenge. If we do not execute the justice we believe should be delt, we hope that some evil will befall the one who has wronged us.

Yet the response by Jesus to those who falsely accused him is quite different. Did Jesus forgive those Jewish religious leaders who convinced the Roman authorities to put him on a cross? Actually, we do not know as he gave his false accusers to his father to deal with them. Here is a model of how to deal with those who hurt us, abuse us, betray us, and even falsely accuse us: let the Father deal with them!

Many years ago I was black-listed by a man who held a great deal of power in the church of which I was a member of at the time. I attempted to reach out to him and extend forgiveness. He never responded to my outreach. One day I heard he dropped dead of a heart attack in the middle of a meeting where he had become very angry. When I think of this event, I still have to pray these last words of Jesus: “Father, forgive him, he did not know what he was doing.” – Ron Friesen

The Last Seven Words of Jesus

The Last Seven Words of Jesus.

As we enter this Holy Week, I invite you to join me in reflecting on the last words of Jesus. I believe that these last words are words that can lead us into a deeper walk with Jesus not just in this week, but throughout our lives. As you read these thoughts, I invite you to do your own journaling through word or art or both.

Here are the Last Seven Words:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

“Dear Woman, here is your son!” and “Here is your mother!”  (John 19:26-27)

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43)

“I am thirsty” (John 19:28)

“Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46)

“It is finished!” (John 19:30)

Epilogue: The Good News of Easter

- Ronald Friesen © 2014

What will you give up?

What are you giving up for Lent? If you around a certain group of people this spring, you will hear this question often.

I did not grow up celebrating Lent so I am a relative newcomer to this season of the Church Calendar. The first time I remember giving any serious thought to Lent and it significance was about 22 years ago. June, my wife, and I were going through a time of discernment about what was the next step in our journey with God and God’s people. We decided that the way we would acknowledge our commitment to this time of reflection would be to limit ourselves to soup and salad for the 40 days of Lent. (Lent extends from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday.) It was a wonderful time of unity in our home, our hearts and in our faith. In the end, we moved from our church at the time into an adventure of working with the homeless, the sick and the dying.

Now I am facing some more discernment in my life. Having joined the ranks of the senior population of our nation, I am wondering what God has for me in the next stage of my life. I did begin a new exercise experience on the eve of Ash Wednesday this year: I climbed a mountain. I believe that this mountain will be my time of discernment in this season of Lent.

What are you thinking about in this season of reflection? – Ron Friesen

Are you ready to live?

You cannot really live until you are prepared to die. This is the message of the day observed in much of Christendom today: Ash Wednesday. 

People will attend services around the world today to "receive ashes." As the ashes are placed on the forehead of the worshipper, the minister will say, "You have come from dust, and to dust you will return." 

To be born is to die. No one gets out of this world alive. Of course, we do our best to avoid this inevitably. We watch what eat, we exercise, we dye our hair, we do all in our power to deter the reality of our mortality. 

Ash Wednesday launches the Christian season known as Lent. Lent is the forty days of preparation leading to Good Friday and Easter. Ash Wednesday reminds us that Lent is about the death of Jesus Christ. It sounds like Ash Wednesday is a day of sobriety and seriousness; it is except that this season does not end with death but with resurrection. 

You cannot really appreciate the power of the new life Jesus offers unless you understand that there is a death that makes possible the new life. You have to die to live! - Ron Friesen