Loved
Back to Life
“It
happens to all of us,’ I concluded that Easter Sunday morning. ’God simply
keeps reaching down into the dirt of humanity and resurrecting us from the graves
we dig for ourselves through our violence, our lies, our selfishness, our
arrogance, and our addictions. And God keeps loving us back to life over and
over.”
Nadia
Bolz-Weber (Patrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner Saint)
Many
people reject Nadia Bolz-Weber as a spiritual leader simply because she uses
language that they find offensive. She curses, she speaks in familiar language
about God, and she looks nothing like our image of clergy. I like her a lot
because she speaks her own truth in her own voice and her faith comes shining
through no matter how she looks. She’s the real deal. And by that, I mean she
is living a redeemed life and she knows it has nothing to do with her. God just
reached down into the dirt of humanity and pulled her out of the mess she had
made of her life. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, she has seen the light.
This is
Easter weekend—today is Good Friday (a mysterious name for the day Jesus was
executed). I attended a beautiful Maundy Thursday service last night—aka Passover,
or The Lord’s Supper. It celebrates the night on which Jesus gathered his
disciples in an upper room to commemorate another night in Egypt when the angel
of death passed over the homes of the Hebrews in exile and allowed their
children to live. The children were allowed to live only if the blood of an
unblemished lamb was smeared upon their door. That required sacrificing the
lamb, of course, in place of the children. So many symbols to ponder there.
On the
night of the last supper, Jesus gathered all his disciples—the good, the bad, the
doubters, the bickerers, and even the betrayer—no discrimination. He washed
their feet—all of them. He instructed them to be humble enough to do the same
for each other and for all who came to them in need. Then he blessed them, passed
the bread and wine, and ate and drank with them. He even told Judas to go and
do what he must. I’m saying all this to show once again the example set by
Jesus for us—one of humility, non-discrimination, tolerance, service, and
faith.
When I see the political
commercials on television that, on one hand, speak about the unshakable
Christian faith of the candidate, and in the next sentence, condemn people who
are in any way different from them, it’s clear that they are not followers of
Jesus. They have reached into their own dirt and come up with a handful. No
grace, just dirt. Good thing God shows Grace—even to them.
Today, I will go and buy
flowers for a hanging basket. I will plant them in memory of my grandmother,
Decia—Mama, to me—who always told me to “plant on Good Friday.” Instead of celebrating
death, she celebrated life. She loved petunias, the showier the better. Hope I
can find some purple ones. Those were her favorites. I’ll reach down into the
dirt, remember Mama, and be loved back to life.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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