“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
One of the most difficult things for a person to do is to reach out when they themselves are hurting. When we’re hurting physically, psychologically, emotionally, or spiritually we tend to draw inward to protect ourselves. I am writing this article at the end of Holy Week as darkness, death, and a sense of impending hopelessness loom. Most of us don’t like to linger long, if at all, in these serious subjects. We would rather think about happier things and be positive. This is the power of the cross and why we cannot gloss over the cross, death, and the serious subjects of life.
We see through the cross, our suffering, and those serious subjects of life that God is at work. I have to be clear here … I’m not saying that God brings about death and suffering as a matter of His “will.” That would mean that God is responsible for causing death and suffering. I don’t believe, for example, that God caused my mom to have Alzheimer’s or that it is, in any way, something that God wills or desires. But I have absolutely no doubt that God is at work and present with my mom and our family as we love and support her through it. My step-dad is a tremendous witness of love and faith as he cares for my mom. Others who know them are inspired by how he is living out his marriage vows. God has given my mom strength and encouragement as she repeatedly says the words she hears from God: “Don’t you know, Betsy? I have you in the palm of my hands.”
From the cross, Jesus offered forgiveness (“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” Luke 22:34), redemption (“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” Luke 22:43), and even adoption (“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” John 19:26). Jesus shows us how to acknowledge the truth about what’s going on in our lives, whether that is death, family problems, personal struggles, or any of the other serious subjects of life. He shows us how live the resurrection, which is the power and presence of God, to bring about life and hope “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other” (1 Kings 8:60).
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Epicurious Lutheran 