Thanks, Mom

I discovered this P&G commercial earlier today (thank you to Rebekah Miles for the link) and had to share it.  Yes, it's sappy; yes, it's about getting you to buy their products.  But when it comes to the Olympics, I love a feel-good, tug-on-the-heartstrings moment, and that's what this video is.  So, two days after Mother's Day, thank you to all the moms of the world who have clearly the toughest, yet most rewarding, job in the world.

Book Review: All is Grace

Sitting on my desk is a stack of books.  Some are books I am currently reading, some are books I need to be reading, and some are books I want to get to if I ever have some extra time (by the way, what is that and how do I get some?). 

I just finished the one at the top of the stack, and I thought it was worth sharing with you.  It was given to me by a good friend who has a wonderful sense of God's grace in our lives.  Accordingly, that's what this book is all about.  It's an autobiographical memoir by Brennan Manning called All is Grace.  Manning is best known for his best-selling book on grace, The Ragamuffin Gospel.  About twenty years later, he has written his memoir to remind us all again of the amazing, unfiltered, powerful love that God has for each one of us.

Manning is a renowned author and speaker who has spent his life searching for and discovering the grace of God.  He is a former Catholic priest who left the priesthood after he fell in love and wanted to get married.  He is also a recovering alcoholic, and much of his life has been wrestling with this demon.  If you've read The Ragamuffin Gospel, then this memoir is a must.  Even if you haven't, this book will touch your heart as Manning talks about his painful childhood and his life-long struggle to fully comprehend for himself and articulate for others God's grace. Here's how he sums up all he's learned about God:

God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because no one is as they should be.

He then goes on to talk about grace in this way:

Some have labeled my message one of "cheap grace." In my younger days, their accusations were a guantlet thrown down, a challenge. But I'm an old man now and I don't care. My friend Mike Yaconelli used the phrase unfair grace, and I like that, but I have come across another I would like to leave with you...I found it in the writings of the Episcopal priest Robert Farrar Capon. He calls it vulgar grace...My life is a witness to vulgar grace - a grace that amazes as it offends. A grace that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same wages as the grinning drunk who shows up at ten till five. A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party no ifs, ands, or buts. A grace that raises bloodshot eyes to a dying thief's request - "Please remember me" - and assures him, "You bet!" A grace that is the pleasure of the Father, fleshed out in the carpenter Messiah, Jesus the Christ, who left His Father's side not for Heaven's sake but for our sakes, yours and mine. This vulgar grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without anything of us. It's not cheap. It's free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility. Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough. (pp.192-194)

 I need this book. I need this reminder, every time I start to judge, look down on, or have that holier-than-thou feeling (and it's more often than I care to admit). I need grace. And so do you.

Choices

Every day we make choices. In fact, according to the folks putting on next month's Leadercastevent that will be simulcasted over at Cross Church, on an average day we make 8,746 choices. Some are major, most are minor, but all require some thought.

This leads me to the events over the last couple of weeks regarding the football program at the University of Arkansas. Bobby Petrino made some choices that led to Jeff Long having to make a choice. From the moment Mr. Long put Coach Petrino on administrative leave, the overall sentiment from fans and media pundits around the state and the country was that Long would choose to keep Petrino.  Fans, because they wanted to keep winning and Bobby Petrino is a great football coach.  Pundits, because college football has become all about money and getting rid of Petrino puts the program at great financial risk.

But Jeff Long made the choice to fire Bobby Petrino.  Jeff Long made a choice grounded in integrity and honor.  Jeff Long said, "No one individual is above the program."  In making the choice, he put honesty and character ahead of wins and losses.  He put morals ahead of money, doing the right thing ahead of doing the popular thing.  For that, as a supporter of the Razorbacks, I am grateful (and, as it turns out, are most of the fans and media experts; maybe right can be popular after all!).

There was a moment in the life of Jesus where a man came to him with a dilemma.  This young man was unsure of how to live a life fully for God. He asked Jesus about it, and Jesus told him to keep the commandments. When the man heard this, he said, "I've done this. What else?" Jesus sensed that he's going through the motions, checking the things off he's supposed to do like it's a shopping list, so he got to the heart of discipleship. "There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  This young man was very wealthy, and so Jesus was asking him to make a choice. What's going to be most important in this man's life, faith or wealth? The Bible tells us his face fell, and he walked away.

The choice.  It's different for each one of us. It's not necessarily about all of us giving away all our money; it's about finding out what it is that we hold more value to in life than our walk with God. What is it that is keeping us from following Christ every moment of every day, wherever he leads us? It's not an easy answer, and it will lead to a difficult choice.  Will we walk away, or will we stand up and be counted among those willing to live for Christ?

The Final Days

The Plot:

Jesus said to his disciples, "As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." At that same time, the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him.

The Betrayal:

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

The Meal:

Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover Lamb is sacrificed.  Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, "Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together."  "Where do you want us to prepare it?" they asked him.  He replied, "As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you.  Follow him.  At the house he enters, say to the owner, 'the teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?'  He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up.  That is where you should prepare our meal."  They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and the prepared the Passover meal there. When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table.  Jesus said, "I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins.  For I tell you now that I won't eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."  Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it.  Then he said, "Take this and share it among yourselves.  For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come."  He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it.  Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this to remember me."  After supper he took another cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people - an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you."

 The Prayer:

Jesus went to the olive grove called Gethsemane...He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

The Arrest:

Judas arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: "You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss." So Judas came straight to Jesus. "Greetings, Rabbi!" he exclaimed and gave him the kiss. Jesus said, "My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for. Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

The Denial:

So they arrested him and led him to the High Priest's home. And Peter followed at a distance. The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, "This man was one of Jesus' followers!" But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!” After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!” “No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted. About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.” But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

The Decision:

Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!” Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!” Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

The Punishment:

So Pilate ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

The Words:

"Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise." "Dear woman, here is your son. Here is your mother."  "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" "I am thirsty." "It is finished!" "Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!"

The Death:

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officerand the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

The Burial:

Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passoverand since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

The Resurrection:

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

The Final Four

As most of you know, the NCAA Tournament begins in earnest today.  I, like so many others around the country, have filled out a bracket and am ready to be saturated with basketball over the next few weeks.  In case anyone's wondering, my Final Four is Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and North Carolina, with (and yes, it pains me to write this) Kentucky winning it all.

The Final Four.  The term was trademarked by the NCAA in 1979 and designates the last four teams left in the tournament.  It's a term that takes on a completely different meaning when you think of it in the context of Holy Week.  As I mentioned in my latest weekly email I send out to the church, the NCAA Final Four finishes on Monday, April 2nd.  Just three days later we will be sharing in the Last Supper at a Maundy Thursday worship experience.  That night, after Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room and headed to the Mount of Olives, an interesting thing occurred.  Jesus took three of the disciples, the three he was closest to and had poured the most into, with him to pray.  Here's how it happened:

They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, "Sit here while I go and pray."  He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.  He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me."

Here's the Apostolic version of the final four, struggling with what's to come and trying to make sense of it all.  The three disciples can't even stay awake, and Jesus ends up praying by himself.  The final four becomes one, One who prays to the Father, "Everything is possible for you.  Please take this cup of suffering away from me.  Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."  The struggle leads to obedience and submission, and because of that obedience, the power of sin and death was defeated and salvation was made possible for all people for all time.

A couple of things about this night are interesting to me.  First, Jesus doesn't want to walk this path alone.  He asks his three closest disciples to join him, to sit with him in this hour of grief. No one should ever have to walk alone through life, especially not through the times of sorrow and struggle, decision and discernment.  If you don't have a small group of friends who you can take with you to the "Garden," you need to find that group.  Second, Jesus ends up alone in prayer but even then was never truly alone.  In Luke 22:43 we see that immediately after Jesus prays this prayer, "Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him."  Don't ever forget that you are never alone, even when it feels like it.  God walks with you through the struggle and gives you the strength to carry on.