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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion February 17, 2008 Looking Up |
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Frontline Devotion for Sunday, February 17, 2008 by Anne B. Crawford
"No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. (John 3:14-15, The Message Bible)
Things are looking up! Those words of encouragement are often spoken when people who have been in trouble financially, emotionally, or physically have ‘bottomed out’ and can finally see a potential end to or at least relief from their current situation. It implies a sense of vision – one can ‘see’ that things will change, be different. Still, it’s a natural tendency when one is down and out to keep looking down. It may not be comfortable, but at least it is familiar. In today’s reading, Jesus calls the people of Israel to quit looking down and look up to see Him. He is the one who will lift them up out of their sins and reunite them with a loving God and Father.
But what are we to make of it, when we look up and see Jesus on a cross? That is certainly not a comforting or comfortable vision. It reminds us of our sinful nature and the fact that we are the ones who put Jesus there. Maybe not in a literal sense, but it is for our sins that he was crucified and died. It is hard to look up and see him there and acknowledge our own failings and desperate need for His love and forgiveness. But if we don’t look up at Him, then it is nearly impossible to see that things are ‘looking up.’ Without the cross, we cannot rise up to be with Jesus. Without the cross, we just keep looking down and miss all the opportunities to rejoice in God’s tremendous gift of grace. Lent is here. It calls us to look inward and examine our lives, to look upon Jesus on the cross and confess our sins and, when Easter comes, to celebrate that Jesus is raised up and acknowledge that we will also rise to be with God face-to-face one day. Things are looking up, indeed!
My faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine! Now, hear me while I pray, take all my sins away, oh, let me from this day be wholly thine (ELW 759). Amen
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