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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion March 28, 2008 Hast Thou Offened |
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Frontline Devotion for Friday, March 28, 2008 by Mike
Martine
This devotion was the Maundy Thursday meditation at Trinity Lutheran Church,
Mount Joy, PA, on March 20, 2008
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
Let’s understand. Let’s get it straight. We know how our Lord offended. We know what happened.
He broke rules. Not the rules we pretend to care about. Not rules about the Sabbath, or about what we think God’s law means. Not those rules…
He broke the rules we really care about. He broke rules that really mean something in our lives. And frankly, he was pretty blunt about it.
“Love your enemies,” he said. “Pray for them.”
There’s a rule broken. Since the beginning of time it’s been understood enemies are to be hated. That’s why they’re enemies. It’s obvious Jesus never had to command an army, or compete for a contract, or even survive a battle at the office. Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended, indeed?
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
There’s another rule broken. Jesus must not have had too many experiences on the playground. Everyone knows you have to stand up for yourself in this world. Everyone knows you can never give the appearance of being weak. Everyone knows you have to be very, very careful about whom you make peace with. Otherwise, you can end up with a knife in your back. Ah, holy Jesus, maybe you just didn’t understand…
And what about this? If you wish to be the greatest of all, you must be the least of all? If you wish to be the greatest of all, you must be the servant of all?
That hardly sounds like a New York Times Bestseller on how to succeed in business…or life. It sounds like a way to stay poor and get walked on.
Ah holy Jesus, how hast thou offended? Simple. You broke the rules.
OK, I’m exaggerating, a bit. But isn’t much of this true? Isn’t much of what scares us about Jesus even today identical to what sent him to the cross? The radical call to love others? The insistence upon seeking the way of the kingdom of God rather than our own way? The shunning of earthly power and glory for a life of service? Ah holy Jesus, indeed, if you take this man at his word, it’s scary. And as you look upon him, taking up a basin and towel, performing the task of removing dust and dung from his disciples’ feet, a task usually only given to slaves, and non-Jewish slaves at that, and then proclaiming that we are to do likewise…you understand that this man had a way of saying things, and doing things, that could get him killed.
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended?
You, Jesus, quite simply, offended because you declared us for what we are by proclaiming what we should be. You offended by revealing that we are selfish, fallen, weak, and obsessed with our own wants and desires. Frankly few things could be more threatening to us; few things could shake us up more deeply; and few things could contribute more effectively to getting a person killed.
And yet, holy Jesus, though the power was yours…though the glory was yours…though the ability to force your way upon this earth was even yours, you did not choose that way.
You chose, instead, to show us that, even though the truth can get you killed, the truth is worth declaring. You chose to show us, instead, that even though we are miserable and fallen and incredibly unworthy of you, your love for us is as deep as your desire for truth. And though you would have been right, even justified, in turning from us, you instead chose to take our cross upon yourself, so that we might have life.
Ah holy Jesus…how can this be?
You heal our sins. You wash our feet. You give yourself again and again for us even though we fail you. You truly are God incarnate.
Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.
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