In The Shadow of the Cross

A fellow pastor shared with me that in his parish in New York he had 40 parishioners in the hospital and that 16 of his flock have already succumbed to the Covid-19 virus.  For almost everyone this crisis has transformed our daily lives on a scale we could not have imagined.   We often hear of a friend or neighbor or even relative who develops and illness or has a serious accident and we grieve for them and pray for them but we may think to ourselves that it probably won't happen to us, at least not now, and go on about our daily lives.   But now, the shadow looms over all of us and going about our daily lives looks very different from a month ago.

It is Good Friday, the day the church remembers the crucifixion of the Savior of the World.  I am writing this in the afternoon.   The disciples are scattered.   Jesus is undergoing His passion leading to His death later today.  His mother and many of his female disciples are watching unable to do anything to help with His suffering, other than be with Him.  Only John is there from the twelve.  Jesus alone carries the weight of the sin of the world. 

It was a dark day for them.  It was hard to see victory or life in the midst of these events.   In fact we call the evening service of remembrance "The Service of Darkness".  Humanity has known many periods when life seemed very dark.   History records how wars devastated people, plagues wiped out entire town, economies have collapsed, crops have failed;  this is not the first time that humanity has been reminded of its fragility.  This is not the first time that a world fallen into sin has made the depth of corruption known.

So how are you feeling?   Are you sad?   Are you mad?   Are you scared?   Are you even glad?   Everyone experiences these things uniquely to themselves.   We may even find ourselves feeling a host of feelings.   We may be grieving Easter gatherings with family and friends in homes and churches.  Part of us may be looking for someone to blame for all the things that have been taken from us.  And it would be fully understandable if you feel scared.   We hear that most people will have a light case if they catch it but then we hear about the suffering of those who grow sicker.  We might be tempted to focus on those part of our health that might make us more susceptible to to the illness.  How do we protect ourselves?  How do we protect our loved ones?  

How do we pay the bills?   Some folks are fully able to stay home sheltered in place while others are still working as essential employees.  Many are worrying about paying rent and mortgages and for food with limited or no income coming in and no end in sight.

This world is now as it was created to be because sin exists in the world and we are being reminded in these days just has tangible and fragile everything is.  And it can make us afraid.  It can make us sad.  It can even make us mad.  

But God is on His throne.   In the shadow of the cross it was hard to understand.  Why did Jesus have to die?  Why did His Father allow it?  Was He not our Messiah?   Why is it ending this way.  ONly it wasn't.    Much of what God does is hidden under an  opposite appearance.   It looked like defeat only the ultimate victory was being achieved.  It looked like injustice, and evil, and sin and death had won.  But in those hours the power of sin and death was broken.  Soon comes Easter.

Easter morning life did not get back to normal.  The disciples and those who believed never went back to life the way it was before.  Jesus death and resurrection changed everything.  Our lives will likely not go back to normal, not the way it was before.  Our innocence and trust is now "informed".   How much we need informed by the Gospel in these days.  For the truth is the Gospel and Jesus have always been the only unshakable ground.  All else has always been shifting sand.  But Jesus is risen even on this day of shadows, even on this day of remembering death, we cannot remember without also remembering He is Risen!  Salvation is just as certain today as it was before.  Indeed each day that passes is one day closer we are to receiving all that God has promised us in Christ. 

So on this Good Friday I encourage you to remember:   You are Christ's!   Christ is yours!

Pastor Reedy

Palm Sunday 2020

Palm Sunday, the day the church remembers the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  It is a joyous festival full of dynamic hymns and the powerful story of Christ's entry to the shouts of people while he rode on the back of a donkey in fulfillment of prophesy. We think of children waving the palm branches in procession as we remember and celebrate these events.

But this year is different.  2020 is different.  Most churches will not be able to gather together in person to wave the branches, and shout together "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord"  We won't be able to hear one another's voices singing those beautiful hymns of the day.

Perhaps this Palm Sunday is in some ways more like the first than any we have every known.   The disciples were caught up in the excitement, but Jesus knew what this ride meant, where this ride would ultimate lead.  That in less than a week he would be dying, his every breath an agony, as the life drained from his broken body as He carried the weight of the sin of the world.   This is why Palm Sunday is closely connect also with "Passion Sunday" or the remembrance of Christ's death.  It was a celebration because the horror of the week was hidden to the crowds.   But Jesus knew.  

On the journey up to Jerusalem Jesus knew.  The people traveling with Jesus were expecting He would restore the Kingdom (of their expectations) immediately as soon as He arrived.   (Luke 19:11)  So he told them the parable of the tenants.   A Lord gives three servants ten minas and then goes on his way.   The first uses it for the service of His Lord and makes 10 more.  The second makes 5 more.  But the third was afraid and so hid his and kept it safe.   But upon the Lord's return this last servant finds himself haven fallen short of His Lord's expectations.

Normally when we meditate on this parable we do so with a focus that we are called to be faithful stewards for God's kingdom with what God gives us.  But there is another piece here.   Jesus was telling them that He would depart they would remain but they would remain for a purpose.  They would remain to work.

The Kingdom would not come magically.  Its not the kind of thing that happens because a shoe fits on a princess, or a prince kisses a sleeping princess or anything of that nature.  This kingdom comes because of death... the death of its Lord.   And it comes because of life... the resurrection of its Lord.  And it endures because of His ruling following His ascension into heaven to the right hand of the Father. 

So perhaps this Palm Sunday, this Holy Week is more like the first than any we have ever experienced.   Jesus came knowing that the celebration would be over by the end of the week.  Crowds could gather on this first day.  By the end of the week it would be a small gathering in a hidden upper room for safety as Jesus prepared His disciples not for the instant fixing of all things broken but for His death.  By the end of the week it would be Jesus and his closest praying in secret in Gethsemane waiting for what He knew was coming.  Praying in anguish at the suffering He knew He must endure.

  Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday knowing what was coming.  Still yet He wept for Jerusalem that day not for Himself.  He wept for the pain and suffering that people go through, most inflicted upon self or others because of sin.  He wept for a world broken and suffering because of sin.   And He moved onward, step by step toward Calvary, toward suffering, toward death.  Because He wanted to save us from it.

Next weekend would find the disciples who so boldly walking in parade to shouts and joy to hiding in their dwelling place from fear of the Jews.   For them Holy Week would not be about big public gatherings and wonderful hymns and great food.  It was about seeing Jesus do His final teaching.  It was about hiding in secret from those who sought to harm them.  It was about having nothing but Him to rely upon and then seeing even Him taken from them.  They had all they trusted taken from them.   All their expectations fallen short.   All that seemed so solid turning to water.

So yes, how much this 2020 Holy Week is like theirs.   We too are sheltered with close family not out of fear of the Jews but out of respect for a contagious and deadly disease that exists in a world that remains broken by sin.  Yes, now we have 2020 vision.  We see a little better the true nature of our world.  All those things we trusted and hoped in seem so powerless right now.  All those things that seemed so important and essential have been stripped from us.   In ways we have never understood before we are asked to love our neighbor through sacrifice.  

But there is also a difference.   It is over two thousand years since the first one.  Jesus is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!  Yes that is the Easter call but right now we need a little Easter, well, we need a lot of Easter.  We need to remember and focus that the victory is won. 

Sure it would be so much easier on us if Jesus would just make the kingdom of God appear immediately, destroy all sin, all disease or at least make Covid-19 go away so we can get back to life as normal.  Get back to work, back to our favorite restaurant, see sports on TV again, see our friends again.   But this is the time of the ten minas.  It is the time of endurance.     It is a time to do the best we can with what we have to work with.  Much has been taken from us but not Christ.  Not the Gospel.  Not the resurrection.   He is Risen!

We do not have to be as the one tenant who so cowered in fear that he did nothing.  But we cannot work magic nor deny the limitations of our 2020 reality.  So what can we do?

The Gospel is for you.  Tune into a worship service and hear the Word of the Lord.   You are welcome to join my church Sundays at 11am at www.mtcsa.org

You can pray with and for your family.  You can share family devotions.  You can share family time. 

And you can ponder the mysteries of our faith.  All those things that so consume our time and energy, many are taken from us.  It is a time where we can have 2020 vision -- what is really going on?  what is really important?  What really matters?  When you shake out the dross what remains?

Christ is yours!  You are Christ's!   His suffering is over.  The glorious day of His return is closer every breath.  The specter of death hangs over us, but He has transformed it into the promise of eternal life.   Christ is with us.  We are abandoned.  We are not alone.  We are the people of the ten minas.   And it will work out in the end.  The Lord is coming again.

An Unexpected Perspective: Post #4 in the Face of Covid

Dear Friends,

I've been offline for a week now for reasons I did not expect.    I am a clinically trained retired military chaplain who has had quite a bit of experience doing chaplaincy in various hospitals.  So when I first began to hear of this Covid-19 infection in China, I expected it would make its way beyond the borders of China.  When Italy's numbers were looking different from China's I suspected it was worse than China was reporting and began making some preparations. 

A few weeks ago after the Mayor's order went into place our ministry team at Mount Calvary made some plans and shut down the office shifting to a remote ministry model to keep our people both safe, encouraged, and spiritually fed.  I fully expected to be spending the next weeks continuing to write a study I've been working on, prepping for online sermons, making calls, and writing these blogs while trying to enjoy being in the house with my family for an extended period of time.

That all came crashing down.  Literally.   I went for a walk,  In the space of a second things changed.  In one step things changed.  Unexpected.  Out of control.  I went from being independent/interdependent to dependency.   I won't go into all the gruesome details but I tore up my left leg and I was down. 

So I got to spend some time extra special close with some heroes this week.  First was the 9/11 operator who as I began to go into shock was reassuring me that help was close.  Second were the EMS folks who had to navigate me safely off the nature trail and into the back of the bus.   These guys are up close and personal with people who are in absolute need and they have no way of knowing if they are being exposed or  not. 

The next 12 hours are a fuzzy blur.  I was taking into the ED at BAMC here and they worked me up.  Somehow, I was able to get an MRI that night.  God was watching over me.  Because of the risk of Covid-19 there was talk of trying to get me home and having me return at a later date for surgery, but at very supportive LTC put the kabash on that plan.  

12 hours later I admitted into 4W of BAMC with a roommate who was in far worse shape than myself having severed his leg at the ankle.  We prayed together and as our pain meds kicked in we talked for awhile.   He had surgery first thing that morning.  I was second. 

Over the next three days the staff of 4W cared for me like I was family.   I could not have been more proud or more thankful for my military family.   PT came and got me up and ambulatory enough to come home.

Extraordinary circumstances can require extraordinary adjustments.   There was no way I was getting up the flight and a half of steps to our bedroom and bathroom.  I knew I'd have to be downstairs.  So my wife with help from a dear friend from church helped us secure a hospital bed.   And they agreed to allow me to transport home by ambulance as I was not stable enough to navigate steps into the house.  Those few steps from gurney to bed were a bear.  It is going to be a long road and the doctor isn't promising I'll walk again properly, though prospects are good with time and lots of physical therapy.  A week later I'm doing well considering.  Still basically on bed rest for six weeks but I'm home and not at risk in a rehab facility because of the care I received from these men and women of 4W.   In six weeks the real work of physical therapy begins.

But that is only part of the story.  For you see that first night in a room they came through inventorying everything.   The tripod trees, the pumps, the boxes of gloves, everything... And then everything I didn't need was taken.  They were building specialized areas for the treatment of covid-19 patients.  I talked to these men and women on the front lines of this war and it is no joke.  Yes there were patients in the hospital.  Yes, keeping themselves and the patients safe is an added burden as everything has to be so carefully done.   I wore an M95 mask when I made calls and wearing one out of the hospital for my safetly I was reminded of how uncomfortable they are.  Wearing them during an entire shift -- it just hurts if it is being worn properly.

Pray for these guys.   They were there for me when I needed them.  They are there for so many others.   Yes, a lot of things that people go to the hospital for can be delayed to help folks stay safe and help have enough people to help those who get sick.  But there are still folks who must have surgery to recover, who must have cancer treatment, who must have this or the other because it can't wait.  Every bed now is vital. Lives depend on it.  

You can be a hero to.   Do everything you can not to get sick.   I pray if anyone who reads this does that you have a light case, but believe me, if it comes heavy it will be something you will not want to go through.  This isn't the flu.  It isn't a cold.  It is a unthinking virus that will strip the breath from your body and leaving you gasping to death.  You can be the hero and you can help save others.   Its going to be a long while before we are free of these restrictions.  WE are going to be tempted to bend a little bit.  The longer we are safe the more we are going to be tempted to be complacent.  We will be tempted to assume we are not sick and the folks we are going to be around are not sick.  And this is why infections rates continue to rise in many places. 

These men and women are full of compassion, skill and dedication.  But they are already growing tired.   Long shifts.  Rotating groups in and out of the hospital.  Many of them in direct contact with people with this or other infectious diseases.  All the other things that kill us have not taken a vacation.  They need our help to have the strength to go on.  I needed them to have the strength to endure and begin to recover.  They need us now as much as we need them and we as a people need them more than every.

You can be a hero too.   You are being asked for a heavy sacrifice.  But when this is over I pray we can say we were a nation of heroes.