Well, dear friends, as we end this journey I want to thank you for following, and for trusting me with inviting you on this transformative personal journey through Lent. I hope that it has blessed you, and I know that it has certainly blessed me. Through the interaction on this blog I learned more about what it means to follow Jesus, about how important a variety of experiences are in our lives, and especially how important it is to ask ourselves empowering questions, just like Jesus did.
Please email me any thoughts you've had on this journey, as this Beyond Question experience will provide the basis for a writing project that I've been asked to do. I'd be interested in any thoughts or feedback from you! You can email me at eric.burtness@gmail.com Thanks.
I'd like to leave you with one final song; Let me Rediscover You by Downhere. I love the last words, "Jesus, let me rediscover you."
Easter Sunday was an amazing and glorious day at Zion! Great people, great singing, and a pretty good sermon! What in the world was Mark thinking to end his Gospel with the words, "And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." What's going on?
Mark ends his Gospel in that was because the story of Jesus begins anew when we receive it by faith and live our lives according to His word. It's Jesus' goal for us to follow him by deepening our lives of discipleship. And by living Beyond Question! Listen in:
John 20:27-29: Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Thomas had not been with the rest of the disciples when Jesus appeared to then, risen from the dead. He hadn’t experienced the breath of Jesus, nor the showing of his hands and side, and so he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Many people feel like Thomas! You want to believe, but you also want proof. You don’t accept things by faith until you know they’re true. If we were to be honest, most of us probably have a little doubting Thomas within our hearts.
But Jesus asks, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” That’s what’s so awesome about Easter! We have not seen, but we have come to believe.
As we come to the close of this transformative personal journey through Lent we’ve come to know that believing is seeing. Believing is seeing the presence of Jesus with us on our journey through life, on our detours, in the midst of our mess, and wherever life brings us. Jesus is there. When we believe, we see and experience him. When you believe in Jesus and his ability to heal, strengthen, and guide you, you begin to see life differently. You begin to reflect on your life and see how God is active in your life.
In the same way, faith is obeying when I don’t understand it, and persisting when I don’t feel like it. And on every step along the way Jesus is with us; leading, guiding, encouraging, and giving us strength for life’s journey.
Beyond Question. It’s my hope and prayer that you have been blessed on this journey, and that you have personally experienced how Jesus uses questions as a methodology for deepening discipleship. May you continue to grow, deepen, and grow closer to Jesus as Lord and Savior on each step on your journey through life.
Questions to Ponder:
If you have to list three things you’ve learned on this journey through Lent, what would those be?
If you have grown closer to Jesus during this journey, what do you need to do in the coming weeks or months to continue to deepen your life of discipleship?
What can you share with another person about your personal journey during these last weeks? How might you share with others what you have come to believe?
Prayer for Today: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all you have done for me. Thank you for meaning and purpose in my life now, and for the eternal life to come. Help me believe. Help me see. And always, always, draw me close to your heart. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for everything. Amen.
Mark 15:34: At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
It’s the “cry of dereliction.” It’s the cry of abandonment. Of utter aloneness. It’s the cry of Jesus from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
King David originally wrote those words in Psalm 22. David knew those feelings because he felt that God had abandoned him in all of the personal tragedies of his life. Job also experienced many personal tragedies; he lost his farms, animals, his children, and his wife. Both David and Job felt that God has forsaken and abandoned them.
Maybe you’ve felt those feelings, too. As a pastor, I’ve met with many people during an experience of the loss of a loved one, the loss of a marriage, or the loss of a job when they felt that God abandoned them. And I often say that feeling the pain and sadness, and feeling abandoned by God is “normal.” God created us to feel passionately about things. After all, Jesus felt abandoned by God.
But when we feel like Jesus did, then we should do what Jesus did. Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of all time, preached a sermon in 1872 where he said that in Jesus darkest hour, with darkness all around him and within him, Jesus still clung to God with both hands. “His left hand said, ‘My God.’ His right hand said, ‘My God.’…Jesus was clinging to God with the might of both his hands during the darkest hour of his life.”
It’s easy to believe in God when life is bringing smiles your way. But it is much more difficult to believe in God when life frowns on you. Life can, at times, be terribly difficult. And at those deep and dark times of our lives, it’s important to remember that Jesus clung to God with the might of both of his hands. Both hands. Clinging to God.
We are invited to do the same. Because we know, in the end, Easter always trumps Good Friday.
Questions to Ponder
Are there times in your life when you’ve felt abandoned by God? What was it like? What helped you through that time?
Easter trumps Good Friday. Life triumphs over death. Good conquers evil. If those statements are true, why are they sometimes so difficult to believe?
Prayer for Today: Dear loving God; sometimes I feel so lost and alone. Sometimes I feel forsaken and abandoned. During those times, help me to cling to you with both hands. Help me grasp your promises with both hands, and with all my might. Help me remember that Easter trumps Good Friday, and that life triumphs over death. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Sandi Patti: She's still got it.
Listen all the way through and be touched by her witness.
John 13:12: After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?”
Do they know what he has done to them? As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, they probably were astounded that their Teacher would stoop to such a lowly and menial task. They didn’t know what he had done to them. They didn’t really understand his teaching, and by the time they experienced Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, they certainly didn’t understand what he had done.
They began to understand later, after Jesus had been crucified and was laid in a tomb. In John 20, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the Beloved disciple went to the tomb and found that the stone had been tossed aside from the tomb. It wasn’t just rolled aside, as if a bunch of guards or disciples took it upon themselves to roll aside the stone. It was flung aside. Thrown aside. That’s the awesome power of God; flinging aside the stone, and throwing conquering sin, death, and the power of the devil.
Pause for a moment on this Maundy Thursday, and ask yourself, “Why was the stone thrown aside?” Did Jesus need the stone rolled aside so that he could get out? As the Resurrected Lord, Jesus somehow walked through the doors where the disciples were huddled, and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” None of us will ever know how Jesus did that, but we can know that the stone was not removed to let Jesus out.
The stone was removed to let you in.
The stone was thrown aside to let you and the disciples in. We need to know that the tomb is empty. Jesus didn’t need to be “let out,” but we needed to be “let in.”
When Jesus asked the disciples in our Bible reading today, “Do you know what I have done to you?”, the answer is no. They really didn’t know what he had done in washing their feet, in serving them, and in being willing to go to the ends of the ends of the earth, and to the depths of death, to let them know how much he loved them.
And the stone was rolled away; thrown aside to let you in. How awesome is that!
Questions to Ponder:
Today is Maundy Thursday. It’s the day when Jesus instituted the Last Supper. What have been your most profound experiences receiving Communion? When has it been most meaningful to you?
What kind of disciple would you have been? If you were one of the 12 disciples, at what point do you think that you would have really deeply believed in Jesus? And why would that have made a difference for you?
Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, I believe, but help my unbelief. I understand, but help me with what I don’t understand. I see you, but open my eyes that I might see you more. In the Holy Meal today, as I receive the bread and wine, help me see it as your body and blood, and help me experience you in new and fresh ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
In a recent "Brazil's Got Talent" this yound kid sings Agnus Dei.
Holy, Holy. are You, Lord God Almighty! Worthy is the Lamb!
Oh, and driving to do this video we got near-to-lost on a Forest Service Road and went through some mongo huge mud pools in the road. Good thing I had my Mighty PT Cruiser. Gets me through anything. Oh, the things I'm willing to do for these video shoots...
But now to the devotion....
John 20:14-15a: When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
Our first week on this transformative personal journey through Lent began with the question, “What are you looking for?” And through this journey it has been my hope and prayer that this time together would have brought you into a deeper relationship with a living and loving God who, through Jesus, is looking for you.
Today we join Mary, weeping at the tomb. She was devastated by what happened, in fact, the Greek word that is used for “weeping” not only describes that she was crying, but that she was weeping and wailing because she was so devastated. She had a broken heart and tears streaming down her face. And she didn’t know that it was Jesus who asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She presumed that he was the gardener, and she wondered where they had taken Jesus’ body.
But then something amazing happened. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” And she turned and recognized him. Jesus spoke her name, and she turned and came face to face with her Living Lord, Savior, Messiah, Jesus, and Son of God. Her life was devastated and spinning out of control, and Jesus spoke her name, and she turned, came face to face with Jesus, and recognized that he was standing right there in front of him. She recognized him when he spoke her name.
We begin this Holy Week remembering to turn and face Jesus, and listen to him speaking our name. Jesus died on the cross with your name on his life. And he has spoken your name at the time of your baptism, and has kept you close throughout your life. Jesus speaks your name. He wants to know you. He wants to love you, and has given his life to show you the lengths to which he is willing to go to love you. When you hear him speak your name you know that there’s nothing that will separate you from that love; no struggles, no problems, no sin that’s too great. Nothing in your past will separate you from God’s love.
Jesus speaks your name. Turn to him, recognize him, and realize that Jesus is the one you’ve been looking for all along.
Questions to Ponder
Before Jesus spoke Mary’s name, she mistook him for the gardener. What do people mistake Jesus for today? A magician? Just one of the many ways to God? A nice, comfortable Savior who does little more than affirms us? What are some ways people mistake Jesus today?
Have you heard Jesus “speak your name?” What does that phrase mean to you in a personal way? And what difference does it make in the way you live your life?
Prayer for Today: Holy Jesus, thank you for knowing me by name. When I come to you in prayer, help me know that you know me and love me better than I know myself. Thank you for loving me and calling me your own. In Your Most Holy Name, Amen.
Luke 24:41: While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
What I find fascinating is that both Luke and John have post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. And both Luke and John talk about Jesus eating! I can’t imagine it was because he was simply hungry. There must be a deeper and more important reason.
He ate in their presence because he wanted to show them that he’s real, and he’s alive!
That, I think, is the deeper and more important reason. He’s real! And He’s alive! He was with the disciples before their eyes were opened, and now that they recognize him, he wants to show that he’s real, and he’s alive.
John Ortberg is a Christian author who wrote, “If You Want To Talk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat.” And he asks his readers to exercise their imaginations.
Imagine that your life is over, and you are led to a small room. There are two chairs in the room, one for you and one for God (who gets a very large chair), and there’s a VCR. God puts a tape into the machine. It has your name on it and is labeled What Might Have Been.
Imagine watching all that God might have done with your life if you had let him.
Imagine seeing what he might have done with your financial resources if you had trusted him to be generous. Imagine seeing what he might have done with your giftedness if you have trusted him enough to be daring. Imagine what he might have done with your relationships if you had trusted him enough to be fully truthful and fully loving. Imagine what he might have done with your character, if you had dared to confess sin, acknowledge temptation, and pursue growth.
Now, that’s certainly a stretch of the imagination! And everything depends on God, of course, and not us. The imaginative scene “fails” in many important ways.
And yet…
As a pastor, I sometimes wonder whether people truly believe that Jesus is real, and that he’s alive. I sometimes wonder whether people listen to my sermons and think that I’m saying some nice theological truths that don’t really have anything to do with their daily lives. I sometimes wonder what would happen if people truly believed that Jesus was real and alive in their lives. What might have been?
It’s Holy Week. It’s a very important week for those who know Jesus and follow him. Maybe what’s important this year is to recognize in a new and fresh way that Jesus is real, and that he is alive.
Realizing that, and knowing that makes all the difference in the world, both now and forever. He is real. And he is alive.
Questions to Ponder:
· What do you think of Ortberg’s imaginative scenario? Is it helpful? If it’s not helpful, what do you feel is unhelpful about it?
· Think of a friend, neighbor, or relative for whom Jesus seems very real. What does their life looks like? How do they talk about their faith? If you could, would you like to have a faith similar to theirs? Why or why not?
Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, help me believe that you are the Son of God, that you are alive, and that you are real. Please forgive my sin, my doubt, and my uncertainty about you. Come close to me, Lord Jesus, and let me see that you are real, and that you are alive. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Imagine what it would have been like in Jesus' time to follow him on Twitter...
Luke 24:38: He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
I doubt it!
I used to hate hearing those words! It implied that what I was saying wasn’t true and that I wasn’t to be believed. It always hurt when someone said that to me.
Perhaps it hurt Jesus, too, when doubts rose in the hearts of the disciples. They doubted him. And they didn’t know if he was to be believed.
In some ways, we all have doubts. Most of us have a tendency to second-guess ourselves and think, “Did I do the right thing? Did I make the right choice?” Most of us doubt the future, and so we worry. We doubt other people, and we call it suspicion. We doubt ourselves, and we consider ourselves inferior. Some people doubt God, and we call it unbelief. And there are even times when we doubt our beliefs, and we believe our doubts.
Jesus had just opened the eyes of the disciples as he broke bread with them. They recognized him and were overjoyed! They realized that their hearts burned within them while they were walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and they were so excited that they went and told the Eleven ( the Twelve, minus Judas) that “The Lord has risen indeed!”
It was at that point that Jesus asked them, “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?” He had been with them all along the way, he had gone through what was necessary to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for his life, and they still doubted. They weren’t sure what to believe.
In some ways, we all have doubts, as I just said. And perhaps the best way to overcome some of our doubts is to start with the faith you already have. Sometimes people simply need the courage to go ahead with their lives of faith despite fears that we have. Some people think their faith is frail or weak.
But remember the mustard seed? Don’t underestimate the power of a mustard seed of faith. No matter how weak or frail you think your faith is, it is enough. It is enough to get you through. You don’t need faith the size of a mountain to move a mustard seed. You need faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain.
Jesus is walking with you on your road to Emmaus. Don’t doubt it for a minute.
Questions to Ponder:
· What are some doubts you have about your faith? How would you complete the sentence, “I doubt that…..”
· Do you think that doubts can actually drive us to faith, rather than away from faith? Why or why not? What role does doubt play in your deepening life of discipleship?
Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, I want to believe. Help me with my unbelief. Give me your renewing Spirit, and help me know you and trust you. Help me see you and experience your presence. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
It's the cry of abandonment from the cross. Of forsakenness. Of being utterly forgotten by God.
Or.....
It's the first verse of Psalm 22; an Individual Psalm of Lament. And as you listen, you find that there may be a lot more happening in this cry from the cross than a simple cry of abandonment. Listen in and see what you think.
