agony

April 19, 2019

The Praise of Agony

Yet you are the Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

Psalm 22:3

“Eli! Eli! Lama sabachthani”, the voice of Jesus cried out from the cross. Most scholars agree that those words were written as a Greek transliteration of the spoken Aramaic of Jesus’ day. They also are the opening words to Psalm 22, one of many scriptures often read on Good Friday.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress?

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;
by night as well, but I find no rest.

Psalm 22:1-2

But what did those words mean? Scripture tells us that many who heard Jesus’ cry of despair from the cross, thought that He was crying out for the prophet Elijah to appear and save Him. However, the name ‘Eli’ in both Hebrew and Aramaic is not only a proper name, but a transliteration for the word ‘God’.

Jesus endured the agony of a Roman scourging without crying out. Isaiah 53 records this prophetic truth as it says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” It wasn’t the agony of His passion that caused him to cry out to God, it was the burden of sin – yours and mine.

Again, we hear the prophet Isaiah, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”(Isa. 53:6) It was the weight of our sin that caused Him to cry out as his Father looked away, that Christ would die… the one for the many. As the divine Son of God, Jesus couldn’t die, but in His humanity, he willingly gave up His life to the agony of death. In the moments before giving up his life, He cried out because he knew what it felt like to become as sin and to be separated from His Father.

Psalm 22 prophetically offers us the thoughts of Jesus as he hung on the cross. We hear the agony, pain and shame he felt in becoming the full and complete sin offering for the world…

But as for me, I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by all and despised by the people.

All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,

“He trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him; *
let him rescue him, if he delights in him.”

Psalm 22:6-8

“If he delights in him”? Yes, that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. The scorners and mockers didn’t realize how prophetic they were. In the pain and agony of all agonies, Jesus still found the delight of His Father’s love to pray for those who crucified Him. When no one else would have strength to think or speak, He took the time to show love and mercy to a penitent thief, and assured him of paradise. He took the time to speak forgiveness to His executioners, and He took the time to care for His mother, and gave her into the care of His beloved disciple, John.

It wasn’t the agony of His passion that caused him to cry out to God, it was the burden of sin – yours and mine.

As you look upon the cross of our crucified Lord this Good Friday, consider Him who though in the agony of all agonies, took time to remember you and to praise His Father – the Holy One who is always enthroned upon the praises of the true Israel. Whatever trials and pain you may be enduring right now in your life, consider the faithfulness of the Father who didn’t forget His son in death, but raised Him to life in glory three days later.

Our God is the “Holy One”. He is the praise of all who are truly Israel. He is the one Who can take our ashes and turn them into beauty.

Shalom for a Blessed God Friday,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://www.christthesaviourhbg.org/icons.html

March 17, 2017

In the Blink of An Eye

Save me, O God, *
for the waters have risen up to my neck.
I am sinking in deep mire, *
and there is no firm ground for my feet.

Psalm 69:1-2

Read psalm 69

It was a hot afternoon and I had just finished playing Tennis with my Pastor. There was a family in the church who had a swimming pool and they had told him that he could use it any time. I told him I couldn’t swim, but he said I could just cool off in the shallow end. So, we went to the pool to relax and cool off. My Pastor got out of the pool and decided to lay in the sun for a while. I thought this would be a great time to practice my float on my back as I had in the swim lessons I’d taken about a year before. The next thing I knew, my life was literally flashing before my eyes.

In Psalm 69, we read words that are prophetic of Jesus as he endured the agony of torture and loneliness awaiting His crucifixion. His words cry out to the Father for salvation. He knows he will soon die, but the feeling of being surrounded by death was too much. The strength that led him on His journey to the cross now seemed gone – it seemed all that was left was death.

Our lives can feel overwhelmed before we know it, especially if we’re always acting strong for others and feel we have no one to reach out to with our own pain. Today is our third Friday since beginning Lent. Friday’s are a day for remembering the great sacrifice of the Cross that Jesus made for us. Today scripture speaks to us of the overwhelming circumstances of which may sometimes surround. As you read and pray, be real with Jesus. If you feel you have no one to turn to who understands what you’re going through, I guarantee you He does. You can cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

As I was practicing floating on my back in the pool that day, I somehow drifted out over the deep end. As an 18-year-old, I was afraid of the water. I never learned to swim, and had no confidence to put into practice the things I learned in my lessons. When I went to stand up there was no bottom for my feet. In a panic, I began flailing around for dear life, as they say.

man-struggling-in-water In that moment, in the blink of an eye, I went from calm and serene, to shear panic. My life literally flashed before my eyes. I thought this was the end. I was going to drown in that pool. But, my pastor was there. Surely, he would jump in and save me. I cried out to the Lord, “Save me O God! Don’t let me die like this!” Just then, my toes hit concrete and I could drag myself to the edge of the pool. There at the edge of the pool, standing down and looking in was my Pastor. He said, “Are you alright?”. The only thing I could manage to say between coughing up water was, “No, thanks to you! What happened to all that talk of laying down your life for a friend? You didn’t jump in to save me!” To which he said, “The way you were flailing around, you would have dragged us both down!”

Later I came to believe he wouldn’t have let me die – but it sure felt like it at the time. But, I know a God who never lets us down. He has promised to never leave us. I know He was in the pool with me that day, just like He was with Jesus in those long hours of agony. Yes, Jesus died, and one day we will too. But, on the third day, Jesus was raised to life never to die again. We too can live with the assurance of the Resurrection in the last day. Till then, we need not fear death…it is the doorway to everlasting life.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

My daily Lenten prayer – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit. ” NRSV

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March 14, 2017

Rocks for Jocks

Hear my cry, O God, *
and listen to my prayer.
I call upon you from the ends of the earth
with heaviness in my heart; *
set me upon the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61:1-2

Read Psalm 61

The Western Wall of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem

I think rocks are fascinating. They can be so great in size they can’t be moved. What a great metaphor for our faith in God. Our faith in Jesus Christ can grow so big and strong that it can’t be moved. When temptation comes, our rock of faith can be so big and strong that it doesn’t crumble and start an avalanche in our lives; a downward spiral into sin. Rocks are great aren’t they?

My fascination with rocks began in college, where the only science class I took was Geology. It was called, “Rocks for Jocks”. No, I wasn’t an athlete, but it was considered the easiest science class to take. It was supposed to be so easy that even “dumb jocks” could pass it. Well, that was good enough for me. I never was good at science. However, I really enjoyed the class. I was fascinated to learn how rocks form deep in the earth over millions of years and have, in some cases been raised to the surface through eruptions and erosions.

The soil in Jerusalem is very rocky. At the base of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, there is church built over and around a rock. That rock is believed to be the very rock were Jesus prayed in agony on the night of His arrest. To get to the church you pass through the Garden of Gethsemane, the place where Jesus often went to pray. It was in those times of prayer that Jesus’ own faith in His Father was formed and strengthened.

Rock of Agony mosaic — Christ in Agony Mosaic

As I visited the Church of the Agony in Gethsemane, I knelt to pray in front of that rock. It was once a massive boulder, now shrouded by the church built around it. You can see only the top of the rock as it protrudes through the floor in front of the Altar. Above the Altar, on the back wall of the church there is a mosaic of Christ kneeling upon the rock in prayer…in agony.

Rock of Agony in front of the Altar, Church of All Nations “Agony”, Gethsemane

As you journey through Lent, I hope you will find times and places where you too can climb and kneel upon a rock of prayer. Climbing to a high place in prayer represents our reaching Heavenward, lifting our souls to God. Be creative in your prayer times this Lent. Perhaps there is a “Gesthemane” near you where you can get a way and pray. There may not be a giant rock to climb upon, but no matter where you are, you always have the rock of faith that is Jesus. It’s on Him, our solid rock, that we like the Psalmist, plead for God to set us upon.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

My daily Lenten prayer – “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit. ” NRSV

August 17, 2016

How long, O LORD? Wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

Psalm 13:1

Have you ever suffered such intense pain that you despaired of living, that you felt you physically couldn’t go on? I hope not. But, sadly such agony of suffering is quite common to our humanity. It is in a very real sense, something we instinctively try to avoid at all cost. However, for the Christian the call of Jesus is the call to die. St. Paul said he was ‘crucified’ with Christ, so that he would no longer live to himself but that Christ would live and reign within him (Gal. 2:20).

At the time of my writing this devotion, it is only hours from learning that a dear friend, the child of a dear friend, died of tragic circumstances. I arose to read Psalm 13 today and immediately felt the need to call out to Jesus for my friends who are dying inside at their loss.

We often think of this ‘death to self’ as a metaphor for having made a decision to follow Christ. But, is that all it is? Not really. The call of the Christian to die is nothing less than a call to agony and suffering. Not a suffering we go looking for, but the kind that comes to us in all forms from this broken and sinful world. And when it comes, our response is to die upon the cross of our suffering when it presents itself. Crucifixion and agony go hand in hand.

Agony is defined as the final stages of a painful death, or as extreme physical or mental suffering. Whatever can be said of agony, it carries such a finality and extreme pain that few can bear it for long without giving up. It is precisely at this moment of giving up that we hear the Psalmist cry out in the prayer of Psalm 13. In the voice of David, we can hear the voice of Jesus as he faced the greatest agony of His life in the Garden of Gethsemane. And, it is precisely at this point of giving up that we realize we are not alone – Jesus is with us!

Though the pain and agony Jesus endured were excruciating, to the point of sweating drops of blood (Luke 22:34), we know He was able to cast His extreme burden on His Father. Verse five tells us He trusted in the steadfast love of the Father, whose love never changes and whose mercies never end.

Whatever suffering and agony you face today, know you’re never alone. Even though all your friends may forsake you, remember, there is one who sticks closer than a brother (Prov. 18:24), and His name is Jesus. Call upon the name of the Lord, for there is power in the name of Jesus. Is there anything greater we can do in the midst of our darkest circumstances than to call upon the name of Jesus? I don’t think so. Perhaps listening to this song will help strengthen your faith today so you can call upon the name of the Lord.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

image credit: http://www.picturequotes.com/light-quotes