Jesus Distressed and Agitated? - Dr. Andy Stoker

24 Hours That Changed the World: “He Began to Be Distressed and Agitated”

It is difficult to imagine Jesus distressed and agitated. But within the personhood of Jesus, we are told, he had the capacity to fully experience the human condition. So, why not distress and agitation? What was it that affected him so? The way people were treated? The way the authorities treated the marginalized? The way people were treated because of their injuries seen and unseen? As a minister, I have been really confronted, distressed and agitated spiritually with the way in which our country handles military service people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The ambiguity of the injury is problematic: there is no broken bone, no scar, no remnant to show for the internal wound continuing to cause the exacerbation. Because of the invisibleness of this injury, it goes unnoticed. Where is God in this trauma? We learn quickly that God promises that God will be with us both in our distress and our anguish.

Yet, we live in a society that say we ought to have the fortitude and wherewithal to ‘go it alone’ to ‘be our own person’. But, what God says is, "That is wrong!" It is a myth of autonomy. “We haven’t come this far for God to leave us now.” In her book, Spirit and Trauma, theologian Shelley Rambo, stated it this way, “Trauma is described as an encounter with death. This encounter is not, however, a literal death but a way of describing a radical event or events that shatter all that one knows about the world and all the familiar ways of operating within it…yet, the shape of life, in the Spirit—the work of testifying to the oozing of love into the space of life and of discerning life where it is not. The Spirit persists there.”[1] The Advocacy of the Spirit of God is to proclaim life in the face of death, love in the face of hate, clarity in the face of fuzziness, and wisdom in the face of ignorance.

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[1] Rambo, S. (2010). Spirit and trauma: A theology of remaining. Lousiville, KY: Westminster John Knox, pp. 4; 160.

King of Kings - Allen Zugelter

24 Hours That Changed the World: "The Mount of Olives"

The Mount of Olives is justifiably famous for being the place Jesus’ arrest by the Roman authorities.  Yet, for Jesus and his contemporaries, it had meaning far, far beyond.

When Jesus went to pray with his disciples at the Mount of Olives the night of his arrest (and before), he wasn’t just looking for quiet and solitude.  The (Old Testament) prophet Zechariah foretold that the coming messiah, who will become king over all the earth, “shall stand on the Mount of Olives.”  Jesus’ presence on the hilltop itself had immense meaning.  It was yet another indication that he was much, much more than a great teacher or prophet.  That he was, and is, the King of Kings.

The same lesson applies to us: what we do has meaning that goes far beyond face value.  We call ourselves Christians, but being a follower of Christ involves much more than this self-identification.  Our words and actions are a reflection to other people what Christianity is all about, whether we know it (and like it) or not.  This Lent, may God help us become followers of Jesus Christ down to the very core of our being.

I invite you to pray:
God, I accept you as my King.  Help me to know and do your will.  May my life bring glory to your name.  Amen.

Finding Joy Again - Rev. Linda Roby

24 Hours that Changed the World: "A Song of Praise in the Face of Death"

Several years ago I witnessed hope found in the ancient Psalm, “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

I was traveling with a group through the Holy Land; and on the 5th day we headed to the Garden of Gethsemane.  We arrived and were briefed on the history, we read passages of scripture, and sang hymns.  We were then invited to spend some quiet time among the ancient olive trees.  I glanced around and saw friends walking, sitting, praying; it was a holy time for us all.  Then I caught a glimpse of one of our travelers, a grieving widower, alone under an olive tree, weeping.

A few days later, he shared that in that moment in the garden, he began to understand his wife’s death in a new way. He said he was able to release his hold on grief, to unload it there in the garden, with the millions of people who had traveled to that place over the centuries.  He realized that life and death is something everyone experiences, and that it was time to let the deep sadness go, and to begin to be grateful for each day he had been given with his beloved, and to face tomorrow with a new sense of purpose.  Before me was a man who was finding joy again.  A new season of life unfolded for him as he discovered new strength and meaning in activities and friendships.

Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, a psychiatrist who pioneered the hospice movement, wrote in her book, Death, The Final Stage of Growth, “death is not an enemy to the conquered or a prison to be escaped.  It is an integral part of our lives that gives meaning to human existence.  It sets a limit on our time in this life, urging us on to do something productive with that time, to become more truly who we really are, to become more fully human.”

Whatever loss we endure - death of a love one, failing health, aging, children growing up and leaving home, loss of a job, disappointments in relationships - may the knowledge of God’s steadfast love give you the strength to find hope in what lies ahead.

Lord, I give thanks to you; for you are good, and your love endures forever.  Help me, even in the face of adversity, to sing your praise and to trust in you.  Amen.