FROM THE PASTOR
The Journey Continues
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday and we will enter into Holy Week, where we experience together the Passion of Jesus. In the Blog for this week we will continue with devotions for the next five Stations of the Cross, as we make the Via Dolorosa together.
The Sixth Station: A woman wipes the face of Jesus
Matthew 25:31–46 Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.
This station comes to us from a pious tradition of devotion. While standing on the revelation of Holy Scripture, Protestants also proclaim the unity of the body of Christ and lay claim to standing in the Western catholic tradition. Thus we come to appreciate that pious tradition can deepen our devotion for nuances of biblical faith.
According to tradition, as the cloth wiped across the suffering face of Jesus, the imprint of the face in the cloth memorialized this moment of compassion and grace between Jesus and another human.
A face. It discloses the essence of a human being. In the aggregate of the shape of the nose, the color of the eyes, the turn of the mouth, the pallor of the cheeks, a unique person confronts us. To really notice the face of another makes that person unforgettable.
What did she see that caused her to reach out with a cloth and touch that face? What do we see when we apply a cool cloth at bedsides to feverish loved ones, or reach a hand to stroke a loved face? Did she recognize something of the glory of a gracious God in that haunting face? Do we see a faint likeness of that face in the faces around us? When we reach out to touch and caress, do we remember the face on the Way of the Cross?
As you behold the loved faces of your life, look for the light.
O God, help me remember that it is often the small gestures that reveal your love to me and to others. Help me to love. Amen.
The Seventh Station: Jesus falls a second time
John 1:14–18 The Word became flesh and lived among us.
It is not the fall which is memorable. It was undoubtedly one of several as the violence and destruction of a human life crescendos to the point where the one who fell will finally cry out something like, “Where are you, God?” What is memorable is the rising again. The inexorable struggle to Golgotha, to the destiny of a God faithful to the covenant, quickens the heart. Not yet, as he lay there. It is not yet time to cry out the triumph. It is not yet finished.
Tradition tells us that the Roman column housed in the Franciscan chapel at this station is part of the Judgment Gate. Here, according to tradition, Jesus fell again. Fundamental to the Judeo-Christian tradition is the affirmation that we humans are not God. The Creator is God. We are finite, creatures of the Creator. Human. Mortal.
In this fall of Jesus we are confronted with the mystery of the Christian faith. The fall beneath the cross is the fall of one who is fully human, who thirsted, who was weary, who laughed and cried, who will soon die. Jesus was flesh of our flesh, overwhelmed with pain and weakness. He fell. But it was the very love of God incarnate in that fall on the Way of the Cross. In his resolve to rise and complete the journey before him is strength for our own falling and rising.
As you rise again after a fall in this human drama, look for the light.
Ever living God, thank you for sending your Son to become human, to live and die with us and for us. In our weakness, help us to trust in that love. Amen.
The Eighth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Luke 23:27–31 Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
This is the hardest station for me. I am vividly aware now of the presence of my Jewish brothers and sisters, and of the burden of articulating my Christian faith with sensitivity and love. The women of Jerusalem were weeping for one of their own, Jesus, son of Joseph from Nazareth. And then Jesus responded in words that give pause.
As our group parted for a merchant pushing a wheelbarrow down the cobbled streets I spoke from my heart: “Here the Christian church must seek repentance, for in hearing only judgment in these words of Jesus, Christians have, by words and persecution, added much to the weeping of Jerusalem’s children.” Can we hear in these words of Jesus the sounds of grief and compassion for all the weeping yet to come? Is it possible for each of us Jewish and Christian believers to listen in this moment for our own dismissal of one another, and then resolve together to be a part of the wiping away of the tears?
As we moved into the crowded streets one of the dear old women in our group, a daughter of Jerusalem, took my hand and walked beside me. My tears and hers became a midrash, a commentary, on the Via Dolorosa.
Interfaith dialogue begins with faith. As we share our faith with those of other faith traditions, may we together look for the light.
Help your church to listen to your word and also to the wisdom others bring, that in mutual love and forgiveness we may draw closer to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Ninth Station: Jesus falls a third time
Hebrews 12:1–2 Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.
The ninth station is located in a Coptic monastery near the apse of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, within sight of the place of execution. The Way of the Cross is heavy indeed, and more suffering, finally death, awaits. The stumbling, falling body of Jesus is still making the Way of the Cross in our neighborhoods, cities, towns and hamlets the world over. The stumbling body of Jesus is the passion of the AIDS victim, the addicted, the homeless, those suffering the dark night of the soul, the object of bias and subtle or blatant hatred. The falling body of Jesus still needs comfort, love, the presence, the radical compassion of believers in this world of heartbreak and sorrow. Feel the Via Dolorosa in the falling life around you. Pay attention to the poor, the widow, the homebound, the lonely, the hungry, the sick, the unemployed, the insecure needing reassurance. Touch. Be present and available to the One who falls the third time on the journey through death to Life.
In touching the stumbling body, look for the light..
In weakness, O God, we find strength. In the ugliness of the cross we find beauty. In the unlovable among us we find your love. Open our eyes, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
The Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments
John 19:23–24 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts.
Stuff.
Houses, cars, junk bonds, computers, BMWs, certificates of deposit, microwave ovens, iPods, compact disc players, cell phones, skateboards, health spa memberships, TV dinners, designer jeans, t-shirts from vacations, rock concert tickets, mini-bikes, condos, Sony walkmen, manicures, dye jobs, vita-grow, travelers checks, passports, insurance, Yankee hats, brussels sprouts.
Stuff.
Our lives are stuffed by stuff, defined by it, spent in its acquisition and defense.
And before they crucified him they stripped him of his garments. And as he came into the world, from the wet womb of his mother Mary, in an animal stall in Bethlehem, he stood before them now in the moment near his death.
Naked faithfulness.
Love.
In death, when we are stripped of everything in this world, even then, look for the light.
Strong God, help me to turn away from the love of mere stuff, and to find my true treasure in Jesus, who emptied himself for me, for all. Amen.
Stephen Paul Bouman
