A Tweets Worth of Truth for April

Here it is.

If you want the basic faith story, if you want to cut to the chase, if you want the executive summary, if you want the tweet of Christianity, here it is: Maundy Thursday – Love, Good Friday – God’s love on the cross, Easter – Love breaks all boundaries.

In one week’s time, from Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday through Easter, we may participate in a month’s worth of services, but in that compact time, we have the entire Christian message that we will approach again and again for the next year, for a lifetime of Christian experience. Christmas is beautiful, but the story of God can get lost in the colorful festivities. During Holy Week, we strip away the decorations – Palm Branches and the Shouts of a celebratory parade give way to abandonment, Jesus loses friends and supporters, loses the support of the religious folks of his day, loses his clothing, loses his dignity, becomes the object of derision in a personal death parade, and then hangs limp on a rough, rugged cross that is declared finished only by Jesus’ death. Then the Saturday period of darkness, followed by the dawn of some new God thing, Easter, which takes awhile to sink in for those previous ardent followers. And permeating it all is love. Jesus loves those gathered at the Last Supper and gives them a loving gift – a foot-washing of service, a meal with eternal benefits, a gift in fact that instructs followers in service and love, a meal that encourages all with the promise that Jesus will be with them no matter what. And the “what“ follows close behind. Service is abandoned as Jesus is abandoned; the eternal promise of love from God is forgotten in the haste to get away. But remember the love is eternal, so Jesus makes the lonesome journey to the cross. And Jesus who has emptied himself in coming to Earth now releases the last little bit and gives and gives and gives until he is gone. And the explanations are quieted, suspended until Easter when the sunrise breaks through the darkness of confusion and begins to enlighten those hesitant followers.

April 1 and the following week: here it is. The whole journey – the message which has not changed in almost 2000 years: love, God’s love on the cross, love breaks all boundaries.

We March into Lent!

In elementary school they taught us that March comes in like a lion but goes out like a lamb. The teachers were trying to tell us something about the change in the weather, I think. But there was not always a very dramatic change in Texas during March; sometimes the years were more like 2012 with our warming February.

But that lion / lamb dichotomy might work for March as the long month of transition from Lent to Easter. During March we can focus on that Lenten Lion, that roaring power of Sin out there in the bush, that devouring power of Sin, that growl around us that threatens our relationships with God and our neighbor, that fearful noise that disquiets our relationships, that makes us fear God and our neighbor, and urges us to listen for enemies. That lion can also be an example of pride that helps us justify our actions that we know are wrong or at least divisive, as if our needs define what is right for ourselves and all those around, as if we are not called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Lions are impressive to be sure. They are the monarchs of the African plain. But they are bloody rulers, beautiful killers – hardly the best model for struggling Christian folks.

But, oh the lamb. The lamb is an interesting animal in the Bible. It can be a member of God’s flock – needing the Lord’s love and care. Yet, Jesus is also proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” God’s little lambs need protection from the roaring and threatening lion. God’s great Lamb, Jesus Christ, steps in, calls the lions by name, then offers his blood for ours. This Lamb of God goes uncomplaining to the cross, but in doing so shifts the world – fearful lambs are saved by the great, gracious Lamb of God! And we, whether leaning toward the model of the powerful lion or unsure like the lambs or a human combination of the two, are called during Lent to hear the voice of the Great Shepherd, himself the Lamb of God who draws us to the foot of the cross, accepts our uncertainty, then gives us an empty tomb and a full life in God’s Love.

Out with the lion. In with the lamb!