Today’s Scripture Reading (April 15,
2014): Daniel 9
There is a
moment in the Movie “Jesus Christ, Superstar” when the cast of followers of
Jesus begin to realize that things have gone in a direction that they were not
expecting. In the movie, the image is of Jesus, beaten and walking alone in a
valley while his supporters gather on the high ground that surrounds him. The image
is wrong in so many ways. It is not the disciples that deserve the high ground;
it is Jesus. But while the image is wrong, it is not a mistake. The scene
reveals the very tangible emotions of the disciples in this moment. The cross
that was coming was not Jesus’ cross – it was theirs.
It is in
this moment the cast begins to sing “Could We Start Again, Please.” The song is
a prayer and a hope, that everything that has happened can somehow be
miraculously reversed – that it is not too late to stop the madness. Peter in
this moment of the movie sings these words:
I
think you’ve made your point now
You’ve
even gone a bit too far to get the message home
Before
it gets too frightening, we ought to call a halt
So could we start again,
please.
(Tim
Rice, Could We Start Again, Please)
Of course
the reality was that things were going to get much worse before they could get
better. It was something that only Jesus seemed to understand, and something
that the disciples were clueless about.
As I write
these words, I am in the midst of Holy Week. As I prepare for the Good Friday
Service, now only a few days away, my world seems to be filled with images and
stories of the last week of Jesus life. The things that Jesus did and said, the
stories that he chose to tell, the illustrations and pictures that he drew with
his words during that final week of his life. What some people do not seem to understand
is that most of what we have in the Gospels, the Christian Bible books of
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as they tell the story of the life of Jesus,
happens in the last week. These are the stories that has molded a movement and
a people. These are important stories.
This year,
our Good Friday service is going to end with what I hope will be a poignant
moment. As the service ends, Jesus is laid into the tomb and the stone is
rolled in front of the cave – a place where historically he laid for the rest
of Friday, all day Saturday and then into the early hours of Sunday morning,
the cry that I hope is on our lips is similar to this cry of Daniel. Lord,
listen, Lord forgive, Lord Come, but not for us. We get it; we have messed up –
we do not deserve you. But come for yourself, because while we have wronged
you, we bear your name.
Daniel wrote
these words in another “Could we start again” moment. His understanding was
that the exile would last seventy years. And it seems that according to his
reckoning of time, the seventy years was almost up. There is a hint of surprise
in Daniel, who now would be closing in on ninety years of age. The time is just
about complete, and miraculously he has survived the entire period, and now he
is waiting, hoping that the time has come to hit the reset button.
It is a
moment that we all experience at some point in our lives, and a question that
we all seem desperate to ask. Is it possible, could we start again? But the
truth that we need to know is that God will hit the reset button, in his time.
His promise to us has never been that we will get exactly what we want (Peter watched
his friend and teacher be crucified, and history records that it was not
Daniel, in spite of his great relationship with God, that was destined to lead
Israel back home. That task would be left to younger men like Nehemiah and Ezra and Zerubbabel.)
The only promise that God has given to us is the promise that he will be with
us in those moments when we wish we could hit the reset button. He will be with
us on the high ground, and through the valley. And in the end, that is all that
matters.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Daniel
10
No comments:
Post a Comment