Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.
How quickly things can change. A bit over 30 years ago, when I was in high school I was working out in my basement with a friend. We never spotted each other on the bench press until our third set. On the 10th rep of my second set, my arms went jelly and 225 pounds fell on my face. A lot of blood, a lot of stitches, a new scar. How quickly things can change. Nearly 20 years ago I was driving my car on a windy road when a deer jumped in front of me. I overreacted, rolling my car off an embankment that blew out my sunroof leaving my head to drag along the pavement. A lot of blood, a lot of stitches, a new scar. Ten years ago I was doing some pullups when my chin-up bar gave way. I landed on the small of my back. After eight months of incredibly painful sciatica, I got surgery. I suppose there was a fair amount of blood involved, a bunch of stitches, and a new scar. How quickly things can change.
I bet you have stories like this. Physical stories of accidents. Heartbreak stories. Paradigm shift stories. Good news stories, too – falling in love, getting pregnant, having a kid, getting accepted into college, getting the job, getting the house. One moment you’re one way, and then something happens, and everything has changed. How quickly things can change.
It’s a part of the human experience.
We’re living in one of those right now, aren’t we? The whole world, together, in this unwelcome moment, fighting together an enemy we can’t even see with the naked eye. Something most of us knew nothing about a matter of weeks ago. How quickly things can change.
Jesus was no stranger to the human experience. The very last week of his life was no exception. It began with a Sunday parade or sorts. He was coming into the city of Jerusalem and a crowd of his fans lined the street to celebrate him with cheers, shouts of adoration, and gestures to honor him. They waived palm branches. They laid down a make-shift red carpet type thing for him with their coats. Jesus likely knew his fans were going to do something like this, and he was very intentional about how he chose to enter the scene. He could have walked. Or he could have borrowed a horse used mainly for military purposes. Instead, he chose a lowly donkey. This ride communicated peace, not war. Instead of a Hummer, he showed up in Herbie.
Jesus had a lot of fans, mostly from the northern part of the country around the Sea of Galilee where he lived most of his life and did most of his ministry. There is ongoing debate about what exactly happened, but suffice it to say he had an experience that woke him up. He saw his life, the world, the people of the world, power structures, religion, politics – everything – differently. At the center of his awakening was his understanding of God as ever-present, the source of life itself, and characterized by an uncontrolling love. When this happened (and kept happening), it was one of those moments that changed everything. One moment he was a dirt-poor day laborer hanging out at the Home Depot parking lot hoping to get some work to buy food for his mom and siblings. The next moment he was commanding capacity crowds at the local amphitheater, sharing his experience and understanding of it all. Of course, the crowds never lasted. Jesus was really honest about the way of life he had discovered. He knew that it ran counter to cultural norms, and even to lizard-brained self-preservation. The big secret to the way he found was a reckless abandonment to God. Choosing to give the reins of his life to this Greater Other, this Ground of Being, the Spirit, Higher Power. It was a decision to simply live in the reality of the loving presence of God for the sake of being in the loving presence of God. Not for personal gain. Not to win heaven or avoid hell. Not to get wishes granted. Simply to be immersed in Love. After a rousing teaching or day-long seminar, he would drop the bomb of this greatest truth about sacrificing self in order to gain our real identity. The result? The overwhelming majority of people walked away. How quickly things can change.
The week that began with a parade was even worse. A few days later, one of his closest followers sold him out. He was arrested. Beaten. Falsely accused and illegally tried. Beaten some more. In an unprecedented move, the Roman Governor made room for some democracy: a decibel vote between Jesus and an insurrectionist named Barabbas. Jesus got the loudest cheer. The prize? Execution by crucifixion. Sunday morning came with cheers of acclamation. Friday afternoon – shouts of death. How quickly things can change.
How did Jesus choose to respond with it all? Surrender. That Thursday evening when he was arrested, he prayed his heart out. He sweat blood. He didn’t want to go through the nightmare he imagined would come. He asked that the cup pass. At the end of his prayer, however, he surrendered: not my will but yours be done. Not that God was wanting Jesus to die, but that the uncontrolling love of God meant that bad things will happen in life, but God’s love remains with us. The next day as he was severely beaten – a lot of blood, no time for stitches, would’ve been a lot of scars – he could have fought back at least with his words. Instead, he honored who he was as a beloved child of God. Among his last words as he was dying? “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” Followed soon after with, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Surrender. One moment alive. The next, dead. How quickly things can change.
One thing was constant, though, according to Jesus. God’s love. Even as we go through inevitable highs and lows, we do so immersed in the love of God which is everywhere, all the time. Giving us strength. Hope. Peace. Perspective. Promise. I don’t know exactly why, but it gives me some peace of mind knowing that Jesus went through life with all of its ups and downs. Jesus. The guy who so completely nailed it. Still struggled.
This approach to life isn’t punting, by the way. It’s not giving up the fight. We still do our part to do what is right and good, aligned with what we believe is loving toward God and all of creation. Sometimes, though, despite our best efforts, our life experience still sucks. Yet we are still swimming in the presence of God just the same.
As we go through this COVID-19 trauma together, know that you are not alone. We are all, quite literally, in this together. Love God and love other people. Stay awake, stay woke to the fact that we are all swimming in the grace of God, and always will, no matter what comes. Because things can change quickly, including our emotional wellbeing. The prophet Isaiah declares that God gives beauty for ashes, strength for fear, gladness for mourning, peace for despair. It can happen as quickly as a prayer. How quickly things can change.
O God, if I worship you in fear of hell, burn me in hell. If I worship you in hope of paradise, shut me out from paradise. But if I worship you for your own sake, do not withhold from me your everlasting beauty. —Rábi‘a (717–801), Islamic mystic and poet