Easter in the Park

I have a friend. For this post, I’ll change his name. Let’s call him John. This is not because this post will be inflammatory by any stretch. It is simply because I haven’t asked him if I can share this story.

John is born and raised in Detroit. John is in his early 20s. John is on parole and he won’t tell me what for. John is homeless. Though he has family in the area, he can’t live with them. He often stays with friends so he doesn’t have to sleep on the streets. John runs drugs sometimes to make money. As a young, African-American felon on parole in Detroit, this is his only foreseeable option. No, it’s not a good thing to do. But I’d like to see you do something different in his situation.

John is smart. John is witty. John enjoys being the life of the party and revels in the spotlight. John loves reading Psalms and has several memorized. John also enjoys singing. On at least one occasion, John has led others (including myself) to the throne in singing worship at a CommuniD BBQ in Detroit.

The Saturday after last Easter.

I was at the CommuniD BBQ in Detroit. I was sitting with John and we were eating. I asked John if he did anything special for Easter; went to church, had dinner with his family, anything. This is what he told me,

“Well I worked Saturday night (which means he was running drugs). I got off about 8:00 Sunday morning. I knew it was Easter and that’s a really big day for churches. So I figured none of the churches would be here with people in the park. I had a pocket full of cash from working and nothing to do. So I went to the store, bought a loaf of bread, some ham and some mustard. And I came here to the park and made sandwiches for anyone who was here and we just kind of ate together.”

As he told me this, I was more than moved. I was speechless. I was thrilled for him. He was sharing with others as there was need. He was focused on others instead of himself. He was living out the call of Jesus in his life. Yes, he got the money from running drugs. But how many of us make our money from indulging and profiting off of the gluttony or materialism of others? This friend of mine was beginning to take steps in the way of Jesus and I was inspired by him.

Our conversation went on from there and was good. I’ve thought about that story and shared that story many times over the last year.

This past Saturday night I was in Charleston, SC. I was talking with a guy in his early 20s who has been dreaming of creating community like elevate Detroit and Micah 6 Community are. He’s never seen anything like what he’s been dreaming about. He’s never heard of it and he’s never heard of anyone else doing it. Needless to say, our conversation was a powerful one. He was thrilled, inspired and excited to learn of others doing similar things to what he’s been feeling called to create. It was inspiring and so encouraging to me to get to be a part of that with him.

I told him the story of my friend John that I shared above. And then I said, “You tell me. Who was more like Jesus that day? We, the church people worshipping God in our buildings with our worship services? Or the homeless drug runner that gave all he had to share what he could with others in need. Where was Jesus that morning?”

Then it hit me. Easter Sunday was right around the corner. And it was about to happen again. “I knew it was Easter and that’s a really big day for churches. So I figured none of the churches would be here with people in the park.”

Ouch.

And where would Jesus be?

Ouch.

And what were my plans for Easter?

Ouch.

So here’s the plan… Let’s not be the same church that worships a homeless man on Easter and neglects the homeless man we claim to be friends with and love.

This is not a CommuniD BBQ on Easter Sunday. This is a worship service at 2^nd & Selden. And we need your help.

We will sing songs of worship to our resurrected savior.
We will hear a short Easter message.
We will share communion.
We will share a light lunch.

We need help on Easter Sunday, but we also need help getting ready in the days before. If you’d like to be a part, please call: (313) 444-0463.

For more information, join the event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/241288699301917

— We need chairs. Bring your folding chairs, your lawn chairs and your dining room chairs.
— Lunch will be ham and cheese sandwiches and bottles of water.
— Please don’t bring extra food than that. The focus will be easy to distract from celebrating the resurrection of Christ. And we don’t want that to happen.
— We need people to get together Saturday evening and make the sandwiches ahead of time.
— We need someone who will take pictures and video. Actually, we need a couple people.
— We will need people who will serve communion.
— We may need someone who can lead us in singing worship (waiting to hear back from someone now).

Pilate

Pilate.

What did Pilate do that was so wrong?

I’ve been wrestling with this question a lot this Lenten/Easter season. I am spending this year reading through the gospels. I use YouVersion and often listen to the passages aloud. In January I read through all four gospels. I spent February focusing on Matthew, reading it over and over. March was similarly spent reading Mark. Now April will be spent reading Luke. And May will be spent with John.

At the beginning of Lent I also started reading YouVersion’s “40 Days of Lent” reading plan. It’s been interesting. As I’ve read through the plans side by side I sometimes end up reading the same chapter a second time in a day. Other times I may read the same passage in parallel gospels in the same day or days apart.

Beginning today I’m also going through “The Story of Easter” reading plan. So now during Holy Week I’m reading three different reading plans all involving the life of Jesus. Two of them focus on Easter and the events leading up to it. And this week I’ll be reading the full gospel of Luke. It’s overlapping reading plans. You get the idea.

You may think (Or I would’ve thought) that the repetition or overlapping nature gets boring. But it has been quite the opposite. Reading like this has been like hearing the same story over and over again from different perspectives and in different orders. I feel like I’m getting a bigger and deeper picture of the characters in the story. Not really repetition at all.

However, I have digressed. Back to my question: What did Pilate do that was so wrong?

Having grown up in the church, I remember hearing the Easter story as a kid. I remember thinking the Jews, Pilate and everyone there was so evil except for Jesus and maybe that guy that carried his cross for him because he was forced to do it.

Over time I’ve learned to place myself amidst the crowd. I’ve pictured myself or understood myself as one of the many voices in the jeering crowd. I’ve spent hours meditating on the thought that it was my sin that nailed him to that cross. And after nailing him there with my sin, it was His love that held him there.

But what about Pilate?

Pilate was still my scapegoat. I was ok with placing myself in the massive crowd; even if it was out of sin. At least I wasn’t the only one chanting for Jesus’s execution, right? As long as it’s not only my voice shouting for his death, that seemed bad, but tolerable. I can handle that.

Pilate’s the one that could’ve really done something though. Pilate didn’t have to listen to us in the crowd. Pilate had the power to set Jesus free and silence the crowd. Pilate could’ve done something, but didn’t. And for that… I’ve always thought of Pilate as the worst one there. It’s one thing to be an ignorant peasant and demand an innocent man’s execution. It’s another thing to be an educated citizen of the most powerful empire in the world and condone the death of the innocent by a lack of action. “Yes,” I thought, “Pilate is the worst one there.”

So what did Pilate do?

Pilate questioned Jesus. (Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2-4, Luke 23:3, John 18:33-38)
Pilate was amazed at Jesus. (Matthew 27:14, Mark 15:5)
Pilate found Jesus innocent. (Luke 23:4, 23:13-15, John 18:38)
Pilate questioned the Jews and gave them a chance to request Jesus be released. (Matthew 27:17-24, Mark 15:9-14, Luke 23:22, John 18:39)
Pilate had Jesus flogged in an apparent attempt to pacify the Jews. (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:16, 23:22, John 19:1)
Pilate declared Jesus innocent again. (Luke 23:22, John 19:4, 19:6)
Pilate was afraid and questioned Jesus again. (John 19:8-10)
Pilate declares that he has the power to crucify Jesus or to free him. (John 19:10)
Pilate tried to set Jesus free. (Luke 23:20, John 19:12)
Pilate gave in to the crowd and handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:24-26, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:24-25, John 19:16)
Pilate had a sign made declaring Jesus was “The King of the Jews” and had it posted in all three common languages of the time. (John 19:19-20)
Pilate stands firm to his declaration of who Jesus is. (John 19:22)

Here’s what Pilate did: Pilate took the time to learn who Jesus was. Pilate believed and declared Jesus to be innocent and the King of the Jews. In other words, Pilate believed Jesus. Yes. I think we’ll see Pilate in Heaven. But Pilate gave in to the pressuring demands of a sinful society. Pilate did not stand up for the innocent like he could have. But instead, Pilate stood by and allowed the innocent to die.

Now… Who is the worst in this story? Pilate? Or the Jews in the crowd? I still think Pilate.

But I can no longer place myself in the crowd. I am not an ignorant uneducated peasant. I am an educated citizen of the most powerful empire in the world. I am no longer a Jew in this story… I am Pilate. I am Pilate because every day I sit and do nothing. And through my passivity, the innocent are allowed to die. I am Pilate every time I do not do all that I can.

Let’s, as the body of Jesus, stop being Pilate. Let’s stop letting our passivity, apathy and complacency condemn the lives of the innocent. Let us stop killing God’s children with inaction! Do something. Bring your friends along. Do something together. And keep doing it.

http://one.org
http://invisiblechildren.com
http://ijm.org
http://bloodwatermission.com
http://20liters.org
http://thepeaceplan.com
http://70x7outreach.org
http://elevateDetroit.com

This list could go on and on and on. Don’t start tomorrow. Do something today.

Zombiepocalypse

Matthew 27:51-54 NIV

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!'”

We are missing a great opportunity…
Want to do a good seeker AND in depth Good Friday service at your church??

Zombiepocalypse Friday (think of the real meaning of that word and be impressed that I’m using it correctly 🙂 )! Scrap the common and normal and go full tilt with this verse. Every single person there would remember that service all their life.

Make the whole point about how we often skip the familiar in the Bible thinking we know it and skip the unfamiliar thinking it’s boring and irrelevant. Because if we really knew it… we would live differently. If you’re like me, very differently.

Seriously, when is the last time you learned something at a holiday church service? Me? I don’t remember. All I remember is a good skit or cool effects. Each year it is the same thing with different wrapping paper. I feel like the common service is less teaching something new and more showing off the new lights or visual effects.

Churches are like young male peacocks strutting their new feathers. They look different to other peacocks, but to the rest of the world it is a familiar show with little to no meaning.

Almost everyone at a holiday service is in the same boat… “Been here, heard this” (ourselves included). So why do the same thing we always do and prove them right? Forget thinking outside the box. Leave the box alone and think/read fresh.

Zombiepocalypse 2012. Let’s do this!

Resurrection

I’d like to say I usually listen to several Podcasts a week. But I fell out of the habit back in the springtime. Around then I also started to fall deeper into a bit of depression. I have learned more and more through these last weeks that this is a spiritual depression. It’s a spiritual issue. Through the end of summer here I’ve felt the stirring of what I hope is a new day; what I hope is the end of this oppression.

In August I got to spend a good amount of time camping and being out in nature. This is very good for my soul. I also sort of forced myself to start listening to Podcasts again. My first is always Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids.

As I’ve been listening a little more, it’s becoming natural again. The habit is growing back. Last night I was at the Axiom Vision Event. Dan spoke. As a part of the message he talked about different spiritual pathways. It’s something I’ve heard before, but apparently needed reminding of.

Naturalist is definitely my top spiritual pathway. I thrive on being in nature and contemplating the vastness and nuances of creation. Intellectual is my second. I enjoy thinking and meditating on the deeper implications of subtle things. I enjoy reading books that challenge and stretch my faith and lifestyle. For some reason though, I wasn’t thinking of Podcasts as being a part of that. This seems quite obvious in hindsight, but that’s where I was at. Now that I’ve been reminded that listening to Podcasts can be an act of worship… it’s game on.

Mars Hill. Grand Rapids. Rob Bell. Shane Hipps. Ed Dobson. Many others. Over the last week or so I’ve finished their series from Lent. Today, I listened to Easter Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. Resurrection. My life right now feels like it’s being resurrected.

I find myself listening to this message a second time so far today. I am so inspired and longing for more of resurrection in my life that I just had to share it. Check out the Podcast. If you can’t find it, I’ll get you a copy. Listen to it. Hear it. Chew on it. Drink it in. Soak in it.

I think there’s a reason God had me wait until September to listen to an Easter message. Maybe I just needed to go through a really long season of Lent. And it has been a long season of Lent. Maybe it has been for you too.

But… it’s Sunday. Resurrection. Let the whispers of it slide hope into unreached parts of your soul. Resurrection. Let it light your world like the dawn; palely yet brilliantly, unmistakable and growing. Resurrection. Let it seep into every part of our vision for humanity and the world. Resurrection. I pray each of us begins to understand it as much as it is happening in and through us through the Spirit. Resurrection. I pray its whisper lingers on our heart.

Grace and peace.

(If you haven’t found it yet, I think you should be able to right click here http://elevatedetroit.com/podcast/resurrection.mp3 and save as)