Beating Around...Good Friday Truthiness

I was not going to write today (like I write every day or something). But I had a small, familiar epiphany this morning and I feel the need to share.

I have struggled so much in the past months with the feeling that I can never perform well enough as a Christian (btw this is the ultimate joy stealer). I mean I have had unbelievably petty battles in my head regarding this issue. Just last night, I was sitting in my bed praying a rosary for Holy Thursday and instead of meditating all I could think was… I bet this would be more pleasing to God if I were kneeling. I am also car shopping because I recently totaled mine and I (still) can not shake the feeling that God’s affection for me will be driven (pun intended) by what kind of car I end up buying.

Do you ever feel this way? That no matter what you DO, you could have done better and God would love you more? Is this not the most bonding feeling in the world? Is that not contrary to the gospel message, that we have been set free from bondage?

This Is How Precious You Are!!!!

Well God gave me a loving reminder this morning as I focused on the events of Good Friday. See, I was journaling and had all of this toil and angst weighing down on my heart. I was trying to fight it as I read John’s account of the crucifixion but couldn’t. And then I came to Christ’s final words, IT. IS. FINISHED. The bible then says the He exhaled and surrendered His spirit. All I could picture was an incomprehensibly exhausted Jesus Christ FINALLY finishing His task. After all the mockery and hate…it was finally over. Whether you believe in Him or not, you cannot deny what He endured, we will NEVER EVER EVER understand. But the end did come, and with a final surrender His sufferings ended and His glory began.

As I read this, I was overwhelmed with this conviction… Jesus Christ went through ultimate and humiliation so that I would know that I AM PRECIOUS and I am busy over here worried about kneeling or sitting to win His affection. Why am I wasting my time trying to 1. Earn what I can’t 2. Make God love me when He already does beyond my imagination?

You are taught this, but do you know it? Do you own it? Or do you look in the mirror and see the subpar? Do you go to church (or not go) and feel like you will never measure up? Do you live your life trying to be good so that you will be loved? Do you measure God’s affection for you based on your “good person” performance that week? Are you exhausted by it? Just stop! God CAN NOT possibly love you anymore, He knows all of your weaknesses and he still endured every step of Calvary to show you how precious you are to Him.

Do you wallow in any type of regret? Do you let your insecurities rule the way you look at yourself and others? Are you self-righteous because you cannot possibly understand a love this deep so you focus on tangible behavior? Do you struggle with addiction of any type at all? Do you have issues in your mind and heart that you believe would appall the loved ones around you? If any of your struggles, no matter what they are, cause you to questions Christ’s love for you, JUST STOP! Today we celebrate that fact that NONE OF IT MATTERS! All the weight of our wickedness was taken away! Christ sees you as precious, live in that truth! Don’t believe the lie that God’s affection for you can ever be earned.

 Therefore, if I stare at the crucifix and continue to wallow in my sin…I am again slapping and mocking my God because I am saying that after the price He paid to tell me that I am lovely wasn’t enough. But my friends, as He said, “ It Is Finished”, exhaled the last of His suffering and died… He looked at YOU and said… You ARE LOVELY!

YOU ARE ENOUGH! Believe that today!

Happy Good Friday!

Beating Around...A Resounding Amen!

I took this picture! (JK!) Can't wait though!

Can you believe it is already Wednesday of Holy Week? 2012 is literally flying by which means that it will be the end of the world before we know it (just kidding! Please don’t take that seriously). As I write this, I can picture in my mind a rather large cup of coffee complete with a touch of almond milk, a hint of sugar with a little cartoon face saying, “Mallory, I have missed you. Don’t ever leave me again!” But selfish desires aside, before that cup of coffee finally takes its place in my hand, we have much more joyful, victorious and humbling matters to cover!

As many of us know (and if you don’t…email me and we can chat), tomorrow starts the yearly celebration of the most important four days in the history of the universe. An ordinary man, from an ordinary profession with an ordinary pedigree did in fact turn out to be an extraordinary God. He was humiliated (great link about Christ and humiliation there), mocked, beaten and killed and for those who were with Him, nothing spells defeat more than a dead man on a cross. But what a happy trickster is our Lord and savior! While the fallen human eye saw a dead man, the spiritual world saw a one perfect life finally live and the King of Glory raised. Satan became the dead man and we received eternal life! Again, if you are a Christian, the next four days are the climax of our existence, no big deal.

In light of these AMAZING mysteries, I want to focus on one word. Having just learned the depth of its meaning, I wonder of the rest of us know what we are saying when we say… AMEN! To my dear Catholic friends, we say this word up to twenty-five times in the mass. To my dear Protestant friends, depending on your church, this word could be uttered more than twenty-five times during a deserving sermon. In both realms however, I would bet that like the word “love”, it has lost a bit of its meaning.

Is this cute enough to hold your attention?

See, many of us were taught that Amen means, “Yes, I agree”. While this is true, doesn’t it portray an amiable tip of the hat? For example, the Priest says, “The Body of Christ” and our response resembles a very lighthearted “I’ll cheers to that”. Yes, it is a friendly response, but our faith is so much more than friendly.

The actual meaning of the word is infinitely deeper, much more extreme and convicting. Although the origin of the word Amen goes back to Egypt, it was used by the Hebrews and literally meant, “ to stake one’s tent in the ground”. Over time this meaning evolved into a resounding, risky “I WOULD STAKE MY LIFE ON THAT.”

I know that I agree whole-heartedly with a spectrum of subjects on which I would never stake my life. For example, I agree with those who think that Harry Potter is better than Twilight (HOLLAR). I would NEVER however, bet my life on such an issue. Therefore, I cannot Amen that; I would be a liar.  I also agree with someone who thinks that ice-cream is best dessert in the world or that Mad Men is a great show. I would NEVER stake my life on these things.

It is only proven, indisputable truths on which I can sincerely bet my life like gravity or the existence of the tree against which I’m leaning(I know… creative examples). But there is still a risky difference when it comes to our faith. I would stake my life on gravity because it is proven. I can bet my life on the existence of that tree because I can touch it. It is easy to make such a profound statement like that because believing in the tangible requires no faith. Faith however, is not tangible or scientifically proven.  

While faith requires faith (hehe) we AMEN TWENTY-FIVE times during the mass! We AMEN to the resurrection of Jesus Christ when some don’t even believe that He existed. We AMEN to the body and the blood of Christ, one of the hardest concepts for the Christian to accept. WE BET OUR LIVES ON IT EVERYTIME WE SAY AMEN! We bet our lives on the truth of everything that Jesus ever did or said, the miracles He performed, and the commands He gave. We bet our lives on the truth of the bible and the truths of the church. Does anyone else not find this terrifying? See, if we wouldn’t bet our lives on this faith that we profess, and then every time we say Amen, we are lying. Friendly? I think not! And I am willing to bet my life that many of us (including myself) would not actually bet our lives on this stuff.

So here is my encouragement for this wonderful Easter week. No matter what you do for Easter, if you are in a Christian service, hearing yet again the glory of the passion and resurrection of our Lord and are tempted to think that it is the same old thing, ask yourself if you would bet your life on these events. Ask yourself if you would bet your life on the fact that one perfect God loves the train wreck that you are so much that he gave one perfect man to live a perfect life and die in perfect humility so that we could be free to delight in God as He delights in us. If you would, then say Amen as loudly and proudly as you can without being super obnoxious. If you don’t, then tell God (FYI He already knows) and ask Him for the faith to believe that deeply! Either way, I promise that this Easter will be more risky, a little less friendly and a  lot deeper.

Romans 11:36 “ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! AMEN!”

Love you all!