Resurrection 18 Holy Week

[HKHaugan]

Resurrection 18 Holy Week

Millions of Christians throughout the world are being made aware of the last days of Jesus' life on earth this week. An impressive modern version of those days was presented last Sunday night on live TV, “The Passion.” It took place in New Orleans. Add to that past spectaculars built around the life of Christ and those moments within them that zeroed in on the Cross, that unjust physical suffering Jesus endured for broken humanity. This week lots of special services mark church calendars to observe this event. That injustice, the exploitation and intimidation of the human heart through fear of pain and death, continues massively across the world. There is not a person that, at one time or other, doesn't ask, 'If there is a God how can He allow all this to happen?' Whether it's internal or external it starts us thinking about that because someone we know personally, or within our circle of friends, or TV imagery, touches the consciousness of our fragile short term existence on this planet.

Make no bones about it. We are terminal. We want quick term answers for long term realities. So don't blame God for what the human heart does without Him. This is why instant gratification dominates human behavior. We not only want instant answers about the unseen but its also why we tend to worry about self-security, material acquisition and justify self-indulgence. We have this belief that if we can get all we want in the visible then all the problems in the invisible will vanish. We don't want to face the real problem which is the individual human heart, its sin and eternal destination. Here is the real hot-button issue and the real cold response those words get. Sure, Jesus died on the Cross for sin. But what's religion that you can't see got to do with what you can see; the injustice of physical poverty, brutality, economic uncertainty, corrupt leadership, racial, class and ethnic division?

Everything!

First, religion is not the issue. Religion is a diversion from the real problem, sin in the individual heart. The real problem is spiritual and relational. It's precisely what's unseen that causes the problems in what you can see. No matter what is happening in colossal proportions in the world, the cause is sin in individual hearts that incite the circumstances. Whether it be sin in the hearts of leaders in governing structures or sin in those governed, the problem of sin is behind every restless, unfulfilled and fear driven heart. Sin is what keeps the world unsettled. And until we face the fact that religion is not the answer but a personal relationship with God is, there can be no solution. The only answer to sin and its nagging self-centered pressures is a one-to-one relationship with a sinless God, not religion. It was religion that killed Him and a relationship that raised Him.

That's why Jesus was willing to die on the Cross. He did it for our sake.

Second, the Cross of Christ is the issue. To embrace this Holy Week, what more dramatic picture, what more engaging image, what more brutal encounter could be given than that flagrant injustice against the heart of the individual than the Cross? It is the vertical beam that gets us to identify what a relationship with God means and the horizontal beam, Jesus' willingness to die for all people, even His enemies. When He taught that the blessed were those who recognize their spiritual poverty, He showed there is no deeper poverty than the spiritual poverty of the individual heart, a heart without God (Mt.5:3). We see this poverty in Judas the betrayer whose heart was hooked into fixing a moment's need instead of doing what's best relationally. When we see Jesus' disciples scattering in the face of authoritarian power, our hearts resonate with our own fears of losing what physical security we have. When we see governing authorities culturally compromised and desperately holding on to their world power, it's the picture of anxiety. It's the same fear that makes corporate executives cringe at potential profit loss if accused of prejudice. Their self-justifying statements about tolerance are as fake as their pretentious hearts. Cowardice makes bedfellows of them all just like it did between the Pharisees, Sadducees, the priesthood and Rome. They may plead religious membership but their hearts are relationally impoverished. When we see leaders in every field fearful of the accusations of a few we are in serious trouble.

Third, the resurrected heart is the solution. Just as it took God becoming an individually unique man with an individually unique sinless heart to run the gauntlet of each sin-drenched human heart, so it is the spiritually relational heart we choose to have that changes the world around us. It's a spiritualized heart attached to Jesus who is attached to the Father and attached in the Holy Spirit. Now that's what relationship is all about and what relationships were meant to be in the world and what relationships can become through faith in Jesus.

It's just as true for those governing and the governed, for the economically and politically distressed, for the young and old, for the emotionally hurting and relationally impaired. It's how we are grounded spiritually and relationally that sets our sails in any prevailing wind. Just as Jesus was resurrected and is alive to be with us through His Spirit so being in a relationship with Him we are resurrected. He is saving us from sin in every situation, every circumstance and every next moment we give Him the reins. Now we are really into Holy Week which is every week. And every week tells us:

The Cross of Christ is our salvation and the Resurrection of Christ our future in every next moment.