Knees

My friend and colleague, Rev. Bradley Bergfalk, posted this quote from Spurgeon on his own blog the other day:

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies…

if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees.

Let no one to there unwarned or unprayed for.”

–Charles Spurgeon

I came across it just after reading a pain-filled email from a former student who is in the midst of a very difficult ministry setting, as he serves as a youth ministry volunteer in a cross-cultural setting. He had just finished a particularly tough night, where kids had written graffiti on the church walls (not quoting scripture either), and broken the church elevator to the tune of $800 or so. And oh yes, this ethnic congregation "borrows" the space from another predominately white Covenant church.

At one point in his email he talked about "hanging on" to the kids the best he could, even though it was so hard.

When I came across this quote, I could almost see in my mind's eye this former student hanging on to the legs of these tough, inner city kids, refusing to let them go away without knowing they are loved. Deeply loved, not only by him, but by the God he serves.

For some reason, it sure is easier for most of us to do that with kids, even high school aged kids. But when it comes to adults, our colleagues, and our neighbors... how easy it is for us to simply let go. We may be willing to point out the sin, to even pray for them, but are we willing to wrap ourselves around their very knees and assure them that they are loved? By not only God, but by us as well?

He Is Risen!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? His is not here; he has risen!"

-Luke 24:1-6a (TNIV)

The Weight of Worship

Last night, our congregation gathered for a Service of Tenebrae, a time of worship using the extinguishing of candles to symbolically represent the last hours of Christ, and his subsequent crucifixion. It is a simple service, built entirely around and upon the gospel texts. Music is subdued and acapella. The church paraments and furnishings are removed. It is stark. As the service continues through communion, as the story unfolds and the lights are extinguished, the power and awe of the holy night becomes real and vivid.

At the end of the story, when Christ breathes his last on the cross, the Christ Candle (the only light in the sanctuary at this late stage of the story) is escorted out of the sanctuary (not to reappear until Easter morning) by an acolyte. At that point, in the fading darkness of the departing candle, I had the responsibility/privilege to drape the cross at the front of the sanctuary in a black cloth. As I walked down the center aisle to do so, with this sheer fabric in my arms, the Spirit moved in my own heart in an extremely profound way. Rather than being weightless, this sheer black material in my arms felt as heavy as iron. As I approached the cross, and raised the cloth, I wondered if I was strong enough to acomplish the task.

For a brief moment, I was given a glimpse into the weight of worship on such a sacred night. Praise be to God for the gift of his Holy Spirit.