Scourged

John 19:1-3 (NRSV)

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel ... like I've been tied to the whippin’ post
Tied to the whippin’ post
Tied to the whippin' post
Good Lord I feel like I'm dyin'

"Whippin' Post," written by Greg Allman, recorded by The Allman Brothers Band on their self-titled debut album.

Some days, many days, it's impossible to make sense of current events. Maybe it's because compared to even fifty years ago there are so many more current events with so much more coverage of each of them.

Recently there have been shootings, war and talk of war, terror and those who bring terror from the ends of the world to your town. Drug problem? I'm not advocating drug use, but accounting for prescription drug use and abuse who says there isn't a drug problem. The election cycle? You'd think the world has gone off its rails. The world is gone fully mad.

In the ancient world, it was the time of the Passover, Rome was in charge, the religious leaders were in fear for their status in the temple and synagogues, and politicians were doing what politicians do. Everyone was trying to corner their little part of the power market, and here comes the one who is power.

Then comes the Lord, He who is, He who is the I AM. He was abused for no other reason than being who he was and being himself in the world. Mocked, scorned, ridiculed. Our Lord was scourged, flogged, and whipped. In the end, all I can say is that when I have been run down, lied to, feeling like a fool, I worship a God who has been on the whippin' post too.

Still, even after being tied to the whipping post our Lord stayed by our side, even when humanity did not stand by his. He was generous, even when he was mocked. He turned even when beaten. He was King of the Jews even when he was mocked being called the King of the Jews.

If there is one thing we must say about Jesus, even as we say life is difficult and life is uncertain, it is that he has been there too. Jesus experienced these very same things. He was wrongly accused and then tried and hung up to dry. He was left to rot in the noonday sun on a garbage heap. He has seen our troubles. He still offers his grace. We know our troubles, but have we accepted his grace?

The War at Home, The War in the Streets

Luke 12:52-53

From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:

father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The worst things in the world
Are justified by belief

"Raised by Wolves" by Adam Clayton, David Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul Hewson, recorded by U2 on "Songs of Innocence"

The words of Jesus are doing something interesting here. Conventional wisdom says his coming will cause people to pick sides and Holy War will follow. I want you to consider something else...

Consider Jesus is just telling a simple truth here. Nothing wild and wooly. Nothing broad and theological. Nothing deep and intellectual. This isn't PhD stuff. Jesus is just telling a simple truth. When you pick him, not everyone's going to like it. Some will really hate it.

In fact let me add this little gem, if your people follow one way and you decide to follow another, you'll become the enemy. Islam plays this out with the Shiite and the Sunni. The Irish played this out with Catholics and Protestants. This song is based on four bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland on May 17, 1974. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later killing 33 adults, one unborn child, and injuring over 300. A friend of Bono's named Guggi was there. The experience never left him. It led him into a life of pain and addiction.

Killing over God? No. Killing over the trappings of what we put forth in front of God. The things that pit father against son and son against father and so on.

Why is it when we read this it seems so stupid? It seems so logical that we need to stop doing this? Maybe that's just the next level of our Lord's warning. Sin is stronger than we are, but grace is more abundant than sin. Grace is greater than sin. Guggi is better. He's an artist now in Dublin. He's married and has five children. Praise God...and beware the wolves. Look for the truth in Christ, the simple truth is some of the best.

What Smells?

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

"That Smell" written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zandt recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd on "Street Survivors"

This song was written about Gary Rossington, the guitar player holding a cigarette in this video, after he wrapped his car around the aforementioned oak tree. When his car was approached, all anyone could ask is "What's that smell?" The best answer was probably "rock and roll excess."

The smell of cigarettes and whiskey, the smell of cocaine and gasoline, the smell of oak and rubber, it must have been something to behold. That's before allowing any other sense to help us perceive the situation. Smells, the smell that surrounds an event can be as powerful as any other way we can sense what's happening.

In church, some folk talk about "smells and bells." Some lament that they can overwhelm worship, others lament that they're missing from the church. It's a pity when the smells leave worship because they were so important to the beginnings of worship. The smell of the sacrifice, the smell of the incense, the smell of the oils; all of these helped us remember who we are and whose we are.

Let's remember, frankincense and myrrh were two of the gifts of the Magi to the Christ child. Aroma was that valuable and that important. Smell is an important trigger of memory, so when we lose the smell of worship we lose something that could help us remember the Lord all week long.

Christ himself was a sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, the last sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God whose blood took away the sin of the world. He gave himself up for us and for the world as a fragrant offering to God. Of all of our smells, the smells of worship should remind us of his life and our new life in Christ. Incense helps us recall those memories.

Lynyrd Skynyrd sings of the smell of death surrounding us. Christ offers the smell of life. Yes, put down the whiskey bottle and take your foot off the gas, and relish the smell of life that we are called to wrap around ourselves.