Quote from Forum Archives on March 20, 2003, 4:13 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Today I'd like to share with you another message in the Lent
series published by Christianbook.com. Today's message talks
about both truth and injustice. It also talks about death and
victims of death. The message seems particularly timely, not
only because this is a time of Lent, when we remember what Jesus
Christ endured on our behalf, but it is also timely because
current world events around us seem to have so many parallels
right now between the tyranny that was going on in the Roman
empire during the human life of Jesus and the constant threats of
terrorism and war that we face today.

Rather than focus too much on the day's events, this message
returns the focus to Jesus Christ, and our personal need of Him,
and also the manner in which He revealed our need, not only to
the people of His day, but to us today as well.

Please read this message completely, and do not focus too heavily
on any one area, but view the complete picture, for in it, we may
find not only the world as a whole, but each of us as individuals
as well. I pray that this message will draw us to Jesus Christ
as The One who holds the answers to all of life's problems, and
who is the very essence of what life and love really is.

May God bless each of us as we seek to serve God and our fellow
brothers and sisters in our families and communities.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

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Wishing you a blessed and holy Lent!
You have received this message because you have signed up to
receive daily devotions from Christianbook.com during Lent. We
have chosen excerpts from one of the array of devotionals
available at Christianbook.com. We hope that this service
enhances your journey through the season of Lent and prepares
you for the festal shout on Easter morning: He is risen!

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The following is excerpted from "Bread and Wine, Readings for
Lent and Easter" (The Plough Publishing House, 2003).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

March 20, 2003
Truth to Tell
By Barbara Brown Taylor

We say we want to forget the world, but in the depths of our
hearts we do not want to be forgotten by it. -Francois Fenelon

There are many ways to tell the story of what happened on Good
Friday. According to John, it involved a collusion between
religion and politics. While Pilate and the chief priests
conspired to solve their mutual problem while managing to
remain enemies, Jesus stood at the center of the stage like a
mirror in which all those around him saw themselves clearly for
who they were. One way we Christians have avoided seeing our own
reflections in the mirror is to pretend that this is a story
about Romans and Jews. As long as they remain the villains, then
we are off the hook -- or so we think. Unfortunately, this is
not a story that happened long ago in a land far away.

Sons and daughters of God are killed in every generation. They
have been killed in holy wars and inquisitions, concentration
camps and prison cells. They have been killed in Cape Town,
Memphis, El Salvador and Alabama. The charges against them have
run the gamut, but treason and blasphemy have headed the list,
just as they did for Jesus. He upset those in charge at the
courthouse and the temple. He suggested they were not doing
their jobs. He offered himself as a mirror they could see
themselves in, and they were so appalled by what they saw that
they smashed it. They smashed him every way they could.

One of the many things this story tells us is that Jesus was not
brought down by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law
and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix.
Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and who are
prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform.
Beware those who cannot tell God's will from their own. Temple
police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns
and hanging out at the sheriff's office, watch out. Someone is
about to have no king but Caesar.

This is a story that can happen anywhere at any time, and we are
as likely to be the perpetrators as the victims. I doubt that
many of us will end up playing Annas, Caiaphas or Pilate,
however. They may have been the ones who gave Jesus the death
sentence, but a large part of him had already died before they
ever got to him -- the part Judas killed off, then Peter, then
all those who fled. Those are the roles with our names on them
-- not the enemies but the friends.

According to John, Jesus died because he told the truth to
everyone he met. He was the truth, a perfect mirror in which
people saw themselves in God's own light. What happened then
goes on happening now. In the presence of his integrity, our own
pretense is exposed. In the presence of his constancy, our
cowardice is brought to light. In the presence of his fierce
love for God and for us, our own hardness of heart is revealed.
Take him out of the room and all those things become relative. I
am not that much worse than you are nor you than I, but leave
him in the room and there is no room to hide. He is the light of
the world. In his presence, people either fall down to worship
him or do everything they can to extinguish his light.

Today, while he dies, do not turn away. Make yourself look in
the mirror. Today no one gets away without being shamed by his
beauty. Today no one flees without being laid bare by his light.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you enjoyed the abridged version of today's devotional, you
may want to purchase " Bread and Wine" at:

www.christianbook.com/html/static/69264.html?p=1016377

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Christianbook.com
www.christianbook.com

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--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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