Sacred Mundane: The Blog

After a hectic and commotion-filled week, today is eerily quiet. The tomb is sealed. Steely guards stand watch, silent. The disciples huddle in an upper room, the door locked for fear of the Jews.

They may as well have been in a tomb too.

I can only imagine the disciples didn’t do much chatting. Peter, normally the most garrulous of them all, must have been stricken-silent. In  His Lord’s final moments Peter had denied Him. And how He was dead. Have you been in a grief-stricken situation where no one knows what to say? I can only imagine it was very, very quiet.

The land must have been quiet. It was the Sabbath. No work was going on, and all the commotion of the previous day had likely taken its toll on all those involved. The world must have felt strangely desolate without the King of Life in their midst.

What did they do? What else could they do?

Wait.

The same thing we do.

Have you had silent moments in your journey following Jesus?  I have. In some ways, I’m in one. Sometimes my early mornings, which can be action-packed and Spirit-filled, are excruciatingly quiet. Eerily silent. Where are you, Lord?  And what do we do when He seems strangely missing?

Wait. 

We embrace the quiet wait.

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. Psalm 62:1

I don’t like to wait. Do any of us? But waiting is the epitome of dependence, of humility, of trust.

Waiting is the essence of faith. The quiet wait is the posture of an obedient child, a loyal servant, a devoted lover.

The disciples had no idea what “It is finished” meant. They had no idea Jesus would return. When we are in the quiet wait we wonder if we’ll ever hear from Him again. Will He ever return? Ever show up again in my life? But we still wait because from Him alone comes my salvation.

All we can do is wait because He alone holds life. He is life.

The truth is: Sunday is coming and your Sunday is coming. He will show up, He will return, He will speak again. And until He does we humbly bow …

… and embrace the quiet wait.

~

{Reflection for today: In what area are you waiting on God today? How have you despised the quiet wait instead of embracing it? Does it seem eerily silent? Do you feel a hint of panic in your heart, wondering why is He taking so long? Quietly waiting with you and praying for grace, trust, and peace for us both. Thanks for reading.}

Friday’s Reading: Matthew 26:47 – 27:51, Mark 14:43 – 15:38, Luke 22:47 – 23:49, John 18:3 – 19:37

“It is finished.”

-Jesus

~

It is noon right now. I am finished.

At noon on Friday, after suffering through an excruciating night of betrayal, arrest, beating, flogging, and suffering, Jesus gave up His Spirit on the cross and mouthed His final words:

It is finished.

Never before have I identified so closely with those words. Again, it’s a tiny droplet of the ocean Jesus experienced, but I’ve spent the last 7 days doing a liquid fast, focusing on Christ and praying specifically for three key things. I’ve never done anything like this before, and it’s humbling to confess how tremendously difficult it was for me, considering that millions of my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world never have enough to eat. My one-week challenge was their normal life.

When I felt too weak and exhausted to care for my children, I kept thinking of the millions of Mamas around the world who never have enough energy to care for their children.

When I drove by restaurants and supermarkets and couldn’t buy anything in them, I thought of all the homeless and poor in our city who never have the money to zip into a restaurant and order something to eat.

When I craved sugar, flour, and all the other addictive foods I usually fill my tummy with, I thought of all those craving for substances far more addictive, and their battle to overcome the bondage of meth or alcohol.

Nothing has ever cut to my heart so quickly, heating me up to a boiling point so all the dross could rise to the surface (Ugh, there was so much dross!). Day after day God kept bringing new things to the surface. Things to change, confess. Encouragement. Insights. Ways to identify with the weak and those on the margins. There were days I felt on a high–soaring with Jesus and hearing His voice so clear. There were days I wanted to yell at everyone who was chewing and curse every straw on the planet. NO MORE STRAWS! But truly, it was so powerful. In Christianity Today this month, leading Christian pastors were asked,

“What classic discipline needs the most renewal among American Christians?”

You know the #1 answer?

Fasting. 

Baptist radical Clarence Jordan was quoted as saying, “Fasting is the opposite of slowing. It is speeding up toward the kingdom.”

That has been my experience. And I need it. When I start not caring about the poor. When I quit being captivated by Christ. When I’m daydreaming through sermons or skimming through Scripture or bored by the gospel. 

I need to speed up toward the Kingdom. 

And while all this is well and good, you know what else I was speeding toward?

Finishing.

You better believe I had my eyes fixed on Friday. 🙂

On Friday at noon, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” I knew I would be finished. Although it is the tiny droplet compared to His ocean, I had been given a task of interceding and at noon on Friday, when Jesus was finished I would be finished.

Oh I have never focused on the words “It is finished” so much in all my life! (On Monday I already had Friday’s lunch planned in my mind. And it didn’t involve a straw!)

But early this morning, as I read through the gospel accounts of Jesus on the cross, I had to wonder: “Why did Jesus say, ‘It is finished,’ when it really wasn’t yet. I mean, it wasn’t really finished until He rose from the dead. So why did He say it on the cross.”

His work was finished.

The power of the FATHER raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus work was simply to accomplish what the Father sent Him to do, and surrender Himself to death on the cross.

The Father took it from there.

So too, certainly the three key things I prayed for aren’t finished. My mom’s not cured of Parkinson’s. Julie’s not freed from addiction. I don’t yet have a publisher.

But my work is finished. God gave me an assignment and I finished.

The Father will take it from here. 

And so we are simply called to obey whatever God calls us to do. To finish the work He gives us to accomplish. Then rest in knowing we’ll hear His words, “Well done, good and faithful servant …”

The Father will take it from there. 

Oh Jesus, we worship you today.

Thank you for finishing Your work on the cross.

Thank you for surrendering to the point of death.

Thank you for bearing my sin, my foolishness, my selfishness.

Thank you for your unconditional love that bears me up and carries me.

All I can say today is,

“I love you so much. Thank you.”

{Thank you for reading.}

Thursday’s Reading: Matthew 26:17-46, Mark 14:12-42, Luke 22:7-46, John 13-17

“Then all the disciples left Him and fled.” (Matt 26:56)

~

I recently felt abandoned by someone I love. 

It was at a point when my body was weak and tired. I felt exhausted and poured out, looking ahead at a long up hill road, and then someone who I thought was completely at my right hand had to make a hard choice to not be.

Suddenly the road ahead just seemed so much harder. 

It’s remarkable how much togetherness can give you courage for whatever’s ahead. Surrounded by my nearest and dearest I can scale a wall and move mountains (or that’s how I feel!). But it’s also remarkable how one person walking away (even if for good reason) can leave you feeling alone, abandoned, weary …

and completely overwhelmed for whatever’s ahead.

And it was in this exact moment that a short sentence of Scripture came to mind. It’s such an insignificant little tidbit in scripture we almost read right over it without noticing. But on this day, late on Thursday, just hours before Jesus will take on the sins of the world, hang on a cross, and receive the full weight of His Father’s wrath, just hours before this, as he gears up for the most unthinkably torturous event in the history of mankind, he experiences this:

First, Peter, James & John can’t even stay awake. They’re snoozing while Jesus is praying (Matt 26:40).

Then, one of his friends, one of the 12, Judas Iscariot, betrays Jesus with a kiss (Matt 26:49).

But then, as if this weren’t enough. With a matter of minutes, we read a short verse that nearly knocks the wind out of me:

“Then all the disciples left him and fled.” (v.56)

All His disciples.

All His friends.

All His faithful followers.

All His “core team.”

Every last one.

Gone.

After spending years pouring into them and loving them and giving His life for them. In a matter of moments, every last one of them is gone.

And He is alone. In every sense.

I can only imagine in Jesus’ humanity, in a point of weariness, utter fatigue and exhaustion (he’d been up all night praying) the abandonment would have made it even more overwhelming to face what was ahead.

In my moment of tears, when I bowed down on the floor and poured my heart out for God, I heard this:

“You’re in the middle of something revolutionary. Don’t give up.”

(Now I have no idea what the first part is about. But I get the second part. It’s a pretty straightforward command.)

Perhaps Jesus heard something similar when He cried out to the Father.

“You’re in the middle of something revolutionary. Don’t give up.”

I don’t mean to draw too close of a parallel here. I’ve endured a tiny hurt feeling and Jesus endured the wrath of being forsaken by God and man as He hung on the cross and bore the sins of the world.

But we’re called in Scripture to identify with Jesus. To have His mind.

And if you have ever felt alone, forgotten, abandoned, left …

you can identify with Jesus.

You can enter into His story today and experience a droplet of the ocean of grief He bore. 

You can let that experience lead you to worship, gratitude, overwhelming thanks to Jesus that He didn’t give up.

And you can not give up either. 

{You’re in the middle of something revolutionary. Don’t give up. Thanks for reading.} 

Wednesday’s Reading: Matthew 26:3-19, Mark 14:1-11, Luke 21:37 – 22:6, John 12:1-8

“For she has done a beautiful thing to me.” – Jesus (Matthew 26:10)

~

Last Friday, I looked over our calendar for this week. Really? We didn’t have a single evening event. No dinners. No guests. No meetings.

Awww…yes. I took a deep breath, thankful for a quiet week ahead. But then I felt a quick twinge of guilt:

“You’re planting a church and it’s Easter week and you’re not doing anything! You can’t just sit around all week and do nothing. You need to invite the neighbors over or plan a dinner for connecting people or blessing some of your leaders. Go feed the homeless or something! Come on, little Miss Missional, don’t waste your time!”

And then I sat down at my computer to write this post and I kicked that ridiculousness to the curb and decided to practice what I preached and allow the Patterson fam one week of quiet. A bit of white space to FOCUS …

on wasting time with Jesus.

Today in the readings we see the religious leaders gathering at the palace of the high priest to discuss how they can secretly arrest and kill Jesus. We see Judas agreeing to betray Jesus. We see Jesus continuing to teach in the temple. And we see Mary break her alabaster flask and pour out her expensive ointment, anointing Jesus with worship, with love.   Remember this beautiful waste ?… Mary tiptoed into the room, quietly knelt, and broke her alabaster flask, anointing Jesus’ feet …(the rest here) 

Everyone said it was a waste, but Jesus said it was beautiful. 

Could you carve out some time today to waste at Jesus’ feet? 

Martha was busy, right? Busy checking off her “must do” list:

• Perhaps she was dyeing Easter eggs or sewing her daughter’s pastel dress.
• Perhaps she had to have the house perfect before the guests arrived.
• Perhaps she was fixing an elaborate Easter meal which consumed her thoughts and energy for the week.
• Perhaps she had Easter crafts up to her eyeballs.
• Perhaps she was trying to figure out what to wear to church on Sunday.
• Perhaps she was searching Pinterest to find all the best Easter ideas.

Or she may have been so busy doing awesome “ministry” stuff that she didn’t have time to sit down and actually be with Jesus.

I’ve lived Martha-style a lot. But these days I’ve loving a little Mary-margin in my days and a lot of wasted time just focusing my gaze on Jesus. And this week, I’ve made some drastic (for me) steps to simmer down, simplify, and be with Him. And you know what? He’s SO worth wasting time with! So that’s our focus for today:

FOCUS on wasting time simply sitting with Jesus.

Reflection for today: Look over your calendar and to-do lists for this week and carefully consider whether you can cut out any unnecessary activity. Allow some extra margin, some white space, and purposefully schedule time to do nothing but sit, pray, listen to worship music, read scripture, and talk to God. Give your heart time with Jesus. This is the best possible way to celebrate the fact that He is alive today. Hang with Him today! Thanks for reading.