Sacred Mundane: The Blog

Saturday’s Reading: Matthew 27:62-66

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So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Matthew 27:66

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 t heir 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. Just this week I talked with a dear friend who is seeking Jesus about something … and all she hears is silence. My early mornings, which had been so action-packed and Spirit-filled, have been excruciatingly quiet lately. 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 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.

In what area are you waiting on God today? How have you despised the quiet wait instead of embracing the quiet wait? Does it seem eerily silent? Do you feel a hint of panic in your heart, wondering why is He taking so long? Same here. But Sunday’s 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.

{Quietly waiting with you … 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

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“It is finished.”

John 19:30

I clicked “send”, made sure it went through, then closed my laptop and exhaled in relief: Ahh…It’s finished.  I’d been working on it night and day, and when I wasn’t working on it I was thinking about working on it. Ever been there? It’s not so much the time you spend working on something but the time you spend thinking about working on it. My mind and energies were depleted. As soon as the kids were settled for the afternoon, I crawled into my bed and took a nap, the first time I’d really rested that week.

I couldn’t rest until it was finished.

And as soon as it was, my whole body knew it. The sleep that had evaded me swept back all at once as I slept soundly despite the bright afternoon sun.  The rest of knowing it is finished.

We rest because we know that it is finished.

Today, Good Friday, we meditate on Christ’s final words, His victorious cry from the cross of Calvary, the sacred words that fill my eyes with tears:

“It is finished.” (John 19:30).

From eternity past Jesus had a project. Nothing surprises God, and it was not Plan B that Jesus had to die in our place. He knew all along, and Jesus knew all along that this was His project. In a divine sort of way, Jesus never rested. Until then.

Then He finished.

In one final surrendering act Jesus “gave up His spirit” and the full wrath of God was poured out on His sinless perfect lamb.  All the punishment for my selfishness, my pride, my greed. All the punishment for the rapists and robbers, swindlers and sex-traffickers.  The most heinous of crimes, He took the punishment. He laid down His spirit. Died.

But of course Sunday’s coming.

But here’s where I get excited. Do you know what Jesus did after He rose from the dead? After he appeared, bodily, to more than 500 people? After he gave the great commission and then ascended into heaven? Do you know what He did after that?

He sat down.

Why? Because it was finished.

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:12

I took a nap. Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. His work was done. Finished.  But here’s the beautiful part.

Because it is finished we too can rest.

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:10-11

Of course this rest involves striving, because our work is to preach this holy rest to the rest of the world. But the work of reconciling our sinful selves to God is finished. We can never add to it.

It is finished.

So even in our striving there is rest. There is peace. There is sleep and calm and sweet sleep because Christ has done it. He has conquered death. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. No matter what the outcome of whatever is our “thing”, we can still have rest because of Christ.

All week I have been praying, “God arrest me all over again with the wonder of the cross.”  Who knew that in arresting me I would discover rest?

I pray, this Good Friday, that our souls are arrested by the truth that it is finished. And I pray that you, dear friends, can rest in the finished work of the cross. Nothing we can add to it.

We can bow, give thanks, receive …

… and rest.

{Revisiting these thoughts; Thanks for reading.}

Other reflections on Good Friday:

• How Can It Be Good?
• Barabbas and Us.

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

“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.”

– Jesus (John 17:4)

On Thursday we find Jesus sending the disciples into Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover meal. That evening they ate the Passover meal in an upper room where Jesus predicted both Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. Late into the night Jesus gives the disciples His final instructions and prays for them. The day closes in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prays, “Not my will but Yours be done.” In just a few moments Judas will come on the scene…

This week Women’s Bible study started back up. Despite my planning and early mornings I still found myself cramming in all the last minute things that needed to be accomplished. (Fifteen minutes before study started I was at Safeway getting all the refreshments.) It seems like this whenever we go on vacation as well. We plan ahead, but there are still a hundred last-minute things to be done before we can leave. It’s always a little hectic at the last minute.

These passages today are Jesus’ final moments. Thursday is the last day He spends with His disciples before being arrested around midnight. And He’s not just leaving on vacation, He’s leaving earth!  This, the rescue plan of the world, is coming to a close in a few short hours. Is Jesus frantic? Rushing around trying to finish things? Making a few quick rounds to do a few healings? No. He does stay up late giving the disciples His final words then praying His way through the night, but there is no sense of panic or rush. He walked His 33 years on earth with ordered, measured steps, and now, at the close of His time on earth, He can quietly and confidently say to His Father, “I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.”

Isn’t that what we all long to be able to say on our deathbed someday? I know I do. My greatest heart’s desire is to be able to say, with my final breath,

“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work You gave me to do.”

Is there anything better? Right now I’m writing the Sacred Mundane chapter on time, and it’s challenging me in beautiful ways. It’s amazing to see Jesus in His final hours, neither rushed nor frantic. Never in a hurry. He walked calmly through this life, completing all the work God gave Him to do and only the work God gave Him to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

What about you? What about me? Am I doing all the work God has given me to do and only the work God has given me to do? Nothing more, nothing less? Do I even know? Have I even asked Him?

There is exactly enough time to accomplish exactly what God intends for me to do today. No more, no less. If I am hurried, rushed, frantic, I wonder the cause? Even yesterday, when several things had slipped my brain and I thought I “fell behind”, I was surprised to discover that every single thing fell into place without a moment to spare. What if the words frantic, hurried, rushed were nowhere in our vocabulary and nowhere in our day?

We can begin today. Today would be the perfect day to let the Lord order our steps, especially as we quiet our hearts and prepare to honor His sacrificial death tomorrow on Good Friday. What if tomorrow was your last day on earth? How would your day be different? What would you teach your children? How would you treat your husband? How would you spend each precious moment?

{Let’s focus on this today. Spending each moment carefully attuned to His leading. Living this day as if it were the last. Unhurried, peaceful, intentional. Bless your day dear ones; thanks for reading.}

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

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“For she has done a beautiful thing to me.”

– Jesus (Matthew 26:10)

Today 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.  I know we just looked at this recently, but in case you need to consider it again today. (I know I do.)  Remember this beautiful waste … Mary tiptoed into the room, quietly knelt, and broke her alabaster flask, anointing Jesus’ feet …(the rest here)

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Perhaps the application for today is simply to waste some time at Jesus’ feet? 

Could you do that today?

Martha was busy in the kitchen, busy serving:

• 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.

None of these things are bad. I’m doing some of them too.  But today, let’s waste some time at Jesus’ feet. Can we agree to do that today?

*Ok, I’m a little scared asking this, but I’m feeling so prompted and am having that weird heart-pumping-hard-in-my-chest-thing, so here goes: If you will commit to wasting time with Jesus today, that is, spending any amount of time (anywhere from 2 minute to 2 hours) just sitting with Him, loving Him, and telling Him how grateful you are for Him, would you let someone know so they might be prompted to worship Him too? How sweet would it be if a whole host of beautiful women were beautifully wasting time with Jesus today? You can FB post: Wasting time with Him and link here. Or share this post or however you wish to do it, but what if we spread the word to Waste time with Him today?  Please hear my heart, I don’t mean buzz just for the sake of buzz, I mean truly encouraging our sisters to set aside the busyness and truly worship Jesus today.  {Hope you can hear my heart; thanks so much for sharing, reading, and wasting time with Jesus today.}