Jesus and the Martyrs

Like most people, I struggle with my thoughts and my faith as I continue to try and pursue holiness. Yet, I continually fail when I let my selfish desires and worldly thoughts get the best of me. In doing so, I am constantly reminded that as strong as I am in who I am, I am nothing without the help I get from God and the sacrifice he made for me.

All that said, I still wrestle with my faith and death and what comes next. My simple mind cannot fathom, on occasion, what eternity is. With Easter just recently in my mind, the conversation has come up a lot about Jesus's death.

During that 11th hour, Jesus asks his Father to remove the weight from his shoulders and in that small moment, you see the humanity in Jesus. What exactly was the (Cup) weight he was referring to? I often wonder how the Son of God would struggle in the 11th hour with his impending death. After all, if he is the Son of God, shouldn't he know better?

I read this article last week and continue to come back to it for the answers I seek. It's a pretty telling description of the 'Cup' that Jesus refers to and in doing so, explains why he was different from famous martyrs in comparing their deaths to his.

"There are a couple things to say in response to this question. First, it’s reassuring that the Gospel writers tell us about Jesus’ agonized struggle before his death, because it demonstrates that they are honest writers. Who would ever make this stuff up?! There’s no reason to, and every reason not to. It’s a bit uncomfortable to have your God and Savior agonizing, praying not to go to the cross, sweating, and afraid. The fact that Luke reports Jesus’ emotional struggle in the passage above helps confirm that it really happened, that Luke is telling us the story straight.

Second, Jesus’ agony makes sense when we realize that the death he died is radically different from the death of Socrates, the seven Jewish brothers, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It’s not all that different on the physical level. While Jesus’ death by beating and crucifixion was a terrible physical ordeal, the physical agony of the seven Jewish brothers (for example) was perhaps equally great. What sets Jesus’ death apart from the death of any other person in the history of the world is the spiritual component of his suffering. We have an indication of that terrible spiritual reality in Luke 22:42: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” To what “cup” is Jesus referring?"

It's a pretty long article, so I'm not going to steal a hit away from the author, so take a look at the rest of the article on the link provided above.

It reminds me that I don't deserve anything. There are times when I'd like a new car or new house or new clothes, because I think I've earned it and deserve it. Reading this helps keep me grounded in knowing that my life and debt has been paid for and I am nothing without Christ's redeeming love.

A Servants Heart

It has been a difficult week in the McGugan household as Mrs. McGoo learned that her grandmother, Mary Hansen passed away last Saturday. When we learned of the news, we had just been out with some of our closest friends on a nice dinner and left in a joyous mood. At dinner we were able to celebrate relationships, babies, and life all over a warm cooked meal. Things were very good when we left and I remember looking to my wife that night thinking that the Lord was good. He has blessed us with a great family, friends, and life that we are so happy to have. Sure we struggle with the normal things in life...not having enough money, house issues, day to day life issues and whatnot, but in the grand scheme of things, we are very happy and blessed.

Then Heather's phone rang. Heather was driving and couldn't reach her phone, so I answered it for her. Her father had called and asked how we were doing and what we were up to. I sensed something unfamiliar in his voice when he asked if he could speak with Heather, I knew something wasn't right. I gave the phone to her and as we drove on, I watched her emotions get the best of her. We pulled over and she got off the phone in tears and looked to me and said that her grandmother had passed away. We sat in the car for a while as I grabbed my wife's hand and waited a bit for her to let her tears out and come to grips with what she had just heard. Then I did the only thing that I know how to do in that kind of moment, I held my wife close and spoke to the Lord and it sounded something like this...

"Lord, we're hurting right now as our grandmother has been taken from us. While we feel it is too soon to let go, we know that your timing is what is important. I've never seen someone with more of a servants heart than that of Mary Hansen and for that, I thank you for her life. She has shown us what it is like to be Christ-like to all. Lord, we know that you are welcoming her in to heaven with open arms but I specifically ask that you are with her family and friends right now. I ask that you lay your loving arms all over her husband, Neil, right now, for he is without his bride and I know now more than ever, he needs to feel your love. Mary left behind so many people that loved her. Lord, I know you are proud. So Lord, thank you for allowing her to be with us for so long. We cannot wait until we see her again. In your name. Amen."

From the moment I came into this family, Mary has made me feel as if I was one of her own grandchildren. Heather warned me that if I let her, she'd help me gain 30 pounds by cooking me any meal I asked. From the minute I walked in her door she never stopped offering to serve me....take my coat, get me a drink, offer me food, or anything else you can think of. I've learned a lot from that...how to serve. For someone like me, a Christian, that's the simplest way for someone to see the kingdom. So simple to say, yet for some reason so difficult for so many to follow through with though. Mary, was the exception.

If you look at all of the books that Paul wrote in the bible, almost all of them begin with saying, "Paul, a servant of Christ...Paul, a bond servant of Christ...Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus." That was Mary...not only a belief in serving, but embodying it on a day to day basis. Heather's uncle documents her some more in his blog and explains in more detail her servant heart in his life.

Today I am serving as a pallbearer for Mary Hansen's funeral and I couldn't be more honored.

Today, it is my turn to serve one of the greatest servants I've ever known. Today Mary, you get to sit back and let us take care of you for once. After a lifetime of service for your Lord, Creator, Savior, and everyone that came in between, you've earned every bit of the blessings, tears, laughter, and service you're going to get.

We love you. We miss you. God bless you

Wasting Time

I woke up this morning with religion on the brain. This is definitely the season of "religion." Someone once told me that this season gets to be about the "religious C.E.O.'s." Christmas and Easter Only.

That made me think of this quote...

“I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil, but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.”

- Donald Miller- Blue Like Jazz

Hopefully with Christmas being around the corner, we're not just wasting our time. My prayers is that in this season there is Jesus and everything else is just details.