Easter: April 1: God in Action (Tom Bates+)

I read a joke in an email that I think is pertinent to the topic, “God in Action”. Paddy was desperate to find a parking space so he prayed to God. “Lord, if you’ll find me a parking space, I’ll go to church every Sunday and give up me Irish whiskey”. No sooner had he finished praying than a parking space appeared. Paddy’s response, “Never mind Lord, I found one.” I hope you’re not like Paddy, but sometimes I am. I fail sometimes to see God’s hand in whatever is happening.

God’s hand in the gospel of Mark reading for this meditation, the resurrection, is easy to see, but how about the events leading up to the resurrection? Read Chapter 13-16 in the Gospel of Mark. Are all of these events, “God in Action”? These are the events we’re talking about: 1. Jesus is anointed the burial at Bethany. 2. Judas agrees to betray Jesus. Judas goes to the chief priest, scribes and elders, not they to him.  3. Jesus eats the Passover Supper with his disciples and explains that the bread is his body and the wine is his blood poured out for many to seal God’s covenant. 4. Jesus predicts Peter’s denial of him. 5. Jesus prays at Gethsemane that he not have to go through this time of suffering. 6. Jesus is betrayed by Judas with a kiss and is arrested by the crowd. 7. Jesus goes on trial before chief priests, scribes and elders. All of them agree that he is guilty and should be put to death. 8. Peter denies Jesus thrice and the rooster crows twice. 9. Jesus goes before Pilate. 10. Jesus is sentence to death by a reluctant Pilate. The chief priests ensure that it is Jesus who is crucified not Barabbas as one of them could have been spared by the people. 11. The soldiers mock and abuse Jesus. 12. Jesus is crucified. 13. As he dies, he cries out asking why God has forsaken him.  14. He is buried by Joseph of Arimathea (and Nicodemus). 15. He is raised from the dead. Was this “God in Action” in each event or just in the final outcome?

I do not have to understand how God works, but this is what we think, the we, being the students in my Bible Study Class. We think dying for our sins was God’s Plan. We think the Plan was for Jesus, not Caiaphas, not Pilate, not Judas, not the chief priests, scribes and elders, not Peter and the disciples. The plan was love, not hate. Since we’re incapable of perceiving God’s intentions, we were wary of ascribing events to God’s purpose or not. We think the High Priest, Pilate, Judas, Peter and the others are reflections of human nature. The events in Mark, to us, are revealing of who we are and who God is.  We agreed the crucifixion was our thing, not God’s thing. God did not have to intervene to have us crucify Jesus, but only God could have done the resurrection. Jesus was going to die for our sins with or without the help of Caiaphas, Pilate and the others.

Activities and Prayer for this Week

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ (Mark 16:1-7)

Jesus goes ahead of us in all that we do.
Discuss the points of interest to you, and your group.
God is at work in all the ministries in the Diocese of the Rio Grande. God is preparing all members of the diocese for new work.
Using 1” strips of paper, write down a way God is at work in the diocese on each strip. Weave them into a grid.
Prayer: God of new life, we thank you for the work you are doing now in the Diocese of the Rio Grande. Open our hearts to see that you are leading us to new things and make us open to your action in our lives and in the diocese. Amen.
Share: Comment on this post here or on Facebook to share one or 2 of ways God is at work in the Diocese that you wove into your mat, or post a photo of the weaving.