Poems, Prayers, and Promises from a Country Parson

On Friday morning I slept in.  Friday is my day off so I didn't feel bad waking up at 6 AM and going back to bed.  I wanted to enjoy that nice spring coolness that comes when your bedroom windows are opened to the April morning.  It was really nice to have the dog jump in the bed and cuddle with me.  Really nice.

Then so suddenly the day changed.  In less than an hour I would be saying good bye to my dog Dallas.  How quickly life can change for the two-legged and four-legged alike.

Dallas was pure Beagle.  If he could get loose and chase a scent he would and on Friday morning he did.  He chased freedom until he ran right up to St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.

I am just glad that I was there to tell him good bye.  As a chaplain with the Fire Department there were several times when I was called to help families who stumbled upon a loved one who died alone.  It was rough.  Lord if possible don't let me die alone.  Again, I am just glad I was there to tell Dallas thank you and good bye.

Dallas entered into my life on News Year 2010.  I was deciding what to buy myself for Christmas.  The options that year were a new HD television, a sofa, or a dog.  Because I moving to a new church in June was very likely I opted for a dog.  I had always wanted a dog.  I thought a dog would be a good addition to my lonely life in a rural parsonage.  Little did I know what a blessing my dog would be.

Some people ask how I came across Dallas.  Let me briefly share that story.  When I decided to get a dog, I began taking only questionaries that would help you find the perfect dog breed.  One selector that I used was connected with a local animal shelters.  They really suggested that you recsue a dog.  This selector connected me with the Dalton, Georgia Humane Society.

The Dalton Humane Society had two dogs that were top on my match list.  One dog was a little Jack Russel named J.R.  The other dog was a two year old beagle named Dallas.  I took this as a divine sign, for at that time I was watching my way through the entire television series Dallas.  Of all the dogs there were two with names connected to my favorite tv show at that time. 

When I arrived at the humane society I was told JR, my first choice, had been adopted a few days before.  They suggested I give Dallas a chance.  I remember well our first meeting.  He came up, put his paws on my knees and licked my hand and face.  He liked me.  I gave it a chance and decided to adopt him.

After I had filled out all the adoption papers and paid the adoption fee, I discovered Dallas' story.  He was a true rescue dog.  The Whitfiled County Animal Control had found him walking the streets.  When I told that news to Billy Dycus, trustee at the church I was serving, he said, "Preacher done brought a streetwalker home!"  The Humane Society resuced him from being put down.

Three different families had adopted Dallas, but each family had returned him before the end of a week.  Dallas has escaped from one family and ran off to a local grocery store.  This family gave Dallas away to a man who found him in the parking lot.  The Humane society rescued Dallas from a life limited to being chained on a tree.  He needed a good home. 

As we drove off, I wondered if I would be returning this little beagle by the end of the week.  I gave him a chance and I am glad I did.  They first few months were hard, but I learned and he adjusted.  We had good times together.  A few weeks into ownership Dallas escaped and was hit by a car.  He wasn't severly injured, just bruised.  However, I was always fearful that the next time wouldn't turn out so good.

In June, Dallas and I moved to Madison County, Georgia.  We adapted well to life in Comer and Colbert.  Dallas and I walked to the Post Office and the Bank.  I would often tie him to the Post Office Flag Pole, so I could go inside and get the mail.  He went with me to visit shut-ins.  He really enjoyed visits to the nursing home.  He was a good at pastoral care. 

Dallas was a real escape artist.  He would often get out of his maximum security pen.  I even had three locks on it.  Over the past few months Dallas had earned the privledge of staying inside.  He was doing really well. 

I wish I could have spent many more years with Dallas, but I am grateful for the time we did share.  He was a good dog and a good companion.  I think he even helped me become a better pastor.  My four legged friend taught me much about love, compassion, and patience.  He taught me about responsibility and what it means to have others depend on you.  I am forever grateful for his lessons. 

I am glad I was there when the time came for him to leave this world and go onto the next.  I told him thank you for being a good dog and friend because he was. 

Some people wonder if Dogs go to Heaven.  A lot of people think they do, I am one.  As a pastor I believe and yearn for the day when God will bring a new Heaven and a new Earth.  I believe animals will be part of God's redemptive work.  If you disagree think about this...

In Genesis, we find two creation accounts.  Both stories describe how God deliberately made the animals of the earth.  If animals were a vital part of the first Creation, then why would they not be part of the second or new Creation?

When God decided to flood the earth and start things all over, he commanded Noah to build an Ark and rescue animals from the impending disaster.  If God resuced the animals in the Ark why won't God rescue animals in the new Creation?

The Bible is full of many descriptions of God's love, some of the most common are those of a Shepherd.  Shepherd take care of sheep.  Jesus speaks of God being mindful of birds in the air.  These are just a few examples that tell me that God has a fondness for animals. 

On Friday I said good by to my dog.  I said "Good bye Dallas."  However, deep in my heart I know he waits for me with a lot of other four legged friends and critters in the eternal care of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all that is seen and unseen.  So really "Good bye" is actually what I told Dallas before I would to work or run errands in town, "I love you Dallas, I will be back home soon.  Be a good boy."

Almighty God on this Easter Sunday we raise thankful hearts to you. We join in creation’s celebration and adoration of our Risen Lord. Almighty God we give thanks that by the life, death, and resurrection of your precious Son you have opened the flood gates of grace and mercy and begun the work of your new creation!
God we ask that you would help us to live in the promise of this good news.  Help us to be Easter people.
Help us to be Easter people: people who can truly live only because Your Son lives.
Help us to be Easter people: people who can truly love only because Your Son lives.
Help us to be Easter people: people who can show mercy only because Your Son lives.
Help us to be Easter people: people who can face the uncertainty of today and tomorrow because Your Son lives.
God we lift up to you the cares and concerns we have spoken and those that have remained unspoken.  We lift up to you the sick, the suffering, the troubled, and those in need.  As Easter people may we minister to their needs with the grace and mercy you have richly given us. 
We lift up to you the concerns of this world, the war-torn, the impoverished, and the oppressed.  As Easter people may we minister to their needs with the hope you have richly given us.
We lift up to you the concerns of your church.  Help us be the people you have called us to be.  Help us to witnesses of your resurrection.  Help us to share the good news of this day to the ends of the earth until your kingdom comes and your will is made full.

Almighty God as Easter people we now lift up the prayer your Son and our Risen Lord gave us as we pray...
Our Father...

This week I finished an autobiography of the late Bishop Arthur J. Moore.  It was good book.  For a man that did so much in his life, Bishop Moore really didn’t share much.  It was a short book, just shy of 150 pages.  Even though the Bishop didn’t pen an epic autobiography I was impressed by what he did say, and though the book was over forty years old it was still timely.
    I wonder if Bishop Moore was trying to follow the example of the Apostle Paul.  In Philippians 2:5-11, the Apostle Paul summaries the life of Christ in just a few words.  In the New International english translation of the Bible, it comes out to 38 words.  Thirty-eight words retell the thirty-three years Christ lived on earth.  That is just over one word per year.
    If such word limits were placed on you.  What would your autobiography say?  I am thirty-one years old and I would probably be disappointed about what could be said of my life with just thirty-one years.
    Listen again to thirty-eight words Paul uses to retell the life of Christ.

He made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!

With these thirty-eight words, Paul pulls together some of the greatest ideas that humanity has ever known. 
    The God who has made all that we can see with our eyes and what we cannot see with our eyes left the glory of heaven and became human.  Just four words-”He made himself nothing.”  In the prolog to his Gospel, John uses ten words, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
    Paul then summarizes the life, ministry, and passion of Christ with the remaining thirty-four words:
    By taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!
    These few words retell what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John share in pages of the four Gospels.  These few words summarize the work of God on Earth through Jesus Christ.
    This week I read two books.  I finished J.B. Phillips books “Your God is Too Small.”  It too was a good book.  “Your God it too Small” is also a short book, just over a 100 pages; however, Phillips had a lot to say.  It too, though over sixty years old was still timely.
    I’d like to share with you something Phillips penned in one of the later chapters of his book.  In the later chapters of his book, Philips attempts to show how having a “small God” won’t change your life. Even though Paul uses a few words to describe the life of Christ, it is no small matter.  Listen to what he wrote:
    "To assent mentally to the suggestion that "Jesus died for me" is unhappily only     too easy for certain types of mind.  But really to believe that God Himself cut the     knot of man’s entanglement by a personal and unbelievably costly act is a     much    deeper affair.  The bigger the concept of God the more the mind staggers     at the     thought, but once it is accepted as true it is not too much to say that the     whole     personality is reorientated." p 107.
   
    Today begins Holy Week.  During Holy Week we focus our attention on the last of Paul’s words “By becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!”  Holy Week is more than “Jesus died for me.”  Holy Week is to believe “God Himself cut the deeper affair.” 
    This week I spent some time wondering where the small idea of “Jesus died for me” came from.  How could well meaning Christians have such a small idea?  I thought and thought about it.  While mowing the grass, I came up with a possible idea. 
    Today and on Easter we will have good attendance at worship.  These are big days.  People like Palm Sunday and most good Christian people believe they have to be at church on Easter.  These days are high days.  These are celebration days.  We wave Palms and cheer with the crowd today.  On Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  If you just come to Church on Palm Sunday and Easter you miss Holy Week.  You miss the passion.  You miss “the way of the cross.”
    Maundy Thursday and Good Friday retell “the way of the cross.”  Maundy Thursday and Good Friday paint a bigger picture of what God has done for us.  Maundy Thursday and Good Friday help us realize that there is much more to all of this than “Jesus died for me.”
    This morning I want to help us turn the corner.  I want us to move from Palm Sunday to the “Way of the Cross.”  The way of the cross paints a grand portrait of Christ’s obedience and his humility.  So what is the way of the Cross?
   
We find it in Mark 14-15.

The “Way of the Cross” begins with the scheming and betrayal of the religious elite. 

  Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

The “Way of the Cross” is knowing about the suffering that awaits you as a forgiven sinner prepares your body for death while you are yet living.

  While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
    “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

The “Way of the Cross” is being betrayed by your friends, the people you trust.

  Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The “Way of the Cross” is living for today despite the trial that awaits tomorrow.

  On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
  So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
  The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

The “Way of the Cross” is welcoming those you will abandon and betraying you to the table and breaking bread with them.

  When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
  They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
    “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
  While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
  Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
    “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
  When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The “Way of the Cross” is knowing that you will be all alone in your time of need.

    “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:
   “‘I will strike the shepherd, 
   and the sheep will be scattered.’
    But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
  Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
    “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”
  But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

The “Way of the Cross” is wrestling with the will and ways of God as you ultimately submit to “Thy will be done.”

  They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
  Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
  Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
  Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
  Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

The “Way of the Cross” is being kissed by the one who sold you out.

  Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
  Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him. Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
    “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” Then everyone deserted him and fled.
  A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

The “Way of the Cross” is having everything you have ever said twisted, turned, and used against you.

  They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
  The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
  Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
  Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

The “Way of the Cross” is being called a blasphemer for speaking the truth of God.

   Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
    “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
  The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

The “Way of the Cross” is being mocked and spit on.

   They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

The “Way of the Cross” is hearing the rooster crow as your prophecy is fulfilled.

  While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
   “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
  But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.
  When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” Again he denied it.
   After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
  He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
  Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

The “Way of the Cross” is being carted around from court to court as your accusers seek “justice.”

  Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
  “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
   “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
  The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
  But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

The “Way of the Cross” is hearing the crowd beg for a murderer and terrorist to be freed instead of you.

  Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
  “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

The “Way of the Cross” is hearing the crowd yell “Crucify!”

  “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
  “Crucify him!” they shouted.
  “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
   But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
  Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The “Way of the Cross” is watching your killers mock you.

  The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

The “Way of the Cross” is watching a stranger being forced to carry your burden.
  A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him.

The “Way of the Cross” is watching your killers cast dice for all your earthly possessions.

Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
  It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

The “Way of the Cross” is being put on public display totally naked and humiliated for the crimes of others.

  They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The “Way of the Cross” is believing you have been totally abandoned by God.

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
  When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
  Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The “Way of the Cross” is having people recognize you were right, after you have died.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
  Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

The “Way of the Cross” is being buried in a borrowed tomb as your grieving friends cry for all hope is lost.

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

The “Way of the Cross” leads us to this table where we recognize that all hope is not lost, for “Sunday’s coming!”