“God’s will never take you where God’s grace will not sustain you.”—Maxie Dunham, Chancellor Asbury Theological Seminary.
"Pastor Daniel, we don't need buckets full of grace…we need Niagara Falls"—Hudson, age 4
“It’s Friday and Sunday’s coming.”—The late Baptist Evangelist and author Tony Campolo.
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb; they
asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" Mark 16:1-3
Who will roll the stone?
Who will roll the stone?
Who will roll the stone?
All my life, I have been like Sisyphus rolling the stone up the hill—every time it rolls back down, I have to start over. For twenty-two years, I have been running churches—correction, they have been running me from crisis to crisis. Like Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown so he falls on his rear end, that pretty much sums up my career.
But that's not the whole story. I have seen the lord work in miraculous ways. I have baptized babies, youth, and adults. I have visited from house to house, sat by the beds of dying people in the ICU, and heard their confessions. I have seen churches resurrected from the dead and the lives of parishioners and the outcast changed at the communion table. God, clergy, and faithful friends have so forever changed my life.
My best friend Rev. Jerry Piper asked me once, "If I have been to the cross?" I snapped a reply, "YES! I have." He then followed up like a bingo puller in a room filled with the elderly smoking their way into heaven and spending their children's inheritance. He asked, "Have you been to the tomb."
Without Good Friday, we cannot have the resurrection. Mary, Salome, Joanna, and the countless women at the cross went to the tomb to do their religious duties and anoint the body. They wondered, "Who will roll the stone.”
Then Jarius came to Jesus on behalf of his dying daughter. He said, "I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.”
Jesus is stopped on his way to Jarius home by a woman with who was bleeding for twelve years. He takes time to heal and restore her spiritually and to her community. Sometimes, even Jesus gets interrupted. When Jarius servants came to tell him that his daughter is dead, "Don't bother the rabbi.” Jesus replied,”she is not dead but asleep. I am going to wake her.” Jesus then goes to his home and heals his daughter.
Healing is not linear; it sometimes looks like Picasso's abstract paintings. I don't know what's more important: knowing that you are ill or getting help. Sometimes, we have to heal close to home; other times, we need to fall at Jesus' feet and reach out for the hem of his garment.
Stones are inevitable in this world. We can pick them up and skip them on the water or build an altar to God, expecting a miracle.
Some years ago, one of my best friends told me that he had stopped drinking. He told me, "It's just not my station anymore." I couldn't understand this statement. We had been college roommates and had closed many bars together, including some embarrassing moments. It would take me eighteen years to understand what he said.
Alice Bowman, on All Saints Day, sermon, stated, "Childbirth is hard work; it’s painful. So is coming to know Jesus. Sometimes it takes a day, week, month, year, or sometimes it doesn’t happen until they are on their death bed that they come to know Jesus.”
Healing takes time, and the sins and wounds of the past leave indelible scars. What matters is not our scars but what we do with them.
In my life, I have been wounded. However, it is the small things keep me from going over the edge. When I began recovery from alcoholism, I heard the slogan, "One day at a time." I thought I could barely hold on for a minute." The truth is what Hudson told me. I need Niagara Falls's grace for the minute.
At this time, the journey is too much for me. It's like Sisyphus and that dam stone. Maybe instead of pushing it up a hill, I need to build an altar to God.
There is so much that I don't know about God and God's self. I know that God is the one who rolls the stones of our lives. The battle is not ours but God's.
I pray that you receive Niagara Falls grace for the minute. The peace of Christ is with you—thank you—Hudson.
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