Remembering Bravery, Remembering Heroes

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

Bravery is not the absence of fear–it is doing the right thing, doing that dangerous thing that must be done–in spite of fear. From Gettysburg to Normandy to Saigon to Iraq, from NYC on 9/11 to hospitals today in the midst of COVID-19, you don’t need to think too hard to come up with valiant examples of people who have stood up on our behalf and shook their fists in that face of fear.

On this Memorial Day of 2020, I want to take this time and space to thank and honor those people who have and continue to do this.

This holiday started to honor and remember military veterans, both those who came home and those who did not. This is certainly appropriate. It has expanded sometime in the last 50 years, and also appropriately, to include the families of those brave souls who have stood between us and the dark and evils forces of this broken world–theirs is also a tremendous sacrifice, to go without a father or mother, during the time of their service abroad, or forever.

Starting from 9/11 (in my perception, anyway–I could certainly be wrong), it has also grown to honor first responders–police officers, firemen, paramedics, etc.–who daily, as a normal part of their jobs, and not just on days like 9/11 (although, certainly, especially on days like that), put their lives on the line to keep our cities relatively safe and civilized. I believe this is also appropriate for the same reasons–the sacrifices they and their families are willing to make on our behalf.

And now, in 2020, and also appropriately, in light of this menacing virus that infects people but leaves them asymptomatic for a dangerous period of time, we also salute and remember with extreme gratitude the medical professionals who take their lives into their hands every time they step foot in their place of work.

I thank God for all of you and all you have done and continue to do for me, for all of our families, and for this great nation.

One last thing: I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Jesus made the same sort of sacrifice for all of us. As He headed back to Jerusalem one last time, in the days leading up to Palm Sunday, He knew what was waiting for Him there, but He went anyway to lay down His life on our behalf. Read about His time in Gethsemane garden the night before His execution in Matthew 26 (among other places). In verse 38, He said to His closest friends that His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. It sure sounds to me like He was grappling with fear. But He went anyway. He voluntarily laid down His life so that you and I and every person for all time who looks to Him as their Savior will be reconciled to God and enjoy eternal life with Him in a return to the perfection of Eden. I am also forever grateful for His sacrifice on my behalf.

May God bless your day of remembrance for all of these sacrifices, and blessings for the rest of your week as well.

P.S. I’d like to take a moment to honor and thank my immediate family members who fit into categories above: David J. Little, a Vietnam Veteran who I’m proud to call my father-in-law; Kristin Carpenter, his daughter and my wife, as well as his 3 sons–Jeff, David (who also served), and Kevin; and Katherine (Katy) Neff, a NICU nurse and my daughter, plus her husband, Brandon. You guys all rock!

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Reflection of Beauty

Posted on May 17, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

Participating in church this morning (still online instead of in-person), I sat with my back to a big picture window, so the pine forest and sparkling blue Colorado sky reflected off my laptop screen. The superimposition was striking–singing praises to God and hearing a great sermon about our Creator with reflections of His created beauty floating around the picture.

Life is beautiful, and there is beauty all around, if we have eyes to see it. If we focus on sunshine and flowers and the smell of freshly cut grass and people being kind and loving toward others. Or life can be bitter and ugly if we focus on that which is bitter and ugly in the world.

Which perspective we take is our choice.

We usually can’t choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond to them. This is what Paul is talking about in Philippians 4 when he says he has learned how to have an inner wellspring of joy regardless of what’s going on around him.

There’s something else we should keep in mind about beauty:  whenever we see someone behaving in a kindly, loving way toward us or another human being, we are seeing a reflection of God, albeit pale and dim compared to the real thing. I say this because God made us in His image. Since Jesus, with His sacrificial love for all of us, is the ultimate expression of God in human form, then we all must have been intended to be a reflection of His love and beauty. So even if someone is not yet a follower of Christ but they donate time or money to help the poor, or they give you a kind word and a smile on a rotten day, they are reflecting the love of our Creator, and that is a beautiful thing to behold.

Another awesome thing about this is that we all, each in our own way, have something beautiful, some small aspect of our great and gracious God, to reflect to everyone we meet. In what special way has God gifted you to reflect His light to each person He puts in your path?

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Sacrificial Love – A Mother and Her Children

Posted on May 10, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

As this Mother’s Day winds down, it occurs to me that there may be no love in human relationships more ferocious and personal–or more like God’s love–than the love a mother feels for her children.

I’m a dad, so I don’t mean to down-play a father’s love for his kids. I would have (and still would) give my life for my children, and I know many dads feel the same. But moms give their lives into their children better than dads do. For a mom, their kids’ problems become their problems. When a child’s heart is broken by a friend (or boy/girlfriend), or by not being selected for a team or to play a part in the school play, their mom’s heart breaks for them even more than a dad’s does. Moms seem to be quicker to forgive and more full of grace. Moms are more likely to love so much it hurts.

These all describe attributes of God’s love for us.

Jesus loved and honored his mother. Joseph would have had a significant influence on him, of course, but we don’t hear anything more about him in the Bible after he and Mary almost lose Jesus when he was 12 years old (“Oops, we lost the King of the Universe, let’s go back…”). This, of course, isn’t to say that fathers aren’t important (they are), but I’m only pointing out that God the Son clearly experienced the special bond a child has with his/her mother.

I’ve heard of situations where people have struggled with the idea that God is a loving father because their earthly fathers were horrible to them or abandoned them. And they have a hard time trusting or loving God as a result. I wonder if it would help them at all to instead think of how their mother has loved them.

Anyway, it is with all this in mind that I wish all moms, moms-to-be, and women striving to be moms a happy and blessed Mother’s Day. Thank you for painting the best picture of sacrificial love that there is this side of heaven.

In Memorium, fondly remembering my mom and mother-in-law:  Nancy Carpenter and Patricia Little.

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Why Moses Couldn’t Go Into the Promised Land

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

In (virtual) church today, we heard a great sermon today by Pastor Andrew Arndt from New Life Church (East) about the end of Moses’ life, as recounted in Deuteronomy 34 (also the end of that book, as well the Torah). Although it wasn’t central to the sermon, Andrew mentioned that Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of a little episode that happened many years earlier in Kadesh (as told in Numbers 20).

In a nutshell, the Israelites had been in the Desert of Zin for about a month, and there was no water to be found anywhere, so the people came after Moses and Aaron. They went to God and fell facedown before Him. God told Moses to speak to the rock and water will pour forth from it. Moses did as he was told–almost. Instead of speaking to the rock, in his anger about this rebellion, Moses struck the rock with his staff. God still produced the desired result–water did, in fact, pour from the rock–but because Moses didn’t completely obey God (he hit the rock instead of speaking to it), God told him he wouldn’t get to enter the promised land.

The apparent unfairness in this situation drew quite a visceral reaction from my wife, and rightfully so. I mean, Moses served God faithfully doing a job he didn’t even want, leading the people of Israel, for 40 years! But he makes one little mistake and then he doesn’t get to enter the promised land–where’s the justice in that? What about forgiveness?

Here is my take, or at least the first part of my answer:  God knows our hearts. If we do the right thing for the wrong reason, I think God would prefer we not do it at all. God asked Moses to speak to the rock to draw forth the water, but Moses, because he was angry with the Israelites, hit the rock instead of speaking to it. In other words, he didn’t do it out of love, but more out of frustrated obedience. The results still seemed good to us, but we can’t see the dark river flowing through Moses’ heart in that moment the way God can.

Bottom line for this part of it:  in everything we do, we need to do it out of love–for God and for others. If we serve at the food bank or soup kitchen or mission field (or write blogs!), but we don’t do it out of love, we’re better off not doing it. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 (“the love chapter”), if I do all sorts of holy, godly things, “but do not have love, I am nothing”. No word or story is in the Bible by accident, so it’s possible this little lesson in “unfairness” from the life of Moses is meant to remind us of this.

Also, we have to remember that there are parts of every story that God sees and knows that we can’t possibly see or know. When we judge this story to be unfair, we see that God shows Moses the promised land from Mount Nebo, then Moses dies. We think, The End. Roll the credits on an unhappy ending.

But wait. We who believe in heaven have to remember that when Moses dies viewing the earthly promised land, he passes into the eternal Promised Land. Maybe God kept him out of the earthly promised land so all of us who came later can learn this lesson, but also in the same instant welcomed him into heaven with a warm embrace and a “Well done, good and faithful servant.” All is forgiven after all.

And one last quick thought–Moses was not perfect. We are told of only one “little” slip-up during 40 years of leading the Israelites, which is an outstanding track record, but let’s not forget that he had murdered someone 40 years prior to being called by God to lead the people of Israel. But none of us is perfect, so it’s really good news that Moses wasn’t either, yet God chose him to do great things for the Kingdom!

There is only one perfect person who ever lived:  Jesus. And he’s just the guy to lead us all into the Promised Land. Take His hand and come along too!

 

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Not Equipped?

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

I was recently reminded of the bleak but genius “Hunger Games” series of books by Suzanne Collins. Her writing is full of insightful observations on the human condition, and one quote that came to mind in the midst of this pandemic and looming economic crisis was, “…sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.”

How many of us or people we know are not equipped to deal with the isolation, uncertainty, or worse predicaments that accompany COVID-19 or its economic impacts?

Defining moments come into our lives when situations arise and we’re not sure we’re equipped to deal with them–or worse, maybe we’re sure we’re not equipped to deal with them. Whether we realize it or not, we often have a choice to accept defeat, to admit that the circumstances were too overwhelming for us, or we can rise up to battle the difficulties before us and achieve success.

Of course, the stories we love to be a part of or watch movies about are those where we (or the hero) overcome impossible odds to reach our goals. But no matter how determined we may be, at some point (and maybe that time is now), each of us will eventually encounter situations where we reach the end of ourselves, where all hope is lost.

Or is it?

If the end of ourselves is where we finally let God take over, then we should not lose hope–far from it! God is where problems go to get fixed! God is the giver of the strength we never knew we had! I always chuckle to myself when I’m with a group of believing friends and we reach a point in trying to solve our problems where we’re out of answers, so we say something like, “I guess there’s nothing more we can do except pray.” Nothing more we can do?? Calling on the power of the Creator of the universe, on Him who brought Jesus back from the dead, is where we should START! It’s not the consolation prize.

He can and will and does equip us to deal with anything, if we ask Him.

Here are some encouraging insights along these lines from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (4:6-7, NIV, my emphasis added)

“I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (4:13, HCSB, my emphasis added)

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Being Resurrected by the Resurrected King

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

One week removed from Easter, how are you feeling now? How long did the Easter glow last?

For me, Holy Week 2020 was a deeper, richer experience than normal, thanks to the forced rhythm of life being slower this year than it usually is. But even still, it didn’t take long for the warmth, the feeling of confident trust in our God to get mixed into the drudgery and worries of everyday life. Maybe the glow lasted until Tuesday?

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I don’t know about you, but I’d really like to get it back. I yearn to live every moment of every day in the warm candlelight of God’s companionship. But how can we get back to that in the midst of our unprecedented and discomforting reality? That’s the challenge, the secret passage that ends up leading us to a place where we, like the Apostle Paul, could sing hymns praising God even in a dank and disgusting prison cell.

Part of the answer is in the blessed assurance that all followers of Christ should feel–that our final destination in heaven with Jesus, our loved ones, and our favorite dogs has been secured for us by our Savior. That thought should lead us to a place of joy regardless of our current earthly circumstances.

But there’s another piece to the puzzle as well. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” So if we are to think of every step we take with Him as Life, then it’s logical to think of every step we take away from Him as being death. I think about how alive I feel after an amazing church service or time of prayer and worship–and after an entire Holy Week of walking with Jesus to the cross and the empty tomb on Easter–and this is consistent with Jesus being Life. On the other side of the coin, I think about how blah I feel when I let myself forget how much smaller my problems are than my God, and that also seems consistent with my definition of death–steps taken away from Jesus.

I don’t think we get to the point of feeling rotten or sad or depressed all at once. We get there one step at a time when those steps are taken away from Jesus. Little bits of ourselves die with every fearful thought. Or every time we hate or lust or are greedy. Unfortunately, the list goes on and on. We are broken beings born into a broken world that’s ruled by one who is all too happy to grab us by the hand and lead us down any of those broken paths, smiling his oily grin the whole way.

Yikes! So how can we break out of that frightfully depressing pattern? Can these chains be broken?

YES! All we have to do is call upon our Saviour and He will save us. Again. And Again. It may seem to us like there should be a limit to how many times we can do this, but that’s one of the beautiful things about it–about Him–that His mercy knows no bounds! That’s why they call it grace. The simple prayer, “Jesus, help me” is all we need (yes, that’s a prayer–we don’t need flowery language or thousands of words to reach Him). Even though this may seem to be a small thing to us, let’s not forget our Bible stories, which clearly state that demons and other forces of darkness fear His name!

Here’s another cool thing:  it doesn’t matter how many steps we have taken away from Jesus. As soon as we ask Him for help, He’s there with us faster than any superhero! (He’s the original and ultimate superhero–oh yeah, and He’s real). We don’t have to take the same number of steps back toward Him as we took away from Him. One step, one whisper of His name is all it takes. Then we are back to Life. Our Big Brother and Great Big God are by our side.

And here’s the ultimate thing. This power of God–the same power that raised Jesus from death to life–is available to us, to bring us from death to Life every time we call upon His name, regardless of whether we’ve taken one step away from Him or a million.

How awesome is that? How great is our God?

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Ultimate Come-from-Behind Victory

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

So Good Friday wasn’t how it ends. Just when all hope was lost, actually after the final buzzer, Jesus makes the final play that wins the day, wins the week, wins eternity for us. Jesus of Nazareth, the unlikely Messiah, has risen from the dead! So this is what He meant with His references to Jonah (returned to life after 3 days in the belly of the fish) or when He said he would rise again on the third day! God has achieved the impossible.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

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So what does this mean for us? Here are some powerful implications that come to mind.

Death is defeated! But shouldn’t this mean that we no longer die? Well, since we still live in a fallen and broken world, we are going to continue to deal with the pain of loss from death. And Jesus obviously passed through death to get to eternal life, so there’s our answer. Anyone who has accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour (and no other criteria) will live forever with our loving God, but we still must pass through death to get there.

God is worthy of our trust–here is yet another confirmation that God is trustworthy. Jesus promised that He would rise again from the dead. A tough promise to keep (by our standards), but He did.

Love wins over evil–through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, it would have been natural to think that the forces of darkness of this world had won the final victory over God by orchestrating events to get Jesus executed. But in fact it was God who achieved victory in the most unexpected way. Now it’s time for the forces of darkness to realize they’ve lost. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t try to take down as many people with them as they can until Jesus returns. If you spend even a few minutes watching the news, it would be easy to forget that the ending has already been determined. But we know better.

The Power of God is resurrecting us–the same power of God that brought Jesus back from the dead is available to us, living in us, making us new if we’ll let Him. We all have brokenness and we’ll never be just like Jesus, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to be more Christ-like. The Holy Spirit will help us with that. How would we live our daily lives if we were absolutely certain God’s power resides in us? What would we do differently? How and when and where would we take a bolder stance against evil when we encounter it?

With God, nothing is impossible–but we have to keep in mind that knowing God can do anything doesn’t mean He will do what we want in our timing, or at all. God has plans for us that are always better than what we contrive for ourselves. We may pray for a certain spouse or job or other sort of outcome, but God might have something entirely different in mind that works out better for us. Unanswered prayers–rather, our perception of unanswered prayers–is a good topic for another blog, so stay tuned for that.

No fear–knowing that God has defeated death by bringing Jesus back from the dead, what is there to be afraid of? I don’t want to downplay the very real storms happening or brewing in this world and our lives, and we should do all we can to help solve problems for our family, neighbors, communities, and the world (that may be why God put us where we are at this moment in time). However, in spite of the worries of this world, we should know beyond a doubt that our eternal destination was determined the moment we accepted Christ, and that the problems of this life will fade away once we step through death’s doorway to meet our Saviour face-to-face and spend eternity with Him. Not to mention our loved ones who have gone before us and are fellow believers. And of course, our dogs. The Apostle John wrote, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

A happy ending gives us a new beginning–Jesus’ resurrection punctuates His earthly ministry with a happy, surprise ending. But this is really the beginning for us. Now it’s our turn to bring His love to a hurting world, to feed and care for our neighbors and people on the other side of the globe. We may face persecution for this as Jesus did, but if we do, let’s make sure it’s because we are acting like Jesus and not because we are misbehaving due to our own misguided interpretations of manmade rules (see my previous blog about not judging others).

So that’s it. I hope you had a blessed Resurrection Day. Let us go forth and live our lives remembering that He is risen. I’ll leave you with these words from Moses:  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

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Stumbling Toward Emmaus

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

Now what?

It’s Holy Saturday, the time between. For those who had been following Jesus, who had left everything and put their faith in a carpenter from a small backwoods town, believing he was the Anointed One, their dreams had been hung on the cross with their hero yesterday at Skull Hill. Jesus had spoken of being raised on the third day, but nobody had a frame of reference for what He had meant by that. It must have seemed like just another of His confusing riddles or parables.

So nobody really knew what to do next.

There’s a funny little story that Luke is the only gospel writer to record (Luke 24). Even though it occurs after Jesus’ resurrection, it is before anyone has fully comprehended that this has happened (“the women” had discovered the empty tomb and been told by the angels that He has risen, but again, it wasn’t until they saw Him that they were able to process what had transpired). And this is just like Jesus–you’d think that with something as miraculous as coming back to life, He would want to be the one at the tomb greeting His friends, proclaiming something like, “See guys! This is what I meant!”

But instead, He does the unexpected. He appears first to two followers whose answer to the “what do we do now” question was wander over to the next village, Emmaus. Only one of these followers gets named in the story, Cleopas, and this is the only time he gets mentioned in the Bible. In other words, these aren’t Peter or John or James, or even any of the other disciples. Just Cleopas and friend. They were discussing everything that had happened over the last few days, probably disappointed and dazed, not sure how it all could have come unraveled so quickly. Just a week ago, people were waving palm branches at Him in honor, laying their coats down along the path as he rode into Jerusalem. What happened?

And then Jesus shows up, asking them this same question. Luke explains that they were kept from recognizing him, but he doesn’t say why. Maybe it was intentional by God, maybe Jesus wore a disguise, or maybe they simply weren’t expecting to encounter Him alive, so they didn’t really look very closely. In response to Jesus’s question, they look sad for a moment, then Cleopas basically says, “What are you kidding me? Are you the only person in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what’s been going on?”

Jesus baits them further with an innocent inquiry about what had been happening. So they summarized it for Him. In return, He scolds them a bit, then takes them back to Moses and the prophets, explaining how everything had pointed to Jesus being the Messiah, and everything had to happen the way it did.

After that, they invited Jesus over for dinner when they had reached Emmaus. When they sat down to eat, Jesus took the bread and broke it, handing it to them. At this instant, they recognized Him, and He disappeared!

What??

Coming back to Holy Saturday and the question of what do we do now, there are a few things we can remember from this odd little story as we ourselves stumble toward Emmaus, trying to figure out what to do next.

First off, God is never too busy to spend time with us. You would think that Jesus would have been too busy right after coming back from the dead to walk seven miles and have a detailed discussion with two minor followers, but He made it happen. God wants to be in a relationship with us in which we talk to him all throughout our days, not just in some big formal prayer in church one day a week.

Next, by appearing first to Cleopas and friend instead of the “most important people”, I think Jesus is showing us that we each have an important role in His kingdom–not just the pastors or other religious leaders. Whatever we do, let us do it well, as though we are serving God. Because we are, each in our own way.

It was also obviously important to Him that these lesser-known followers really understand the full context of who He is and why He fulfilled all the prophesies. From this, I think He is guiding us to try to understand Him, His story, and His significance as best we can. Dwell in His word, go to Bible studies, listen to sermons, or whatever helps you to unpack who He is and all that He has done for us. This doesn’t seem to be something we should take lightly. For all of our other important relationships, we generally do everything reasonable to learn what we can about them–why should we do anything less for our relationship with God? Having said that, though, it’s important that we do this eagerly out of the love we have for Him and in response to all He has done for us, and not out of obligation. We should be able to see from the distaste Jesus had for the religious leaders of His day that God has little use for people who are there out of obligation.

Finally, Jesus also shows us that it’s OK not to fully understand it all. Although He scolds them for not getting it, He then takes quite a bit of time to explain it all to them. They had their best understanding of the events, but they were off a little bit, so Jesus straightened them out. We will never fully understand God’s ways, at least not this side of the grave, but if we are earnestly trying to learn more and more, He will be patient with us and help us along the way.

What about you? How else do you think God might want you to answer the question, What do we do now?

 

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In the Midst of the Storms

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

Well, it’s Good Friday. The worst thing humanity has ever done–we killed God–happened on this day. What’s so good about that? Let’s come back to that.

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Bad things are happening. The worst of the pandemic in the U.S. may be coming in the next week or two. Nobody knows what’s going to happen to the U.S. or global economy. Meaning, people are losing their jobs or, worse, their health. How can this be happening? How can God allow this to happen? After all, some of the people losing their jobs or dying are followers of Christ.

Here’s the thing. God never promised that everything would be easy or that we would live forever, at least not until heaven comes. In fact, in John 16:33, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” In the immortal words of Paster Matt Herd (formerly of Woodmen Valley Chapel, now at Northland Church in Florida), “What do you think He meant by ‘will‘?” It seems to be a promise of anything but an easy life.

To explore this a bit further, let’s look at Jesus’ life. If anyone were going to have an easy life, you’d think it would be the King of kings and Lord of lords, right? But He didn’t. After He started His ministry, He was homeless. He was rejected by His own people (as the prophet Isaiah had predicted 400 years earlier). He was betrayed by one of His best friends and denied by another. He was falsely accused and subject to the worst kind of injustice–an innocent man convicted and condemned to die. And of course, Good Friday memorializes the day He was tortured to death. In Gethsemane garden, He prayed fiercely–to the point of sweating blood–that the Father would take this cup from Him. Did God the Father answer His prayer? Well, yes, because His ultimate prayer was that the Father’s will be done. But He didn’t get there easily.

Anyway, not a biography anyone would aspire to. So if Jesus had storms in His life, why in the world would any of us think we should be free from them?

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But there’s good news here as well. The complete text of John 16:33 is this:  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So Jesus doesn’t promise that our lives will be free from storms, but He does promise to be in the boat with us during them if w let Him. He can give us comfort or strength, or even take us right out of the storm (as He did for the disciples when He walked on water to meet their boat in the midst of a storm; as soon as He got in the boat, they reached the other side of the lake).

We always want the storms to go away, or never even come, and for good reason, of course. But oftentimes, Jesus rides into our lives on the storms. And maybe even more frequently, that’s the only time we’ll let Him in. I’m not saying God causes the storms, but He can redeem them when they happen if we let Him.

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So when facing the storms that will happen, we should take comfort and strength from knowing that God is on our side, that Jesus is in the boat with us. In his letter to the Romans, Paul asks the insightful question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Indeed. Jesus promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age. That is both comforting and strength-giving.

Sometimes I visualize it this way:  when I’m feeling small and weak and not up to tackling a problem, I picture myself as the 98-pound weakling on the playground trying to stand up to the bully (the problem). I am pleasantly surprised when the bully runs away, and for a moment, I feel tough. However, a minute later I turn around and realize that the reason he ran away was because my Big Brother was standing behind me. After a split second of frustration that I couldn’t face the bully on my own, I realize how grateful I am that my Big Brother cares about me enough to help me deal with the bully. And also, reality sets in and I realize that I probably would have gotten my butt kicked without Him!

OK, so what’s so good about Good Friday? This is when our Big Brother, Jesus, faced our ultimate foe–death–on our behalf. Because He did this, the curtain in the temple that separated us from God was torn in two from top to bottom. Meaning that God did it. By covering our sin-debt for us, Jesus gave us direct access to God.

But still, our Savior dies an agonizing death–it can’t end this way.

Oh wait, it doesn’t.

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Remembering Jesus Remembering You

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter

At His last meal with His best friends, Jesus asked them, and us, to remember Him whenever we take communion. This being Maundy Thursday–the day on the Christian calendar commemorating the Last Supper–I was wondering what specifically He might have wanted us to remember about Him. At this point in Holy Week, He had yet to suffer His torturous death on the cross. He had talked about it, but I don’t think anyone really knew exactly what He was talking about. Was this another of His confusing parables? Surely this whole three-year whirlwind ministry couldn’t end with the hero dying a criminal’s death in the most horrific and humiliating form of execution ever contrived. Could it?

But wait. Jesus talked about it before it happened. He had actually been talking about it for the weeks leading up to this one. So He knew this was coming, but He went to Jerusalem anyway. He had compared what was going to happen to Him with Jonah’s misadventures getting to Nineveh (nobody knew what He meant by that either). But when Jonah was called by God for his mission to preach to the most dangerous and evil city in the known world, he tried to run the other way. Jesus, on the other hand, knew this trip to Jerusalem would end with his execution. But He went anyway.

That’s courage worth remembering.

Also, let’s think for a moment why He felt the need to do this. He was remembering me. And you. Even though we hadn’t been born yet, as part of the triune God, apart from His 33 years on this earth, Jesus exists outside of time. So from His timeless perspective, you and I have already been born, lived, and died. We were born into the sin we inherited from Adam and Eve, who were convinced by Satan that disobeying God isn’t really a sin (a lie that’s alive and thriving today, sadly).

Anyway, every person in history except Jesus has lived up (or down) to the sin we inherited. Each sin boils down to a sin against God, and since God is a just God, each sin requires an equivalent punishment, or else there is no justice and He’s not a just God. But He loves us so much that He created a plan (from the beginning) in which Jesus takes our place in the punishment. There’s the why–remembering you, remembering me. By name. I was in line to be executed as punishment for my sins, but He came up to me and said, “That’s OK, Dave. I’ve got you covered. I’ll take it from here.” He slipped off his dazzling white cloak–the dress code for heaven–and handed it to me. In return, He held out His hand for me to give him my filthy rags. He has done the same for you.

Grace. We don’t deserve it, but He did it anyway.

That also is worthy of our remembrance.  How can we not fall to our knees before Him in humble gratitude?

02 - Communion table 2

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