There has certainly been an appropriate vibe
with the weather and political events,
For this Holy Week!
We are living in interesting times!
Rain has been coming down,
Thank you God; for the rain!
But it does give things a particular feel
Things are darker constantly, colder
Darkness covered the land
On that Friday
As it has here this past week,
and metaphorically in this pandemic.
I read this was supposed to be the worst week so far
But hopefully it will start getting better!
Have you ever felt that way?
About how things are going?
Hoping things will get better from here
Excluded, left out, ridiculed maybe.
Suffering injustice, oppression
Getting sick, an accident
Made really terrible choices…
Basically, been in a low place,
Basically, where the woman were at,
Seeing Jesus dying on the cross,
Burying him,
then coming to make sure his body was properly cared for
I definitely have been there in more than one occasion
But one of the most difficult for me was as a teenager
I was really bad at following a lot of rules I guess
I think I just lacked the ability to say no
To things or relationships that weren’t good for me
I also had a desperate need to want to be liked by others
But I had been bullied starting high school
I was a very awkward young teen
And I’m still pretty awkward today.
And I don’t know for sure,
But I think that had something to do
with my downward spiral
I can say that my teenage years were not my best years!!
I don’t mean to use that as an excuse for my behavior
But it is helpful to understand for myself
where all this was coming from…
Of course, as you see me here today…
You know that was not the end of the story…
Thanks to my family and good friends
who looked out for me
Despite me being a real jerk to them
I got through that period of my life
They didn’t give up on me.
And I know that God didn’t give up on me.
But that can’t be the end of the story either,
Because I am still me, you know
If I wasn’t comfortable with myself then
I’m probably not going to be now either
No matter how much I try and hide it.
Which probably means I would fall into
The same cycle of destructive behaviors
Over and over again
With no way out…
I learned that:
It’s okay to be a little bit strange, somewhat of a weirdo
To be different
It can become a good thing actually
It can lead to more creative thinking
When we allow each person to flourish in their uniqueness
And listen to people of varying opinions
Different perspectives on life
We are all better for it
Trying to “fit in” to what the world wants you to be
Jesus didn’t do it either
He didn’t do what people wanted him to do
or be someone he was not
He went outside the box
Of expectations
It wasn’t easy, but it changed the world
It transformed the people
People who faced adversity
And did more than they thought possible…
And that message is for you!
The message that God loves YOU
God would die for you to show it!
And to expose the evil injustices of the world
To show us that there is a better way
Than violence, hate, and domination
God wants you to accept that love
Yes, we have all made mistakes
We might have a past that is difficult
But in many ways that past also makes us
who we can be in the future
If we can accept God’s love for us right now!
STILL AWKWARD RAP (New song!)
Truly God shows no partiality
God accepts us and loves us and saves us!
Just to say that we are saved and that God loves us
Doesn’t mean that we don’t do messed up things
We are not perfect obviously!!
We still need that forgiveness of course
that is spoken of at the end of the Acts text
Forgiveness of sins is still necessary for ALL of us,
I don’t care who you are!
Yet,
God was bringing peace with humanity in Jesus Christ
Peace between God and humanity
Let’s stop killing people over God please
Let’s stop judging others and condemning others
in God’s name
Let’s accept that God loves us who we are
And God can forgive us what we get wrong
God brings peace in Jesus Christ
God brings peace to my soul
Jesus Christ shows us the way to love one another
In his life and death,
And gives us the hope to live in his footsteps
Through his resurrection to new life.
Because God so loves the world and you in it!
Thanks be to God!
Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia
He is risen indeed! Alleluia
Alleluia!! Amen.