The Memphis Passion Play opened this past Friday evening and I was delighted to be in attendance with my family. I had the joy of baptizing my 7 year old son, Kyle, this past summer, so this was his first time to watch the Passion Play with new creature eyes. It was so cool to watch him transfixed on everything that was happening. Like every other meddling father I was constantly leaning over and trying to explain what everything meant:) Finally, I left him alone and allowed him to be consumed with the story of Jesus. What an incredible joy and blessing to watch your children filled with wonder and awe at the old, old story, the story of Jesus and HIS Cross and the story of the empty tomb.
As I was thanking God the Father for the experience with my Bride and children I was overwhelmed with the nature of our great God that would move HIM to shed HIS own blood on the Cross so that we might know HIM, love HIM and Worship HIM in spirit and in truth. As we contemplate the Great "I AM," as we contemplate that the LORD is our Shepherd and we see that this is Jesus and Jesus is "the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." There is only one appropriate response for my heart...WORSHIP!
Think of it this way...the NCAA Basketball championship game is tonight, let's say the game is a nail bitter to the end and with 1 second on the clock...Michigan St., down by 2 launches a 3 point shot from mid-court and you hear the wonderful sound of the ball catching nothing but net...perfect shot and the crowd goes...on like nothing happened...everyone is carrying on in little side conversations unaware of what just happened...:o What! Are you insane? No, but our culture is!
How is it possible for us to see the truth of the Gospel, the truth of Jesus death, burial and resurrection and not go wild? When you see this truth, when you see HIM, when you see who HE is and what HE did for us on the Cross you can't help but be filled with awe and Worship...what is worship? I love how William Temple put it.
"Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose - and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin".
Let this be the response of your heart this Easter and every time you see HIM revealed in HIS awesome Word! A time is coming when the Universe will see HIM coming and HE will receive the appropriate response from every created being. I want to practice NOW!
love,
m