Good Friday

In the beginning was the Word.

      And the Word was with God.

              And the Word was God.

And the Word was Love.

All things came into being through it. And without it, not one thing came into being. 

The Word spoke, 

  spoke order into the chaos - and light pulled away from darkness, 

  and there was morning and there was evening the first day. 

The Word spoke, 

    spoke Life to the earth, it called the dry land from the rushing waters.

    Green things could grow, and fish could swim, creatures could rise to fly and walk and be.

And all of it was good. 

And then out of the earth, there was the human - the creature who would care for the rest. 

   The creature made of dirt in God’s own image. Made of Word and Flesh and breath of love. 

   The human walked and talked and tended to the rest of creation. It was not good that the human was alone. So Love created again, 

              and the humans together made the creation complete. 

With all the garden and goodness before them, the humans grew into their humanness. 

        They grew to believe it wasn’t enough. 

There was more to know. More to be. And their temptation caused them to turn. 

So they ate, 

    and they broke, 

        and they hid…

            …pulling them farther than they’d ever been from their creator. 

So God came and cursed and sent them away from the garden. 

But love created another way. 

The ground would make them sweat. Their labor would cause them pain. But they would give what they worked from the earth back to God, 

      and God would be glad, 

             and the creatures would be near their creator, 

     and the distance that had formed would be bridged by their giving. And all would be good. 

But sacrifices were unequal. And jealously tempted. And they turned.

Brother against brother. Human against God. Abel’s blood cried out from the ground. 

And Cain was marked 

    and cursed 

        and sent farther and farther away.

Generations came. And they went. 

And the chaos crept in. 

As the order crumbled away. 

And they loved God. And they loved themselves. And they forgot God. 

    And they broke God’s heart. 

They struggled with each other, pulled themselves farther from their creation promise. 

And God grieved over the brokenness. So heaven weeped and washed away the barriers that had kept the dry land from the rushing waters.

The rains fell and the flood came, creation losing out to the chaos.        For a moment. 

And then Love created another way. 

Noah lived and loved and made covenant that creation would be cared for and chaos would be resisted. And all would be good.

Generations came. And they went. A tower was built. The humans turned. 

They wanted a name for themselves.         They forgot they were already named. 

In God’s image. 

    By the Word, for the Word.

    Love itself wrapped in their bones. 

The tower grew. And the tower fell. The people scattered. Farther and farther from God. 

And Love created for them another way.

Abram and Sarai were called and sent. Away from their land. Away from their people. To a new land.To create a new people. 

    A blessing for all of creation. 

And they were holy. And they were human. And they were impatient and insecure. 

And God loved them. 

    And called them. 

        And held them tight while they tried to turn. 

Isaac was born. The promised people begun. While Hagar and Ishmael were left and shunned.

    The promised people began….with shadows…closely…following. 

And generations came, and they went. Families carried the promise. And… brother fought brother. And blessings were stolen and in the struggle Israel was named. Coats of colors were given. And brothers sold brothers. And dreams were dreamed. And nations were saved. And kings feared. And all of God’s promised people landed in bondage in the land of Egypt.

So Love created another way.

And bushes burned. And plagues ransacked. And Moses led. Waters parted. And they wandered while God promised land in the distance. 

They were fed along the way, 

    and they doubted along the way. A golden cow was made. The tablets smashed. And the struggle continued, as they walked, and wondered, and waited. 

The promised land was found. But with a land of their own they turned and looked at other nations. And they said they wanted a king. They wanted to be like the other nations.     

    God wanted them to be something else. 

But God loved and listened and called them a king. 

     And the kings were good…until they were not. 

    So God sent prophets, and the prophets were…killed.

A temple was built. God could live with them now. 

    But  God  with them  didn’t  help  them  see  God  in them. 

So there was war, 

   and death, 

       and grief lifted as lament. 

From exile they cried, they begged. They wanted to be close again. 

God sent prophet and priest to calm them, 

        to claim them, 

            to give them hope until they could be home.               

.  .  .  .    But so much had happened.     So many times they had turned.     So complicated had creation become.     So much of them was made of struggle. 

And the distance had become too much. 

They were so far…..they could no longer hear. 

So Love made another way.

Love came, all the way. In the deepest darkness the Word became flesh. In the shape of infant, Love came to dwell among us, 

    closing the distance that had become too much. 

He was poor. His mom sang of justice. His dad worked with the wood and dirt, the substance of creation. And he grew to learn the stories, but differently than others did. 

He was patient. And strange. And sometimes he did things no one could explain. The hurting were healed. The hungry were fed. The demons were afraid.
The politicians were mad. And he had a special kindness for the ones the world despised. 

When they wanted answers, he told them to love. When they tried to trick him he talked about seeds and weeds and caused them to drop all their stones.
When they worried, he told them of his house, with many many rooms, and promised a future filled with hardship and hope. 

And they turned. All of them. This way or that. 

Some had eyes to see. They dropped their nets and followed. Released their self-consuming desire for more, came down from their steeples and their trees and gave him themselves.

        And some doubled-down on their self-righteousness. Sneered and enticed and attempted to trick.
        Convicted of their own ability to save, addicted to the power of their making, they turned… away. 

So there was a parade, that solidified the turning. 

They recognized his power. 

They hated his power. 

And he knew. And he grieved

                …for he was Love’s other way, and the hour had come.

There was a meal. A last stop. A final moment of compassion, a way they might find him in the hardest days that were still ahead.
They ate. They loved. He hurt. They didn’t understand. 

He wanted them to stay awake, and they couldn’t, and we can’t. 

So there was a kiss. A kiss that was everyone’s kiss. 

          And he was led away, like a lamb to the slaughter. 

Rules were bent. A system, failed. Justice, scorned. 

A midnight trial and verdict while the world was sleeping. 

So morning broke, but the darkness grew darker.
And the earth trembled with generations of turning.
The earth trembled as love came all the way, finishing the work begun in the manger.
The earth trembled as Love closed hell’s doors. 

       And Love died on a cross…that all might have a new way. 

Never again would the distance be so great we cannot hear. 

     Never again would we turn so far we can’t find our way back. 

            Never again would the darkness overcome. 

                   Because Love came, and made a new way. 

And so things will go wrong. Towers will be built, and they will fall. Friend will turn against friend. Power will scheme, and it will believe it has prevailed. Violence will destroy and be defended by the violence-makers. Illness will wreck, and loved ones will hurt, and temptation will undo, and distance will creep in, and darkness          will    come        close.

But in the darkness of this night, everything is broken. The curtain is torn, the walls between heaven and earth shatter and heavens’ light spills out, love touches all of creation, 

   that then         

          and now         

                    and forever all the earth is a blurry mess of holiness that cannot exist outside the love of God.

For in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was Love. 

And tonight that love dies on a cross, to promise, that in the End - will be the Word.

In this darkness, everything is broken, and a new way is made.         Amen.