March 29 Worship: Word

This isn’t the way things are supposed to be. A Sunday morning message isn’t supposed to be without ears to hear. A church building isn’t supposed to sit quiet and empty on a Sunday morning. A pastor isn’t supposed to be without people. (As I finish writing this, it is one of the most difficult moments of my week knowing that we cannot share this time together in person. Weeks like this one necessitate the strength and encouragement and support that is derived by a community of people gathered around God’s Word and united in prayer.) And a river isn’t supposed to flood. Psalm 98:8 says that the rivers are supposed to clap their hands as part of a creation-wide symphony praising God.

But the rivers in the Fargo-Moorhead area are flooding. Neighborhoods, yards, and homes have been over-run by water. Schools, businesses, and even churches have adjusted their schedules. The community, and the lives of its people, has been turned upside-down. But the response has been far from giving up. Instead the people have united in an effort to build walls. Sand, soil, and special military equipment have been combined with determination, cooperation, and perseverance to erect walls designed to separate us and our homes and our possessions from the water. Our feet have gone numb from the cold, our legs have tired, our arms and shoulders have throbbed, our backs are now the subject of chiropractors’ dreams, our hands have been banged up, bruised, and broken from the wrist to the tip of our finger nails, and our emotions have endured a roller-coaster ride that would churn any stomach. All in the name of building walls and all in the hope of keeping the water and its muck and stench out of our lives. At this time, we continue to pray for the integrity of the dikes, a quick lowering of the river, and the most minimal damage to homes which do take on water.

During weeks like this it is hard enough to keep track of what day it is. The concerns of each hour and the importance of every minute over-shadow everything else. It is the season of Lent and at Crosspointe we have been using this time to journey with Jesus through the final 24 hours of His life. This morning we would have watched as He carried a large wooden beam toward a place called Golgotha which means “place of the skull.” The detail is easy to miss in the Bible. With the cross on His back, Jesus walked outside of Jerusalem. Hebrews 13:12: So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Jesus stepped outside of the gate to the other side of the wall.

Throughout the Bible, people are sent outside of the gate for a number of reasons. The remains of the animals used in the sacrificial system were sent outside of the gate to be burned. Those who broke God’s commands and anything or anyone that might bring impurity to the community were sent outside the gate. Outside of the gate was the place for filth and stench. Outside the gate was the place for garbage and refuse. Outside the gate was the equivalent of icy, smelly river water mixed with the sewage sludge you do not want coming back up your drains. But Jesus willingly placed Himself on the wrong side of the wall. Hebrews 13:12 says He did it in order to sanctify you by His death. That means He died outside of the camp so that you could be clean from and undefiled by sin. He died on the wrong side of the wall so that He could keep you safe and secure on the right side of the wall where God’s grace and love and faithfulness flow in abundance and without end.

We all have stories from the past week, some that bring us to tears of laughter and others that will bring us to tears of sorrow for years to come. If we were gathering together around God’s Word this morning, this would be the point in the message when I would actually ask you to share your stories… weeks like this allow for the risk of an interactive sermon. But instead I will look forward to the hearing and telling of flood stories in the coming days and weeks. We have been united by our common fight against the Flood of ’09, that story is OUR story. This morning let us also be reminded that we share the story of Lent. The story of Jesus carrying a cross outside of the gate where He died on the wrong side of the wall so that we can live in the reality of God’s Easter promises. A story of hope and healing. A story of restoration and renewal. This is the way things are supposed to be.