The Oasis - March 27, 2024
Author: Rev. Dan Hollis
March 27, 2024
This is a good week to be thinking about the last week of Christ’s earthly life. His triumphal entry into the Holy City, riding on a simple donkey, to the sounds of cheers on Palm Sunday; his last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday; his betrayal, suffering, and finally his death on Good Friday; and, the glorious resurrection of Easter. I think about what it must have been like to be one of his disciples on that week of their highest highs and deepest lows. To be the handpicked followers of the Most High on this most Holy of weeks.
But despite Christ’s favor, these guys were not the spotless exemplars of human perfection one might think would be at Jesus’ right hand. These guys were messy. Imperfect and broken. Full of doubts and avarice and self-importance. Unworthy to dare enter God’s presence, right? And they tried their best. They gave charity to the poor, they hung on Jesus’ every word, they abandoned their worldly possessions. They let their messiah wash their feet. They sought to come before God immaculate, blameless, pure… as perfect as they could be to deserve the presence of God’s perfection.
And they fell short. Sitting around the very first Communion table, their hearts were still weighted down by greed or pride or laziness or self-interest. And yet… Jesus did not deny them Communion because of what he knewthey had done or what he knew they would go on to do. God came into the temples of their hearts even though their paint was peeling, their cushions were worn, and their bulletins were full of typos.
In partaking of the Last Supper and all the precious moments of Holy Week, we recognize and remember that God willingly enters into our hearts regardless of what we have done, what we will do, and what we are doing right now!
We will never stop trying to cleanse our imperfections, and that is right and righteous, but truly I tell you we areworthy of God. We will never match up to the purity and perfection of God, but God has deemed us worthy anyway.
Never fear that you might soil the white robe of Christ. Never believe that you embarrass God. God comes into our lives with joy and enthusiasm. We each may not be a shiny white church on a well-kept green, but God thinks our hearts are definitely a house worth partying in all the same. So to that little voice inside you, I say this: You areworthy of God. Ask and God’s presence will come to you. Not with a bright light that incinerates all that is unclean, but with a warm light that comforts and nurtures all. Be better, but know that to God you will never be less than good enough.
Blessings,
Dan
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