Thoughts on the Savior's Death

Today is the day called Good Friday, the day when Jesus died.  Jesus will be dead within hours.  It seems heartbreaking, at least for those of us who loved Him.  We can blame the Jews of Jesus' day or the Roman soldiers, but actually, it was our sins.

For those who loved Jesus, there was nothing good about the day Jesus died a slow, agonizing death like a convicted criminal.  They felt confused, lost, severe loss & grief, afraid, but nothing positive or even close to "good."  For them, & I hope for some of us who seek to follow Him, that day was and is Black Friday or Death Friday.

In the words of the Lord's Supper, also called communion, we believe Jesus was the Bread of Life, broken for you and me.  The blood of Jesus was shed for us.  We believe the cup of communion represents the water of life welling up into eternal life.

Jesus is dead.  The only "good" thing is the new life that we can receive because of His death.  But if we skip the agony, grief, and darkness of these days when Jesus' body was dead, I don't believe that we fully appreciate that new life on Easter.  In a similar way, denying the grief of losing a loved one is not healthy.

Isaiah 53: 3-7 says: He was looked down on and passed over,

    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.

    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—

    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

    that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

    Through his bruises we get healed.

We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.

    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,

                on him, on him.

He was beaten, he was tortured,

    but he didn’t say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

    and like a sheep being sheared,

    he took it all in silence.  (The Message)

May Jesus' suffering motivate us to look at our own sins, our sins that caused His death.  I feel deep regret for my own sins, and my Savior's death makes me long to turn from my sins.  Our Savior's death can lead us to change our ways, to live as the Master desires us to live.

When we truly feel some of His pain & suffering, the sunrise on Easter morning will mean new hope and new strength, and a new stage in our walk with the Master.  I look forward to the Spirit's work in my life and yours.   Peace & grace to you.

A Special Birthday Party

Last Sunday, I was privileged to see something special.  It was at a small church in a small town.  There was a family in which the mother & grandmother both had drug problems.  About a month ago, the 27-year-old mother overdosed.  Her 3-year-old daughter was left alone; so her great-grandmother started taking care of her.  Some members of a small church in that small town, heard about this family and decided to do something about it. 

So this small Sunday school class decided to adopt the 3-year-old child & do what they could to make her feel loved & wanted.  They helped the great-grandmother.  When they found out that the girl's birthday was coming up, they all chipped in to plan to a birthday party at the church for her.  They brought a colorful tablecloth, a beautiful cake, candles, & some presents.  When the girl arrived, she hugged the loving people there.  When they brought the girl into the room w/ the party decorations, her eyes got wide.  Her eyes took it all in, & she looked around the room at the people who prepared it.  She smiled wide.  The group sang "Happy Birthday."   The 4 candles were put on the cake, and she blew them all out with one big breath. 

Then they cut the cake, and started passing the gifts to her.

I'm not sure who was blessed more - the young girl or those who planned the party. 

Jesus said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 

Remembering My Father

My father, Bernard John Schreurs, died 30 years ago this month, on Nov. 11, 1984.  So I'm posting this in his honor.

Dad was born on Feb. 19, 1917, the first of 4 children to Ben & Effie Schreurs.   He was raised on a dairy farm near Cedar Grove, Wisc., when farm work was done by hand and by horses.  He loved horses, and his father trained 2 colts every year, to work together as a team.  He attended Maple Grove School, a one-room school.  As a young man, he worked on several dairy farms.

On Sept. 8, 1949, Benard married Margaret.   Jim was born in ’52, and Wendell in ’55.  Leon Jonathan was born in ’57 but died of pneumonia 2 years later; the minister once told me that it was the hardest funeral he ever did.  My sister Ann came along in ’58, and me 2 years later.  Grandpa Schreurs died of a heart attack in 1961.

Dad started working in a factory that made Mercury outboard motors for boats; he showed us around the factory one time.  My sister Karen was born in ’62 and Jane in ’65. 

My grandparents went to First Reformed Church in Cedar Grove, and so did we.  Dad didn’t say much about religion; saying the Lord’s Prayer at meals and going to church was enough.  When I was 5, Grandma Schreurs passed away.

There were joyous times too.  In Sept., 1974, Jim married Sue.  A week later, Mom & Dad celebrated their 25^th anniversary.  In the next few years, 2 grandchildren, Dale & Dawn, were born.  In ’77, Wendell married Patti.

In 1978, Mom was diagnosed with cancer and died on May 6 which was probably the hardest day in Dad’s life.  I still recall his tears.  In the next 3 years, Ann, Karen, & I moved away to attend college.  Looking back later, it seemed like Dad aged a lot in those years in which his family shrank so quickly.

The factory closed in 1980, and Dad took an early retirement.  A year later, his health declining and unable to take care of himself, Dad reluctantly moved into a retirement center.  It was hard for me to visit him there.

Ann got married in 1984, and at the reception, I remember Dad proudly introducing me to his friends as his son who was in seminary, studying to become a minister.  As I thought about that later – his bragging about my becoming a minister – that said something positive about his faith.

In Nov. that year, he was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus but was spared from suffering because he died of heart failure in his sleep, on Nov. 11.  He was buried on a cold, cloudy day.  Life is short.  Psalm 39:5 says, “The span of my years is nothing before [God].  Each man’s life is but a breath.”

After you’ve died and gone, what difference will your life have made?  I believe that values like faith, hope, love, joy, & peace will matter in the long run.  After you’re gone, those things will last far beyond anything that can rust or rot.  In Matthew 7, Jesus told the story of the wise and foolish builders.  Are you building your life on the rock or the sand?  What legacy are you leaving for your family & friends?  After you’ve been dead for a while, what will people remember about you?

P.S.   Our son, Jonathan David was named after his grandfathers; John is an old family name on the Schreurs side.  Jane’s father is David Stevenson.  Our daughter Megan Leigh is named after her grandmothers.  Megan is the Irish (red hair!) form of Margaret; Jane’s Mom’s middle name was Lee.

The Poison of Bitterness

Bitterness is a poison that destroys the physical and spiritual health of an individual.  

Someone said, “Bitterness is like the acid you have inside that you want to spew on others; but it may well eat you alive before you get the chance.”

In April, 1995, Bud Welch’s 23-year-old daughter, Julie, was killed in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Bldg in Oklahoma City.  Three days after the bombing, Bud watched Tim McVeigh being led out of the courthouse, & hoped someone would shoot him dead.  Bud wanted him to fry.  In fact, Bud said: I’d have killed him myself if I’d had the chance.

Unable to deal with the pain of Julie’s death, Bud started self-medicating with alcohol until eventually the hangovers were lasting all day.  Then, on a cold day in Jan., 1996, Bud came to the bombsite – as he did every day – & he looked across the wasteland where the Murrah Building once stood.  His head was splitting from drinking the night before & he thought, “I have to do something different, because what I’m doing isn’t working”.

For the next few weeks Bud started to reconcile things in his mind, & finally concluded that it was revenge & hate that had killed Julie & the 167 others.  Tim McVeigh & Terry Nichols had been against the US government for what happened in Waco, TX, in 1993 & seeing what they’d done with their vengeance, Bud knew he had to send his in a different direction.  Shortly afterwards Bud started speaking out against the death penalty.

  

In Dec 1998, after Tim McVeigh had been sentenced to death, Bud had a chance to meet Tim McVeigh’s father, Bill, at his home.  Bud wanted to show Bill that he did not blame him.   Bill's daughter also wanted to meet Bud; the 3 of them sat around the kitchen table.  Up on the wall were family snapshots, including Tim’s graduation picture.  Bud said, “What a good looking kid.”

Earlier Bill had asked Bud, “Bud, are u able to cry?”  Bud had told him, “I don’t usually have a problem crying”.  Bill said, “I can’t cry, even tho I’ve got a lot to cry about”.   But now, sitting in the kitchen looking at Tim’s photo, a big tear rolled down his face.  It was the love of a father for a son.

When Bud got ready to leave he shook Bill’s hand, then extended it to Bill's daughter, Jennifer, but she just grabbed Bud & threw her arms around him.  She was almost the age as Julie but felt taller to Bud.  Bud didn’t know which one of them started crying first.  Then Bud held her face in his hands & said, “Look, honey, the 3 of us are in this for the rest of our lives.  I don’t want your brother to die & I’ll do everything I can to prevent it.”  As Bud walked away he realized that until that moment he’d walked alone, but now a tremendous weight had lifted from his shoulders. 

About a year before the execution, Bud found it in his heart to forgive Tim McVeigh.  It was a release for Bud rather than for Tim McVeigh.

Revenge & bitterness are poisons that will eat you from the inside out.  Forgiveness is the key that releases bitterness.

Ephesians 4: 32 says, “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”  Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy" (Matthew 5:7).

Become Part of Spring's Renewal

Spring began officially on March 20.  Birds are singing in our yard every morning.  A few flowers are blossoming, and trees are budding.  The grass is turning green.  After surviving a cold winter that began with a huge ice-storm, folks in our area are getting outside more on the warm, spring days when the sun is oozing light and warmth.   Spring is happening!  

Every spring, my spirit feels rejuvenated and renewed.  It was in spring that I first submitted to Jesus as my Savior and Master as a teenager.  Later, our pastor told me that people in general are more open to the Holy Spirit’s work in the spring, and that still makes sense to me, over 30 years later.  If God could take a valley of dry, dead bones (Ezekiel 37) and make them into living, breathing people again, God can renew our hearts and souls in the springtime.

During the cold winter months, we stay inside more - kind of like hibernating to some extent, and avoid going out in the frosty weather.  My heart and soul sometimes seem more closed to outside influence from God during the colder months, perhaps because my chronic pain level increases during the cold winter months.  And believe me, I seek the Ultimate Healer through Scripture and prayer when my body aches continually.  

But spring is happening now!  My soul seems like budding and blossoming to God’s nurturing Spirit.  I hope that spring will bring new buds and blossoms from your heart and soul, too.  God is actively renewing his earth and his people, if we are open and sensitive to God’s promptings in our midst.  May God renew you this spring!  “Those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength. They will fly as high as eagles.  They will run and not get tired.  They will walk and not grow weak.”  (Isaiah 40:31, NIRV)  Pray for God to give you new life, hope, friendship, and peace.  Become part of the spring renewal.

Spring Brings New Life

April brings Spring and the beginning of a new growing season.  Tempatures are higher, and the breeze is warmer.  Gardeners prepare the soil for planting.  Lawn-mowers are tuned up, and people are outside working in the yard.  Children are playing outside.  Buds open, and leaves sprout.  Flowers are coming up.  It seems like the signs of new life are everywhere you look.

For Christ-followers, April follows the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Christ’s resurrection represents forgiveness of sins and power over sin and death.  God’s grace gives us hope and love.  Our lives can be made new by what God has done through Christ.  Spring brings new life to Christ-followers.

For those like me, Spring also means that my back pain is reduced.  My body does not ache as much.  It seems like the warmer weather breathes fresh air into my body.  So Spring brings new life physically, for which I am grateful.

I hope and pray that God will renew your life this Spring.  May Christ’s resurrection give you new life and hope.  If you’re not living with Jesus, why not begin today?  Read His Word in the Bible.  Share your joys, concerns, and gratitude to Him in prayer.  God is ready to give you a new life; are you ready to receive His wonderful life, hope, and peace?  If you’re tired, rest in Jesus (Matthew 11: 28-30).  If your life seems old and worn, let the Master change you and renew you. 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  Ezekiel 36:26

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!”  2 Corinthians 5:17

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Ephesians 4:22-24

The Last Days of Jesus

This week is fearful and confusing for Christ-followers, as we seek to walk with Jesus in the last days of his life on earth.  Yes, the resurrection is coming, but we first experience the terrifying, bewildering events in the last days of Jesus’ life on earth.  Unfortunately, most followers take the easy skip from the Palm Sunday parade to the Easter resurrection.  Can’t say I blame them. 

Who wants to see your beloved Teacher arrested on trumped-up charges, betrayed by a friend, and deserted by the rest of the so-called followers?  The trial scenes in the temple or Herod’s place are not easy.  The sight of Jesus’ being beaten is heart-breaking for us helpless followers, at least those of us who dared to watch the whips snapping up the lines of blood on his back.  (This was the R-rated part of The Passion movie.)  Then they put that crown of thorns on his head to mock Him, & one guard actually spit on Him. 

The soldiers forced Him to carry his cross on the road leading outside the city, until He fell down, too weak to get up, when a bystander is drafted to carry it the rest of the way.  Some of us followed the long, winding road to the hill outside Jerusalem where He was nailed to a cross like a rotten criminal left to die a slow, excruciating death.  With the crowd there, we watched the last hours of life slowly drain from his body in agony. 

This week, we’re challenged to deny ourselves and stand up for our beloved Jesus, but like the disciples, we fail, we deny the Master, desert Him when authorities make Him suffer.  But don’t give up; keep walking with and following Him.  This hard, dark path leads to good.  Pray to God for strength and courage.  Ask the Savior to forgive your failures.  Seek the Spirit amidst other followers. 

It’s sad that some churches have no service on Good Friday (which was actually Black Friday or Death Friday) or Maundy Thursday.  How can we have a new life without experiencing the death of our Master or ourselves?  Read Matthew 26:17 – 27:44 or John 18:28 – 19:37.  A short version can be found in Mark 15: 1-39. 

This Thursday is Maundy Thursday - that last night in the upper room, when the Teacher washed his followers’ feet, shared the bread and the cup, and his last words. Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word mandatum, which means "commandment." Near the end of the Last Supper, the Teacher said, "A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  (John 13:34)

If you do not attend a church, you’re welcome to come to First Presbyterian Church, Hugo; our Maundy Thursday service will begin at 7 PM.  The service will include communion, chimes music, Scriptures and songs on the path to the Cross.