This Lent we follow Jesus as he faces evil in the hours before his death. What is evil? Who is doing evil against Jesus during Passion Week? What are ways in which we are complicit in evil? Do we take evil seriously? As we experience evil in our own lives, discover how Jesus stands in the face of evil.
Invocation
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, who delivers us from all evil.
Invitation Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, stay with me. There is evil within me, and I am so often attentive to it. I am easily overcome by my own desire to get away from you and be free to have everything I want and to do everything I want. Lord, give me the real freedom of your life in me. By your victory over temptation, make me victorious. By the power of your love make me strong. Amen. (from The Lutheran Book of Prayer, CPH, 1970)
Word
Luke 23:12
“That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.”
Meditation: Chess Pieces by Susan Becher Schultz
I had a conversation with my therapist a couple of weeks ago about the idea of objectification. She asked me if I have ever felt objectified in any way. I stared back at her as my brain tried to comprehend what she meant. Then, before I could put words to it, an image of a chessboard sprang to mind. I saw myself as a pawn, doing my best to get out of the way of other pieces. I saw that I tend to go about life on the defense. I stick to the sidelines, edging close to the wall in hopes of not getting hurt. I’m hyper-aware of everything going on around me. And to my credit, it often keeps me safe.
A few weeks later my counselor revisited the conversation, and she asked me if I had thought about objectification any further. I spoke with her about how my job had been draining me on a multitude of levels, but mainly on an emotional one. It is filled with a division between teams and thrives on drama. But I told her, since our conversation, I’ve been withdrawing from certain relationships. I’ve been pulling coworkers aside to speak one-on-one instead of talking behind their backs. I told her I think I decided, somewhat unconsciously, to remove myself from the chessboard. To stop playing a game that involves pleasing others and start doing what feels right for me.
This verse that I chose today reminds me of this conversation with my therapist because I’ve been thinking about my relationships and what binds them together. I think of relationships that have been formed by genuine connections and which have been fed by gossip. The friendship between Herod and Pilate is clearly formed over the downfall of someone else. To them, this is a political game that serves their interests. In the end, they could care less what happens to an innocent man if it drives a crowd of supporters into their corner.
I think of Jesus in this text as the ultimate game piece. We see him mocked, betrayed, handed over, abused. It’s sick how he is used for other’s personal gain. But it’s here that this theme of opposites comes up again. We see a man who isn’t playing for himself in any way, shape, or form. He’s not playing any kind of game at all. His interests serve everyone but himself. He offers his body to each of us and asks nothing from us.
Jesus refuses to take part in continuing the cycle of objectification. Instead, he dies so that we may one day be completely free from the pain of it. He rises from the dead to show he is so much more than a body on a cross, just as we are so much more than a pawn in someone else’s game. We are each seen and known in all of our complexities. We are made whole through the wounds Jesus suffered on the cross, bound together by his love.
Dear Lord, thank you for loving me in all of my complexities. Teach me what it looks like to show up for myself and others in a way that serves rather than divides. Help me to cultivate relationships that reflect the love you have for me.
Sending
In the face of evil, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.