By Chris Scott, 1995 EMU alum, current seminary student, and pastor at McDowell United Methodist Church

Read: Philippians 2: 5-11

A couple of years ago I went to a church planting conference in San Antonio, Texas. The conference was advertised as a way forward to think about “doing church differently,” whatever that means. It was supposed to be about not getting caught up in old paradigms of church growth, programming, and so forth. Though from the moment we landed at the airport we recognized that it may not be as advertised.

We ran into several pastors at the airport and in the shuttle ride over to the Ramada Inn.  The first question that literally every person asked after preliminaries of names, location, and denomination was a numbers question. “So how many are you getting these days?”

The conversations would go from there to topics of buildings, programs, church growth, and all of that. People came flush with business cards and fliers advertising their books and availability to lead workshops. It became a self-promotion orgy. My wife and I decided to go visit the River Walk and avoid the conference entirely if it that was going to be the attitude. Thankfully it got better.

We so easily slide into an attitude of success and achievement in the church. We name ourselves as followers of a Messiah that did not seek self-promotion and then fall into cultural patterns of larger churches and better career opportunities.

We see Christ’s model in this Kenosis Hymn (from the Greek word ekenosen, “he emptied”) from Paul to the folks in Philippi. Jesus emptied himself of privilege, taking the nature of a servant, submitting himself to be executed violently on the cross, and going to every length to demonstrate the shattering and life altering love and nature of God.

This to me shows the awe inspiring downward mobility of Jesus.

Jesus went in the wrong direction according to today’s standards. We would expect him to be going higher and higher, further and further. Instead he started at the top and threw that off to come to the earth, to pitch his tent among us and show us the true way to live.  He could have insisted on worship, and instead he sought out the towel of service.

As followers of Christ we are to live our lives in such a way as to bring honor to the name of Christ. We are to live into the name by which we are called.  We are to have the self-deprecating spirit and approach of Christ, rather than the self-serving attitude of those who put Jesus to death.

By Pat Swartzendruber, EMU volunteer

Read: Isaiah 50: 4 – 9

“Out of the night that covers me, I’m unafraid, I believe.  Beyond this place of wrath and tears, beyond the hours that turn to years….9,000 days were set aside; 9,000 days of destiny…”  are moving lyrics of Nelson Mandela’s captivity from the movie, Invictus, Clint Eastwood and Rob Lorenz, producers.

Isaiah 50, vs.4 – 9 tells of an ancient captivity and One speaking words to sustain the weary assuring a generation of prisoners of war, “It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me”, vs. 9. This once thriving community, taken against their will into captivity and mistreated for more than 50 years, are now free but without strength to accept it. Those who have been confined, whether physical or psychological, and find freedom will recognize the weariness of rebuilding.  This One, the Suffering Servant, to be spoken about more fully in Isaiah 53, is ready to empathize.

Many obstacles are in the way of continuing life after experiences that traumatize or cause heartbreak.  Among them is shame, impinging on self-worth and holding one captive even after being freed.  Knowing its power, the Suffering Servant empathizes, “I will not be disgraced.  I have set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame” vs. 7.

What is in store for them?  Can they find their way?  What shall they do?  When anxious thoughts are swirling, the Suffering Servant affirms, “He wakens me morning by morning; wakens my ear to listen like one being taught” vs 4.  Daily meditation, a powerful Word to guide one’s thoughts and let go of fear, may be a path to healing.  Whatever our captivity, whatever our situation, salvation has been issued; a Suffering Servant is our liberator and our helper.

Devotional scriptures for Holy Week: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, and Luke 23:1-49

Isaiah 50:4-9a

4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me?

Philippians 2:5-11

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 23:1-49

1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.
2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.
7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.
9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.
10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.
11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.
12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends–before this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,
14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.
15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him. ”
18 With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.
21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand.
25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.
28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’
30 Then ” ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ‘
31 For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals–one on his right, the other on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”
43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus’ Death
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,
45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.
49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

By Fred Kniss, Provost and 1979 EMU alumnus

Read: Luke 19:28-40

Jesus was a master manipulator of symbols and metaphors. He loved to speak in parables and frequently offered object lessons to his somewhat befuddled followers. It must have been no accident, then, when he chose to enter Jerusalem and accept the mantle of Messiah on the back of a young colt.

This story is often called “the triumphal entry.” But, really, how can we say that with a perfectly straight face? How triumphal can it be to meander down a dirty Jerusalem street on the back of a small animal, feet dragging in the dust? How can we believe someone to be a king when his “steed” is a colt borrowed from a poor family along the road?

If Jesus chose his symbols intentionally, then clearly his triumphal entry was proclaiming a different sort of “triumph.” Messianic hopes of the day called for a leader who would orchestrate a triumph of nationalism and militarism. Jesus counters with symbols that bespeak humility, service and peace. For once, his disciples seem to get it, as they lead hosannas blessing the king who comes bringing “peace in heaven.”

At EMU, we claim to train students “to serve and lead in a global context.” If we take this story seriously, we may gain some new insight into what it means to lead. Perhaps humble service and leadership are not contrasting modes of action in the world, but in fact come as a package. Perhaps we must serve if we are to lead.

By Rev. Julie Haushalter, associate campus pastor

Read Luke 19: 28-40

Turn your heart to Jerusalem, to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What is our role in bringing a new Jerusalem with a kingdom of peace and justice for all?

Jesus comes to us, a poor man, riding a colt.  What a witness of the power of love, despite the powers of this world.   A young single Mom and student at JMU shared a story with me today, of losing her wallet containing her only remaining money for the month to take care of her son.  After her initial moments of angst and fear, she resolved to not be ruled by her anxiety.

Instead, she turned to her faith, calmed herself and figured out what to do next.   A friend loaned her enough to get by and she was so grateful.  Then, a couple of days later the campus police called her to let her know that a fellow student had found and returned her wallet with all her money still in it!   A good ending and a high five for human kind!  Still, she was a great example of choosing to be non- anxious, so that she could engage her creativity for a solution while not being consumed with fear.   Jesus rode calmly and knowingly on that young colt.

But, going deeper into our narrative, how do we live out our respect for those, like Jesus,  who have withstood evil, who have suffered the jeers and worse of the crowds? Who have been tormented, even put to death, and still refused the weapons of hatred?  I think it is important for us to reflect on the attitude of these true change makers and the role and power of love in leadership.   Can we let go of our defenses, give up control, and live with open hands and hearts?

Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem, thus beginning a week of pain and sorrow. In these days of defeat and victory, Jesus taught us to bring together humiliation and exaltation, death and resurrection.

Let us live with “hosannas!” and with joy in our heart!

Ask God to be with you now, as you follow in joy and in sorrow the way of the cross, in the footsteps of Jesus our Savior.

By Byron Peachey, EMU associate campus pastor

Read: Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29

“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone …”

How often today do we study stones around us?  What do we know of stones?  What kinds are worthy for building, how smoothly can their surface be cut, which are the strongest?

Look now at your hands – and now imagine yourself as a stone mason.  Imagine the hands of a mason in ancient Israel, the strength and agility of the fingers, their cuts and calluses — and their practice of constantly choosing one stone over another.  Beginning at the foundation, selecting, chipping, hammering, placing stones one by one beside and on top of the next.  They choose some for this wall, reject others and toss them into a rubble pile.  These weren’t identical bricks, rather they came with irregularities, curves shaped from flowing water, color variations, the mason’s eye looking for strength, beauty, and shape.  All those stones laying at rest, full of potential, yet waiting for the place of their best fit.  And then, finally after perhaps months of building, the capstone emerges, the one which brings it to completion.  One which earlier had been rejected.

Imagine yourself as the mason, or even as one of the stones.  The qualities necessary for a good building are the same:  patience, seeking the right fit, the right combination, matching the strengths of the stone to its place in the whole structure.

Lent, and the waning days of winter, is a season of waiting, in trusting God to carve us, shape us, to be ready when the timing is right for us to take our place.  Surely Jesus experienced such waiting for the opportune time.  Imagine, as some suggest, that Jesus himself was not necessarily a carpenter, but rather a stone mason.  With the hands and patience and steadiness of one who knows stones, and the building of a strong house.

Devotional scriptures for the sixth week of Lent: Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29 and Luke 19:28-40

Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Luke 19:28-40

The Triumphal Entry
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,
30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.
33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.
36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Devotional scriptures for the fifth week of Lent: Psalm 126, Philippians 3:4b-14 and John 12:1-8

Psalm 126

A song of ascents.
1 When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Philippians 3:4b-14

4b If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

John 12:1-8

Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,
5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. ”
6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.
8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

by Jennifer Davis Sensenig, pastor at Community Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg

Read: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Prodigal means exceedingly or recklessly wasteful.  I’ve been re-reading this familiar parable, with Jesus in the center.

Listen to a story.

God had a Son who left home and went to a distant country, to first century Palestine.  There he told stories, and used his power to proclaim freedom and offer healing.  He taught a way of peace, preached good news, and generously forgave.  He earned a reputation for keeping company with sinners, women, and thieving tax-collectors.  Everywhere this Son went he wasted God’s love and wisdom on ordinary people until his divine treasure was spent.   What a waste!  At his lowest point, this Son died a humiliating death on a Roman (Gentile) cross.  But he rose and returned to his heavenly home.  Upon his return, God’s Son was received like a king with a robe, ring, sandals and a feast to end all feasts.

Many of us, like the elder brother, are in the field today doing our work.  But the music of the Great Resurrection Feast is drifting our way, like Easter hallelujahs.  Lent is God’s invitation to join the celebration of our reckless Brother who was dead is now alive.

By Roger Foster, graduate student in EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:16-20

Persian poet Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273) says this:

There is a worm
addicted to eating grape leaves.

Suddenly, he wakes up,
call it grace, whatever, something
wakes him, and he is no longer a worm.

He is the entire vineyard,
and the orchard, too, the fruit, the trunks,
a growing wisdom and joy
that does not need to devour.

All this “un-worming,” this radically new creation, is God’s doing, Paul proclaims. “…for God has reconciled us…” That is, God has adopted us and welcomed us all back into God’s covenant relationship with humanity – NOT, N.T. Wright reminds us, solely for our own personal salvation, wonderful as that is. No, membership in the covenant family bestows a mission as well as a blessing: (cf. “Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision.”) Merciful God transforms even the self-indulgent worm into an agent of that reconciliation which is God’s great enterprise of abounding grace for the healing of the nations.

And in case you haven’t guessed it already, that transformed and adopted worm on a mission wears an ID tag with a new name – but still my name, still your name – on it, as God delights to re-name us: “Chosen.”

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.